Every so often there’s a wrestler that can make even the most jaded, cynical fan shut up and appreciate them. It’s rare since the Internet Wrestling Community knows more about wrestling than the people who’ve made it their career, but sometimes we can lay aside our critic hat and take in a genuinely good character and get swept away in their storylines.

Right now, that wrestler is Bayley, the current NXT Women’s Champion. If you can find a wrestling fan that dislikes Bayley, they probably hate puppies, pizza, and free stuff.

While her other NXT peers Sasha Banks, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch have been called to the main roster, Bayley is holding it down in NXT and maintaining the legacy of quality matches regardless of gender. Mattel has been a lot more willing to dip into the NXT pool and not just wait for the NXT talent to come onto RAW before making their figure, which is a great thing for Bayley fans.

Let’s see if someone at Mattel deserves a hug for bringing Bayley to our collection.

Despite their staying in their plastic prisons for a very brief amount of time from the moment I find them on the shelf to bringing them home, I can appreciate a good figure packaging and the WWE 2016 packaging is really strong.

The striking red with accent colors for the various WWE brands of RAW, Smackdown, NXT, Legends and Divas not only helps them stand out from other 6-inch figure lines, but it also adds a little distinction within the waves.

Bayley and Kevin Owens make up the NXT contingent in this wave. I saw Owens as well, but his figure’s execution looked as ill-fitted and partly inaccurate as the prototypes in person.

That wasn’t a problem with Bayley as Mattel’s sculptors did a great job capturing all the important details that make Bayley unique, like the minor bags under her eyes, her dimples, and her round nose. Naturally it wouldn’t be Bayley without a smile, so I was glad Mattel didn’t opt for a serious, stern expression for NXT’s happy-go-lucky roster member. Just like Sasha Banks figure, Mattel is getting better at capturing the Divas’ likeness. Except for Eva Marie. I saw that figure as well and Mattel is having some rotten luck effectively rendering her in figure form.

Word of warning regarding the ponytail: it can be placed behind the shoulder, but isn’t articulated, so be careful, otherwise you might find yourself tracking down the super glue at some point down the road.

Bayley reflects a better attention to scale. Bayley is 5 foot 6 inches and looks just about right matched up next to the 5 foot 10 inch Charlotte, while being taller than the 5 foot 5 inch Sasha Banks.

I was thrilled Bayley actually had some color to her attire. Mattel goofed in releasing both Charlotte and Sasha Banks in the same black and silver color outfits. That’s not an issue here as the colorful Bayley has a nice primary color outfit. Mattel should design a better sports bra mold as they’re relying on paint work to fill in the outfit more, which looks especially cheap on Bayley since she has a lace-up top.

Mattel needed to hit the red and yellow paint apps stronger as the blue bleeds through on both legs. In four to five Bayley figures I saw, that was a common problem and likely one consistent with all the figures, so don’t hold out because you’re trying to find one with a better paint job.

Until Mattel improves the Divas figure articulation, they’re going to constantly be inferior to the male Elite figures. Most frustrating, they just need deeper range on the elbows, double-jointed knees, and more clearance with the back-and-forth motion on the torso. The latter wouldn’t need to be that difficult since the bra top could hide most of that, but it appears Mattel is fine using the same old broken articulation model. I’m also not pleased that the pimp hand returned.

Bayley’s got the following articulation:

• Neck
• Ball-jointed shoulders
• Bicep
• Elbows
• Mid-torso
• Waist
• Wrist
• Hips
• Knees
• Shin
• Ankle

Clearly, Bayley’s Basic figure wasn’t going to have her “I’m a Hugger” cloth shirt, arm streamers, and four of those awesome wacky air inflatables. I’ll happily grab those with a Bayley Elite figure, but it was cool to see that her headband is removable. That was an unexpected surprise, especially since most Basic figures don’t come with any accessories.

Despite their flaws, $10 is a great price for the Diva figures. It’s a better deal than the Basic male figures, which lack even fundamental necessary articulation from the shoulders down.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Bayley is another Diva that would benefit tremendously from better articulation. The likeness is great, and it’s about time we got another colorful Diva figure in the collection. Diva/NXT fans definitely should grab her.

I found Bayley along with Sasha Banks, Eva Marie, and Kevin Owens at Walmart, so check there first, but Target has also gotten this wave, and I’m assuming any day Toys R Us will be adding them to shelves as well.