McFarlane DC Multiverse Poison Ivy & Wonder Woman review

It's that time again for another girls' night out, and doing the rounds this time are the duality of female DC characters: the hot yet deadly Poison Ivy and the glorious Wonder Woman. We've seen WW plenty of times before, so why don't we give a bit of background on the Batman villain herself? Originally known as Dr. Pamela Isley, she was originally a plant expert who was later turned into an eco-terrorist as she tried to fight in the name of Mother Nature, so kind of like the global warming crowd but far less cringe than them! She is usually depicted as one of the more prominent foes of The Dark Knight, but she has reluctantly helped him out from time to time if need be. Of late, likely thanks to appealing to not making "environmentally-friendly" crowds look bad while also tying in with Harley Quinn's history with the Joker, they're now depicted as a lesbian couple that probably have something like "be gay, do crime" written in their promo art (though tbf, Marvel tried doing that with Mystique and some other X-Men character). Anyways, let's see how these two turned out!

Here we have Poison Ivy in-hand, reusing the Batman & Robin version of the character we got while back. Honestly, that doesn't bother me all that much since it's not like the costume is that dramatically different. I will say that the Uma Thurman version is better painted overall, between a wash in the torso to accentuate the toxic leaves and the fade to black as we reach her boots. That said, I assume this was done to distinguish the two without going for a mere headswap. And while the torso looks kind of under detailed in terms of deco, they at least used a different shade of green for the sleeves and leggings so the ivy wouldn't blend in that easily. The skin is naturalistic as one would hope, and you have good anatomy for the figure overall (especially for those who are looking at her cleavage). And hey, she has a set of hands for probably holding the strands of ivy she comes with.

Head sculpt is better than the initial images made it out to be, but what I can appreciate is that they slightly painted the hair so it isn't the neon plastic color the B&R version had. She also looks like an evil Jessica Rabbit if you think about their similarities. While the articulation is the same as usual, she had the same alternate hands found from the B&R version as well as the strands of ivy to wrap around her arms or legs. That's it. No deadly plants in vases, no alternate faces, just those two little things and that's it. How is that worth $35??? Just as horribly cheap for an overpriced release as the Max Shreck figure that came with nothing but an alternate head! This has as much value as a regular release that comes with one pair of hands only, and the only reason McFarlane made her a collector release was so they can lock a more desirable character behind a slightly higher price tag, knowing the hunger for this character. As for the Platinum version, she has green skin with even more of it showing than the flesh tone version, as there are no sleeves or leggings on her. Would love to see that treatment on the regular version. That is meant to match the more modern appearance she's had since Hush, iirc. As for the hair, it is more orangey but not as neon as the Uma Thurman version.

Speaking of Hush, here she is for a size comparison between Batman from the sequel comic and my modified Godzilla 2-pack Superman. I bet you can get those strands of ivy on Supes to recreate the time he was under her influence, even if that isn't the actual version of Hush Superman.

As for Wonder Woman, we mostly get the same figure from the Collector Edition, and while the reds and blues may be closer to its Platinum releases you still have gold instead of yellow, and we have a brand new head sculpt based on her 80s appearances with hair comparable to the Sensational She-Hulk. And looking closer, the gold and skin tone apparently to be slightly lighter on the newer version. The accessories as well as the alternate hands are the same from what we got previously, do you could let the Vault reissue use the new one's axe and shield if you so desire. As for her Platinum release, it is based on the New 52 series, and while everything is almost accurate, the hair is not even close to how it appeared in that run (it's closer to the regular version but with a silver tiara); knowing McFarlane, retooling wasn't on the menu for Platinums in general, so maybe his should have been reserved for a different look that can still rock the 80s hair? At least they know she sometimes has the bikini bottom in the New 52 (though pants are also worn on the occasion).

Overall, while Wonder Woman is just as recommended as she was in the past prior to the original release's scalper epidemic, Poison Ivy is in no way worthy of the Collector Edition tag. What difference does the value make between the original Batman & Robin release that came with a part of Mr Freeze versus an extra pair of hands and some strands of ivy? This review is kind of short given we already looked at one figure whereas the other has little to offer, but I'll say this: get the Vault Wonder Woman to accompany this new one and wait for Ivy to go on sale.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Wonder Woman)

⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Poison Ivy)