Hot Toys Wonder Woman figure review

After having to patiently wait while a slew of superheroes got feature films, even Elektra and Steel, Wonder Woman finally got her big screen due this year. The result proved worth the wait as the Gal Gadot film is now the fifth highest grossing comic book film ever.

Hot Toys solicited its first Wonder Woman figure for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. But by a fortuitous coincidence, the figure actually arrived as Wonder Woman’s solo film is coming to home video. Like the film was the Hot Toys Wonder Woman worth the wait? Let’s find out.
PRE-ORDER: DC Comics Wonder Woman DC Comics Sixth Scale Figure

Packaging:  I appreciated the slate grey and black on the Hot Toys Batman, but I love the costume appropriate dark blue, red and gold for Wonder Woman. There’s some nice personalization here with Wonder Woman’s logo filled with various images of the Amazon in action from the film.

Lift the outer package and there’s a red insert featuring the figure. Raise that and you actually get to the figure. After you get through the first tray of accessories.

Likeness:  Hot Toys has struggled a bit lately with the in hand figures not matching the prototype. I’ve read some folks not liking the Gadot likeness. I like it and definitely see her in the head sculpt although the open mouth expression makes her look deep in thought as opposed to a warrior.

I like the curly fabric hair. I’ve grown accustomed to articulation being screwy thanks to longer hair, but this fixes that problem nicely and allows for a more lifelike recreation. Of course that leads to some tangles and stray hair making for that weird realization that eventually I’ll have to comb this hair…

The seamless body is something we’ve seen on Thor and Hulk. That makes for a great aesthetic for shelf display, maybe not so much for articulation. More on that later.

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Scale:  OK, so I was planning to review Batman first, but when Wonder Woman arrived she cut to the front of the line. And I don’t have any other DCEU figures to compare her against. What is cool is she’s much taller than the average size females from other lines. Wonder Woman matches up nicely against the Hot Toys Princess Leia and Black Widow figures.

Paint:  I’m glad Hot Toys went with the brighter Wonder Woman film colors of her outfit instead of the muted BvS look. Wonder Woman has more visible skin than most Hot Toys figures. I like the skin tone they used as well as it conveys Gadot’s complexion better.

Uniform:  Wonder Woman’s armor is maybe the highlight of the figure. It looks fantastic with terrific sculpting details. This is tremendous and really helps make Wonder Woman stand out.

Articulation: Hot Toys gives you a heads up in terms of the articulation limitations in the instructions. With the seamless body, you’re going to want to be more careful than say the regular Hot Toys figure.

Some folks online have already mentioned cracks and punctures in the figure. You’re not going to want to keep her in an action pose sitting on the shelves. In fairness, Toy Biz used a soft plastic mold for its Morbius head and that held up fine for over a decade.

Wonder Woman has:

• neck
• shoulders
• elbow
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• torso
• hip
• knee
• ankle

You’ll be able to get the iconic arms crossed pose to some extent, but definitely be careful in moving the figure around. Be sure to take your time. And read those instructions!

Accessories:  Hot Toys covered all the necessary bases here, which is impressive since Wonder Woman was only in battle in BvS for about 10 minutes.

She has one pair of fists and relaxed hands, one sword holding right hand and one shield holding left hand. Diana also has gold greaves to simulate when it’s absorbed an energy blast. There’s also an armband you can add onto the left arm. That kept sliding down my figure’s arm and with its sharper edge, I was reluctant to risk puncturing the arm.

The fists are a nuisance again and continue to be a pain for me to keep on Hot Toys figures. I wish HT would include pegs for the wrists instead of the hands as they would be more secure.

Wonder Woman has been upgraded from a simple powerhouse to a superior melee fighter making her weapons an important aspect of her character. Fortunately Hot Toys really delivered on this end with some fantastic pieces.

Her sword is really well done with various Themyscarian text engraved. The sword harness straps along her back. That’s also the case with the shield, which also has a great metallic stone finish.

Her golden lasso of truth is fine. It’s the least dynamic of her accessories and I’m worried it will fray the more I fiddle with it.

Worth it? At $240, Wonder Woman is $20 more than the normal Hot Toys figure. You can see what the money went toward with the seamless body and fabric hair though.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

While she can achieve a solid amount of poses, the skin makes dynamic postures risky. The hair will also be something to look at, but it’s hard to see how Hot Toys could have made this Wonder Woman much better.

Where to get it?  Sideshow Collectibles still has Wonder Woman available. I’d move quick on this as I think this is going to be a quick sell out after Wonder Woman arrives on Blu-Ray and Justice League arrives in theaters.