The Kotobukiya Horror Bishoujo series has released some iconic characters in the series, and the latest Pennywise is no exception. It took a while for it to arrive from Big Bad Toy Store, but it's a beautiful addition to the impressive lineup.
Click the link below to watch my review of the Leatherface statue over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Hope you can subscribe and stay tuned for more reviews 😃
I think Kotobukiya have definitely stepped up their game on the packaging art, and the latest certainly give pause for collectors to consider keeping or at least displaying the artwork. Unfortunately for me I just do not have the space for that anymore, so this sort of packaging usually ends up in the recycling bin. But for those with the space, I'd highly recommend displaying the boxes, or at least keeping the boxes for posterity.
The details in the sculpting and the paint app really impress upon unboxing. The paint on the head sculpt is super sharp, and I love the bright colours of the eyes that almost seem reflective. A nice touch would've been some glow in the dark effect, but still in natural light the eyes have a scary piercing look to them. The orange hair is a bright contrast to the white, and sets it off beautifully.
The sculpting in the costume is perfectly brought out with many layers of shading and colours in the paint application. I especially love the use of black wash and shadowing to accentuate all the folds in the detailed costume. The areas around the neck, biceps and upper thighs look fantastic.
The two areas that were a little disapointing to me are related. The main issue is the steel wire used for the ballon chord, which is not flexible or malleable. This affects posing of the balloon, especially since it leans so far forward when placed into the hand.
I used some warm water to soften the plastic around the hole since initial insertion is quite difficult. But once it's placed in, the steel wire tends to fall forward, given the balloon an awkward angle. This is made worse by how low the pose of the statue is leaning forward. The prototype photos were taken from a rather low angle, which sort of hid how much the status leans.
By leaning forward, it seems to hide the face sculpt and much of the details of the body too. I would've preferred a pose that was more upright, but still leaning forward slightly to hand the balloon to the unsuspecting child. I'll have to figure out some way to keep the balloon string as upright as I can without snapping anything.
Despite that nitpick, there are so many other positives to the statue. The paint app and sculpting themselves makes this perhaps my new favourite in the series. I love the metallic finish to the base that gives that perfect impression of it walking through blood. The SS Georgie sets it off perfectly as well with the movie.
As a Bishoujo interpretation of the character, I'm not sure Kotobukiya could've done much better in the design (pose aside). It's the perfect balance of creepy and beauty! Here's hoping they announce more of these horror characters in the not-too-distant future!
The Kotobukiya Horror Bishoujo series has been high quality since its inception, and they just seem to be getting better and better too! I was glad my preorders for Leatherface and Pennywise finally arrived, and they were certainly worth the wait!
Click the link below to watch my review of the Leatherface statue over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Hope you can subscribe and stay tuned for more reviews 😃
The box art for this series seems to be getting better too, with some gorgeous photos of the statue along with the usual awesome prototype concept art by Shunya Yamashita.
I've decided to go with the stock head sculpt this time, and not the masked sculpt. The masked version is definitely a nice representation from the movie, but I find it almost too creepy. The unmasked sculpt just pretties up the statue for me, which is appropriate for this Bishoujo series I think.
The sculpting on this Leatherface is top-notch, with great natural folds in the costume. The apron almost seems like a separate floating piece, but does not rotate or adjust in any way. The bloody spatter is nicely done, but I do wish it wasn't so thick on the chainsaw blade. I think the prototype photos show more subtle bloody spatter on the blade which looks better. But overall it still looks great.
The prototype photos never really showed what was under her shirt tails, and the fan service is in full force with a nice view of her voluptuous rump. The wedgie from the undies adds to the fan service expected with this Bishoujo series.
The front view is also nicely done, and gives that unique Bishoujo spin on this iconic butcher outfit. I love the details in the bracelet, pulling your eyes briefly away from her deep cleavage 😍
All in all, the paint app is fantastic, even on the bare skin, with lost of nice shading detail too. The base itself has lots of great sculpted and paint details too. I was surprised at how much more I liked this statue than I was expecting!
