Moving away from mecha-related collectibles to focus on a cutesy (sort-of ^^) fixed figurine. ^^
ARTFX+ 1/10 Catwoman New 52
Production company: Kotobukiya
Release date: September 2013
Price: 4,800 Yen (exclusive of tax).
Official link
This Catwoman figurine may seem like a rather surprising entry in my collection, ^^ since she's not directly, or even indirectly related to any Japanese anime, Tokusatsu, or mecha series that are more common as themes of postings on this blog. The closest connection with something else in my collection for this figurine would be Marvel Bishoujo Collection Rogue, an American comic book heroine-themed figurine, who was also produced by Kotobukiya. Then again, liking Shunya Yamashita's Bishoujo art style as her design is my main reason for getting Rogue. ^^ It's a different case for this Catwoman. ^^
The ARTFX+ series is basically Kotobukiya's assembly hall for figurines based off American comic and movie characters. ^^ The figurines from this series have a sense of beauty, and realism that is very different when compared to releases from other figurine series. For the lack of better terms, they are very "un-anime"-like. ^^ For figurines from Marvel or DC Comics, despite being comic book characters, their design looks very realistic. Their masculine builds may be exaggerated a bit, but their beauty comes from a sense of realism that is hard to find on figurines from other series. ^^ There is no anime eyes, overly long legs, or amazingly huge busts for the ladies in this series - I'm not complaining when they are present on other figurines (XD), but the omission of all those anime factors does give the releases from the ARTFX+ series a unique beauty. ^^
My knowledge of Catwoman as a character originated from seeing Michelle Pfeiffer's portrayal of her in Tim Burton's "Batman Returns" (1992). Catwoman is also a pivotal character in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012), in which Anne Hathaway played the character. However, this figurine is based off her New 52 design, and besides the fact it's a comic book-based, from a relaunch effort by DC Comics just three for four years ago, I have no idea about the story of this version of Catwoman.
Catwoman from the cover of Issue 4 of her comic series.
Image is from Comic Hero News.
But, she still looks awesome enough for me to put down my pre-order for her when she was made available around May 2013. ^^
Front view of the box.
The figurine can be seen very clearly through the almost all-clear box.
(Left) Logo of the Catwoman franchise.
(Right) Logo of DC Comics.
The left side of the box has a large-sized "W", which is the most notable part of Catwoman's logo. Representing her claw marks perhaps, just this single letter in this design style is enough to represent the character I suppose. ^^
An illustration of Catwoman on the right side of the box.
An abnormally simplistic design for the back of the box. ^^
(Left) The Catwoman logo is shown again, but the letter "W" isn't printed in purple like that in front, and beside the box. Having it in purple like the other two would make the letter hard to see when the back cover is of the same color.
(Right) Logo of Kotobukiya's ARTFX+ series.
Product name, and Kotobukiya's logo at the bottom of the back cover.
Top, and bottom sides of the box.
More images of the figurine, as seen through the clear box:
Closeups on the details:
[Head]
[Body]
[Arms]
[Legs]
[Whip]
[Goggles]
The almost all-clear box the figure came packaged in is most certainly very helpful for strange folks who are unwilling to unbox the figurine, like me. XD Her face sculpt and detailing is the highlight of the figurine design in my opinion, and it's definitely well done. I'm glad that her goggles weren't attached by default, as that omission allows her face to be seen directly. The high cheekbones, shiny red lips, and detailed paint work for the eyes are very lovely. ^^ A sense of confidence, and even slight arrogance can be seen from her expression.
I'm also glad that the pink eyeliner stroke on the figurine's bottom eyelid isn't as pronounced as that on her first announced prototype. It's a lot subtler on the end product, which makes her eyes more normal-looking in my opinion. ^^
Besides her face sculpt and detailing, her shiny all-black costume is another attractive visual point. ^^ Inside the box, the body is covered up by a separate clear plastic sheet, making it rather hard to be seen clearly. ^^; Details like the silver zip, and belt buckles beside her boots are still visible through the box though. ^^
A comparison with another PVC figurine:
With RAH DX Lunamaria Hawke.
Catwoman's box is a little shorter than Lunamaria's, but it's the omission of the usual paper box for the former that is the more noticeable difference between the two. ^^
Side views
Rear view
Top view
At 1/10 scale, Catwoman stands just about as tall as Lunamaria, who's 1/8 scale for this RAH DX realization. ^^ So, Catwoman would definitely be much taller if she was designed to be in 1/8 scale, and I would definitely welcome that. ^^
Besides Catwoman, I like Black Widow, and from this figurine series as well. With other priorities on my purchase list, I didn't get them when they were first released. ^^; Catwoman is presently the only figurine from this series in my collection. ^^
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ARTFX+ 1/10 Catwoman New 52
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