DSC_3068
According to my charts, the S.H. Figuarts Wonder Woman 84 figure should be released soon, so I suppose it's an opportune time for me to back pedal and fill in a gap or two in the collection.
Back in the Winter (man does it feel like forever), I purchased the Mafex Justice League Wonder Woman figure, after being thoroughly disappointed with the Mezco release and not having found the first Figuarts release at a sane price (that came a few months later).
While the Mafex JL WW was not as articulated in body as the Figuarts was, the Mafex body was generally functional (lightyears better than the Mezco one) and had a much nicer head sculpt. Between the two, I gave the slight win to the Mafex.
The WW 84 Figuarts release, based on photos, is well positioned to resolve the face issue, but I foresee some issues that unless I'm mistaken, they didn't resolve from the first release. But the harping on that figure will happen in due time.
A few nights ago, I stumbled upon a Facebook post selling the one Mafex Wonder Woman I did miss/pass, the solo movie version. It wasn't complete, missing the uncoiled Lasso of Truth, but for $30 CAD, I wasn't too fussy.
I had done my homework already so I knew what to expect. The solo version has the same body as the JL version, so articulation was going to be identical. The solo figure would come with the Godslayer Sword and.. whatever they called her shield, rather than the BvS or JL version (which strangely changed anyway). She'd have both coiled and uncoiled Lasso of Truths, but solo would lack the Motherbox. The Bandolier, like the JL version, wraps up to her right shoulder, and features a spot to hold her sword.
Like the jump from solo to JL, the jump to solo from BvS was pretty significant from a finish perspective. The solo figure featured some brighter colours compared to the JL version, which looking at it now, seems to be the case for the WW 84 movie. The Bracers of Submission, along with her armlet, feature some light gold highlights
Mafex hadn't quite figured out what a healthy human being looked like yet, so the solo figure complexion was still somewhat on the yellow side. It does appear that Mezco was aware of what a human face looked like, however. The improvements over the BvS version were quite noticeable, even if it was simply the BvS sculpts actually being painted properly - the neutral face on the JL version appears to be a reworked solo face, but the angry head is definitely all new.
Overall, I can't say I was disappointed with this figure, given the price and background knowledge. I purposely skipped getting this figure at full retail as the improvements really didn't tickle my fancy until the JL version. While having it in hand does show me the improvements were quite significant compared to BvS, there is nothing in the solo version that would possible cause me to dethrone the JL figure.
As of this writing, there has strangely been no Mafex solicitation for the WW 84 movie, which is a shame because they were definitely moving in the right direction with the JL release. Maybe Bandai was the only player this time around, which is great cause I'd love a Figuarts Golden Armour to go with my McFarlane.
On the other hand, who knows - 2020 has been a messed up year, and we're only halfway there. I guess ultimately, only time will tell.
DSC_3068
According to my charts, the S.H. Figuarts Wonder Woman 84 figure should be released soon, so I suppose it's an opportune time for me to back pedal and fill in a gap or two in the collection.
Back in the Winter (man does it feel like forever), I purchased the Mafex Justice League Wonder Woman figure, after being thoroughly disappointed with the Mezco release and not having found the first Figuarts release at a sane price (that came a few months later).
While the Mafex JL WW was not as articulated in body as the Figuarts was, the Mafex body was generally functional (lightyears better than the Mezco one) and had a much nicer head sculpt. Between the two, I gave the slight win to the Mafex.
The WW 84 Figuarts release, based on photos, is well positioned to resolve the face issue, but I foresee some issues that unless I'm mistaken, they didn't resolve from the first release. But the harping on that figure will happen in due time.
A few nights ago, I stumbled upon a Facebook post selling the one Mafex Wonder Woman I did miss/pass, the solo movie version. It wasn't complete, missing the uncoiled Lasso of Truth, but for $30 CAD, I wasn't too fussy.
I had done my homework already so I knew what to expect. The solo version has the same body as the JL version, so articulation was going to be identical. The solo figure would come with the Godslayer Sword and.. whatever they called her shield, rather than the BvS or JL version (which strangely changed anyway). She'd have both coiled and uncoiled Lasso of Truths, but solo would lack the Motherbox. The Bandolier, like the JL version, wraps up to her right shoulder, and features a spot to hold her sword.
Like the jump from solo to JL, the jump to solo from BvS was pretty significant from a finish perspective. The solo figure featured some brighter colours compared to the JL version, which looking at it now, seems to be the case for the WW 84 movie. The Bracers of Submission, along with her armlet, feature some light gold highlights
Mafex hadn't quite figured out what a healthy human being looked like yet, so the solo figure complexion was still somewhat on the yellow side. It does appear that Mezco was aware of what a human face looked like, however. The improvements over the BvS version were quite noticeable, even if it was simply the BvS sculpts actually being painted properly - the neutral face on the JL version appears to be a reworked solo face, but the angry head is definitely all new.
Overall, I can't say I was disappointed with this figure, given the price and background knowledge. I purposely skipped getting this figure at full retail as the improvements really didn't tickle my fancy until the JL version. While having it in hand does show me the improvements were quite significant compared to BvS, there is nothing in the solo version that would possible cause me to dethrone the JL figure.
As of this writing, there has strangely been no Mafex solicitation for the WW 84 movie, which is a shame because they were definitely moving in the right direction with the JL release. Maybe Bandai was the only player this time around, which is great cause I'd love a Figuarts Golden Armour to go with my McFarlane.
On the other hand, who knows - 2020 has been a messed up year, and we're only halfway there. I guess ultimately, only time will tell.