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Old 07-31-2015, 12:46 AM   #1
Dahwaf
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Harley Quinn Cover Girls (v3) by DC Collectibles

Harley Quinn Cover Girls (v3) – DC Collectibles
Designed by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau.
Sculpted by Jack Mathews.
Stands at approximately 10.5” high.
Limited edition size of 5200.
RRP: $99.99 USD.



Intro.
Harley Quinn.

Easily one of DC’s most popular characters, if not, the most. Her popularity is at an all time high with appearances in her own solo series, a current team-up book with Power Girl, the Suicide Squad comic, starring roles in the Arkham video games, Injustice: Gods Among Us, animated films, TV shows and of course, in the upcoming Suicide Squad film played by Margot Robbie.



With the immense popularity, it’s no surprise this is now the third time Harley Quinn has appeared in the Cover Girls line. She appeared originally in Adam Hughe’s acclaimed line, then again in Jim Lee’s inspired line in her New 52 Suicide Squad outfit.

Here we are again, during Artgerm’s impressively long run, to see how she does. Is third time lucky?



Sculpt. 6.0
Jack Mathew’s has sculpted all three Harleys (as well as the majority of Cover Girls) in the line. However, if you told me someone else had sculpted this, I would have easily believed you.



It’s not a horrible sculpt, it just doesn’t make sense. Why is she standing on her mallet like that? What’s she looking at? How is she going to survive her next step? Isn’t she about to fall of? How did she even get on top of her mallet like that? It’s a strange, strange pose. Her proportions also seem off: small head, long neck, tiny hands and crazy long legs.

However, despite the flaws, Mathews does do a good job capturing the playfulness of Harley, which is a plus. She does manage to look quite good in a set with all the other Cover Girls – it’s just “so Harley” of her to be messing around on her hammer while all the other girls look serious and ready for battle.



Paint. 4.0
Where do I start?

Perhaps one of DC’s sloppiest paint jobs yet, it’s so bad I can’t even find an edge where there ISN’T some overlapping. There are also some odd scratches and paint smudges over her body, as well a few white scratches near her backside.

As with most statues, the sloppy paintwork isn’t glaringly obvious. You obviously won’t really notice it if it’s sitting on your shelf and you’re a few steps back, but there are a few points (particular the jester collar) that really bring it down.



Design. 5.0
Whenever I read the DC forums here, the biggest complaint I see (other than the bases) on Artgerm’s line of statues is the awkward poses. I think this one take’s the cake. Sure, Artgerm’s original design looks great – I mean, he’s a great artist! But this statue faces the same serious problem that others, like Starfire, Huntress and Batgirl have face: these designs are appropriate for statue form. I think some more care should be taken when considering poses for statues.

Again, the design itself is good, and it definitely shows Harley’s playfulness and fun side, but it just doesn’t lend itself well to statue-form.



Production and Build Quality. 5.0
There’s one huge design flaw here. It’s so ridiculous, so widespread and so obvious that I’m in genuine shock it was approved: The mallet does not allow the statue to sit fully flush in the base. I haven’t seen a single one of these that’s been sitting properly in the base.



Another strange issue is the constant rocking of the statue. This piece wobbles a lot so try and avoid any table that’s prone to shake or anything.

The statue is also very strangely packed. I mean it’s safe, so that’s good, but the base’s spot is only visible in the top part of the foam packaging, so they’ll be some guess work when you’re packing her back into her box.

And of course, the obvious QC issues with paint. Otherwise, the statue itself is relatively sturdy.



Overall. 5.0
This one’s an easy pass guys. As a stand alone Harley statue, this piece is just not up to scratch in terms of design or quality.

If you’re looking for a good Harley Quinn statue, may I suggest hunting down the original Harley Quinn Cover Girls by Adam Hughes? That one is without a doubt, Harley’s most defining statue yet (and far, far superior than this).
It might be a bit expensive now, so maybe some recent stuff, like the Harley B&W by Bruce Timm, the Bombshell statue by Ant Lucia, or the Arkham statues? Something by Artgerm? There’s always the Harley PF by Sideshow.

Seriously. Take your pick. I think we all know there’s definitely not a lack of good Harley statues out there.

