By now, it seems Sideshow has shipped out a good number of their WB 100 Wonder Woman figures. Some people loving it, some people hating on it, which is pretty normal I suppose. But one of the more interesting arguments that keeps popping up is that the Training Armour version has the superior sculpt. I haven't seen anyone say that the rubber body is superior to the silicone body introduced in the WW '84 release, though I suspect that particular comment would be met with some pretty snarky replies. The conspiracy theorist in me finds it interesting that this lack of comment is also accompanied by the fact I don't think there's any actual difficulty obtaining said silicone body, where as getting a WB 100 head is a far more difficult task.
Given the natural order of things, I actually wouldn't have a Training Armour to do research on. They're not much hard to get as opposed to not cheap, but a combination of availability and the ability to ship to somewhere that doesn't cost an arm and a leg resulted in me picking up a sealed copy while I was traveling in the US in October 2023. So, having taken care of WB 100, it was only logical I moved on to this figure.
Retailing for $220 USD on Sideshow, this was a moderately priced figure, and came packed accordingly:
- 1 x Main Figure
- 8 x Gripping/Posing Hands
- 2 x Glowing Bracers
- 1 x Sword w/STand
- 1 x Shield
- 1 x Bow
- 3 x Arrow
- 1 x Base/Stand
- 1 x Backdrop
Bow comes with a warning not to extend the string too far or else you'll end up with what happened to my Medicom Link.
All things considered, I think the $250 USD I paid is probably about as good I will ever see at this point in time.
Like Golden Armour, the Training Armour figure has a very distinct look. featuring the look and armaments of Diana as she went through the trials at the start of the Wonder Woman film to prove that she was worthy of becoming champion of the Amazons. The overall look has been nailed, but I really wish that Hot Toys had actually made a top featuring something that replicated leather better, particularly in pliability, as it is now a solid plastic corset that restricts movement. Thankfully, the skirt is fabric so at least the legs are relatively unrestricted.
So one of the benefits of using a stiffer rubber (and darker skin tone) is that the actual musculature, present on all Wonder Woman bodies, is actually more photogenic on the old body as compared to the new one. Unfortunately, the rubber also stains easier than silicone, and will likely peel at some point if I ever expose it to the real world.
Speaking of photogenic, I have to admit having a relatively monochromatic colour scheme does make for a more fascinating photo experience as it doesn't seem to be as reliant on lighting the entire figure for things to look good. Which outfit is better is truly a personal opinion , though for sure the tied back hair works better for someone who is in training, as keeping it simple was the theme I felt they were going for here.
Shame that because this is the same old body, the same proportion and bust line issues that have plagued this figure since Day One are still present.
Fun fact - because there's less bulk concealing the lower legs, you can clearly see that Diana has been skipping leg day since she was born.
So here's the head sculpt itself. To start things off, I hate sculpted hair. though in this case because it is such a simple style at least there isn't much lost from that perspective, just articulation. Given the age of the figure, I feel the overall sculpt isn't bad and features a pretty good profile and general facial shape, but there are some issues when it comes to sizing. The face is too small, particularly around the jawline, which unfortunately makes the eyes appear to be too large. Overall, it is a lot nicer than what we ended up getting for Justice League, and despite its focused stare, a better result than Winter Solider Black Widow.
Speaking of sculpting work, sculpted details into the outfit and various accessories are nicely done, and show up brilliantly after a nice coat of paint.
Having said that, how does it compare to the WB 100? The expression is different on both,a nd as always, each have a set of angles and lighting conditions that work better for it. The likeness is generally about the same, but the softer features, side glance, and general improved likeness to an actual human being make the WB 100 a better head overall. The fact you can actually pose the head is just the cherry on top.
Articulation wise, the rubber body is moderately inferior to the silicone body. Overall, it's stiffer and more challenging to get into position, but the actual range of motion hasn't changed. What that means is that you're still looking at fair still looking posing options... with a twist.
So for... reasons, the boots were designed such that the feet and the lower leg are connected, which I'm sure works perfectly fine in real life and full scale. However, at this scale we're looking at significant reduction of ankle articulation, which basically means she's not doing much unless her feet are flat on the ground, legs straight up.
Also, in case it wasn't obvious, the plastic ponytail also affects head movement.
Paint work is superb, as always, though the hands are a bit rough looking (they all look rough) though at least the colour matches the skin this time. Otherwise, everywhere there's a painted surface you're generally going to like what you see. I'm just not entirely certain if the boots looked that plasticky in the movie, but I'm going to lean towards it being accurate because if they can get metallics down, I think this is probably on purpose. Minute paint apps such as on the arrow shaft are expertly done, as are the paint applications on the face.
It's interesting to note that the Glowing Bracers of Submission on the Training Armour figure feature a dull gold trim with yellow panel and painted orange lining whereas the ones on the WB 100 are a bright gold with orange panel lining.
From a Build Quality perspective, the rubber bodies have their own share of issues. For this figure, the metal skeleton doesn't seem to grasp the hand joints were well, resulting in them coming out very easily. No other significant fitment issues to report other than arming the bow and arrow is a real pain in the ass. A more relevant issue is one that I identified on the WB 100 - rough handling does in fact easily rip the handle from shield, requiring a simple, but stupid, repair job.
At the end of the day, a solid Hot Toys release, just not an outstanding one.
Certainly some very nice sculpting and general artistic decisions, and they help to make the Training Armour stand out visually, which is admittedly probably the biggest influencer when most people choose their favourite version, and even then there's a pretty large subset of collectors that only care about the sculpt itself. So yeah, if you're in for a Wonder Woman with sculpted hair, this one is probably the best you'll get, because it's certainly better than the WW '84. Otherwise, I feel the owning experience between this and the WB 100 are generally about the same, give or take some accessories and hair.
There's just nothing technical about the figure that makes it stand out, which to be fair is generally the case until recently with things like the Artisan line and what looks like a focus on giving figures outfits they can actually move in.
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