The Good: Great sculpt, Collectibility, Good balance, Generally decent coloring
The Bad: Coloring in shoulder area, Somewhat limited articulation, Annoying peg problem.
The Basics: The Donna Troy action figure from the Infinite Crisis line of toys is not perfect, but she has enough to recommend her (easily) to fans of the DC Universe!
A few weeks back, my wife and I returned to my hometown of Rochester, NY and while there, I took her to one of my favorite hangouts from when I was a kid: Comics, Etc. The comic book shop I used to go to in middle and high school and throughout college was feeling a bit cramped now and because the owner is constantly busy just keeping the new stock flowing, he had numerous treasures - comic and action figure-related - hanging on the walls. One that I found and felt the need to pick up for my collection was the Donna Troy figure there.
Donna Troy was released as part of the second series of Infinite Crisis figures and I had been waiting to find a Donna Troy figure in her black, starfield outfit. This fit the bill. I was generally impressed by the figure, despite the fact that I could not recall her role in Infinite Crisis. Still, coming off my Wonder Woman Year last year, I was psyched to discover they even made a Donna Troy figure and having now removed mine from the package and thoroughly inspected and tested her, I am very glad I got her!
Basics
Following the massive success of the comic event (and graphic novel) Infinite Crisis (reviewed here!), DC Direct released at least three series of Infinite Crisis action figures. DC Direct was tapped because they had the ability to create a higher caliber of action figure, based on the characters from their own properties. Series Two had only six different figures, though Donna Troy was clearly popular enough to be cast twice in the line (as Donna Troy and as Wonder Girl).
As Infinite Crisis developed, the Amazons became distrusted when Wonder Woman was forced to kill the villainous Max Lord. Donna Troy, having seen an alternate future that is devastating for all, begins the hard task of assembling a team to prevent that future from happening. This gives her a pretty meaty role in the overall Infinite Crisis Saga, though I do not recall much of her in the main narrative.
Standing 6 5/8" tall because she is wearing high heel boots, Donna Troy stands in defiance to most comic book-themed heroines both by being well-balanced despite wearing high heels and reasonably proportioned in the bust area. Donna Troy is cast in her silver boots, Amazon bracelets, and black bodysuit with a starfield pattern to it. She has a loose belt which slides around on her hips and breaks up the outfit well. This figure features a choker and the face and head look exactly like Donna Troy from the Infinite Crisis era of comic books illustrated by Phil Jimenez.
As for the coloring, DC Direct gets Donna Troy 90% right. Despite not having realistic skin shading to the face, neck arms and bust - which all have exposed Caucasian skin coloring - Donna Troy's blue eyes are piercing and her red lips make for enough contrast to make the monotonal skin quality work. In contrast, the shoulder area on Donna Troy is clearly painted over the black plastic frame of the figure and the paint does not match the molded plastic of the head and arms, which is annoying and problematic. Outside that, Donna Troy looks amazing in her black and silver suit!
Accessories
Donna Troy comes with the standard Infinite Crisis base and what appears to be a levitating, silver basketball. Seriously, having read Infinite Crisis I cannot place the 1 1/8" in diameter sphere which is attached to a clear plastic stand of its own. The sphere has two contour lines reminiscent of a basketball and the light plastic ball attaches to the stand so it appears to hover 4" from the ground, which puts it at a level Donna Troy may stand and appear to dribble it!
As for the base, it is a plastic piece 4 7/8" wide by 1 7/16" deep that raises the figure 1/4" off the display surface and has the name Infinite Crisis in the orange and yellow coloring common to the typeface for the series. Between the F and I there is a hole for the peg. The peg is designed to go into a hole in the figure's right foot and this base and peg are made of an annoyingly brittle plastic which easily fractures gets stuck in Donna Troy's foot and the base, making the base worthless and Donna Troy inconvenienced until one fishes the hard plastic peg out.
Playability
Despite the sophistication of Infinite Crisis the market for the Donna Troy figure is clearly late-teen geeks who want decor they can pose about their rooms and Donna Troy is great in that regard. Donna Troy has exceptional balance, which is a surprise given her boots and the fact only one foot plugs into the display base. Even so, off her base, she is well-balanced and on it, she can be posed in some pretty outlandish poses, like running or leaping into the air!
This is accented by Donna Troy's generally good articulation. Donna Troy comes with fifteen points of articulation, some of which are not simple swivel joints! She has joints at the shins, knees, groin socket, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists and neck. The knees and elbows are hinge joints and Donna Troy's shoulder socket is a hinged ball and socket giving her great upper body mobility. If her knees had the swivel capability, Donna Troy's articulation would be just about perfect. Even so, she gets high marks for what she can do as far as range of motion!
Unfortunately, because Donna Troy's hair is cast in hard plastic, her head motion is only about 10 degrees. This is a pretty pathetic range of motion and does not use the ball joint the head is on very well.
Collectibility
DC Direct seemed to gauge about the right amount of interest in the Infinite Crisis figures and fans of the comic book series gobbled up this high-quality action figure for their collections. Moreover, because Donna Troy in her black outfit is so hard to find in collectibles, this figure remains sought after by fans of Teen Titans, Wonder Woman and the Infinite Crisis storyline! This is a good piece for investors, at least if one lucks into it inexpensively!
Overview
With surprising balance, the Donna Troy action figure overcomes its few problems with coloring and range of motion to be one of the best DC Direct DC character toys I've yet encountered!
For other DC Universe or DC Direct action figures, please check out my reviews of:
Wonder Woman Series 1 Circe
Watchmen Silk Spectre (Classic)
Hot Toys 12" The Dark Knight Harvey Dent
7.5/10
For other action figure reviews, please be sure to visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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