Pic of the Day 180

Harley Quinn, Women of the DC Universe bust, by DC Direct.

I feel very lucky to have acquired this bust at significantly less than market price this past week. Being from the first series of these busts, they're quite rare nowadays, despite the somewhat higher edition size than more recent busts. Plus, I have the upcoming series 3 Harley Quinn bust on pre-order, so I'll have both Harley busts as soon as it's released, so that's neat.

For more pictures, visit the Harley Quinn bust page on my collecting wiki

Pic of the Day 178

Zatanna, Ame Comi Statue by DC Direct.

While I liked the look of this figure, I wasn't necessarily planning on getting it, but though a set of somewhat complicated events I ended up getting this figure for $10. And it was absolutely worth that price, being even better in person than I expected it to be.

Check out all the neat detailing on her cuffs, lapels, hat band, and those ribbon things have a different pattern on them, which is neat. Notice her shoes, and her fishnet stockings are actual material, not just painted on.

In fact, if you follow the ribbon things around to the back, the detailing on them is interesting. Plus she's got some kind of frosted detailing on the ends of her coattails. Also, take look at those nifty shoes.

For more pictures, visit the Zatanna Ame Comi page on my collecting wiki

Pic of the Day 175

Harley Quinn, Cover Girls of the DC Universe Statue line, by DC Direct

For more pictures, visit the Harley Quinn Cover Girls statue page on my collecting wiki

Pic of the Day 174

Black Canary Ame Comi figure by DC Direct.

This is another figure that I appreciate more in hand than I did from pictures before buying. The matte black of her body suit contrasts nicely with the glossy black of her jacket and boots, all the gold detailing works really well, but what I like best of all is the throwing star in her left hand. It's something I'd never noticed in the solicit photos, and I think it really adds to the personality of the character and the figure.

For more pictures, visit the Black Canary Ame Comi page on my collecting wiki

Pic of the Day 173 and Review of Ame Comi Hawkgirl

Hawkgirl Ame Comi Heroine statue by DC Direct.

Great looking statue, in my opinion. However, there's something a little off with these pictures. Can you tell what?

I tried to photo them in such a way as to hide it, but it's pretty apparent to me that she's gimpy. While attaching her to the stand, her right wing snapped off. :( However, I think she's too interesting looking of a statue to delay posting some pictures of her while I attempt to mend her broken wing.

The first pic allows a good look at clawed left hand, the arm band on her right, and her helm. I like the way the black paint under her hawk-eye doesn't end, it streaks back fading into the gold. I thought at first it was a mistake, but both sides are the same, and I rather like the effect. It is also apparent from this angle that her top doesn't wrap around, and while she's...um, rather large...in the front (less apparent because you can't see how thin the rest of her body is), I'm not sure that covering would stay in place particularly well in actual flight/combat. Although the red strings wrap around her waist as well as her neck, so maybe? I don't know, I'm no fassion expert. I can't even figure out how to spell it: fascion? fasion? phassion? Oh, it's easier than that: fashion.

Anyway, the second pic gives a slightly better view of the armor bit on her left hand, you can see it's got some detailing on the top, reminiscent of the Eye of Ra symbol, plus she's got some nifty necklaces. She's got a battle ready, intent look on her face, and interestingly, she appears to have an impressive scar under her left eye. Right up under her eye. That was a close call. I like that she has eye lashes or something drawn under her right eye, but she's not hiding the close call she had with her left one.

Unfortunately, the following picture removes any illusion of wings, but gives us a good look at her Mace. This hand also has the finger claws and bracer that her left has, but no wrist or hand armor, just the finger claws, the pommel of the mace is carved in an hawk head motif, though obviously my angle was off when shooting it. But the mace head itself is quite cool, I love that the studs are gold instead of the same lead color of the mace, and the collar obviously is supposed to have some interesting detailing, though either PVC is too soft to have picked up the details well, or they weren't very finely detailed to begin with. But it's an interesting texture and color if nothing else. Also, her hair is done up in one really long braid. I like that.

