Arkham Origins - DR. HARLEEN QUINZEL!

Batman: Arkham Origins - 3-Pack - Dr. Harleen Quinzel - DC Collectibles 2015

I'm normally not one for plain-clothed action figures, but I knew when this figure was first revealed at ToyFair '15 that she would be a no-brainer for me. Harley Quinn has one of my favorite origin stories of all Batman's rogues. As a Psychiatrist in Arkham Asylum, Dr. Harleen Quinzel crossed paths with the Joker and began her descent into (quirky) madness. In more recent origin stories, she was showing tendencies toward insanity long before meeting her Mistah J. But I think I'll always prefer the original story where she was seduced into her criminal transformation. When the Arkham Origins game was announced, I was a little bummed because I thought my favorite ladies wouldn't fit into the earlier storylines. But Harley is the darling of the Arkham franchise, so of course they found a way to squeeze her in. This figure comes in a three-figure set with Electrocutioner and Lady Shiva.  It's pretty cool to get a female majority in a box set like this. We don't see that too often. Let's check out Dr. Quinzel below!

The Jonathan Matthews sculpt is perfection.  He's actually improved upon the game design and made a figure that could easily fit in with comic, game, or movie figures.

Let's take a moment to talk about glasses.  Eyeglasses and goggles have pretty much been a disaster every time they have been attempted on an action figure.  The first time I ever encountered these plastic atrocities was with the G.I.Joe Baroness (v.6 & 8) from 2004-5.  They were awful awful awful.  And almost all goggles and glasses have been horrible ever since (Although I do actually think the glasses on my giant Monkeyman figure are quite nice).  Anyway, I've spent years begging for companies to just give up. Make them opaque, no one will care. But I said all that because I truly never thought they could be done well. This figure absolutely makes me eat my words.  The plastic is thin, rigid, crystal clear, and painted perfectly (the trick is to paint the glasses on the side, like real frames would look).  One thing to note though it that her glasses are not removable or really adjustable in any way.  So if you're buying this set, try to get the one with the glasses as straight as possible.  Mine are slightly askew and it bugs me.

Dr. Quinzel comes with a single accessory of a clipboard.  At ToyFair there was a paper on the clipboard, but now the paper is lost.  I'm so curious to see what random thing was on it.

Harley is very well articulated, but her outfit and accessory don't lend too well to dynamic poses.

Here is an image of Harleen from the game.  The toy looks much better IMO.

Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!

Here she is with her boxset companion, Lady Shiva.

And with a the Electrocutioner to round out the set.

Here she is with the Arkham Knight Harley Quinn and Arkham Origins Copperhead.

Cheers!