Review : Detective Bullock Gotham Select (Diamond Select Toys) Wave/Series : Series 2 Released : March 2016
£19.99 - £22.99
Diamond's range of Gotham Select 7 inch scale figures has reached series 2, with series 3 confirmed and a 4th series in the works for late 2016 early 2017. This 2nd wave brings us Ed Nygma (who we reviewed a couple of weeks back), Alfred and the figure we are going to review here - Detective Harvey Bullock.
The oversized, part wrapped, Select blister packaging is a familiar sight now in our Archives. Bullock continues the darker theme that we have seen to date on the Gotham releases with a full art panel on the left hand side of the actor, Donal Logue. Round the back is a full size image of the figure itself overlaid with a character blurb. A pictorial check-list of the other figures in the series adorn the bottom of the card.
Out of the box and you find Bullock strapped into the large perspex tray, behind which is a 2-piece diorama scene - we will get to this a bit later. Once released from his twisty ties Bullock stands an impressive 7 1/2 inches high - one of the tallest figures to date, and making him stand slightly awkwardly taller than his partner, Jim Gordon. This is a shame as actors Logue and Ben McKenzie (Gordon) are both around the 1.75m mark and should be similar in height.
Sculpt wise, and Bullock looks a bit off to start with. I've decided this is predominantly due to him being packed without his hat - a feature I didn't expect to get. Without the hat and the sculpt is a good likeness to Logue, although I can also look at him sans hat and think he looks more like Triple H from the WWE. The hat works really well considering how most "removable" hats and helmets turn out in Action Figure land. Once on, then the figure is unmistakeably Bullock/Logue and is certainly a step on in head sculpts for Diamond who have been a bit off in the past when you look at figures like the Scott Lang Ant-Man or the Avengers Loki.
The facial paint apps are particularly good with some colouring and shading on the basic skin tone. Hair and beard are painted in brown, and then dry-brushed in a lighter grey and this is selective as well rather than all over with the grey flashing the side of the head rather than being applied fully - a nice touch.
The Gotham figures are, driven by their design and appearance in the show, quite drab. Bullock is no different. He starts with a basic sculpted off-white shirt, with a striped tie sculpted in rubber and positioned on top. I believe that the shirt/torso sculpt may be the same as used on Gordon - if not it is very similar - and that isn't a bad thing as part sharing will reduce costs and allow DST to give us some more figures in the range.
On top of the shirt and tie is a plain brown rubber overcoat. The sculpt on the coat is a tad soft but there is clear definition on the buttons and pockets. The colouring of the coat continues into the arms and the only niggle is the joint which rubs off to easily leaving exposed black plastic instead of brown paint when the arm is moved. Bullock comes packed holding his service revolver in his right hand - this is a decent looking gun, but perhaps a little small. it is cast in black with a brown handle painted.
Trousers are plain brown, with no paint applications, and the whole outfit is finished in the dull brown lace-up shoes which are finished in a black sole.
Articulation has come on a long way for Select figures. Bullock sports a ball jointed head which can rotate fully and cock from side to side. The shoulders are ball jointed so the arms can be moved out to Bullock's side or above his head - perfect for firing that revolver. The elbows are a single joint, but do rotate, and are very stiff - so much so, and as mentioned above, the paint rubs straight off when you move these. Both hands are sat on pegs and rotate as well as bending back and forth. There is a joint in the chest which allows a small degree of movement forward, backward and to either side.
The waist is also jointed and can rotate and from this the hips are on a two way ball joint and at this stage these hips feel quite solid (DST figures have previously suffered with loose hips). The legs then have a thigh swivel which many of you know is a joint I don't feel adds much value and detracts from the figures look. The knees are double jointed and this means Bullock can sit down, kneel or pose on one knee. The leg articulation ends in a rotating joint for the ankles which allows the feet to rock and sit flat to the floor regardless of the pose. As a niggle these ankle joints dont feel ratcheted and are quite loose and I suspect will be a weak point for display and will see figure falling forward after some time.
Bullock is packed with quite a standard background which comes in two parts. There has been a bit of bait and switch here with the diorama - with promotional images for Bullock - INCLUDING those on the card-back on Nygma & Alfred - showed the diorama to include a dumpster (skip). The actual release done not include this.
There is a pavement as a base and onto this clips a half brick wall which reaches up to Bullock's waste. Unlike say Gordon who came with trash cans, without that dumpster the Bullock base is very plain with just an oil stain breaking the grey paint job. The base itself is also missing any pegs, so doesn't aid in posing the figure in any way. Bullocks' diorama is therefore not the best we have had and certainly not as promised, but it does add some character to a display if you have the room to use them..
As it is wide enough the Bullock base does allow two characters to be displayed - so for me I have moved Gordon onto this one to stand with Bullock which leaves the balcony display for Selina Kyle as we know the balcony sits too low to stand any one underneath.
Like Nygma, Bullock is a good step on for the Gotham series. He is a good looking figure, with neat but simple paint apps, and articulation that does enough without being spectacular. He also comes in beautiful packaging AND with a diorama piece, and in most stores for a £20 price tag. The flaky paint on the elbows is a niggle, and the gun is a little small, so he is not perfect - but does enough to score a 4 out of 5.
