Signature Collection: Fire

First a little background on the Signature collection. Mattel has done series of action figures in retail like the DC Classics lines (which featured Booster Gold, Blue Beetles 2 & 3), Batman Unlimited, and a couple other DC lines. The Signature Collection was created for an exclusive Club line that you'd have to subscribe for on the Matty Toys website. They also have a Watchman line that's based on the comic book characters and their personal favorites the Masters of the Universe. The company obvious preference to the latter over their exclusive DCU line has been the bane to many DC fans since quality has been on the decline since the series began. Fan demanded characters were ignored or delayed and not everyone was happy with what they got.

I bring this up because it will be important later on in the review.

There was another box that covered this one featuring the name and series this is from but this is the actual design. I like the look, it's very clean and the size is appreciated as displaying can be a pain with large packaging. Of course I'm going to take this figure out of the box but it's still a nice touch.

 

On the back is art of the character and a small bio. It mentions her real name then her history as a model and spy. I love how the last important detail listed is her connection to Ice as her mentor and friend. Because that's a major part of her life that so many people connect with. But before I review the actual figure let's get one more thing out of the way. The costume. Now I like this Hughes costume better than her others. It's certainly the most iconic but when you think about it Fire never had anything that really suited her powers. This fits her personality but you got to admit it's dated and you wouldn't think she was a superhero if she walked by. It's basically causal wear and it always seemed funny that it's still considered her best look that no redesign can top. I like it but it's still odd to think about. Odder still that no one made her "flame on" look for an action figure.

 

One thing that you notice right off the bat is that neither the artwork nor the figure has the short green jacket Fire usually wore. That has to do with cut backs in the DC Club line which hasn't been doing well enough with subscriptions to warrant too many new sculpts. Fire has a few including her boots, head, belt, torso and part of an arm. All things considered Mattel should have gone all out since Fire was one of their most requested figures. At least in terms of what they did sculpt. I think they did better with another demanded figure Poison Ivy that still reused some pieces but managed to come out better. I don't recall her having two different lengths for gloves, likely because of the jacket but I'm sure some artists drew them the same length over time.

Fire is bit small which doesn't really fit with her model backstory but she's around the normal height for females in this line. Her pieces are smaller than other females like Power Girl. Granted Power Girl had a bigger *ahem* top than most but this is noticeable in the legs and the heads. This might not be too big of a deal due to her big hair but when next to the Mattel Guy Gardner, who has the biggest head, it might raise an eyebrow. She has a passable expression but I would have been impressed if Fire had more personality. A smirk, flirty look even a bit of annoyance. The arms remain the standard tiny female arms that rarely were exchanged for more fitting longer arms. Which are the usual problem with most Mattel DC female figures.

The belt is only attached at one side, likely to give it that loose slung over the hip look. I'd worry about breakage over time but if that happened there's no way to get if off unless you cut it or took the figure apart. The most detailed section of clothes is given to the top which has stitching and buttons sculpted on. Mine was nicely painted (granted most of it is green) but the white numbers one the side of the right side of the left boot (not shown in pictures) kind of irk me. If they had to do it then it should have been on the sole of the boot. As is it's distracting. Fire's head can move but I'm not sure you can move the hair over the shoulder. The hair is hard plastic so it's likely you can't. I tried but I'm not willing to try harder lest I break something. The head's also a little too low on the neck. I'm not sure if this is a design flaw or has to do with the large hair. The only accessory is a small green flame you can place over one of the fist so she can punch someone with fire.

If the flaws bug you this isn't a figure for you. As for me I think it might bother me time to time depending on where I display it but overall I don't mind. I'm glad to have this figure made.

Remember how I mentioned Mattel's subscription for this line? The subscription means you'd have to get every figure in the year around line. If you don't want to do that you can get individual figures at the website if you'll willing to pay a bigger price. You can order these on ebay or at bigbadtoystore but depending on the figure/website the price will usually be around 15-35 dollars per figure. Now comes the bad news that I recently got in my e-mail. See the subscriptions are why these are being made, they need support otherwise they don't see the need to make the figures. I pre-ordered the Ice figure and since their subscription numbers weren't reached their cancelling the line. Which means no Ice. The figure I was looking forward to more than Fire. GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!