Ame Comi Hawkgirl definitely turns out to be one of the best figures in the line so far, one of my favorites for sure, and I didn't even get any good pics to show off her armored boots with they're hawk claw detailing, but trust me, they're awesome, it's a great figure, I highly recommend it. Plus, it's a variant on her modern costume, which I MUCH prefer to her Golden/Silver Age look, or even her Animated Series look.

But attach the stand to her back first, the hole was just a tad too small, and it took quite a bit of force to get it in (in retrospect I could have easily shaved the hole out a little with a razor, and since I had plugged the wings in first, I inadvertently pushed on her wing more than I thought I was. Stand first, then wings. :(

For more pictures, visit the Ame Comi Hawkgirl page on my collecting wiki

Pic of the Day 172

Donna Troy, Women of the DC Universe Busts

For more pictures and info, visit the Women of the DC Universe Donna Troy bust page on my collecting wiki.

Pic of the Day 170

Donna Troy, Ame Comi statue by DC Direct.

For more pictures, visit the Donna Troy Ame Comi page on my collecting wiki

Pic of the Day 165

Wonder Woman (version 1), Ame Comi statue by DC Direct

Oh, how long I have been trying to get this figure for a good price. I love the redesign of her armor, and it's really not even that big a change, except for the sides, which you can't really see in the pictures I've taken of it so far. I'll have to get a side view picture up tomorrow.

For more info and pics, visit Ame Comi Wonder Woman at my collecting wiki.

Pic of the Day 164

Batman Build A Scene Statue Part 2: Huntress and Nightwing, by DC Direct.

Like Batwoman, I've always been fond of Huntress, and her costume, although in Huntress' case, I also know some about her, having read some comics with her in them. She's an interesting character. Nightwing is less so to me, but I much prefer Dick Grayson as Nightwing than as Robin. ANyway, it's a nice looking piece, I thinks.

Additional pictures of this Huntress & Nightwing statue at my collecting wiki

Pic of the Day 163

Batman Build A Scene Statue Part 3: Commissioner Gordon and Batwoman, by DC Direct.

This is something I should have posted weeks ago. Nay, months ago. The pictures appear to date back to August of last year. I LOVE this statue. I got Part 1 months before I got Part 2, and it was at least several more weeks before I managed to get Part 3 at a good price, but the Batman Family Build A Scene statue is Definitely worth getting, especially at the significantly reduced prices that I paid.

As is obvious, Part 3 of the Batman Family Build A Scene statue contains possibly the single most important character in Batman's life, that isn't Batman himself. Or his parents ("My parents are DEAD!"). Or the Joker ("You complete me."). He's a bit of a boring choice for a statue or action figure, but where would Batman be without Commissioner James Gordon? And as I've said before, I just love the modern Batwoman costume, it's fantastic.

Additional pictures of this Commissioner Gordon & Batwoman statue at my collecting wiki

Pic of the Day 162

Ame Comi Harley Quinn mini statue, by DC Direct

While I hope to acquire the larger Harley Quinn Ame Comi statue, this one is quite nice, nicer perhaps, than the big one. I believe the colors to be very matte on the large one, where as the red of her costume here on the mini version is a very glossy, metallic red, and the white collar piece is actually pearlescent, rather than straight white. I prefer the pose on this one more too. I like the little color details on her legs and feet, which break up the red/black scheme for which Harley is known. The gold-trimmed blue and green sections at the ends of her pants, and the green trim on the shoes really jump out at you, but at the same time, I feel they blend in with the costume very well, making it better. It seems like the oval cutouts all around the thigh portion would make the outfit very prone to ripping while putting it on, if she just catches one with her foot, the whole thing could rip off, but I like the look.

I'm very glad to have gotten this new version, I think I'll quite like the mini versions, it's fun that they're different poses to costumes already released. I'm still not really interested in the blue/gray Batgirl, and though I think the mini Poison Ivy is better than the regular sized one, I'm not particularly tempted to get it. However, if I recall Series 2 correctly, it has Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman and one similar to the Supergirl (v2) I posted last time, so I will have to get all three, and series 3 has Power Girl and Donna Troy, or something like that, I may have the actually characters confused, but I'm pretty sure I want all of mini series 2 and 2 of the 3 of mini series 3.

