SPECS
Name / Series: Harley Quinn / Suicide Squad (movie)
Character: Harley Quinn aka Dr. Harleen Quinzel
Scale: Approximately 1/6
Edition Size: Undefined / Unserialized
Box Size [H / W / D] (inches): 15 x 10 x 6.5
Max. Dimensions [H / W / D] (inches): 12.5 x 7.75 x 4.25
Producer: DC Collectibles
Original MSRP (USD): $149.99
Sculpted By: James Marsano
REVIEW
Design: 9
Mirroring the mixed reception of 2016’s Suicide Squad movie, part of the DCEU, comes a new interpretation of fan favorite, Harley Quinn. The design is a replica of Margot Robbie’s tattooed Harley, complete with fishnet stockings and micro hot pants. Harley is striking a pose, but is ready to cave in a head at a moment's notice. If I had my choice, I would have like to see Harley without the jacket.
Sculpt: 9
The likeness of Ms. Robbie is not quite there, but is pretty close. The rest of the figure looks to be an accurate replica of the movie design. While I’m 100% certain, I think it is a fair bet that this is fully digital sculpt. Ms. Robbie’s anatomy seems to be accurately reproduced with no unnecessary “enhancements”. Fine details are replicated as demonstrated by the fabric texture of her hot pants and the embroidery of the jacket. Even the zipper is accurately scaled on the figure. If the hair was digitally sculpted, I am impressed as such natural flow of the hair seems to be more common with traditional hand sculpting. The base is the standard Suicide Squad dogtag design across the line, so I don’t know who is credited with that, but it is not all that complex.
Paint & Mixed Media: 9
Paint application is top grade for this price point. Key demerit comes from the poorly aligned eyes. I don't care if they look to the side or forward, but both should be going the same direction. The fade of the pink and blue hair dye looks airbrushed. Clean paint lines for this scale. Minor errors in paint wash on the right hand but overall, the wash is properly applied. But strangely the wash is used to provide shading on the red side of the jacket but not the purple side. Was this an oversight or did they think the darker purple didn’t need a wash to accentuate shading? Speaking of the red and purple, the factory used a slightly Metallic satin looking paints that provide a good reproduction of the fabric. The two key aspects of mixed media are the judicious use of decals and the real fishnets. I didn’t compare all the tattooes to the movie design, but noticeably missing is the “ROTTEN” on her right jaw. But overall, the use of decals for the tattooes was the right choice. I am impressed with the fine details like the “EVIL” on her left hand fingernails and the barely visible “tramp stamp” on her lower back. Even the text on her baseball bat is actually readable. It's a bit much to ask for the price point, but the factory could have used a decal for the black thread "x" stitches missing on her shirt. The embroidery on the jacket isn’t perfectly painted, with the factory leaning to conservative paint application to minimize painting out of the lines. It looks fine at a viewing distance. I will again complain about the Chinese factories use of “antique” gold which is more greenish. The character called for a more yellowish, 24K gold color for all of the gold accents.
Production & Build Quality: 9
DC Collectibles seems to be the leading company in using candy resin. The candy resin (what Sideshow tried to coin as intrinsic resin) is a tinted translucent resin. Early use by DCC was met with “looks waxy” comments, but I think the factories are really getting the hang of it as it provides great skin tone. It is only surpassed by vinyl used in 1/6 poseable figures. The candy resin is harder to work with as defects cannot be easily puttied and sanded since it cannot be covered in paint or primer to disguise the rework. Any paint on top of the resin also cannot be touched up and works best if airbrushed to be blended with the resin underneath. Overall construction is superior for this scale and price point. All of the spikes on her bracelets are there and properly cast. All the parts fit well and the gap between the hot pants and the legs for the factory to tuck the fishnets has a tight tolerance. The right bracelet does look like it was put on backwards compared to the packaging. Harley comes in one piece separate from the base for safe packing and shipping.
Final Comments:
While the reception of the movie and character design are mixed, Harley, nonetheless remains an extremely popular character. It is unknown if DCC will resolicit a second batch since this an open edition. Given the price point and the fact one can find this a street price cheaper than MSRP, I feel that this statue is an excellent value. If you are interested in picking this one up, I wouldn’t wait.
I decided not to do a separate review for Katana since the comments would be very similar. So I included the photos below with some short comments.
Overall Score: 9.00