I had decided to get this version over the business suit version, because I think this one is more iconic for the character. But no matter which version you get, I think Kotobukiya has done another fantastic job! Here's hoping they announce more in this series soon!
I sold all my Sideshow Clone Commanders several years ago, and wasn't planning on getting any more. But the prototype head sculpt for Hot Toys' new Commander Cody was too good for me to pass up, and luckily the final production version is still fantastic.
Click the video below to check out my review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. I have a few more things coming up soon, so make sure to subscribe and stay tuned for more reviews soon 😃
The box art is the usual classy style, but I do find their new habit of including this wrap around picture on the front cover a bit useless. I'd really rather they save that effort to include something else with figures.
The figure doesn't come with all that much. The biggest things missing for me would be the Phase 1 helmet, and perhaps more action oriented hands. But other than that, they've pretty much included what you'd expect with this character.
The shoulder and helmet antennas are delicate, so go easy when installing those. The swap out light up arm is a nice touch, and is pretty good for the odd photo opportunity. It wasn't too hard to swap out, unlike other arms from Hot Toys, for which I was definitely thankful.
The body definitely feels more sturdy than the old Sideshow Clone Troopers, but almost feels too tight. The legs and thighs in particular are difficult to articulate the actual body, where the armour moves freely but that's all you seem to move. I did manage to eventually rotate the thighs out a bit more naturally, but the fat suit underneath is a bit too thick and restricts movement too.
The arms are on some ratchet mechanism, but do have decent range of motion hindered naturally by the armour. The swapping out of the head sculpt was also easy enough, and the unhelmeted head goes onto the peg without too much force.
It's a shame that the base they included has been the stock standard Star Wars trooper base with the foot prints. They've used this for previous Stormtroopers and Snowtroopers, and now this. It's great for those static musuem poses that my collection prefers, but the option for allowing more dynamic poses would be nice. I'd say just give a nice printed stand with a metal name plate would've been good enough!
Either way, the final figure overall looks fantastic. The armour weathering is subtle and realistic, and the head sculpt is the usual Hot Toys high quality. If you're fan of the Clone Wars or the prequels, this will make a nice addition to the collection. For me, it'll sit nicely next to Obi-wan and Anakin from the prequels, and patiently wait for Captain Rex next!
It always seems to take forever these days for a new G1 TF Masterpiece to release, but luckily it's usually a good day when one turns up! This time it's the new MP-51 Arcee that as always with MPs in recent memory, comes with it's fair share of controversy.
Click the link below to watch my full video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. I go through what I think are the pros and cons, and overall it's another nice addition to the MP series!
Packaging is the usual MP style, and accessories are enough to cover aspects of the cartoon movie and posing options. I particularly like the long rifle, where she evokes hints of Marvel's Black Widow in many action and crouching poses.
The car mode looks very nice, especially with the other characters from the 1986 movie such as Hot Rod and Ultra Magnus. The pink, which I thought was just plastic but it actually painted, is a perfect shade, and the overall styling is very cartoon accurate.
The wheels are quite thin though, and the clearance on the underside of the car is very tight. It was difficult for me to get things lined up perfectly enough to get the car rolling on all 4 wheels at once. I guess that's been a common problem with many of the carbots, including Hot Rod.
Luckily for the most part, the styling looks awesome, particularly with the sharp white and greys to offset the pink. It's strange that Takara did not include a Daniel mini-figure in this set, but I guess they've probably done enough of the human figures that came with Optimus, Bumblebee, and Hound.
The transformation sequence isn't as difficult as other MPs, but there still are a few scary moments. Three tricky areas stand out for me:
Folding the rear head lights in on themselves was tricky, especially the first time when the joints are particularly tight. You need them folded flat and perfectly in order to fold and collapse the backpack as much as possible.
Rotating and pushing the windscreen through the internal hole, which needs a specific rotation and angle to fit through. This part took a few goes to finally squeeze it through.