Pic of the Day 161

Supergirl, Ame Comi DC Heroines, by DC Direct.

By no means my favorite of the series, but a nice entry nonetheless. I like the Kryptonian writing on the yellow straps of the cape, the metallic blue, and that the bottom of the skirt is kinda translucent. Also like the strange design of the costume in general, with the kinda odd cut-outs on the side/back, as though to remind us the actual costume shows her midriff. I don't really care for the looking in the side mirror of a car thing, and there's something odd about her lower legs, but overall, it's quite good, everything about the costume is great.

For more pics visit my Ame Comi Supergirl page at my collecting wiki.

Pic of the Day 160

Supergirl, Women of the DC Universe, Series 2 - Terry Dodson, by DC Direct.

For more info visit my Women of the DC Universe Supergirl page, or the complete Women of the DC Universe Checklist at my collecting wiki.

Pic of the Day 159

Jade, Women of the DC Universe, Series 2 - Terry Dodson, by DC Direct.

For more info visit Women of the DC Universe Jade or the complete Women of the DC Universe Checklist at my collecting wiki.

Pic of the Day 158

Batwoman, Women of the DC Universe, Series 2 - Terry Dodson, by DC Direct.

For more info visit Women of the DC Universe Batwoman or the complete Women of the DC Universe Checklist at my collecting wiki.

Pic of the Day 157

Catwoman, Women of the DC Universe, Series 3 - Amanda Conner, by DC Direct.

Wow, I have been horribly lazy at posting pictures lately, which is a huge shame, as I've recently got some great items. Of particular interest, I finally started getting into two lines which I've been interested in from the start, the Women of the DCU busts (now I think it's just called Heroes of the DCU, since they stopped restricting themselves to female characters - and actually, since Joker, Darkseid and Sinestro are also being released in this line, I wonder if it's actually Heroes and Villains of the DCU), and Ame-Comi Heroines line (actually, since they released Batman a few figures ago (which, coincidentally was the first I actually bought) it has also been renamed to Ame-Comi Heroines and Heroes). I'm horribly behind on both lines, the bust line I would definitely be a completist in, if I could afford it, but most those from the first series, based on Adam Hughes art, are expensively hard to find. And sadly, most of the early Ame-Comi's are similarly expensive, in fact, two of my very most wanted from that line sell from $70-$120 on eBay, which is 2 to 4 times retail price at the beginning of the line (when it was $30), though that's only twice suggested retail now (most having an MSRP of $60-$70), though thankfully I've been able to get some of the newer ones for under retail. But I'm talking too much in a post that should really be just a picture, so I'll stop now.

For more info visit Women of the DC Universe Catwoman or the complete Women of the DC Universe Checklist at my collecting wiki.

Pic of the Day 151

Batman, from the Ame-Comi line of DC Statues.

The Ame-Comi line is a series of highly stylized, anime-styled, statues, based on women from the DC Universe, up until this figure.

I finally picked one of these up, I've been watching this line since it began, and had the opportunity to pick up two of the early figures for $18. But I didn't, and now it's going to cost me 2 or 3 times that to get them. There are a few that are particularly excellent, that I really want, but others also think they're excellent, and are therefore expensive on eBay.

If anyone can help me get the first Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Power Girl, or really any of the others, for good, low prices, let me know. Especially the first Wonder Woman, that one is awesome, and I can't wait for the Artemis repaint.

DC Direct JLA Build a Scene Statue

I've been meaning to post these pictures for a few weeks now. The story is that a few years ago my wife bought me a nice glass cabinet (Detolf from Ikea) for Christmas, for to display some of my nicer Star Wars items. But being lazy I never set it up. A few weeks ago a came across an excellent deal on part of a Justice League build a statue that I had been watching on eBay for some time. Shortly thereafter I was able to complete the statue for a similarly good deal, so I was prompted to create space in my messy room to display the statue. This resulted in two new bookshelves, hanging two shelves (that my wife had also given me for Christmas years ago), and a substatial rearranging of the toy room. It's still a work in progress, but what follows are two shelves and the top of the Ikea cabinet. As I continue cleaning up and arranging everything I will post pictures. I have a decent sized collection, more people than me should be able to fit in the room to see it.

