Thursday, February 21, 2013

Arkham City TALIA AL GHUL!

Talia Finally Arrives in Arkham City Series Four - from DC Collectibles 2013

My first exposure to Talia was a very startling experience.  For Christmas one year, my Aunt bought me the Batman: Son of the Demon TPB.  I was nine and way too young to see Batman getting it on.  In my young mind Talia was a homewrecker there to spoil the pristine bachelorhood of my favorite hero.  Since those early "ewwww"s, I've grown rather fond of this character.  From comics, to the cartoons, and finally to this past Summer's Dark Knight Rises, she has become an amazingly deep and provocative character (despite having no defined costume!).  Not to mention her role in the world of video games.  Talia has been one of those characters that the Batman collectors have been pleading for since the hobby market really took off in the late 90s.  Sure, we got an animated version, but that wasn't likely to satisfy everyone.  Even this figure may still be a far cry from the comic version many envision.   But I honestly think this figure is a great representation of all her many incarnations and I'm so glad to add her to my bat-shelf.  Let's check out the review!





The packaging is standard for DC Direct/DC Collectibles Arkham City waves so far.  The colors are really appealing in the background image of a foggy blue and yellow cityscape.

















I think she's an absolutely beautiful figure.  The details on her costume are amazing, her articulation is good, her face sculpt is lovely, and the overall quality is very high.  My only issues are with a few of the paint apps around the edges of her hair and her lips.  (Update:  I dug out my brush and paint and touched up her hairline and lips - pics at the end)

Here are some close-ups showing the uneven paintlines around her hair-edges.  All the Talias at the store today had some variation of this flaw.  It's not so noticeable in these pictures, but in person it is and seeing flesh-colored sculpted hair is major pet peeve of mine.





Talia comes with an awesome sword that is really flexible but managed to stay straight and not get warped in the packaging.




Her poseability is pretty awesome.  She has the same joints as the other Arkham City women (Harley Quinn & Catwoman - check out their past reviews!).  Like the other two girls, she could benefit from some ankle joints and maybe ball-jointed hips, but all-in-all she's pretty amazing.







Time for some Comparison Pics!

Here she is with her Animated Version




And here are the three DC Direct/DC Collectibles ladies together.




I had a question acting about her sclae in relation to Mattel Movie Masters figures, so here she is with the DKR Catwoman.  Talia is quite a bit taller.




Cheers!


PS.  Here are pics of the touch-up.  Original on the Left and Customized on the right.  All I did was darken/fill-in the edges of her hair sculpt, and the same for her lips.











4 comments:

  1. It's not the greatest likeness to Talia in the game, but I will probably buy her to hang with my Arkham figures.

    Awesome detail in the body.

    You're repaint looks really nice. I also cannot stand fleshy unpainted bits of hair. A particular problem back before seperate hairpieces became the norm for longer haired characters.

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    1. I actually like this better than a true likeness to the game would look. I thought her game look was a bit too Maxim for me.

      Did you see in-hand pic of Crimson Asp yet? Unpainted hair like I've never seen before! get your brushes ready!

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  2. Great review!
    Do you have Movie Masters Batman figure? DC Direct stuff is taller usually but can she stand next to Movie Masters Mattel batman?

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    1. Thanks! I actually don't have any of my Movie Masters anymore except for the two DKR Catwomen. I posted a new pic above (It stand out because there's a black backdrop in the photo). Now you just need to find a pic of MM Batman and Catwoman together. Talia seems quite a bit taller.

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