Been waiting years for Sideshow to complete their Empire Strikes Back bounty hunter troupe! With Zuckuss and Dengar on the way in early 2018, it was perfect timing to release the new Han Solo in Carbonite.
Overall, it's a great looking piece for display, but don't really think it's worth the $250 asking price! The lightup features are nicely done, and the paint app is decent, although could be slightly more metallic on its main front face.
Click the link below for my full video review on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel!
Box was actually a lot larger than I was expecting. Contents were all encased in foam similar to their larger statues. Everything was stored fairly sturdily.
On display with the bounty hunters, the Han Solo in Carbonite looks fantastic. An alternative base for the Jabba the Hutt scene would've been nice too, but the options they gave to display in the vertical or horizontal Bespin positions is pretty good too.
Overall, if you're a big fan of ESB and bounty hunters, then this will fit in nicely with your collection!
I was impressed with the Prototype Boba Fett paint application, but it turned out I was less impressed with this Jango Fett repaint! Overall still a nice addition to the Star Wars Samurai collection, but not a must-have.
Click through below for my full video review on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Make sure to give it a like and subscribe too :)
Box art and contents are pretty standard with the previous Boba Fett figures. The double pistols are nicely done, but putting them in the holsters looks awkward. Much better to simply have him holding them!
Posed with the other Boba Fetts, these all look incredible together. The variant paint app across the three really pops on display. Will probably be it for me with this particular Boba Fett mold. Hopefully more focus on new characters for 2018!
The Bandai Star Wars Movie Realization has been a unique series of Star Wars figures that I have loved from the very beginning. Bandai have been pretty slow at releasing new characters though, so any new mold is something to watch out for and add to the collection.
The new Darth Maul is no exception, and right up there with the best from the series so far. Click through below to watch my full video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Scroll further down too for some more thoughts and photos.
The box art is the usual classy style in this series, with a great pic of the figure on the front and the array of poses and accessories shown on the rear. The figure doesn't come with too much, but what you do get is of high quality and goes well with the figure.
The articulation on the body is as you would expect, and is consistent with the previous figures in the series. The kama around his waist and legs is a softer material that does not hinder the movement of the legs too much.
The shoulder pads are an interesting addition, since they were not shown in the concept art if I remember correctly. They don't look too bad, but are a bit fiddly to get in a decent position when posing the figure.
The head sculpt is a definite highlight for me. Looking at the prototype figures, it wasn't clear how they were designing the face. The choice they've gone with using a disfigured face that is then covered by a battle mask is a perfect combination for this series. The menacing sculpt is a fantastic representation in this feudal Japanese style, especially with the "sohei" sub-title meaning he's a warrior monk.
The base head sculpt is nicely sculpted, with little flames coming out of the eyes. The teeth are also nicely painted, as are all the tattoos on his face. The only main nitpick with the head sculpt is the colour bleed of the red onto the golden horns.
I was able to rub off some of the red paint that had made its way onto the horns, but not all of it. It's not too noticeable in amongst the black weathering, but was a little annoying and should've been avoided at this price point.
The battle mask is painted in a nice glossy red, and is made of a softer plastic so that it can be placed over the horns and top half of his face. There is a warning in the instruction book that placing the mask may rub off paint on the figure, so I'd avoid using it or taking it on and off too much.
I actually think the base disfigured head sculpt looks better without the mask, since the mask makes the top half of the head stick out a bit too much. In the end, I think he looks better on display holding the mask in some way.
The doubled hilted scimitar is beautifully designed, and I love the gentle curvature that it gives in truly ancient Japanese / Chinese style. The transluscent red plastic is similar to Vader's, and looks great with light passing through it. The hilt itself is nicely sculpted and painted too, with gold and silver highlights.
The blade does come apart at the hilt into its separate halves that he can hold in each hand. I love that Bandai even made the little peg removeable that holds the two sides together. This way when he's holding both halves, there's not some strange nub on one of them. Great attention to detail there.
The sculpting and paint app on the costume is pretty good. The forearms and shin armour parts have a nice rust paint application that really sets off the patterning. The waist part is painted in a nice greenish jade metallic colour that offsets the black well. Both front and back are nicely painted.
