Review of Doc Brown - Back to the Future 2
Exclusive Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

Hot Toys introduced their first Marty McFly from Back to the Future almost 3 years ago. Then they did the Delorean.  And yet, there was no Doc Brown.  Then the BTTF2 Marty started shipping...and we still didn't have our first Doc Brown.

The wait is finally over, at least for me - these just started shipping a little while ago, so yours might still be en-route. Their first (but hopefully not only) Doc Brown is based on his look in the second film, and there's both a regular and a exclusive release. I'm checking out the exclusive tonight, but it only includes an extra accessory, which I'll point out in the appropriate section.

The regular runs around $250, as does the exclusive.

Packaging - ***1/2
If you picked up the recent Marty, then you might think you've seen this box before. But that's NOT the case. They've swapped up the cover graphics, showing the back of the BTTF2 Delorean this time, and they get extra points for not simply using the same cover with a different name. It's all collector friendly of course, and keeps the figure and accessories safe and sound.

Sculpting - ***
This is a tricky category. They went with a very specific, very dynamic look this time, and while the character certainly has an expressive face, going that route is always dangerous.

From certain angles and in certain poses, they captured the perfect look. I do see Emmet Brown in there, although I think this version looks a little younger than he should for part 2. He's shocked, as he often was, with wide eyes, open mouth, and slack jaw. For a dude that knew the future, he was surprised an awful lot.

From other angles, it's not quite as successful. He comes with the silver sunglasses, but with them over his eyes, the open mouth look doesn't really work. And because of the less articulated neck (only the single joint in the torso), you can't lean and tilt the head enough to really work with the wild expression. Still, in hand it's better than I expected, and you should be able to find a few poses that you really like.

Of course it's also ultra realistic. The thinly stranded hair works, and the soft sculpt on the eyebrows and skin (accurate right down to the mole on his right cheek) looks great. But there's a nit here too - the open mouth lacks detail. Now I understand it, because when he looked like this, you couldn't see much in the way of teeth or tongue. But that's for a brief moment on screen, and in hand, you get to stare at him forever in this pose and the lack of detail in the mouth (there's a slight hint of a tongue and the slightest sign of teeth on the upper mouth) jumps out at you.

He stands about 12" tall, and looks decent next to Marty. I didn't realize how tall the new BTTF2 Marty was til I put these two together, but that's more of an issue with Marty than with Doc.

Paint - ***1/2
The production paint work is realistic and complex, with a nice speckling on the skin, and subtle transition from skin to hair along the hairline. There's some bleed into the eyes, and the lack of sculpt detail on the mouth is matched by a lack of paint detail. There's also a little variation in the skin tone between the hands and the face. But overall the operations are clean, and it's another life-like paint job from the masters.

Articulation - ***
The underlying TrueType is everything it always is, but there are a couple joints that are less articulated this time.

I've already mentioned the neck. There's the one ball joint at the torso, but the neck and head are a single piece. This was really the only option due to the open mouth and lowered jawline, but it still reduces the amount of personality you can give poses.

The torso and arms work pretty well, with very little restriction imposed by the costume. However, they went with the less articulated elbows here, and I'm not sure why. While the sleeves on the coat are styled shorter than normal, you can't actually see the elbows, and he really needs full movement for some of his arm poses. I wanted the hands closer to the face, and it simply wasn't possible with these elbows.

The legs work fine, including the hips and knees. But the ankles are restricted again by the boots, if only slightly. It's worth noting that I thought the high boots would really kill the ankle mobility, but that's not the case. You can get some rocker movement in the feet, but it's less than the best designs.

Accessories - ***
He comes with a number of very scene specific extras that will improve the display potential.

He has hands of course - six in total. He comes wearing a set of relaxed hands, and there are two left and two right hands in different grips, designed to work with several of the accessories. They swap easily enough, but I also found that they popped off quite easily while posing him. There's a couple extra wrist pegs too, just in case.

I also mentioned his shiny silver sunglasses, which fit neatly on his face. The paint job is perfect, a critical feature for them.

He has two watches, one for each arm. Unfortunately, the face popped out of the back of the silver watch when I was sliding it on his arm, and I've been unsuccessful in getting it back in place. I hate when I need to repair something right out of the box - I hate it even more when it's almost impossible to do.

There's his 'hypnotizer' with tiny movable arms, as well as the funky futuristic binoculars. And to go nicely with the Marty McFly, there's the alternate cover USAToday. The newspaper is really an impressive extra, thanks to articles printed on ever page.

The exclusive includes one extra accessory that's technically made up of three. He has the pack of two battery operated walkie-talkies, the sort of thing some of us remember from our youth. You can slide the cardboard off the back and take out the walkie-talkies too, without damaging a thing!

Another impressive extra is his case of emergency cash, based on various time periods. There's a sticker sheet, and you apply the exterior and interior stickers yourself.  The money is sealed behind a plastic cover, and the case closes tight. The whole thing looks great, and he can easily carry it in one of the gripping hands.

As usual, there's a display stand with support rod. It has the BTTF logo and name plate, and provides some display consistency with the earlier Marty.

Outfit - ***1/2
People in the future love them some funky colors. Actually, the wild fashions were one of my favorite aspects of the show, because far too much 'sci-fi' has everyone wearing the same damn boring outfit. I don't expect humans to go that route, and these wild colors and weird designs are much more likely.

The costume consists of the yellow pants and jacket, over the red pillowy shirt and clear plastic tie. There's also the funky green socks, and of course, the shoes. Always, there's cool shoes.

The costume construction isn't particularly complex, but there's some really nice work on the shirt and jacket. The quilted shirt is well tailored, even with the unusual design, and the outer jacket fits loose and baggy, like it did on film. There's a wire along the bottom edge of the jacket, which makes posing it in dynamic ways possible.

But it's the shoes with their complex sculpt and extra doo-dads that really make the outfit pop. As usual, Hot Toys steps it up with their footwear, and the shoes totally make the man.

Fun Factor - ***
The facial expression limits your posing, unfortunately. There's still some great stances you can get, and adding in the Marty to go with him improves things, but he's still more limited than an average Hot Toys figure in this category.

Value - **
This is a decent figure - B work for Hot Toys, but well worth adding to the BTTF display. But $250?!?!? We're talking top end money, even for Hot Toys, and there's no second portrait, no light up feature or sound feature, nothing particularly outstanding that would warrant a price over the average of $220 or so.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. The antenna on the shoes should be handled with care, but the rest of the accessories are fairly sturdy. Also, pay attention to the order on the sticker sheet for the proper placement in the case.

Overall - ***
I've been waiting for a Doc Brown for a very long time now. While this version isn't my top choice, I'm glad to get any, considering the resources Hot Toys is spending on Marvel, DC, and Star Wars.

The extreme expression limits you with this one, but when he's paired with the proper Marty, the whole is better than simply the sum of the parts. But they can't really be whole, because while they have shown off the Delorean from the second movie, I don't think they've ever set it up for pre-order. That means we have a Delorean that goes with a Marty, and a Marty and Doc that go together but not with the Delorean...so we still don't have the perfect set up.  We need an Emmet Brown from the first movie, preferable in the hazmat suit. C'mon Hot Toys - don't leave us hanging.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ***
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***
Accessories - ***
Outfit - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ***
Value - **
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Sideshow has the regular for $250, as well as they are the place to pick up the exclusive for $250.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've reviewed both the first Marty McFly, as well as the second Marty McFly.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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