With that said, I will add that this statue does look quite good standing next to some of the other girls in Artgerm’s line of statues (see photos below). If you’re a completionist like me, you probably will end up picking this one up.

Luckily for us, some much better looking pieces are coming soon, including Wonder Woman, which is out now actually (review soon!), Bleeze and Catwoman later this year, as well as Black Canary and Power Girl early next year.

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Old 07-31-2015, 12:47 AM   #2
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Old 07-31-2015, 07:48 PM   #3
Gyro Zeppeli
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Excellent reviews as always. Looks like this one was pretty bad. Not really sure what they were going for with the pose. From far away, like that last shot you posted, it looks pretty cool and catches one's eye, but up close it's just bizarre. I think it's a fun pose though and had the sculpt and paint been a little better it might have worked well.
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Old 08-01-2015, 05:27 AM   #4
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Thank you for this honest and informative review; I really liked reading it.
I must admit that I like the pose of Harley since this pose represents Harley to me in the very best way: crazy, chaotic, playful, unexpectedly strange but with dangerous and deadly serious undertone.
I do not think Harley would ever pose like a model but I can very much imagine her standing on her hammer like this. The pose is playful and funny but if you look at her or Mr. J. in the wrong way, she will crash your skull with that huge hammer without giving it a second thought.

Just my two cents though; YMMV!

KR,

Rainer
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Old 08-01-2015, 07:23 AM   #5
SDguy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Force of Nature View Post
Thank you for this honest and informative review; I really liked reading it.
I must admit that I like the pose of Harley since this pose represents Harley to me in the very best way: crazy, chaotic, playful, unexpectedly strange but with a deadly serious undertone.
I do not think Harley would ever pose like a model but I can very much imagine her standing on her hammer like this. The pose is playful and funny but if you look at her or Mr. J. in the wrong way, she will crash your skull with that huge hammer without giving it a second thought.

Just my two cents though; YMMV!

KR,

Rainer
I appreciate the concept, but I don't even know if someone could physically do that pose on a round mallet. It's just too much/weird, IMO. And seeing it next to the Hughes version.... well, done.

Great review, BTW!
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Old 08-01-2015, 10:36 AM   #6
Honored Knight
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I'm a huge Harley Quinn fan, but want no part of this statue. Face and pose are not appealing to me. Definite pass.
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Old 08-01-2015, 01:50 PM   #7
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I feel as though this is one of those "caught in a moment" poses. Can definitely see it working out if she placed the mallet down in front of her, stepped on it with her left foot and then swung her right foot out in front effectively stepping over the head of the mallet.. Albeit, very flamboyantly, as one would expect from Harley. I just don't think the control art or statue did a very good job at conveying the momentum (if that's the case). Too bad the quality isn't quite there, as this would have been a pretty unique piece otherwise.

Nonethless, great review Dahwaf! I'm holding off on the majority of Artgerm's run for awhile until I have some other priority pieces/lines squared away, so I appreciate you putting these out with each new release.
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Old 08-02-2015, 11:39 AM   #8
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Hi SDguy,

you are absolutely right: it's weird, unlikely and perhaps physically difficult to pose like that on a mallet but IMHO that's exactly why the pose fits Harley so well.
The way I see her she is strange, unpredictable and does things no one expects.
It would have been very uncharacteristic if Harley would have posed in the same pose as Wonder Woman does for her Cover Girl statue but I can definitely see her pulling off something like stepping on a round mallet if that is what she feels like doing.
When I think of Harley I think of taking a maniacal ride into the Kingdom of the Madness and that's why I feel this pose fits her so well.

Again, just my two cents; YMMV!

Rainer


Quote:
Originally Posted by SDguy View Post
I appreciate the concept, but I don't even know if someone could physically do that pose on a round mallet. It's just too much/weird, IMO. And seeing it next to the Hughes version.... well, done.

Great review, BTW!
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Old 08-25-2015, 12:45 PM   #9
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I like the Adam Hughes designs better.
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Old 08-25-2015, 12:49 PM   #10
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The rest are ok but AH ones were so good that the ones after are a little below the AH's line
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