As one of the co-creators of the beloved Batman: The Animated Series, Bruce Timm has endeared himself to generations of Bat fans. His distinct character styles are vibrant and playful and iconic.
This BLACK & WHITE statue showcases the hallmarks of Timm’s work as Batgirl flies through the air. This polyresin statue is a great addition to the collection of any fan of Batgirl, Bruce Timm or the DC Animated Universe.
Limited to 5,000
Measures Approximately 6.99″ Tall
$80.00 US
Review
After production ended on Batman: The Animated Series, we got Superman: The Animated Series from (mostly) the same creative team (Eric Radomski, Ronaldo Del Carmen, Kevin Altieri, and others had left the studio for other gigs such as HBO’s SPAWN). Superman: The Animated Series had a similar look to Batman: The Animated Series, but sleeker and more simplified. The inspiration of the old Fleischer cartoons was sill there, but the overall aesthetic was greatly streamlined by Bruce Timm in an effort to give STAS a more distinctive, futuristic look than what we saw in Batman’s adventures. And he was so satisfied with the results that he chose to continue with this style on the next incarnation of BTAS as well, thus making potential crossovers visually seamless. This new show was to be called “Batman: Gotham Knights,” and Kids’ WB! mandated that it be more of a superhero team program with a younger Robin and a special emphasis on Batgirl (because the higher-ups thought she’d be popular after the release of 1997’s Batman & Robin, yes THAT Batman & Robin). Of course, the show ended up being called The New Batman Adventures instead and while the supporting cast did get a little more attention, none of the child sidekicks ended up stealing the Caped Crusader’s spotlight after all. Oh, and Creeper, who was supposed to be a part of the Gotham Knights family, was relegated to a single episode. Anyway, that’s enough history about the cartoon. Let’s look at this Batgirl based on Timm’s New Batman Adventures redesign.
Like all of the original characters from Batman: The Animated Series, Batgirl’s body became slimmer and her colors got darker in the new program. All of the gray was removed from the suit and the blue almost vanished entirely in lieu of more black being utilized. Even her lips would be black. And the belt? Let’s break that up with some more black, too! Erasing fine details from BTAS models for TNBA made life easier on the animators, for sure. And in sculpture form, well, it makes it difficult for me to find things to say about this piece!
Does it look like Bruce Timm’s TNBA Batgirl? 100% it does! Does the pose capture the essence of this character? Absolutely! And I’ll bet painting it was an absolute breeze since everything is either soft gray or matte black. There are no little lines required to outline armor or make the face look more lifelike. That’s just not how Babs looked on the show, so why would the artists behind the collectible do anything other than accurately transition her from 2d animation to the 3d polyresin.
That said, I do find the metal post supporting Batgirl’s soaring pose to be ugly and distracting. I wish that DC Collectibles had used clear plastic or plexiglass instead. And there is a blob of what appears to be glue at the collar of her cape, which should not be there and makes me wonder if they had some trouble with the head breaking off in manufacturing… The paint job on my statue is quite good, with only a little uneven overlap on the trim of a boot being noticeable on very, very close scrutiny. I’m especially pleased with the detailing on the face, as I’m sure it’s very easy to trace black paint onto Barbara’s teeth or to screw up her eyeliner. Yes, with the simple, less-is-more design by Bruce Timm, that made life easy for his animators, there’s really not a whole lot to mess up on Batgirl’s look here. And I think they nailed it.
Overall
I love everything about this statue except for the distracting metal rod supporting Babs as she flies through the air. There’s a dot of glue on the collar of my statue’s cape, which is only noticeable upon close examination, but other than that I find no other flaws that bother me. I think it’s an excellent addition to the collection of any fan of Batgirl or The New Batman Adventures in general. However, given just how light the figure is on fine details, and how ugly the metal support beam is, I hesitate to say the two-piece polyresin statue is worth the full $80. Even if it’s a limited run of 5,000. I recommend getting it, but see if you can find it for around $50, yeah?
DISCLAIMER: Batman News received this collectible from the manufacturer for the purpose of review.
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