Batman & Robin - BATGIRL!

DC Multiverse - Batman & Robin (Mr. Freeze CtB) - Batgirl - McFarlane 2023

When Batman & Robin (1997) came out, I was very disappointed in the Batgirl costume. Batgirl had been an obsession of mine since childhood and I had high expectations. My biggest problem was the domino mask in place of the full cowl. Of course I learned later that the full cowl was part of the design but was literally pulling out Alicia Silverstone's hair. But the toys had been misleading and I felt cheated. I also loved Alicia Silverstone. It was hard to be a child of the 90s and not be obsessed with her. But casting a non-redhead in such an iconic role was also upsetting. But over time I grew to see this design as iconic. And the Barbara Wilson backstory worked for me. I've been wishing for a proper action figure of her since I started collecting toys as an adult. It was one of those pipe dreams I never expected to actually have come true. But here she is and she is pretty terrific. The likeness to Alicia is not right, and her costume is missing some details (both of which I attempted to correct below), but she is great.

Some details about this figures that are not quite right: (1) The costume is too black. Although it appears slightly different in almost every scene and every promotional picture, there is consistently some sort of metallic sheen and silvery highlights on her mask, emblem, belt, etc. (2) Hers eyes are too dark. Alicia has blue eyes. Grayish-blue and on the darker side, but not as dark as this toy portrays. (3) Her signature pouty mouth is simply not present. Alicia has lips that seem to always be frowning without looking sad somehow. The sculpt and overall feel of this figure is great, but if these three things were addressed she would be perfect. 

I attempted a rough custom at the bottom of this post.

Batgirl comes with a Collector Card and a Figure Stand.

Batgirl also comes with the Head, Shoulderpads, and Gun for the Collect-to-Build Mr. Freeze.

I was a bit let down at how this figure didn't capture the feel of Alicia Silverstone, so I attempted a custom.

I'm very happy with the results, but I'm not done yet.

What I did:

EYES: I added a tiny bit of blue to the irises. Alicia's eyes are kind of smoky blue, but this figure's eyes looked black.

EYELIDS: I made the flat black makeup around her eyes more shimmery with DecoArt Pearls - Lamp Black.

MASK, CHEST EMBLEM, BELT, etc: Made them silvery metallic with several coats of DecoArt Dazzling Metallics - Zinc.

LIPS: Alicia's lips are very trademark. They are upturned at the top, and pulled down at the sides. I tried my best to replicate this, but the sculpted mouth is a straight line. Also, her lip color as Batgirl was always a shiny pink. The dark red of the original was off-putting for some reason. I repainted her lips pink, but I couldn't get the shading right. I ultimately repainted them a darker color than I intended, but I will attempt a pink shade again along with another attempt to turn down the corners and give her that signature pout.

I unintentionally made her look very angry. 

This is because I accidentally painted her top lip line unevenly and also got a swipe of Lamp Black paint on the bottom of her right eyeball. 

Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!

Here is Batgirl with her wave-mate, Poison Ivy.

Cheers!