Review of Diana of Themyscira, Queen Hippolyta, Ares
Wonder Woman Multiverse action figures

Introduction

The new film Wonder Woman is still a few weeks away, but Mattel's Multiverse line up is already hitting some stores.  There are four figures in this series, plus a Collect and Connect (CnC) figure. If you really don't want to know anything about this movie, I suggest you stop reading, although with one of the figures being the villain, it's going to be tough to avoid finding out...

Yep, that would be Ares, the CnC figure in this set. I'm covering him tonight, along with Queen Hippolyta and Diana of Themyscira (Wonder Woman on her home turf). I found these at Meijers, where they run $20, but they are also popping up at Target and Toys R Us. There's a TRU exclusive too, of an uncloaked Wonder Woman. And not to be outdone, there's an Amazon exclusive that's just gone up for pre-order. I covered the other two figures - cloaked Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor - last week.

Packaging - ***
More of the same, if you're a regular Multiverse buyer. The package is attractive, but the same minor complaints remain - I don't like the busy look of the tri-logo packaging, and all the swords are bent once again. The fit inside the plastic tray isn't quite right, and it's effecting the thin blades.

It is relatively collector friendly though, with only a couple rubber bands used on the figures.

Sculpting - Diana, Ares ***; Hippolyta ***1/2
Of these three, Hippolyta is my clear winner. The face sculpt is quite attractive, much softer and more realistic than most Mattel mass market sculpts. They've also done a reasonable job capturing the proper likeness, and the amount of detail work on the costume is quite impressive. There's multiple textures to denote different materials, and I particularly like the work on the faux chain mail skirt.

Remember, these are fairly small figures, coming in at about 6 3/8" for both the ladies and 7 1/2" for Ares.  That puts them pretty squarely in the modern 1/12 market.

Diana is a big improvement over the earlier Multiverse Batman v Superman Wonder Woman releases, but the paint work isn't doing the underlying sculpt any favors. The hair is back in a long pony tail, and the simple outfit looks reasonably good. A little more detail would have been nice, but the only real issue - and it's one she shares with both Hippolyta and Ares - is her tiny, tiny feet. Really, they are weirdly small. Part of that is due to the angle at which they rest in the shoes. The thick heels put the feet on a pretty steep downward angle, making them seem smaller than they really are. Still, it's odd looking in hand.

Ares is a big dude, and the texturing on the body and skull mask is good. There is a blank face under there too, which you can see with the right light and right angle.  The chest is bulky, and as I mentioned, he's pretty tall, coming in at 7 1/2". But the legs and arms are standard DCUC style and size, making another odd looking conflict. Add in another set of really tiny feet, and you get some odd internal proportions with this guy.

Paint - Diana **1/2; Ares, Hippolyta ***
The paint work on Ares is fairly basic, with a dry brushing on the 'helmet' to bring out some of the detail. There's some similar work on the armored body, and the number of operations is really pretty small. Still, what's here is pretty clean and neat, improving the overall look.

Hippolyta has quite a few operations, however, and these are also extremely clean. Different materials have different finishes, and the cut lines between colors are generally well done. It's the eyes, eyebrows, and lips that really sell the figure though, and while it's not quite perfect, it's very good for a figure this scale available at mass market.

Unfortunately, the pretty sculpt of Diana is hurt by the weaker paint operations. The eyes are too wide set, creating an odd look overall.  There's some slop on the costume too, and the cut lines are weaker.  There's even a bit of variation in the skin tone between the arms and torso, although it's not as obvious in hand as it is in photos.

Articulation - Hippolyta **1/2; Diana ***; Ares ***1/2
Ares has a pretty standard Mattel articulation scheme, and DCUC fans will recognize most of the joints.  The ball neck is a restricted  by the helmet, but the rotating hinge shoulders work well, as do the cut biceps, pin elbows and rotating wrists.  The torso has a cut waist and ab-crunch, although the latter is quite restricted by the sculpt. The legs include cut thighs, hinge hips, pin knees, and pin ankles, all of which are tight, with a good range of movement. Rocker movement in the ankles would be nice, but I suppose you can't have everything.

The articulation on Diana and Hippolyta is similar to the earlier females, but the costume on Hippolyta restricts much of the torso and leg movement. This is very similar to what we saw with the cloaked Wonder Woman. I found that her arms do work a little better, thanks to the sleeveless sculpt, but overall she is much more restricted than this Diana.

Diana's articulation is very similar to Ares, but the skirt messes with the hips quite a bit. There's also not a lot of tilt and lean in the neck, which is surprising, since there's less in the way than with the other figures. I was expecting much more movement with this version.  The tiny feet aren't doing her any favors either, although I was able to get some reasonably decent shallow poses out of her.

Accessories - ***
Of course, Diana and Hippolyta both come with pieces to Ares. That gets them **1/2 right out of the gate.

Hippolyta adds in her sword and her spear.  These fit nicely in the hard plastic hands, and while the sculpt and paint work are pretty basic, it's appropriate to the overall look of the line.

Diana also adds in a sword, different than Hippolyta's, and her coiled whip.  You can't attach the whip or sword to her person, but she can hold them convincingly.

Ares is an accessory himself, and usually CnC (or BAF's) don't have additional extras. But Ares gets the best sword of the bunch, and he looks great wielding it.

Fun Factor - Hippolyta, Diana ***; Ares ***1/2
The decent articulation and evil look of Ares makes him the most fun of the bunch, although both Diana and Hippolyta are a step up from previous Multiverse females.

Value - **1/2
Twenty bucks remains the going rate for mass market 1/12 scale action figures.  While they still have a way to go, Mattel has increased the quality of these figures while maintaining that price point.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.

Overall - ***
Mattel has come a long way from some of the awful Multiverse figures we saw last year, particularly those based on human characters (think Lex Luthor). That doesn't mean they've caught up to the best work by Hasbro with their Marvel Legends line, but they are closing the gap, and it is far less painful to fork over $20 for one of these.

It was also nice to get all four of these figures in the first shipment, allowing you to have the complete set right out of the gate. I still haven't found all of the last assortment to complete my King Shark, and I found the first part of that wave weeks ago.  Better distribution would help this line tremendously.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - Diana, Ares ***; Hippolyta ***1/2
Paint - Diana **1/2; Ares, Hippolyta ***
Articulation - Hippolyta **1/2; Diana ***; Ares ***1/2
Accessories - ***
Fun Factor - Hippolyta, Diana ***; Ares ***1/2
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
Your best bet is the local stores, where you can pick these up for around $20.  I found mine first at Meijers, but Toys R Us and Target should have them soon, and Toys R Us will have an exclusive uncloaked version of Wonder Woman.

Related Links -
Of course, I covered the cloaked Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor from this line last week. This isn't the first Multiverse Wonder Woman either, and you can check out my comparison review of the BvS MV version with the regular movie based version.

If you're a fan of the character in general, you should check out the ArtFX version, as well as the DC Bombshells version, the first Cover Girls release, the second Cover Girls version, the Bishoujo release, and the Armored Cover Girls version.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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