The first shelf we're looking at consists of my Darth Maul collection: the highlights being the Sideshow Toys 12 inch figure (left rear), the Gentle Giant 1:12 scale statue (right rear), the Master Replicas Collectors Society Exclusive mini saber hilt (left front), and the little Darth Maul bust that I got out of a quarter vending machine while visiting Pennsylvannia for my grandpa's funeral.

The top of the cabinet has some misc items that don't fit inside with the rest of their related items, the Kotobukiya Darth Maul, the Medicom VCD Royal Guard, the DC Direct Cover to Cover Wonder Woman statue, and part 1 of the Batman Family Statue, Catwoman and Robin. Once I have the other 2 pieces to the Batman Family statue I might have to commandeer one of the other shelves for it, but which? Darth Maul, Royal Guard, Boba Fett, or misc?

Finally, the JLA build a scene statue that started all this reorganization. Based on the artwork of Ed Benes, it looks every bit as awesome as I hoped it would be. I'm very pleased with it, glad that I was able to get it at all, and especially glad I got it for half price (due to buying pieces with slight but unnoticeable damage).

Pic of the Day 129

Wonder Woman, from Red Son, by DC Direct.

New Toys and Comics for November, part 1, DC and Warcraft

New Toys from November, part one, DC and WoW.

My first World of Warcraft figure, finally. I've been eying these ever since the line began, but I have finally taken the plunge. The rest of the figures are now on my want list, most with a high priority.

Tamurra, the Draenei Mage

Finally completed Giganta with the acquisition of Gentleman Ghost. And since I can't find the DCUC Hawkgirl, but bought the DC Direct Justice League of America Hawkgirl. Which I like better anyway.

November's MattyCollector.com DCUC 2 Pack Exclusive, the Color of Fear arrived, with two members of the Sinestro Corps. Also got the last wave 9 figure I needed, Mantis.

Had a good experience at a Target with an employee going a good ways out of her way to find Banshee for me, so I bought all four of the Public Enemeies figures so far released. I'm mostly trying to get the Build-A-Figure Brimstone, but who knows if we'll get Icicle and Banshee in DCUC. Also, the DVD is awesome, go get it!

I recently started following the Action Figure Blues blog, which is yet another blog that has a monthly givaway to commenters. I don't know if they just wanted me to join the forums, or if I really won the luck of the draw, but I won for October. I had my choice of the Salt Vampire from Star Trek The Original Series (by Diamond Select Toys), and Fire from Justice League International series 2 (by DC Direct). I've never actually been crazy about the aliens in Star Trek, other than Klingons and Romulans, and since that figure has been delayed and delayed and might never come out, and because I wanted Fire, I chose Fire. This of course prompted me to try harder to get the other two figures from JLI that I was interestd in, Black Canary in her 80's outfit, and Ice. And I managed to get both for $10 or $11 shipped. As you might imagine, my wife takes issues with the fleshy features of Fire's and Ice's costumes, so they'll be relegated to the back of any displays, but I'm glad to have them, who knows if or when Mattel will get around to releasing them.

Finally picked up Toyman and Supergirl from the penultimate wave of Alex Ross Justice figures. From all reports Toyman is one of the best figures DC Direct has ever done, and Supergirl's just in an odd costume. And I want to eventually acquire the entire Justice line.

I've been wanting to get Crisis on Infinite Earths Supergirl and Harbinger for a while, and I found a good deal on them, and as a bonus, got two other figures free, only one of which (Monitor) was interesting to me. Also, apparently I moved the camera while taking this picture. Despite the tripod.

DC Comics.

Got a really good deal on a Wonder Woman statue. It's not the one I really want (the Cover Girls of DC Wonder Woman statue), so I'll probably try to sell it to get money to buy the other one, though it's roughly 3 times the price.

In a couple of days I'll hopefully continue with with Marvel toys and a new line I got suckered into buying.

Edit: I just realized that every toy picture above has at least one female figure in it, and in most of them she was the focus in my comments about it.