The beads around his neck are removeable, but as a warrior monk I think he looks better with them on. The bronze colour also gives a nice contrast to the black outfit. It's a shame they arent all separate beads held together with string of some sort. They are a single molded piece of plastic that separates out into the two layers of the beads. It's an OK compromise, but separate beads on real string really would've set it off.
Displayed with the other figures, it becomes clear to me that this series of figures continues to be one of the most interesting and unique Star Wars figures around. The build quality is great, the style in the sculpting is awesome, and the paints application really highlight the figures to their best potential.
There have been a lot of repaints, but if Bandai continue to release new molds of this quality, I'm up to get every figure the release in this series! I hope they announce the Gamorrean Guard and other bounty hunters like IG-88. With more unique characters, this series could truly become legendary!
It's been a pretty long wait for Hot Toys to finally release their Ellen Ripley figure from Alien. Various prototypes had been shown at conventions, and the preorder was announced back in early 2016 I think, due for a late 2016 release.
But delays occurred and the figure was only just released after a delay of almost 12 months. Overall, it's definitely worth the wait to finally add a female screen icon to the collection!
Click through below to check out my video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel!
There aren't a huge array of accessories, but what you do get is decent and done fairly well. The stand is the same as the one provided with the earlier Alien Warrior with of course her nameplate. The movement tracker and flamethrower are nicely sculpted, with decent weathering and paint application.
The cat carrier is also nicely done, and fits Jonesy pretty well. The cat itself isn't that great, but does the job. I'll have mine displayed inside the carrier so no big deal there for me.
The head sculpt is pretty good, and would look even better if they had given it rooted hair instead of the sculpted hair. The sculpted hair is OK, with decent detail, but sits a little wide and lacks some of the natural fall that rooted hair would've given.
The facial paint app and eyes are the usual high Hot Toys standard. The open mouth expression is good too, and from many angles the likeness with that expression is quite accurate.
The costuming is awesome, with nice use of materials and stitching. The outer jump suite is nicely weathered with a dirt wash, with lots of little details in the pouches, zips, and fabric ties. The costume also includes the cream shirt and green tshirt underneath. Together, the different layers give a nice accurate outfit that represents her character perfectly from the movie.
Articulation wise the body has everything standard 1/6th figures should have these days. However, the joints are a bit loose, especially around the hips and knees. They are much floppier than other Hot Toys figures I've had, so hopefully this is just a once-off and not some drop in overall build quality on their part.
EDIT: Thanks to Ander Perez over on the One Sixth Republic group for pointing out that I have the bloody flamethrower held in the opposite direction in the left pic below! Bloody stupid of me to be sure lol!!! Corrected in the pic on the right! :D
For my collection, it's great to finally add one of my favourite female heroines to the classic action movie shelf. I really do hope Hot Toys announces the Aliens version of Ripley with the Power Loader. I'd definitely make room somehow in the collection for those two!
The head sculpt from the original release of the Asmus Aragorn figure wasn't too bad, but certainly had room for improvement. Recently Asmus has made a point of releasing upgrade sets that collectors can order to improve their previously released figures.
In the case of Aragorn, the upgraded head sculpt provides essentially the same head sculpt, but with rooted hair. It certainly has pros and cons when compared to the original sculpted hair version.
Click through below to check out my video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel.
It definitely needs some patience to futz the hair into something that looks natural. I'm still not quite there I think, but at least to a point I'm happy enough to put it up on display. I think the hair looks fairly natural, especially if you're able to get some of the strands to fall across the face to give it a more natural wind swept look.
One thing to watch out for is the neck joint. Apparently first batch releases of the sculpt did not include the neck peg, so collectors could not attach it to the body! Asmus sent out neck pegs, and a 2nd batch of head sculpts that had the neck peg included, and luckily I got the 2nd batch version. Still, the neck peg makes the head quite loose on the figure so it's hard to position the head properly.
In the end, I'm glad Asmus is trying to improve their products by giving collectors the option to buy these head sculpts. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how they do with the upgraded Merry, Pippin, Frodo, and Sam sculpts!