Collapsing the front part of the car over the top of the backpack as the final part to completing the transformation. You really need to make sure the neckpiece is in place properly into its peg, and gently guide the outer part of the backpack so that it can be pushed down and tightly with the rest of the backpack.
But once all of that is done, overall she looks pretty nice. The backpack is sizeable though, and does present some balance issues. This is made more difficult with her small feet, but luckily the joints are tight and usually hold poses well enough. But similar to the Hot Rod that tends to fall backwards on its large backpack, you need to be selective in your poses so that she doesn't topple over too easily.
I have seen some pretty amazing poses over on the TFW2005 forums though, so she has some of the best MP articulation around. The torso area has a rather tight ball joint, but if you manage to loosen that a little bit, you can get some pretty natural poses to go with the leg and waist articulation.
The most controversial part of the figure is of course the horizontal level of her chest plate. I think many collectors incorrectly think that the horizontal level is too low, giving her the "saggy boob" look. But the horizontal level is actually anatomically correct as shown by the designers prototype art that showed the female anatomy on which it is based.
But the human female form doesn't necessarily translate literally to robot form all that well. That's where they made the mistake in making the incline of the top of the chest piece too steep, which leaves a large white area of her neck piece. If they had instead designed a way in which the slope was more gentle, and covered up more of the white neckpiece, it would look far better and not give the illusion of "saggy boobs". There have been photos of custom chest pieces that give this look, and show what a big difference it can make.
Aside from the chest piece, I think this is another great looking figure by Takara. The massive amount of articulation makes up for the less than ideal chest piece for me. In fact, inhand the chest piece doesn't even look that bad. It's strange how close up macro toy photography certainly makes it look worse than it really is. Either way, I'm glad to have another new G1 MP mold in the collection, and she definitely adds some shelf presence to the gang. Now I'm really looking forward to the new Starscream mold!
2020 will certainly go down as one of the most crazy years ever in the history of mankind! The collecting front for me was nowhere near as crazy! It's actually been a much slower year than previously, but looking back the things I added to the collection were still those I really wanted. Being a bit more picky with what I get and how I display them has made me appreciate the collection a lot more too.
Hope you can check out my end of 2020 collection summary over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel below. Make sure to subscribe too, and stay tuned for more videos, photos, and reviews in 2021 and beyond 😀
Takara releases G1 Masterpiece figures so slowly these days, I barely even think about whether I should get a figure, and just buy it regardless. I guess when the figure is another fantastic Diaclone repaint, there's nothing to worry about!
This Spinout repaint of the fantastic Sunstreaker mold is beautifully done. Click the link below to check out my video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Hope you can subscribe and stay tuned for the upcoming MP Arcee review!
The packaging is the usual MP style. There aren't too many accessories , but what is provided is decent enough. I'll never use the stickers, but they're a nice option for collectors that want that extra bit of detailing or Diaclone homage. The weapons are essentially the same as those that have come before with Sunstreaker or Cordon, so you know what you're getting there.
For the extra collector piece, I do wish they still provided the coins instead of these new pins. But I guess something is better than nothing! The card art is decent, but I still prefer the original static pose artwork of the figure itself. That was always just a simple yet classy way to highlight the figure and tech specs.
But the main thing everyone is interested in is of course the figure itself. It always seems that Takara puts in a little extra effort for their Diaclone repaints, and this Spinout is no exception. Cordon was a beautiful repaint, and Spinout maintains that high quality.
I actually thought the red was all just unpainted plastic, but it is actually a beautiful deep red paint that looks so good in hand. Previous figures with red plastic have a somewhat translucent quality that makes them look a little cheap. But this semi-matte finish is gorgeous.
I love that Takara have given the two Diaclone repaints their original Diaclone number designation, with Spinout being Car Robo CR-01 and Cordon being CR-03. Seeing this does raise the obvious question on where is CR-02, which is the original black Ironhide. I have no idea why Takara has not done an Ironhide repaint after all of these years since the MP-27 Ironhide release. I really do hope they announce one soon.
