DC Collectibles Dark Knight Rises CATWOMAN Bust!

Movie-Accurate Likeness of Anne Hathaway on a Mini-Bust from DC Collectibles

I love collecting Catwoman Busts.  Of all the DC females, Selina has had the most distinctive and differentiating looks from era to era.  If I had a collection of Wonder Woman busts, you know almost all of them would be the traditional longstanding star-spangled red, blue, and gold.  Catwoman, however, keeps reinventing her appearance every few years, yet there is never any doubt who she is.  Ears and skin-tight suits provide more successful variations than I ever dreamed imaginable.  It's kind of amusing that when I heard that Anne Hathaway was cast as Selina Kyle in DKR, one of my first thoughts was "Awesome! They'll definitely make a bust of that!" ..and I had the same thought when I read rumors of a Catwoman solo movie yesterday (Hopefully with an updated costume if it happens).  I have my fingers crossed that the same marketing logic that brought us the Reeves Superman, Carter Wonder Woman, and Keaton Batman busts will someday provide me with Pfeiffer and Newmar Catwomen.  This DKR Bust marks the 5th Catwoman bust in the DC Direct/Collectibles roster, and I'm sure it's not the last.

When I saw the first images of this bust, I was pretty disappointed.  I knew I would have to limit my movie-related Catwoman purchases for financial and shelf-space reasons, but I also knew that the mini-bust format was a must-buy for me.  I personally felt the Icons Statue was much nicer, but I wouldn't be able to get both.  My gripes about the bust came down to a few key points. (1.) Her eyes looked C-R-A-Z-Y, nothing like Anne Hathway's. (2.) Her pose looked stiff, not very sexy or catlike at all. (3.) Overall she resembled the actress, but the face looked stretched out and the details were off.. and (4.) The movie title on the base annoys me. This annoyance developed in the 90's when art prints from museum gift shops started putting  the artist's name in huge gold cursive letters on the oversized border. Seriously, if you don't know it's a Picasso, why do you want it on your wall? I know this bust is from the movie, anyone who remotely cares about this bust will know that, so the label is unnecessary and there could be a unique and creative base in place of that tedium.

My initial harsh reaction softened a bit with the various photos from cons. From different angles, the pose looked better, and her eyes didn't look nearly so crazy from a higher angle.  Unfortunately, when I finally got my hands on her yesterday, all my initial dislikes resurfaced.

Don't get me wrong, this is still a great looking sculpture, but considering the price point has more than doubled from what these busts used to cost, I would like to be a little more satisfied with my initial reaction.  I ended up taking the plunge and customized her a little.  There will be pictures of my results further down in this review.

But for now, lets see some comparison shots!

Here's is the new Dark Knight Rises Catwoman with the Halle Berry Patience Phillips Bust from the Ill-fated Catwoman movie of 2004.

I really appreciate how DC Collectibles (née DC Direct) tends to keep their movie busts at the same scale. It would be nice if the Comic busts were in the same scale as these, but it's okay since the movie-centric detail of these two busts will make them stand out from the others anyway. (PS.. Halle's base is a billion times better that Anne's lame billboard)

Here are the two cinematic felines joined by their three comic-based sisters.. From left to right are the Adam Hughes bust from Women of the DCU Series 1, the Amanda Conner bust from WotDCU Series 3, and the Terry Dodson bust from WothDCU Series 2.

Okay, now for my customization.  After photoshopping her to make sure I wasn't making a horrible mistake, I decided to (1) repaint her eyes, (2) bring her mask in a little closer to her eyes, (3) add some "eyeshadow" in a darker fleshtone, (4) fill out her upper lip a little, and (5) bring her hairline down a tad.  I am happy with the results, but I'll probably touch her up again at a later date (I already noticed her left eye is significantly smaller than the right one now).

Cheers!