DC Collectibles is offering villain variants of Lex Luthor, Cheetah, and The Joker that is exclusively available at GameStop stores, and are available now. DC Artists Alley is a line of vinyl statues and based on variants designs and costumes from a variety of artists. Some of the earlier offerings Hainan “Nooligan” Saulique, Sho Murase, and Chris Uminga. Each of these have a limited production run usually between 500-3,000 pieces worldwide, and can be found as a general release, store exclusives (Entertainment Earth has three Batman variations exclusive to San Diego Comic-Con this year). For the most part, they’ve been offering variants of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, and additional characters such as The Flash, and the villain variants featured here are also part of this line. Each of the vinyl figures are mostly repainted editions, including these villain variants as each one is repainted after their common foe. These vinyl figures are from artist Chris Using, and there are a total of five different offerings in groups of three, plus the three Batman exclusives as mentioned above.
Thank you to DC Collectibles for providing the Artists Alley Designer Villiain Variants Vinyl Figures for review. These are Arist Proof editions, meaning they are not part of the original production run. The original production run can only be purchased at GameStop. Each figure is priced at $40.
Availability: June 2018
The DC Artists Alley Designer Vinyl figure villain variants are limited to 1,000 pieces each, and are repainted from current offerings. Lex Luthor is repainted from Superman, and is in his iconic green and purple suit of armor. He keeps the Superman logo on his chest that is painted in purple and yellow, and and includes a new head of Lex Luthor’s likeness. The suit includes several shades of light and dark green, and makes up the chest, arms and legs. The purple deco is used on the cape, gloves, and boots. Lex Luthor is numbered as AP17 (artist proof).
Cheetah is repainted from Wonder Woman, and is painted with brown fur with black spots, The fur has a mixture of brown and yellow that is nicely detailed and painted, and she is wearing a black outfit with a black whip on her hip. Her boots are back with a white stripe down the center, and along the top. Her head sculpt is nicely sculpted and painted and includes wavy brown hair and a good facial likeness. She also has a head band with a gold star at the center. Cheetah is numbered as AP34.
The Joker is repainted from Batman, or otherwise known as Joker Batman. He is wearing his triple and green batsuit, which makes this stand out compare to any other batsuit fans have seen. The suit includes a purple shirt and pants, green shorts and gloves, and green and yellow boots. The gloves have fingers sticking out that are painted in white, and there is also yellow trim on top and on the spikes. There is also an orange Batman logo on his chest, with lines crossed out as if he is keeping track and counting something. The utility belt is aligned in red with a black wash over it, with grey buttons, and a yellow belt buckle. The figure has a green masked, with red hips and a creepy smile. The facial deco is also white like the fingers and eyes. The figure is also blood splattered on his cape, boots, legs, gloves and fingers. The Joker is numbered as AP43.
Overall, these are excellent vinyl figures with some great amount of detail and deco and offers fans something completely new and different. As these are not articulated, there are no options to pose these compared to other figures of this scale, and definitely worth picking up if you’re a DC fan. We are particularly fond of this villains set because it offers something different compared to just another Batman, Superman and Woman Woman collectible, but we also like the zombie editions as well as the glow-in-the-dark variants.
Purchase:
Standard editions and exclusives –
