One of the more interesting surprises from Hot Toys this year is the return of rooted hair in what would be named the Artisan series. Perhaps due to pressure from collectors or competition from companies like Inart, these new, pricier rooted figures were made utilizing natural fibers such as wool, rather than the plastic ones of years past.
While I eagerly awaited the delivery of this figure, my Widows were obtained, so I had an understanding what to expect, though I was somewhat spoiled, which I'll explain a bit later. Having said that, after seeing all of Southeast Asia get their stock, mine finally came from Sideshow Toys this past week and let me tell you the taxes and fees paid on the DHL delivery made me question my sanity. But it was for science, so YOLO.
Presenting, the Hot Toys WB100 Wonder Woman figure.
So I already have enough trouble lighting a 1/6 size box, and this one was even larger. The box art featuring Wonder Woman from her solo movie.
Anyway, moving on for now..
Basically, if you weren't aware of what this figure is, the best way to describe it would be Upcycled Wonder Woman. Hot Toys basically kitbashed a Wonder Woman figure from pretty much all their sets, though strangely you don't really get anything from the Justice League version other than the red Bracers (wish the included her Deluxe cloak). There's even some black hooks I think were used to secure the shield to her body, or at least that's what the Captain America figures taught me. The only real original parts would be the base and the backdrop.
This also means that whatever beef I had with previous releases is basically still here. Sadly, this means no eyeball movement.
So one of the reasons that this box is bigger than your typical Hot Toys release is because the heads are now packaged like this. To preserve the hair during transit, the heads are packed separately from the body inside its own container, suspended and insulated from impact. On a related note, the trays are made from foam rather than the typical plastic or even styrofoam of the die cast releases.
Now, I don't actually read reviews from other people, so maybe this was covered, but in the months leading up to mine finally shipping, owners just kept saying that this was the same head as the Golden Armour figure, which technically is true, kind of like how Hot Toys described this as a newly painted head - technically true.
So in this photo, the WB 100 head is on the left, and the Golden Armour is on the right. You'll notice that the two look PRETTY MUCH the same, yet there's something off. Because I'm probably more anal retentive than most, I did the comparison shot and stared at the photo, finally realizing that Hot Toys basically lightened the lipstick a bit and removed the paint around the eyes. Like I said, all above statements are technically true. What's fascinating is that slightly altering the paint on the same head can dramatically improve the likeness of a head.
While I'm here, might as well discuss the hair style. I have absolutely no idea what they were aiming for. This isn't the hairstyle from WW '84, and it doesn't quite match up with any of her previous styles. Based on the box art, I'd guess they were aiming to replicate the Solo movie look but, in typical fashion, failed spectacularly.. It's not a bad look, it's just not accurate to anything.
Also, I think no matter who does the hair, people need to realize that you're going to need to apply product to get the hair to hold exactly the way you want because there just isn't enough mass for gravity to do its thing at this scale, at least not in comparison to the stiffness of the fibers.
One of the complaints I DID hear about was the fact glue work was a bit messy. So of course I took a close look and quite honestly, yeah I did see a bit of glue there but I had to break out the macro lens and really good lighting to actually make it now. So, technically true, but the typical collector isn't going to notice or care.
Because everyone had already done the experimenting on the WW '84 body, the use of the Golden Armour does help to reduce the giraffe neck situation, and I suspect it is because the head sits lower on the neck. I mean, technically Hot Toys could have made the WW '84 head sit lower on the body too by adjusting the hair a bit, but for whatever reason they didn't, and the rest is history. The neck is also further camouflaged by the fact you can actually tilt the head/neck for photographs.
Having said all that, a view from the side shows a nice profile for the head, but also, how mismatched the head is in relation to the Spongebob shaped torso this body is known for. I really wish whoever designed this body had taken a page from the S22/23 and at least given the figure some musculature.
Otherwise, the rest of this overview is pretty much recycled news. If you've never seen the body, well, here it is. It the defense of Hot Toys, it's not like they made it worse - it's always looked like this, even back in the BvS days. The issue is that customers were too complacent and really complained. I mentioned this was the WW '84 and it is, just with the darker red from her earlier movies.
The body is described by many as "seamless" just because now they're using silicone (rubber before) which does help with aesthetics and general articulation, but considering all you have to do is look hip legs and you see they can be taken off, that pretty much throws "seamless" out the window.
Proportions are gangly, and while I understand the height thing (in that Hot Toys is terrible at being consistent across their product lines) but you figure a custom made body for the Wonder Woman figure would at least have proportions and a bust line that make sense. But no, of course not.. Hot Toys likes to recycle and I' pretty sure that in some way, shape, or form we ended up with this body because of a desire to reuse existing tooling.