Seeing Spinout side by side to the original MP-12 Sideswipe, it really becomes obvious how much better the paint app is on Spinout. The roof of Sideswipe shows that translucent plastic effect, and the cleaner lines of Spinout really make it the definite red MP Countach for me.
The transformation to the classic Countach style without external engines is pretty simple, and that mode looks pretty awesome too. But I do prefer the external engine stile for both Cordon and Spinout. That chrome just looks amazing!
Spinout looks pretty amazing in bot mode too. It has the same G1 toy-inspired head sculpt like Cordon, but with yellow ears. An option for collectors who prefer a toy style would be to swap head sculpts with the original Sunstreaker figure, but I think that would look pretty weird, especially with the mis-matching blacks. I guess for me, I've never had an issue with the original Sunstreaker head sculpt, and think it conveys their cartoon aesthetic pretty well.
Luckily the transformation sequence for this Sunstreaker mold is easier the third time around. Spinout has nice firm joints that are not too loose or tight, and I had no issues with paint chipping either which is great.
I love these Diaclone homages in the MP series. There are some collectors that apparently hate these repaints, but I have no idea why. Considering that these were the original precursors to the Transformers that we all grew up watching, I think Takara honours them perfectly through this MP series. Here's hoping for a Hound repaint and of course that elusive black Ironhide!
I've collected most of the Kotobukiya Horror Bishoujo statues, and overall it's been a fantastic series. I was in two minds about this Beetlejuice, but I figured it looked iconic enough to add to the collection. It took a while to arrive from Japan, but it turned up in great condition and looks fantastic along with the rest of the gang.
Click the link below to watch my full video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Make sure to subscribe and stay tuned for upcoming reviews for Bishoujo Pennywise and Leatherface!
Packaging is the usual nice style for the Bishoujos, with a mix of concept artwork and actual photos of the statue. The cardboard insert actually shows the tombstone that I would've actually preferred for the statue, which states "Here lies Betelgeuse" and has the little gargoyle on top. I'm not quite sure why they didn't use that tombstone.
I'm also not sure where the nail file comes from, unless I am completely forgetting it from the movie? The other statues in the series have had little accessories that are from the movies, so this one seems a little strange to me.
That aside, the rest of the statue is very nice. The face sculpt and skin paint app are the usual high quality in the Bishoujo series. I do like the little sharp teeth she has, and the sculpted hair is nicely layered. Note that the head sculpt sits a little loose in the neck socket, and can be removed. Not sure if that was meant to cater for some sort of swap out feature, but just something to be aware of.
The outfit is nicely sculpted, with the black and white painted nice and sharp with no bleed. The gold buttons and purple inner lining of the suit give it a nice bit of extra colour too. I wish the stony base was painted a little better with more variation - the browns and grays are a little flat which gives it a plasticky look. Still, it's a decent base for her to sit on, so I can't complain too much.
As I mentioned before, the layering and sculpting of the hair is nicely done. But I do wish there was a bit more variation in the paint app, or even some translucency like with the Freddy statue. I guess Freddy is the only one that has that sort of hair material, with all the others being painted. Either way, the overall sculpt looks pretty nice.
I think the only main character I haven't collected is the Tiffany statue that was released along with Chucky. I just didn't think that version was iconic or recognisable enough. But with Beetlejuice, that's not an issue, and she looks fantastic with the others that I have in the collection.
I'm hoping to get the Pennywise and Leatherface statues soon, and I'm thinking Pennywise may well become my favourite in the series. Hope you can stick around and tune in for those upcoming reviews!
I've had the Hot Toys Endgame Iron Man Mk85 (BD version), Captain America, and Thor figures preordered for a while, but had held off on the Thanos figure. But I stumbled across a seller here in Australia that can get some pretty awesome prices from Hong Kong.
The price for this Thanos brand new was about AUD$200 cheaper than from the usual Aussie retailers like Popcultcha. That was a price too good for me to pass up, and I'm definitely glad to have finally picked up this awesome figure!
