Jay's Toy Shelf : Mafex Selina Kyle 2.0

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Mafex Selina Kyle 2.0 - The Dark Knight Rises

A lot of people didn't necessarily love The Dark Knight Rises. It had its share of good moments, and while I certainly enjoyed it, it didn't feel as new (at the time) as Batman Begins nor did it feel the high stakes and amazing Joker appearance as The Dark Knight had. It did tie up some loose ends from the last film and added some interesting characters. Tom Hardy as Bane was well done. I might be one of the few that enjoyed Selina Kyle's character (and she is never called Catwoman outright, but that's fine since that might've taken more time to work in in a way that kept with Nolan's vision of a realistic-ish Batman franchise).

Some people compared her too much with the other more beloved Selina Kyla (no, not Halle Berry), Michelle Pheiffer from Batman Returns. I feel that both Catwomen are drastically different in their character approach. I did love Pheiffer's unhinged, seductive and dangerous Catwoman with a handmade costume. Anne Hathaway did a respectable job though, had some good fight scenes, and I enjoyed that she became more of an ally at the end. I also liked the new look and costume they designed, it was neat (though I still don't get why everyone in film, media, and comics still puts a cat burglar character wearing very high heeled shoes...seems super impractical). It was unfortunate there was quite a bit of jumping between characters like Bane and others so you didn't get the best grasp of them all.

This figure is really well done. For easy of posability and range of motion, this figure is my favourite female action figure. The sculpt is good, and the face is a pretty close reckoning for Anne Hathaway. The accessories are pretty decent and give you a few options.

Sculpt/Paint:5/5 The figure has little paint to speak of but has a good mix of black gloss and matte. The suit is full of interesting textures though from the seams and bumps to the smooth thigh-high boots. The head sculpt is very cleanly painted and there are a few nice little details in the steel heels and tech mask.

Articulation (34 points) 5/5 All the joints here work super well. Her diaphragm and waist joint is the best I've seen on a female figure and give a lot of leaning. She includes bicep cuts, drop-hinge hips, and the wrist and ankles having superior range. Very impressive!

Accessories: 5/5 She comes with everything you could want and a bit more! Two head sculpts one with mask and one without. The one with the mask has two small holes near the temple to plug in either of two goggles. One set appears like cat ears when swivelled up and the other can be used over her mask. Her pistol is well sculpted though she has no other paint than black. She comes with several pairs of hands: open style pose, trigger hands, two-finger grip hands, and Batpod holding hands. The figure also comes with a rubbery batman mask and a broken Batarang.

Fun Factor: 5/5 This is a super fun figure. Like the Batman Dark Knight Rises 3.0, this 2.0 is more accurate and moves into poses so smoothly. You can do so much with the figure and on the Batpod she looks great (pictures to come when I review the Batpod). EVEN with the high heels, she can balance perfectly. Definitely a top 10 figure for me.

Verdict: 20/20 Perfect I can find no major or even minor flaws in this figure. She's so perfect and super accurate to the movie. I absolutely love it and highly recommend it. That said, this is not a Catwoman collector's perfect figure. Nolan's interpretation has neither claws nor a whip nor calls herself Catwoman! It's great though and I don't know anything about the 1st release but this one is very much worth it.