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Once upon a time, a large comic book publisher, deciding to focus its merchandising arm into action figures produced an early figure of its most non-licensed recognized character, Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman was not the first DC Direct action figure, but the most important character it lay its virgin hands on way back in 1999. Back then, only characters with cult appeal such as the Sandman had ever been made.
This early figure represents the valiant effort of a company into a field it did not master. Unlike its distinguished competition, Marvel Comics, DC Comics developed its action figure department internally. DC Direct was grown internally. What's surprising is that a media giant like Time Warner, DC Comics' owner had nothing similar to Toy Biz within its media empire. Well, no more.
Likeness
The reason I spend so much time explaining all of this is because the first Wonder Woman produced by DC Direct is by today's standard not the best action figure ever. Fortunately, the figure does look like Wonder Woman. It may be the most accurate Post Crisis Wonder Woman figure produced, until the JLA figure coming in October 2003.
Wonder Woman sports the double spike tiara design created by George Perez, the double W breast plate, the loose boots and the Greek curly hair popularized her Post Crisis relaunch. However, this is not the prettiest woman we've ever seen, as she is in comics.
Sculpt
For many this figure is nothing but a stand by until the real Wonder Woman arrives in a few weeks. The sculpt is poor. Her breasts are like two missiles covered by a plate, almost ready to jump at you, if happen to stare to long. Her butt is so large that it makes me feel like saying a few big mama jokes. Her thighs do not align perfectly with her butt and look like she has cellulite. Her eyes are buried deep within her face.
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Wonder Woman's feet are large, very large. The white ridges on her boots don't align with the center of here boots. The stars on her bikini are engraved. Her hands make the figure look like she's an 80-year-old grandma with nail polish. Never put nail polish on a figure with ugly hands. This is not a good sculpt.
Paint
The paint job on this figure is remarkably good. There is some bleeding on Wonder Woman's boots, but over all, every thing is fine. The problem many may encounter with this figure is the fading gold and silver paints. After so many years, even when this figure was not played with extensively, the special paints are turning dark and losing their shine.
Scale
This figure is remarkably small, compared with recent DC Direct action figures. However, it will fit with many if your depiction of Wonder Woman is not that of a tall woman. However, although a petite woman, parts of her body, like her arms look very large when compared with other petite DC Direct figure like the Modern Birds of Prey Black Canary, Hawkgirl, Supergirl or Phantom Lady.
Stability
With large flat feet like that this figure cannot be unstable. It even has a peg hole. It is not top heavy, even with the large amount of hair, so it will not push her in one direction against another.
Articulation
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This figure has had more articulations than most female DC Direct action figures. It has eleven articulations at the neck, the shoulders, the elbows, the wrists, the hips and the knees. Her hands can carry objects. Her hair restricts Wonder Woman's neck mobility. The elbows don't bend completely, leaving the figure's arms always at 90 degrees.
Plastic
The plastic used by DC Direct is one of the best. It is solid and can probably resist mistreatment by kids. DC Direct should reconsider using it for all of its figures. It is still rubber like, but it resists much better to warm temperatures and does not catch dust easily. The error DC Direct made when using this plastic, is that the base hue was not the best skin colour for Wonder Woman. It's yellowish.
Props
Wonder Woman comes with a nice rounded Amazon shield and an axe similar to those in her comic books. Pegs snap on the bracelets of her wrists. The axe looks like something He-Man would use. It has gold colours and red patterns. The shield is blue, red and white. There is an armoured version of this figure, with more props, such as a face plate but I do not know enough about it.
Packaging
This figure came in a blister pack with an illustration of columns from Paradise Island and some vegetation. It is not great art, but back then, DC Direct would put more effort on cover art.
Cost
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Availability
This figure was for a long time a peg warmer. It might be sold out from DC Direct. With the upcoming Wonder Woman JLA figure, many fans who ignored the previous figure may opt for the new mould. Several stores still have stocks of the first figure so take a look. If this figure has any collectible value, it is for die hard Wonder Woman and DC Direct collectors who wish to assemble a full roster of this line.
Update February 6 2005:
This figure has sold out from Diamond Comics, the exclusive distributor of this action figure.
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