Now this is who I wanted to be my 100th custom, but some characters require more attention. So Kate has to settle for 101!

Someone started a topic on another site about holy grail figures we want. Sure, I'd like to regain some of my toys from my childhood, but they aren't things I can't live without. And I only collect a limited number of current lines, and for those, I really have all the figures I consider must have. Yes, I'd like to get Lobo or the Legion boxset, but they aren't absolute necessities for me. So grail figures for me are more along the lines of characters I must have for my collection that Mattel never made. When DCUC/DCIE ceased to exist I set out with a small list of challenging but absolute must haves for my collection that I needed to figure out how to get done. Some might've been challenging paint apps (Ragdoll), or difficult because they needed the perfect fodder pieces (Scandal Savage's Lamentation Blades), or just the challenge of sculpting a giant freaking shark head (I'm a shark, I'm a shark...).

So my custom grails list was pretty much completing the Secret Six (Scandal, Jeannette, King Shark, and Ragdoll), and this lovely lady. For some reason I'm almost always more interested in the lower tier characters. Sure, I can enjoy Scott Snyder's Batman run, but at the same time, I'd rather read the Secret Six, Guardians of the Galaxy (Abnett/Lanning run before Bendis made them Space Avengers) and Kate Spencer here. Lower tier characters are more malleable, and the outcome is less certain--we all know Batman will win the day. But characters like Kate Spencer are more unpredictable, more flawed, and more prone to mistakes.

Tired of seeing murderers go free, federal prosecutor Kate Spencer stole equipment from the evidence room and went after Copperhead after he escaped custody. After that she took on such characters as Shadow Thief, Doctor Psycho, and Phobia, while also defending Wonder Woman in her murder trail for killing Max Lord. She also joined the Birds of Prey for a while, and was last seen amongst the JSA just before Flashpoint sucked most of the joy and history out of the DCU. So Kate was kind of cross between Daredevil and the Punisher. They complain there aren't enough strong, female lead characters in comics, but how kickass is that? Of course it didn't hurt that she was a character steeped in DC legacy, and not just because she's one of many DC heroes to take the name Manhunter (her grandparents were Iron Munro and Phantom Lady, but she'd originally thought Al Pratt was her grandfather, which would make her a cousin of Jack Knight--read the book!)

So, anyway, if I'm rambling on it's because I really do love the character, and if you can't tell, I really love this custom. She might look fairly simple paint apps wise but she had two sticking points that made her a challenge. The first was the silver piping on her costume. Oh sure, I could've just meticulously painted silver lines on her but that would've been a disservice to the character. But I had a decent plan of attack on that with gauge wire. The first source didn't work out well, but then I found Fun Wire at the store which was just wire covered in plastic, and the plastic covering adhered much easier than metal. Still, it was a painstaking effort to apply inch by inch in the proper lines. But the main challenge were those gauntlets. Oh, how I searched for something that might work. I had resigned myself to maybe sculpting them until I found a DC Collectibles Huntress that looked promising. It took some mods to fit them on the elbow, but I think they look perfect. Besides that she's completely Star Sapphire Wonder Woman (I decided the slightly bulkier frame and design of the torso would work better with the silver piping). Some armor pieces from a couple Funko Magic Chandra Nalaar figures (god bless Target clearance!) helped complete the armor, along with the hair from an ML Spider-girl figure (I swapped the ponytail for a shorter one from a WWE Rob Van Dam figure), and viola!

With a lot of customs we often borrow from previous versions others have done. For my Jeannette I borrowed heavily from an awesome version done previously. For Scandal Savage I used a couple ideas I seen other do. But there really aren't many Kate Spencer customs (kudos to optimusleo for making her twice already!). So I guess I'm proud of her because all of the ideas used to make her were my own. And that red gloss really pops! Especially alongside the silver.

Ok, I'll shut-up now. Thanks for looking!