Click the link below to check out my full video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel.
The set doesn't come with too much, but what is included is of pretty high quality. The array of hands are very nicely painted and suit the axe well. It would've been nice if the wrist joint and hand sculpt allowed for the iconic axe pointing pose from the final battle.
It's also unfortunate that there is only a swap out Infinity gauntlet, as opposed to a complete swap out arm that is sculpted in the bent position like the Infinity War version. I would've preferred to pose him with the gauntlet in a clenched fist in front of him, but won't be doing that since it would leave the rubber arm bent for too long.
The light up feature on the gauntlet is pretty nice. Sure it's not completely movie accurate to have all the stones with this outfit, but I don't really care. As the only version of Thanos I'm likely to have in my collection, I'm glad Hot Toys included it.
In terms of poseability, luckily the figure is imposting enough, and detailed enough, to look pretty fantastic in even a static, museum-like pose. The joints are all mostly on ratchets, so they hold up well to the weight of the figure. He's not likely to get into anything too dynamic, but I have seen poses of him in the sitting position. Not sure I'd recommend leaving it like that for too long though.
My favourite part of the articulation is actually the ankles, with their large ball joint that does give a lot of range of motion. It's good that you can get the feet flat on the ground for stability. The ratchet in the hips area is a bit fiddly, but overall you can adjust things to get him quite well balanced for such a large figure.
The head sculpt is one of the stand out features of this figure. The helmet is removeable, and luckily is foam-padded and surprisingly easy to remove and adjust. I've always been scared of putting helmets on Hot Toys figures in case it gets scratched, but I had no concerns with this figure.
Despite the purple paint app, the skin texture, detailed sculpting, glassiness of the eyes, and realistic teeth really give an almost scary realism to the figure. I'd have to say this is one of my favourite Hot Toys head sculpts in my collection. Both head sculpts are beautifully done, with the passive sculpt still giving the figure some great shelf presence.
To top it all off, the paint app on the armour pieces is also very nicely done. It's all plastic, but the weathering and sheen give it a nice realistic metallic look. The magnets on the shoulder pieces is nice, and helps to prevent any scratching of the arm paint app.
I actually thought the figure was going to be bigger than the previous Avengers Hulk figure. But it turns out Hulk is still larger and bulkier. Standing side by side, the scale still works out fairly well, and you could recreate their short battle nicely.
I think many people are waiting on the battle damaged version of this figure. That certainly looks like a great set too, but I'm happy enough with this version and the more subtle weathering on the armour pieces and head sculpt. I'm really looking forward to the three main Avengers to release in 2021 and have the 4 combatants standing together in the cabinet. Endgame was the culmination of my favourite series of movies for the past decade, so it will be great to have their 1/6th scale representations in my collection.
The 1/6th scale genre has been dominated by Hot Toys in recent years, with very little competition that can rise to their level of quality. The likes of Sideshow Collectibles, Enterbay, Asmus, Blitzway etc. have all released some pretty decent figures, but most have lacked that extra level of paint application or sculpted likeness to elevate their figures to Hot Toys standards.
When Threezero announced their John Rambo figure from Rambo III, the promotional photos used a prototype that honestly did not look very good at all. The key aspect of the head sculpt likeness just seemed off, and so many collectors did not preorder.
But in one of those rare instances, the final product that was released by Threezero turned out to be a massive improvement! The early reviews and photos showed an incredible likeness with a fantastic paint app to match. So many collectors immediately jumped onto retail websites to order the figure.
I was luckily enough to snag a first batch order from Big Bad Toy Store, and am so glad to finally add another classic action movie icon to the collection. Threezero have done a seriously incredible job with this figure, and I really hope they announce and release human characters to this level of quality in the future. It really is the first figure from a company other than Hot Toys that hits all the right levels of realism and quality.
Click below to check out my full video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Make sure to click that like button and subscribe too! 😃 Also scroll further down for my written summary and more pics.
