Batgirl has had a wild ride in comic books. She's had a significant impact on readers since The Killing Joke where she was paralyzed, and became the paraplegic computer tech assistant to Batman, Oracle. The Batgirl mantle has also been worn by a previously female Robin (Stephanie Brown), Betty Kane, niece to Kathy Kane (Batwoman), and Cassandra Cain, a mute Asian from the League of Assassins. There are a couple of others too! The most iconic one, and the one this figure represents, is Barbara Gordon, daughter of Commissioner Gordon.
I have to say I much prefer Batgirl as a fully mobile character who can hold her own. It seems to me that The Killing Joke really set her character back for years. In New 52, they kept the older storyline but allowed her recovery after a few years after having a neurotransmitter chip placed in her spine. Now, in the DC Rebirth, she is hearkened more back to her pre-flashpoint era style, meaning she is not paralyzed.
Let's be honest, toy collectors are like birds: we see shiny things and want to pick them up. The shinier the better, and this figure is all that and a bag of chips. She's got very high gloss black, very shiny yellow gold pieces, and nice face and hair paint. She is fairly light and her cape, while solid, doesn't get too much in the way. She has those dang Mattel figure crotches that look unnatural when spread, but that was their shtick and they stuck to it. She has some elbow and knee joints which don't fully flex 90 degrees...and yet they flex BACKWARDS as if she had broken her limbs at the elbows and knees...odd!
Sculpt&Paint: 7/10 Because shiny! Really like the sculpt on this one. I also like that they have the purple on the inside of the cloak. With such a predominantly black colour scheme, I find the darker gold works better on an aesthetic level for me. The symbol and boot tops are well sculpted and the paint throughout is clean. The face is a pretty well done too, given they usually mess up eyes on figures and don't add enough shading to hair. That said, the neck is a bit too long, and because the hair is so solid, you can't really swivel her head much at all.
Articulation: 4/10 Not good. I was a naive amateur when looking to buy Batgirl figures, and didn't realize you could buy a really good looking figure that couldn't bend their knees very far. Or elbows. Or much! She can do the splits well, but the head is severely limited, as are the knees and elbows. The diaphragm joint is pretty useless, and is worse than a regular waist swivel. Dang!
Price/Availability: 5/10 Okay. At the time I bought mine, it was dirt cheap on eBay, and not really available anywhere else. Now it's at double the original price, though some aren't as bad.
Accessories: 1/5 None (as I'm aware of): Some shots show her holding a long batarang, but I bought mine on eBay loose. From package pictures I can't tell if she comes with one.
Fun Factor: 2/5 Decent. Despite her limited articulation, she has some good balance, and a nice shiny look to add to your shelf.
Verdict: 19/40 Not bad. You could do better for poseability in other Batgirl figures, but few have her shine. It's nice to add to in a collection, but you could do better!
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| Someday, I will find a better hanging line substitute than dental floss. But it smells so minty fresh! |
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| Come at me! |
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| Had to use a DC Icons Batman batarang for this one. Worked well! |
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| Leap! |
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| Her fists are a bit on the tiny side |
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| That's about as high of a kick as you'll get. |
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| Now THAT is some crazy hyper-extension! |
Ouch! Those are some messed up joints! While I dislike "the Killing Joke" and what it did to Babs I kind of get it. In the comics at the time she was pretty much retired as Batgirl and may have still been a congresswoman. Batgirl is great but I also definitely think that Oracle was a more complex character who added to the DCU.
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