Out of the Box: DC Super Hero Girls Bumblebee

The DC Super Hero Girls are a cartoon that involves teenaged versions of heroes and villains from DC comics in a high school setting.  Full disclosure: I haven't watched it, but even so it's been hard to miss the merchandise.  Mattel has put out two versions of the six main characters (Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl, Bumblebee, Harley Quinn) - an action figure and a fashion doll (which is being branded as an action doll).

This line seems to be bringing up a lot of the old discussions about the line between dolls and action figures (and about gendered toy marketing), which I'm thinking about making a separate post about, since it's such a huge topic.  But in the meantime, let's take a look at the action figure version of Bumblebee. I'd actually planned on picking up Batgirl, but they'd actually sold out of every other figure at my local store - although they still had all the dolls, which makes me wonder if the figures are benefiting from more of a crossover market.

The figures are carded rather than boxed, and are displayed on pegs in the store (unlike the action dolls which are boxed and shelved).

The front of the box.

The figure itself has 13 points of articulation: neck, shoulders, elbows, hands, hips, knees, and boots (rather than an ankle joint she has boots that can spin around). While she's constructed in such a way that it looks like she should have waist articulation, it's actually just a solid seam there. Her wings are also detachable, and stay on with straps that are reminiscent of a backpack (unfortunately they also throw of her balance - without the wings she stands easily, but with them on it's a real challenge to keep her upright.

She has to lean forward a bit to stand with the wings on.

She might not stand well but she sits nicely.

Showing off the braided half of her hair.
You can also see the honeycomb textured body suit here.

The figure is reasonable in-scale with figures from DC Collectibles and DC Direct. While she's slightly shorter and slimmer than the figures I compared her to, since these figures are meant to be young teens, the size difference makes sense. Interestingly, she's made of a slightly harder plastic than these action figures, which seems to make her reflect more light (it also seems to give her a slightly sweaty look in sunlight).

Between DC Collectibles John Constantine (L) and DC Direct Midnighter (R).

Overall she's a nice figure with solid detailing and a decent amount of articulation.  I know some people aren't fans of the style of this line, but I think there's definitely a charm there, and I look forward to checking out more of them (and maybe an action doll as well) in the future!