Forgive me for the banner pictured above, but I just couldn't resist. Power Girl is one of the elusive DC Universe Classics Wave 10 figures that are only available at Wal-Mart, and she's creating a lot of grief for Mattel because so many fans want her. Is she worth all this hype and hunting, or should you just stay home and read her comic book instead? Read on to see my thoughts on the matter!

Name: Power Girl
Line: DC Universe Classics, Wave 10, Figure 4
Manufacturer: Mattel
Released: Fall 2009
Price: Retails: $13.00-$15.00, Online: $50.00+ on Ebay
Scale: 6.00 in. (Figure in 6.25 in. tall)
Accessories: None
Collect & Connect Piece: Imperiex's left leg

     Power Girl is a mostly nice looking figure, there's no denying that, but I do have some problems with this basic female sculpt that I have to get out of the way before we can move on to the more positive attributes. First off, her legs are much too long, throwing the proportions of her whole body off. The arms are also suspiciously thin, especially for a powerhouse character like Power Girl here, and when that's combined with the waist that's absurdly skinny from the side, these are some big problems from certain angles. Thankfully, other elements help to hide these problems, particularly her cape that's a great mold with sweeping wrinkles, and helps to distract from the skinny waist. The cape also "hangs" off to one side just like it should, and the rope is a separate piece, not molded into her chest, giving it a great layered effect. There are quite a few new pieces of tooling being used on Power Girl, including the big cape, her boot and glove tops, the belt, the chest (of course), and her new head. That all makes her a unique looking figure, so I'm glad they didn't just cut corners on costume elements and paint them on (like with her chest (of course)).
     All the small details really add a lot to her appearance too. For instance, the hole at her chest has a small edge sculpted right around it, her cleavage is very well defined (no "uniboob" like the previously released Starfire), lots of sensible wrinkles adorn her gloves and boots, and the fine lines worked into her hair. Underneath that slightly messy-looking hair is some good work on her face, and is probably the least generic looking female the Four Horsemen have put out yet. She's genuinely cute, despite the basic expression, and looks much like I would expect Power Girl to look in real life based on her comics appearances. The facial features are all very crisp, including amazing subtleties like small creases around her mouth, and a strip of hair hanging loose along her right cheek. In the end, it's the new tooling her that looks the best, and just the basic shape and style of the DCUC female figure that's holding her back, but altogether, she's still a nice looking toy.

Sculpt Score: 8 / 10

 

     This figure might look like it has a lot of cut lines to get right, but it's actually a pretty easy looking paint job, as almost all of the color changes are across different pieces. Only the forearms, her chest, and of course her head require complex applications. And unfortunately, one of those spots looks a little messy, her forearms, where there is some noticeable overspray, but nothing outrageous and even a bit better than what I generally expect from the line. Her chest is extremely well painted, with clean cut lines and some nice subtle shading added in too. Her legs have the same darker skin-tone airbrushing added on, but it's just in an awkward stripe down the outside and inside of her leg, so it doesn't add much. At least it's a quiet enough effect that it doesn't detract too much either. The color of her skin is an attractive warm shade and matches across all the different pieces, which can be hard to achieve.
     Her white costume isn't too bright, coming off as almost gray/blue tinted, but it still looks very good and is consistent across plastics. The blue and red are fine, and the cape is nicely accented by a dark airbrush effect. Moving up to her head, the work is fantastic, which seems to be the trend as of late in this line. Her eyes, eyebrows, and lips all look perfect, and there are hints of blush that bring her face together nicely. The biggest relief here is her hair, which is a realistic blond color and has a great orange-red worked in as a wash, and unlike Wave 9's Black Canary hair-tastrophe, it looks very pretty. The only other problems with Power Girl are some random problems, like strange blue streaks on the back of her right thigh, a couple rubbed-down spots, and a very slight discoloration in a couple areas of her white plastic.