I love the box art and quotes on the packaging. The contents are pretty awesome too, with a high quality array of accessories. The jacket is really nicely tailored and weathered, although the buttons don't seem to function like real buttons. I don't think anyone would button that up anyway, so that's all good. The singlet is nice and soft, and fits over the figure well. But I won't be using either of them to really show off that great torso and arms.
Befitting a character like Rambo, there's a nice assortment of weapons, with the AK rifle and grenade launcher, explosives and bag, RPG, and of course the bow, arrows, and quiver. They all have great little details, paint application, and some moving parts. It also comes with a couple of knives on the figure out of the box, with one inserted into his boot, and one in a sheath on his belt. The final touch is his jade necklace, which would've been even better if there was a touch of green in its colour. All the accessories have fantastic weathering effects that bring out the realism. The swap out hands make full use of all the accessories as well, so there's plenty of posing options.
Once you have everything set up on the figure, it really does look incredible. That head sculpt is just so one point! That firm stare; that subtle freckling and 5 o'clock shadow; the glassy eyes; the fine stranding in the hair with the fabric bandana - it really is up there with the best head sculpts ever made in 1/6th scale in my opinion. I've never seen a non-Hot Toys head sculpt of this high quality until now.
The best part is they've matched the head sculpt with a fantastic torso and seamless arms too! The skin texture and realistic freckling is applied to the body and it looks great. I love the scars that they added to the chest to match those in the movie. It would've been perfect if they added some of those scars to the arms as well, but I guess that can be forgiven with all the other positives to find in this figure!
The pants are nicely weathered and sit on the figure fairly well. They do need some adjustment to get the most out of the articulation, but I managed to get it into a decent enough forward leaning pose that I was happy enough with. There's not too much in the way of movement in the plastic boots, but the arms move well as to the legs once you adjust the pants.
I would still avoid bending the rubber arms too far. I'll definitely be leaving mine in the pose in these pics since I am so paranoid about the rubber cracking over time. I'd be so disappointed if the rubber on this figure starts to crack like some of the Hot Toys figures. The torso and arms does feel like a better material than what I've felt on the Hot Toys figures with seamless bodies, so hopefully this one stands the test of time.
If you're a fan of 80s and 90s action and sci fi movies, then I think this figure is a must-have. Quality wise, I think this is right up there with the best of Hot Toys figures in every aspect. It really does have presence in the display amongst other figures, and it just looks great with all the other iconic characters.
If you're on the fence, I'd highly recommend getting an order in on the second batch - Threezero announced a second batch due to the popularity of the figure once it was released. That's due out in Dec 2020, so get an order in and you might get it in time for Christmas! Either way, I cannot recommend this figure enough - definitely one of my favourites for this year!
Recently got my order from Big Bad Toy Store of the Super7 Thundercats figures, and am pretty happy with them. I never got the original releases, so am glad to be able to add these to my classic 80s cartoon collection. If you have any of the previous MOTU Classics figures, then you'll know what you're going to get with these. The style, parts, and overall design are pretty much aligned with that series.
Click through below to check out my reviews of all three over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Scroll further down for some pics of what you get in each set and how I'll display them in my collection. They certainly bring back all the nostalgia of weekend mornings watching cartoons!
Lion-O:
Panthro:
Mumm-Ra:
Each set comes with a decent array of accessories. I especially like the alternate head sculpts for each that are more expressive. Really brings out their character in more dynamic poses too. Definitely looking forward to Tygra, Cheetara, and Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living later this year.
Here's more footage using the new Sony ZV-1 camera, this time with some retro backing tunes from the G1 Transformers cartoon. Maybe still need to work on minimising that camera shake, but overall the new camera is looking pretty sweet!
I read and saw quite a lot of reviews of the new Sony ZV-1 camera reporting it to be pretty much the best vlogger camera on the market right now. So I thought I'd upgrade from my old crappy JVC camcorder of the past 7 years to this new technology!
