Sandgreen Minifigures BTAS Batgirl! (Patreon)

Well now that things are getting a bit back to normal here in the new studio, I thought it would be a good time to finally finish up some content that’s been hovering in limbo during the move! (it’s about time too! I shot this review and some of its following content all the way back in April!)

Anyway let’s get to it shall we?

Sandgreen Minifigures are ANOTHER new brand on the scene, and they came out swinging with a great addition to the Batman Animated Series! The simplicity of this fig’s design came out pretty perfect in terms of the print… but those custom parts are a little… off, shall we say. But we’ll get to that shortly.

The fig itself has some really good linework overall! There’s nothing too complex in the torso design that I don’t like. Same with the boots! It’s a shame the lego elements weren’t cleaned during production though, I mean look at those clumps under the ink…

To be fair, it could also be the ink itself, but however you slice it, the clumps cleared quality control and I found them! 🤷🏻‍♂️

Oh and while we’re on the topic of weird printing, why didn’t the arms get the same 360° treatment as those legs? 🤔

Alas, that’s some minor stuff in my mind. However there’s a glaring issue that I personally have to come to terms with. I know we’re all thinking it…

This Batgirl should be dark grey. Every single reference image you pull from early BTAS, she’s dark grey. Every single one (until you get to the black/yellow New Adventures suit). So for me, this is a huge swing and a miss from Sandgreen’s debut fig. Like I said the design is great, but SG’s choice of base plastic isn’t my cup of tea.

I really want to put emphasis on my “personal dark grey bias” because if you don’t know BTAS like a lunatic who reviews minifigs and has a weird obsession for DC animated shows, then it looks okay with other figs! 🤷🏻‍♂️

But like… look at this and tell me these two shouldn’t be the same!

idk man... you be the judge.

How about we pivot though. The custom parts also deserve their own time to shine!

Again I’m not amazingly impressed by the element we got here, but I understand why. SG is a newer brand on the block so I’ll cut them some slack. This is just some okay 3D design work. tbf it's still better than anything I could make!

However, one thing that I can't excuse are the eye holes on the cowl. They don’t quite line up while the cape is in place. But remove the cape and bam! Perfect alignment…. 

The quality of these (presumably) hand painted parts feel like if I’m not careful I’ll chip the pieces with a fingernail even with its finishing glossy clear-coat over the top. While I do appreciate the effort to fully commit to custom parts for their maiden custom fig, when compared to some of the mid-tier and even professional customizers out there, this is on the lower grade of quality.

Thinking positively, I do like the overall shape of that cowl. The bubbly hair is great and overall it’s a good piece in concept… but that cape doesn't do it any favors. Ooof!

On the front of it, It’s got that nice Bruce Timm neck-droop. However it’s a bit large, and looks kinda like a tucked in napkin. While I’m not completely impressed with the element’s overall shaping, it is doubled sided with two colors! So again like, impressive stuff… ambitious stuff! But also a bit too simple in its shape, suffering from Jaka Pillowcase Cape Syndrome

But that little batarang is pretty damn perfect though! Fits perfect in the hand, nice solid plastic, no paint application. Just good stuff! Honestly if nothing else, this fig was worth it for that batarang! :P

My final thoughts are that the fig is a little top heavy with the hard cap and the hair. It makes posing a bit difficult without studs or plates under the feet. But loose that cape and it’s a pretty serviceable custom fig!

I’m sure that if SG took a little more time to refine the custom parts. Flatten them down a bit, reduce some of the space taken up by the cape so the hair wasn’t so large, I think I’d be a little more impressed. 

Not that it’s a bad fig by any means, but you can tell it’s the first fig from a new brand.

Again it’s a shame it’s not printed over dark grey like the show, because it doesn’t quite match with BlackStar’s Batman. Also for $80, all these little missteps don’t quite make it worth the price in my mind.

But what do you guys think though? I’m on the fence 🤷🏻‍♂️