Paint Score: 8 / 10

 

    I'm really happy with the standard set of articulation that Mattel chose for this line, and Power Girl follows that plan almost exactly, even with a little extra! The image above details her various points of movement, and you'll notice one extra label, her calf swivels, which actually don't add a lot of range to her posing repertoire, but more joints don't hurt, especially when they're as seamless as these are. All of the joints work very smoothly, none are too loose, and nothing required excessive force to break free out of the package either. There is a good range of motion for each of the points, only the neck feeling slightly limited, but still allowing a bit of tilt that a lot of other figures are missing.
     She can achieve and hold a lot of dynamic stances, especially for a female in this line, which stereotypically have problems with weak leg articulation. Power Girl must do squats hourly, because her legs are holding up and holding her up quite fine for me. As far as looks go, most of this articulation isn't too blatantly visible, but the thighs cuts are pretty obvious on this type of skin tone, and her wrists might have been better off with the swivels at the glove-top instead of the actual wrist. And then again, these hips do a beautiful job of hiding the swivel/hinge, and the boot-tops make that swivel hidden too. Overall, Power Girl mostly improves an already good articulation model.

Articulation Score: 9 / 10

     I don't want to anger any of our more sensitive readers here at AD, so even though I'd like to, I won't sprinkle this section with "Fun-Bags" like I want to. There was quite a bit of hoopla when Power Girl was revealed (probably thanks to certain unmentionable attributes), and it's because she's quite a popular character among comics fans, and even amongst more general collectors too. Many people are dying to find Wave 10 simply to hold this figure, and no matter how she actually turned out, she's going to be enjoyable for a lot of people. Thankfully, the toy itself is pretty entertaining anyway, with the solid articulation model, and the fact that she's fun to look at too. Combining those two positive traits makes her a joy to pose alongside the other DC Universe heroes (or females) and look at for a while to come. Then again, she doesn't include a single accessory, and although nothing is absolutely necessary, things like a stand, rubble, or alternate head are always options that would add to the fun score here. She does come with a piece of Imperiex, adding a bit of enjoyment to the patient or lucky who take the time to find this entire wave and are able to assemble that cool figure. The packaging isn't exactly amazing, but the biography, hand-drawn art, and cool pictures do add a few minutes of entertainment and collectability for those who like to save their cards (like me).

Fun Score: 8 / 10

     It's hard to say that DC Universe Classics figures are a great value, coming in at $13 nowadays, and often even higher at retail. While they may not be great values, I still consider them good ones, and primarily for a few reasons. First and foremost is the inclusion of the often enormous Collect & Connect pieces that allow you to assemble another figure once the entire wave is completed. While that may not benefit some, it's still extra plastic in the package, and for others, a chunk of a "free" figure is never a bad proposition. And while a lot of figure feature virtually no new tooling, Power Girl does have a few new molds being utilized to great effect (the chest (of course)) here, which helps her to feel a bit more worth the few extra dollars. Unfortunately, she's not a big figure, and feels a little light in hand, but she's also a lot less flimsy than past female figures, so durability doesn't appear to be an issue here, a huge plus. This is a well sculpted and nicely painted figure too, so you'll be proud to display her, giving you a reason to buy her, and a reason to enjoy her for a long time, the real measure of value. If rarity counts for anything, at the current state of affairs, Power Girl seems to be a very difficult toy to find, so she's probably worth cherishing if you have her.

Value Score: 8 / 10

8 / 10 - A mostly attractive sculpt of a very attractive character.

8 / 10 - Just a few hiccups here that don't ruin the strong colors and clean applications.

9 / 10 - Plenty of points that all work well and look okay. 

8 / 10 - A fan-favorite character feature entertaining "assets".

8 / 10 - An okay price for a good figure that's well made and includes a C&C piece.

83 / 100 - This is a Great Toy

Power Girl isn't problem-free, but she's another sign that Mattel is finally getting rid of a lot of the problems plaguing the DC Universe Classics line the past. If you're a DC Comics fan, I can't imagine you passing on Power Girl, and even if you aren't, you might be caught by her "charms" as well.

-The Articulated One

This could be the figure given away in this month's Review Commentator Contest. Join the discussion by leaving a comment for a chance to win!

Articulated Discussion is also giving away three DC Universe Classics Wave 10 figures, so check out the DC Universe Classics Wave 10 Classified Contest to see how to win!

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