Toy Collecting
Top Ten Female Action Figures
By Hervé St-Louis
April 1, 2007 - 16:19
Action figure collecting is an acquired taste for some, but for others, it’s just groovy. Past a certain age, it’s impossible to play with these “toys.” It just doesn’t work. The mind has problems immersing itself in a separate alternate universe and imagining stories about little plastic women and men. That’s usually a sign that one is an adult. However, the nostalgia of these days, added to the high production quality of action figures produced these days makes collecting them almost impossible to resist.
Any good collection will have heroes, villains and supporting characters. It’s the mix of character that makes it all worthwhile. However, all action figures are not created equal. Some become classics while others some gather dust in the back of a collection. To celebrate WOMEN’S MONTH AT THE COMIC BOOK BIN, we have compiled a list of the top ten female action figures.
1-Infinite Crisis Power Girl
One of the most recent creations, this is the second Powergirl action figure and the best ever. She’s tough, yet feminine. She packs decent articulations and has a face sculpt to die for.
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2-Raven
Raven makes it this high on the list thanks to her sculpting qualities only. She has limited articulations and her cloud action figure stand is useless. However, she was sculpted by Tim Bruckner and stand is a dramatic pose that highlights her comic book appearances perfectly.
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3-Sakura
Sakura is a fun character and comes with several spare parts and a second head. She looks just like the girl next door, if you live in Japan. But she has the best articulations and proportions and enough props to make invent many dioramas. I like that her extra shoe and book fit in her backpack.
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4-Kitty Pryde
X-Woman Kitty Pryde is short but has one of the best sculpt ever from a Marvel Legends action figure. She’s supposed to be a petite woman but she doesn’t look any weaker. As well as a great all-around action figure, she will fit marvellously with your existing Marvel Legends’ collection.
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5-Silver Age Lois
She’s the Barbara Walters of the action figure world. Yes, she’s a figure based on the 1960s look of Lois Lane. It doesn’t make her dated or obsolete. Quite the opposite. She has the charm of an action figure from a different era, while having modern engineering and construction that put her on par with any modern action figure. The fact that she stands well on her own is a bonus.
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6-Hawkgirl
Hawkgirl is one of those rare action figures that is nowhere to be found in stores or even at auction sites. Well, if she is found there, she will sell for several time her original price. Such is the case with action figure collecting. Hot action figures that are at first ignored can become valuable treasures as their rarity makes them more desirable. Hawkgirl has limited articulations, but her wings are beautiful, She can open them fairly well. A button on her back allows them to flap. But Hawkgirl is also a fragile action figure, so buyers beware.
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7-Marvel Select Elektra
Elektra’s packaging was one of the best ever. Its makers had no choice, she comes with a mini tower that opens up in the back and where one can store her many weapons. While her paint job was not perfect, it was decent enough. Her scale which was beyond most of Marvel’s action figures at the time made her odd to place next to other figures. However, the quality of the design and engineering in this action figure are fantastic.
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8-Chun Li
Chun Li is considered the grand dame of the video game industry. As such, she was one of the first Street Fighter action figures released by Sota Toys. Her tunic is made of rubber with engraved details and resistant articulations. Her sculpt’s likeness is accurate to her depictions in comic books and video games.
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9-The Birds Of Prey Oracle
Ok, so this action figure is disabled. She’s on a wheelchair and cannot be removed from it. Nonetheless, the fact that DCDirect made a toy of such a non standard character is a plus. The wheels off her wheelchair break easily though. Hopefully, DCDIrect will release a new run of this groundbreaking action figure.
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10-Supergirl Corrupted
Ok, so she’s mostly a repaint of the other Supergirl action figure released in the same line. However, she’s the best of the two. Here, she looks menacing and the bad makeup has been held at bay.
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