Harley Quinn is huge. I’m sure I’ve used this joke before, but you can’t throw a crowbar at a comic convention without hitting at least six Harley cosplayers. And with being huge comes merchandise, and Diamond Select Toys has put out quite a few Harley collectibles in recent years. Some of them, I’ve been absolutely crazy about, and others just haven’t been for me. I like it when Harley is more innocent than alluring, and unfortunately for me and my taste, most modern interpretations tend to skew more towards the latter.
Today, I got a big Diamond Select box from the UPS man, and one of the items inside was a brand new GameStop-exclusive Harley. Right up front, I’ll tell you that it’s not for me. But it might be for you, so read on!
Quality construction
I’ve never held a Diamond Select Gallery statue that wasn’t sculpted and manufactured extremely well. Harley is no exception. Her figure features the sort of anatomical exaggeration you might expect under the pencil of Jim Lee, and those exaggerations are wrapped in the classic jester-style costume that was still in use when Lee drew Harley in Hush. The expected elements are all here, from the head gear, to the ruffled cuffs, to the stylish collar.
The anatomy looks as intended, and everything has been sculpted to the level of quality I’ve come to expect from DST. The costume is molded accurately and posed interestingly. The pose overall is very dynamic, and I love the base, and that Harley is connected to it by a single foot.
The seams seem a little unseemly
If there’s one ding on the sculpt, it’s that the costume has very prominent seams where the different-colored sections meet. This isn’t so bad running vertically down Harley’s torso, as it suggests a natural place for a zipper or some other fastening mechanism. But the vertical seams don’t have any such natural alibi, and so they look a bit odd up close.
Paint on par
The paint job is mostly excellent, but it doesn’t quite reach the level of perfection that I was starting to think graced all GameStop-exclusive Gallery pieces. The paint lines at the aforementioned seams aren’t always super straight and clean, and there’s a pretty obvious gaffe on the neck (more than likely not a wide-spread problem, as it looks like maybe a piece of debris got on the statue during finishing.
The worst part of the paint is the white on the collar. Some of the underlying material’s color shows through, making it look like an unfinished paint job. Not very noticeable at normal distances, but it’s very obvious up close. Again, this may not be a widespread problem, but you’ll have to see for yourself.
Overall
If you’re a fan of Jim Lee’s—or for that matter, Clay Mann’s—Harley, then there’s lots to love in Diamond’s latest Gallery. The classic costume, exaggerated pose, and fun base are more than enough to make this worth it. There are some issues with the paint, but nothing that brings it down too far. You can find yours at GameStop.
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