One of the most fascinating things about this year is that I've actually gotten a record number of Hot Toys figures. Most were pre planned of course, but I've had a pretty good time at scoring deals. One such deal came out of nowhere, getting a nice price a the only Scarlet Witch I've ever wanted - the New Avengers version.
Back when Hot Toys actually tried to get all the characters in a movie, they also did these Movie Promo figures that were for characters that were effectively cameo characters. If you watched Age of Ultron, you may recall a scene (either the end or end credit) that featured Scarlet Witch defending the Avengers base from Falcon. The costume she wore for that brief scene was supposed to be her outfit when she officially joined The Avengers, but for whatever reason they went in a slightly different direction with her look.
I'm not sure how limited this version was, or if it was at all, but this was only available directly through Sideshow itself, which is basically what happens to all Toyfair exclusives.
Priced moderately back in the day, even by Sideshow standards, Wanda doesn't really come with much, just four extra "Enhanced" hands, two energy effects, and a Base/Stand. I think even the normal version of the AoU figure came with at least more hands.
At this point in time, Hot Toys only had the one female body (well, two, but this the one they developed for Widow in Avengers) so if you were a chick, you had this body. It's not as anorexic looking when she's not wearing a jump suit like Widow, but deep down we know better. Without really having to look, I automatically know that the proportions, curves, height are all out of whack with reality.
Having said that, the outfit is quite nice. Pants are pretty basic with additional flair added on. The top is where it truly shines. I don't get too many figures from Hot Toys with this sort of stuff, so it's always nice to see it, regardless of how old the figure may be. It appears to be a combination of Pleather, some sort of Velvet type fabric, and some sort of meshing. The outfit meshes with the curves of the body quite nicely. Boots and Gauntlets are that softer plastic that Hot Toys typically uses.
Of course, the real reason for getting an older Witch rather than a modern one is the fact older ones were still all rooted hair. Not fancy hair, but rooted none-the-less. I'm told by people more experienced in the way of the Witch that overall she has had the same head up until recently with varying degrees of eye make up.
Having finally seen one in hand, I have to say that for a female head that was developed pretty early in the life of the license, it's pretty damn good. Like with the CW Widow, I can see Olsen in the eyes, even if the rest of the facial features are softer than they ought to be.
Comparing this sculpt to its cousins during the same time frame, you can see that Black Widow definitely got shafted. How can the first attempts at both Witch and Hill be this solid, but Widow went downhill despite being their fourth try at the character?
The effects are made of the same soft plastic as the effects hand are. They're very sturdy and all that, so no complaints there. But the way the effects are meant to be used, namely mounted on the fingers of the open palmed hands, makes me hope that future figures actually had more useful effects pieces.
Between the somewhat restrictive outfit (nothing is ever going to top WS Widow or Captain Marvel), lack of a variety of effects like Dr. Strange had, and the fixed ankles, doing any battle poses is pretty limiting. Normally I'd throw the neutral expression in there too, but after years of dead eyed Black Widow stares, almost anything is an improvement. I feel that it's the lack of effects that really hurts your ability to display Witch in a badass battle pose, as even in the movie she's a very Special Effects driven character.
Having said all that, the more casual posing side of things is actually not bad. The outfit isn't skin tight and has some give to it. This includes the pants themselves, which actually can withstand some serious stretching without any permanent damage. Or at least any I could find. For one's sanity, leaving anything in an extreme pose is not advised.
Paint Applications are solid, as expected. Even on older figures, this was rarely an issue, as the paint work itself was good - it was the general art direction that sucked. Paint work is primarily on the head sculpt, with colour matching for the skin tone on the rubber chest piece and the hands, with all unexposed areas unpainted. There are of course some paint apps dedicated for the various accent colours on the figure, such as the silver used for buckles and jewelry.
Build Quality is a tougher one for me judge, as this was a used figure so it had some play wear already, resulting in looser than anticipated neck and hips. In fact, the rubber cub that secures tot he ball joint of the neck has actually worn away significantly. I'm going to presume if this was a new figure, these would behave like your typical figure, which is to say they were perfectly adequate at doing their job. The rooted hair itself is actually quite nice, and is still better than any stock Widow hair that I've seen, Of course, to be fair this could be due to the fact that the Widow styles were more challenging to replicate than this. The wrist pegs also seem to like to come out while changing hands, which again could be QC or just age related. No issues observed with poor parts finishes or tailoring concerns.
For an older figure, Scarlet Witch did a lot of things right. I mean, there have been some improvements since 2016, of course, but it's mostly cosmetic. The fundamentals were as solid in 2016 as they are in 2023. So unless you're chasing down the latest and greatest, I think that as a Scarlet Witch fan you should be ok if you just stick with the costume of your choice.
While the head sculpts have improved, I've noticed that with the exception of the Artisan version, the outfits seems to have become more and more rigid plastic or the suit material used for Black Widow, which is probably more durable but likely to result in less articulation. The Artisan one WOULD have been a good compromise, and be readily available, but that sculpted hair is just terrible on the prototype, looking like a really bad hat.
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