Certainly makes for a crisper look at the collection! Hope you can check it out at the link below over on the channel 😀
Back in the 1990s, one of my favourite action movies turned out late in the decade to be The Mask of Zorro! It featured Antonio Banderas that had that charisma about him, and it introduced me (and the world in general) to Catherine Zeta-Jones. They had the on screen chemistry that directors and movie goers love, and the swashbuckling action and music was right in the sweet spot for movies that I really enjoyed.
So when Blitzway announced they were going to do a Zorro figure from the movie, I was so happy to be able to add more characters to my fairly small collection of swashbuckling action adventure heroes! Luckily, the release turned out to be pretty nice overall!
Click through below for my full video review on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel! Make sure to subscribe and give the video a thumbsup too! 😃👍
At around US$280, the price for this set is pretty high, even when compared to Hot Toys and Sideshow Collectibles figures. At least the quality of the outfit and accessories is of high quality. I like that the dagger and sword have what feels to be metal blades, and the medallion chain and cape chain are metal too. They add an extra premium feel to the outfit. The cape itself has a nice material that lies quite well on the figure too. The printing on it is nicely done, but be careful with the edge roping that seems to only be glued on. If that starts coming off, it might get a little untidy very quickly.
The unmasked head sculpt has a decent likeness, although I think having the pupils looking out slightly wider would help with reducing the cross-eyed look to it in front on views. The stranding in the hair is nicely detailed, but more skin texture in the facial paint app would elevate it to close to Hot Toys standard.
The masked head sculpt has a better likeness, with a more playful smirk that captures the character from the movie more accurately. It's a shame that the wide brimmed hat is not mixed media but molded plastic to the head. The mask itself is also sculpted and painted plastic, with fabric after the knot to give it more realism. Out of the box, the hat strap is behind the head, whereas in the movie it almost always hung in front of this face and neck. So I recommend untying it and moving it to the front, then doing a simple knot at the front. It looks much more movie-accurate and realistic that way.
Out of the box, the shirt sits very high on the shoulders so that he looks like he has no neck. You do have to spend a considerable amount of time tucking the shirt properly into the pants and lower then naturally onto his shoulders. It would be easier to do if the belt could be removed via velcro, but it seems to be molded so it's very hard to move and still tuck the shirt in. Use a flat headed small tool to push the shirt into the pants, and that should help.
Once you get the shirt sitting naturally, and then adding the weight of the cape, the outfit looks far better. I like the straps on the shirt which look realistic, and the pants are loose enough to get him into some nice poses. Unfortunately the boots are fixed semi-rigid plastic, so there is very little ankle articulation if any. In wide stances the figure looks strange because the feet can't be placed flat on the ground. But I usually have my figures in fairly static museum poses, so it's not that big a deal for me.
The choice of hands isn't all that extensive, but what is there can be used to capture his playfulness from the movie. I chose these hands in an attempt to replicate the scene where he is fighting against the guards at the house before he meets Elena. The sword looks great and the medallion gives a nice flair to the outfit as well.
Getting the scabbard to attach properly to the belt was a little difficult. The clips were small and trying to squeeze them into the attachments on the belt left me worried that I was going to break something. Luckily it all attached in the end with no problems, and I won't be removing it any time soon.
It's a shame there is no attachment for the whip, but I simply wedged it between the dagger hilt and his body to at least have the whip displayed with the figure. All setup with the accessories, it does make for a pretty great looking figure in the display cabinet.
I don't have many action adventure characters in my collection, so this was a great character to add some variety to the collection. It looks great displayed next to Indy and Jack here. It's great that there are companies like Blitzway willing to tackle different source material, and doing a nice job of it too.
I'll hopefully soon be getting the Threezero Rambo figure that looks superb. If there's any figure that looks to rival Hot Toys quality, it's that one! I don't think this Zorro reaches those lofty heights, but it's overall quality is still pretty good, and certainly better than the Sideshow human figures I have. All in all, if you're a fan of the movie and want something a bit different to the usual Marvel and Star Wars fare from Hot Toys, then this Blitzway Zorro will fit the bill perfectly!
