Gail Simone's Batgirl is one of my favorite comics and so I couldn't not get a toy of her.  One of the things I miss from the pre-New52 years was the occasional line of DC Direct figures based on certain popular story arcs using the specific art styles from those arcs, like "Public Enemies" or "Batman and Son."  Those seem to have disappeared abruptly with the new paradigm, with only toys of the new Justice League themselves being offered.  That's super boring!  Where's my "Court of Owls" toys?  Where's my Batgirl?  I want plastic Greg Capullo, not plastic Jim Lee.

Well, Mattel is giving us a Gail Simone Batgirl via their Batman Unlimited toyline, so that's at least one Want crossed off the list.

She's a very shiny and attractive figure, though her articulation is very shallow.  Her knees don't bend very much, and so there's not a lot of jump kicking she can do.  Batgirls need to jump kick.  She has a lot of joints, they just don't have range.  That's mitigated somewhat by the aforementioned shininess.  She's a gloss black and gold and she catches the light well.  She's also got all of her excessive costume detailing sculpted in, not painted or ignored, so that's an unexpected bonus.

Barbara needs to get with my Stephanie toy and go kick some heads.  In my personal canon, they fight crime together.  Hey, if you can have fifty Robins...

Hey, look, it's more DC Direct stuff!  (Why haven't they done a series based on Amanda Conner's Powergirl material?  C'mon, dudes!)

First up is my Arkham Asylum "Battle Damaged" Batman.  I didn't even know he existed until the last day of Comic-Con.  Earlier in the week I'd seen the pristine AA Batman in the display case, noted he came out in about nine months, and then marked my mental calender to covet him later.  But then my pal Tony (aka Sarevock) came to me Sunday morning, noted he had a chance to get some Arkham Asylum Batman that was exclusive to the show, and hell yeah, yes, give me one of those.  I generally don't care for battle damaged stuff, but here's the thing.  Or things.  First of all, you spend like half the game looking like the battle damaged version of the toy.  So no big.  And second, dude, the non-battle damaged version comes out NEXT YEAR.  I'm pretty okay with getting the roughed-up version that much earlier.  I mean, dude.

He's what you expect in a DC Direct Batman.  Sorta stiff poseability, a stand, and some pretty paintwork.

The Stephanie Batgirl I'd been waiting for for a while.  Seriously, they solicit these things like a year in advance, it feels like.  I've been enjoying her comic, and I wanted one of her in plastic.  She comes with a stand, a batarang, and a nightstick.  The nightstick is way too skinny for her to hold in her hands, but I later discovered a stowing area on the back of her belt that it fits into pretty well.  Again, standard articulation.  And, yay, hooray, Stephanie, you're not dead!

I went back to see if that Batgirl/Nightwing/Penguin three-pack was still at that Target.  It was!  Everything I'd left behind was still there.  Am I the last person alive still looking for these things?  Since these toys should be impossible to find, much less leave unattended for 24 hours, I'm starting to think so.

AND OH MY GOD I'M WATCHING COMMUNITY RIGHT NOW AND IT IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN EVER

(Note: in the photos, all the old versions are on the left and the new versions are on the right)

I bought this set because Batgirl comes with a stand.  The Batgirl I had was an exclusive extra for the Rise of Sin Tsu video game.  It's the only release in her "real" colors.  (Kinda dickish.)  But she has gimpy legs (continuity nod?), a crazy look on her eyes, and no peghole in her foot for a stand.  This new version solves two of those problems!  Gimpy legs remain, but her paint is better on her face, meaning she looks less like she wants to eat your brains, plus a peghole in her foot and a stand!  A stand!  A STAND!  Hallelujah, she'll be able to stand.  Out of all the myriad of DCAU toys in my collection, she is the not-standiest.

And, hey, as a bonus, her paint is better.  I like the thicker, more defined symbol and belt, and I guess her taller boots are all right.  The back of her cape's blue instead of black, which isn't what I prefer, but small price to pay.   (Unlike what JLU three-packs cost these days.)

The other two guys aren't as much of an improvement.  With Nightwing, you can really tell the difference in plastic quality between when I got him probably a decade and now.  The new one is more rubbery, so he came out of the package all bent and unstandable.  I borrowed my old Batgirl's sticky-tack for his photo.  His bird deco on his chest is also narrower so it doesn't require paint on his arms, which probably costs extra.  On the other hand, I like the color his skin is painted better.  But I'll probably still choose the old one for display since he stands and because I like his bird deco better.

The Penguin is basically the same other than some deco choices.  The bottom of his shirt is a darker gray and instead of molding his head in fleshtone and painting black, his head is molded in black and his skin is painted on.  This might be an improvement (for those who don't like shiny fleshtone plastic) if the paint didn't thin up by his forehead.  It doesn't look so good.  So I'll keep using the old one.

In summary: Noncrazy Batgirl who can stand.

And here's the last of my (published) pictures.  That's right!   There are photos worse than the ones from yesterday with all the mouth-pooping.

(They were blurry or boring.)