Review of Poison Ivy
DC Deluxe Sixth Scale Figure

Introduction

I haven't bought a whole lot of DC Direct product in the last couple years. For the most part, I've stuck with their Batman Black and White series of statues, as well as the newer Cover Girls of the DC Universe, but for me the rest of their offerings have been less pre-order goodness and more clearance buy.

I'm still a total Batman whore, however, and will be for as long as I draw breath. When Batman meets sixth scale (even pseudo sixth scale), I'm a complete sucker.

That means that while I've never been much of a fan of the DC Direct 'deluxe' series of 13" figures, when they produce a new Batman villain I'm all in. Poison Ivy has just started shipping, and you can pick her up at most retailers for around $80. Many of the past deluxe figures have ended up on sale however, so you might want to take a gamble and watch for prices to drop in the coming weeks.

Packaging - ***
The boxes haven't changed, and are still both sturdy and collector friendly. The consistent size and style make them nice for the MIBers too.

There's a shortage of unique photos though - all three photos are just about identical - which I thought was a bit odd. That is, until I had her out of the box and tried shooting her myself.

Sculpting - ***
The sculpted hair is very well done, with decent stranding and some cool leaf head bands interwoven in the locks. It might restrict the articulation, but I think this sculpted look works better than rooted hair.

The face is pretty - but bland. She looks a little sad, really, as though her favorite begonia just died. Perhaps 'wistful' is the best way to describe the expression, and it's not one I associated with Ivy.

She comes wearing a pair of sculpted fists, and these are in scale and look good. The hands swap easily as well, although the cut wrists (instead of pin joints) are a bummer.

This line is scaled to 13", and that's what she stands. That makes here far too big to include with any sixth scale series, but she does fit in pretty well with the other male figures in the Deluxe line.

Paint - ***
The paint work is generally clean and sharp, with little slop. Cut lines around the lips and eyebrows are good, and the eyes have a nice glossy appearance.

The only quality issue is with the skin tone. The face is darker than the body, and there's even some minor variations between the arms and torso. It's a minor nit, but still one that always bugs me.

The bigger issue for me is the bags under the eyes. They went for a darker look, probably mimicking eye shadow, but instead it looks like she's not been getting enough sleep.

Articulation - **1/2
This is the same female body that we've seen with other ladies in the series, like Catwoman or Batgirl.

The heavy sculpted hair reduced the mobility of the ball jointed neck, and really restricts the number of poses she can take.

The rest of the joints work as with previous figures. There's ball jointed shoulders, cut biceps, pin elbows and knees, cut wrists and thighs, pin ankles, an ab crunch, and hinge hips. While that sounds like quite a bit, the reality is that the joints do not produce particularly natural or flowing poses.

As I mentioned in the Packaging section, I was initially surprised at the similarity of the photos on the box. After I tried posing her, I realized that was not the photog's fault, but the fault of the figure.

There's not a wide range of poses she's going to manage, at least not in a natural way. 90% of this is due to the engineering of the articulation, which I've complained about in the past, but some of that is also due to the silly high heels she's wearing.

On a somewhat related note (we are talking bout the body, after all), the squishy breasts still freak me out.

Accessories - *
She comes with one set of additional open hands. Thankfully, these are not bendy, and the relaxed pose will work well in many ways. They are fairly well scaled, and the addition of the red painted fingernails is a nice touch.

She also comes with the standard stand. You will probably need it too, since the high heel boots don't keep her standing particularly well.

But that's it - two hands and a stand. At this price point, this lack of extras really hurts her overall score.

Outfit - **1/2
The costume includes boots, tights, gloves, an interior bustier and an exterior corset.

None of the clothing is particularly well tailored. Again, much of this is due to the body itself, but there's still no excuse for the sloppy fitting boots.

The boots zipper up the back, as you'd expect with this series. The short high heels are small, and the poor fit of the boot makes it difficult to keep her center of gravity properly aligned.

The stockings look good - until you see the back. It's always difficult to do stockings in this scale because the line up the back, so sexy on the real deal, are huge and misshapen here.

The gloves fit pretty well, although they are a little loose on the biceps. These, along with the bustier, have a cut leaf-like top edge which is not hemmed, and could fray over time.

The bustier is held in place with clear plastic straps over the shoulders and a zipper in back. Over this goes the corset, with a tie up back. The fit on both could be better, and should be for a figure in the $80 - $90 price range.

Fun Factor - **
There's not much for either kid or collector with this one. The posability is limited, there's no fun accessories...you'll put her in a fairly standard pose, set her on the shelf next to Batman, and be done with her.

Value - **
This series has always been overpriced, but with a basic outfit (that has its own issues) and no real accessories, this figure is clearly $20 - $30 more than she should be.

Things to Watch Out For -
No real issues, but I'd be careful with the clear plastic straps holding the top in place.

Overall - **1/2
This series has generally been a disappointment for me, with the occasional bright spot (like Green Arrow or Green Lantern). Of the females released so far, Ivy is probably my least favorite, although she's not the dog that some of the male figures have been. She avoids the sausage fingered bendy hands, but the blank, dazed stare and underwhelming outfit don't do much to elevate her.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***
Paint - **1/2
Articulation - **1/2
Accessories - Bupkis
Outfit - **1/2
Fun Factor - **
Value - **
Overall - **1/2

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has her for $90.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other deluxe figures I've covered:

- my most recent was the Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen, and I had a guest review of all three they did for the film.

- my favorite is the very nicely done Green Lantern.

- before that was the Joker, done up in a classic style, along with his main squeeze, Harley Quinn.

- two of my favorites are the Dark Knight movie based Batman and Joker.

- before that, we had Bizarro, Green Arrow, Robin, two versions of Batgirl, as well as Batman himself in the old school 70's outfit, Nightwing, a guest review of Catwoman, and my reviews of the Martian Manhunter, Two Face, Batman Begins and classic Batman. *whew*

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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