This was part of my spoils for 2014 Holiday. In fact, it was the
big bang gift! The main event! To be completely honest, I knew it was going to be a good catch but as to
how good? Well, let me just be blunt right this moment and say that I wasn't expecting to be this enamored with Supergirl's Playarts Kai rendition! I'll capsulize as to why and how I am highly excited to have her in my collection of course as the review goes on, but I will say that she will definitely be in my top catches for 2014(if I ever get to that "soon"). So without delaying, let's start.
Box wise? Well we have seen this before. It's HUGE! Playarts Kai have started this set and the figures are colossal! One thing is for sure: they're no 6 inches action figures for sure! The box does over exaggerate the figure, but to justify the box, the majority of these characters do have a few accessories to hold inside. There is a door to allow view of the figure inside, neatly laid out and the majority of her accessories can be seen. The back of the box doesn't really show much except it does have a 'shadow' of someone else you can buy. Sorry Clark, I'll pass on you! Kara on the other hand...
What is there to say about the details on this girl? I guess the first thing to really say is that she is a gorgeous figure from head to toe. I'll go into details with her face in the alternate face comparison, and while I am describing her figure, I'll try not to talk about her articulations(which are amazing), so let's just say there is something about the way they made Kara that really intrigues me. The costume, despite it being a 'variant' of her popular(non-New-25 outfit) really does look like Supergirl. I mean, they did a magnificent job making sure that when people see this figure they see Supergirl.
They did this thing where they made her skirt look less cheer leader-like and more of a 'battle skirt'; In fact, the rest of her clothing is more or less 'armor' and metallic feel to it, which of course makes me question as to WHY Supergirl would need armor since she is practically bulletproof. Regardless, the visuals of the 'armor' tights really does come off as metallic with all the different shades of blue put into it. The red on the cape(the plastic one) really does work well with the boots and the "S" and of course the perfect trim on gold does finish the trick on making it still concur with the 'classic' costume. Flesh tone is done quite well and with a well sculpted and painted hair, it just compliments the fit of the whole figure; sexy and epic all in one body. Speaking of body, she is one
smoking kryptonian gal.
Definitely
NOT a teenager's body though.
When it comes to accessories, Supergirl has a few. She has two faces, 3 pair of hands, a sword, a special affect 'comic book' action, and probably my favorite Playarts Kai addition up to date: her cloth cape with wiring articulation! Let's talk about these accessories:
I do wish they gave us more faces with Kara, but the two that are supplied does a good job. We have a calm and happy Kara and an angry "heat ray" vision variant. It seems to be in the polar opposites so something in between, like a serious NONE heat ray face would've been nice.
The idea of the special affect comic book text is a neat idea! Superman Variant PAK also has this one(a different text and affect), though sadly, it's the least used of her accessory for my photoshoot. Oh, while I never took a picture of it, Supergirl does come with the standard(so it seems) Playarts Kai stands that are probably one of the most 'complex' stands that I have come across with. Requires the more assembly, I should add.
For a girl that is super strong, can cause agonizing cold winds with her breath, melt someone with heat ray vision, see through walls with X-ray vision, faster than a speeding bullet, bullet proof, and just
smoking hott, why would she have a sword?! It's quite unorthodox in some ways but reading the box description, it is actually an amazon blade that pays homage to one particular story line when Wonder Woman took Kara to her island and trained her with sword art. One thing obvious from the picture above is that one of the alternate hand is just for the sake of 'holding' the sheathe/or sheathed blade. Makes for great pictures like her about to take the blade out, or her just merely holding the sheathe. There is also a peg hole on her left thigh so that Supergirl can carry her blade like a real warrior. It's a neat addition and the details on the blade adheres to her
patriotic color!
Last but not least on the list of her accessory are the capes. First, it's pretty obvious that I used the cloth one far more than I did the plastic and I'll explain, but not before delving on what aesthetic satisfaction the plastic cape offers.
This plastic cape is most likely the definitive cape for this figure in terms of looks. The dark crimson color really ties in with her boots, the "S" emblem, and the 'short mini cape' that is attached to the figure by default. I'd say they had every intention of making this the 'main' cape with how much it concurs with the shade of red but to me there is one problem: the stand can't support the weight(least I have yet to figure out a way to get away from that problem). Which is the main qualm I had with the Playarts Kai Batman, honestly.
Now the 'cloth' cape did the best it can to replicate the plastic color. Honestly, it may not be immaculate to the color of the plastic, but it does the job well enough! The two things I
really love about this is that it's lighter, which means Supergirl's stand can hold her now
with ease! But the main reason for this being amazing is that it contains a bendy wire inside that allows articulation! Okay so the plastic cape has articulation itself but THIS makes it far more dynamic! It has more capabilities of duplicating some
super poses!
Speaking of articulation! It will come to
no surprise for some of you that Kara is very articulated. Playarts Kai(and imports in general) have a great way to making sure our highly spent well earned money are put to good use. With the expected movement, Supergirl's body does all of them. Her ab crunch and her waist movement allows for some pretty wide range so the super fly pose does come naturally. The skirt is a pliable material which doesn't hinder leg movements that much and a small addition but a great one, the sheathe does have movement as well. Her hair has articulation as well, which isn't the best, but one can't truly complain about that.
For fun, I did a duplication pose with her
Bishoujo Supergirl counterpart and once can see that she almost had it. Of course, Kara the bishoujo does sensuality a bit better as well as the pantsu. But, it's not bad articulation at all for PAK Kara! Still a magnificent piece and I can't really say a lot in this department since I believe the pictures posted should speak for it.
Next to
Batman, I think Supergirl is a better Playarts Kai variant for a myriad of reasons: accessories, that alternate cape, two faces, more hands, and sexier. Sorry Bruce, I ain't into your hunkin "Konroy" voice.
In conclusion, this toy is much more than what I expected it to be. I absolutely love this figure and had every bit of fun posing her, taking pics of her, and just all in all, having her as a new addition to my DC shelf. Though as one can see, I am now losing more space that I don't already have when it comes to this shelf. If I decide to get more Playarts Kai..... I'm going to have to make a few changes here. Welps, that's it for now!
Some Words: A really obscure character of the DiD world indeed! Truthfully, it was almost a strenuous task to get some pics of this lovely red head in distress! So why pick her? Well, one of her alias is after all the Phoenix! The new year, the new damsel to send us off, so this is the pick. She's not my favorite, honestly out of all the X-Women that rose to fame, she is the one gal that didn't seem to truly get my attention. Maybe it's the lack of DiD material? I don't know. But, here we are now trying her out on the ropes! So what to say about her?
