Despite Harley Quinn being decades younger than the other members of Gotham's underworld, she's every bit as iconic as those characters. Even more than someone like Penguin or Riddler, you can picture in your head exactly what she looks like. It's hard to get her classic look wrong, but it's even harder to really nail it and hit the bullseye. The last Harley Quinn statue we reviewed missed the mark thanks to a weird pose and a lifeless expression. Diamond Select's latest Harley statue keeps things simple and gives us a perfect example of the Harley Quinn we know.
Harley's Vitals
Diamond Select's Harley Quinn resin bust is inspired by the Batman The Animated Series episode "Harlequinade." It has Harley atop a base that calls to mind the Gotham City of the series, and tops out at six inches high. The bust is part of a limited run of 3,000 pieces, each hand-numbered both on the bust base and on an included authenticity card. Barry Bradfield designed the statue, and Varner Studios sculpted it for Diamond Select. This incarnation of Harley Quinn goes for $59.99 retail on Amazon and Diamond Select.
Harley's Vital!
We'll zero in right away on what makes this statue work where the previous one failed. That Harley stopped just short of being disturbing. The sculptor chose a pose that showed Harley thrusting her chest and butt out with a lifeless expression on her face; it felt like it was sexualizing and objectifying this version of the character. That works for some incarnations of Harley, but feels wrong when emulating the Animated Series version.
The resin bust, meanwhile, feels downright lively by comparison. Harley has a great grin on her face and the kind of whimsical pose I'd expect of the character. It's quintessential Harley.
The matte red and black paints are vibrant and pull in just enough light to feel like fabric, and the yellow used for her eyes and teeth go the extra mile toward making her feel like she popped right out of the episode that inspired her. The paintjob itself isn't ultra precise; the diamond accents on Harley's have a subtle groove, and the paint bleeds outside of that on a few of them. You're going to have to be really inspecting this thing to notice that, though. One noticeable highlight, though, is the red accent on her lower lip that helps her pop as a three-dimensional character, simulating gloss without being glossy, just like you'd see in the cartoon.
Basic Base
Her base is simple and straightforward. The base has a khaki brown color and the Art Deco styling appropriate to the animated series. The base is also nice and heavy with thick rubber feet, meaning that it'll be hard to knock over or move unintentionally. I can't say the same for the golden stormtrooper standing next to her on my desk.
My only real complaint is that the bust is just Harley. It would've been nice to have her holding her trademark hammer or something like that. But that feels like a minor complaint considering how much of an improvement this statue feels like over the previous Harley Quinn models we've looked at.
Disclaimer: We received a numbered limited edition Harley Quinn "Harlequinade" resin bust from Diamond Select for the purpose of this review.
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