In terms of articulation, the use of silicone didn't really improve the articulation as opposed to allow for more of it. One of the greatest issues with the previous rubber material (and there are so many great ones to choose from) is that the material was so stiff it would retain its form even without the skeleton inside - I've broken enough arms to testify to this fact. This of course means that the skeleton has to work that much hard to hold poses (hence the breaking) and also, the material would actually be actively fighting the changes. I suppose the legs were always alright, as the hips are ball joints, knees ratcheting, and the ankles were a distinct joint.
One of the upgrades on the WB100 version is the use of a softer plastic for the armour. It's certainly more pliable than before, though it's not exactly fabric either. Like with the silicone, this softer material allows you to access more of the articulation in that part of the body. So a little bit of ab crunch/back arch, but the relatively full use of the waist joint, which does open up posing options. Otherwise, based on what you're given, while it's possible for the figure to do others, it looks most natural in standing/standing adjacent poses, or ones where big strides amd actions are being taken, combined with a head that isn't looking straight forward as the Golden Armour sculpt features a very obvious side glance. Subtlety is not a strong suit of this body.
Like with most Hot Toy figures, you really don't get too many complaints about the paint. Yeah, certainly there are questionable aesthetic choices, especially on the faces, but the actual quality of the paint work seldom bad. I think if there was paint flaws the customer base would freak out, especially on figures where a paint blemish is REALLY obvious, like Iron Man figures.
The ironic thing about the use of the silicone body is that Hot Toys didn't change the colour of the flesh tone on the fists, so now it looks like she has circulation problems. The material used also doesn't help either. Having said that its more noticeable when you're not doing flash photography.
Build Quality, on the other hand, isn't as cut and dry as the rest of the releases. So, positives are that the usual quality of sculpting and finishes on pieces, particularly the plastic ones, are great. As mentioned earlier, you may not be a fan of the aesthetic choices that were made, but at least they come out looking crisp.
That's not to say their softer goods, like the leather strap, don't come out looking good. But, my concern is with longevity. I got this strap with my Justice League version, and after one outdoor excursion, where I was pretty sure I was quite gentle with it, glue came off on multiple spots and peeling developed on the body. Now the body has been remedied, but the glue drying and allowing the leather to peel apart and the upper knee armour to fall off somewhere, have not exactly been forgotten. Now, this is probably one of the only Hot Toy figures I have with glue secured dangly bits I have, but call it PTSD... I'm thinking unless I'm really in the mood to take a risk, WB100 is going to be an inside girl.
I'm not so sure that the Tiara was sized to fit the Golden Armour sculpt perfectly, as it was meant for the WW '84 head and I wouldn't put it past Hot Toys just to repackage the thing as is, as it is a bit loose, and if you want to be super anal retentive the set doesn't come with a hand that is meant to hold the Tiara (purpose made hands are present is many of the Hot Toys sets of the past) probably because they never made one for the WW '84 set either.
I've read people complaining about seams on the body. Yeah, there are seams - there were seams back in the rubber days too. It's kind of a reality of making a body with these sorts of materials. What's more annoying is the quality control on the joints. My figure cannot bring its right arm flush against its body, my guess being a wonky shoulder joint. Now this may not seem like much of an issue, but that means everything else about the shoulder range of motion is thrown off and you end up with asymmetricity and the inability to pull off certain poses, such as the iconic cross arm, which already isn't that great to begin with.
Hopefully Sideshow can sort this out for me.
Is this a good release? To start, can you even find this figure at its already eye watering $400 USD price point (Sideshow pricing.. was cheaper in Asia). For this figure, I don't see it dipping below MSRP ever, as the quantities are limited.
Provided you can get this for MSRP, I'd say its a decent value for the Wonder Woman enthusiast, considering the entry price of the WW '84 was $250 USD (again, Sideshow) and you do get a significantly number of additional accessories in comparison. The ones benefiting the most from all this would be any one who doesn't have a Wonder Woman or hasn't really gotten one since BvS, waiting for the perfect one to show up. Strengths and weakness of previous releases are all rolled up into one package.
The counter argument is that the parts are predominately reused and should be cheaper.
You could attempt to assemble your own. Focusing on aesthetics only you could technically find someone fire selling their WW '84 and just get a Golden Armour sculpt rerooted. You'd get a very similar effect, with likely a better hair styling and quality, BUUUUUTTTT you'd have to live with the Emo Girl eye make up. By the time that happens, you're easily at the $350 USD price point already, though arguably you could try to recoup a few bucks by selling the original sculpt.
From an high level perspective, however, this is probably the best overall Wonder Woman release for Gal Gadot as we're going to get. She's out of the game, and I don't think Hot Toys is going to be dipping into the Snyderverse again and if they did, it would be Batman and Superman first.
So yeah... it's no longer a typical discussion of its value and merits anymore.. At this point, its a matter of how hardcore you are.
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