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Introduction
Jason Statham has been a leading action film star for the last almost 20 years (time flies when you are having fun or kicking ass and transporting people while
speeding), and I think deservedly so. Gruff, no-nonsense, and yet endearing, Statham delivers believable performances in what are, admittedly, very similar characters.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of his movies are parts of series (including three Transporter and Expendable movies, and two Crank, Mechanic,
and Fast and Furious films). While it can be argued that such action movies are not always necessarily the absolute height of cinematic and acting artistry,
they tend to be well-made and enjoyable, to no small extent owing to Statham's performances and character. There have been several 1/6-scale action figures featuring
characters playing Jason Statham before: the Poptoys Death
Racer Frankenstein, the Brother Production Jason,
and the Art Figures Soldiers
of Fortune Lee Christmas. Although I acquired a couple of Jason Statham head sculpts (by Belet and I think Poptoys), I never got any of these figures. But when I
stumbled across ZC Toys' Jason Statham for what I thought a very reasonable price, I went for it.
Despite the very explicit reference to The Mechanic 2.0 (as it appears in the listing), i.e., Mechanic: Resurrection, complete with mention of its
director, Dennis Gansel, I should point out that there is nothing particular about this action figure and its apparel and accessories that is related to that specific
film, apart from the actor himself. The clothing and accessories actually seem to be derived from various films in which Jason Statham played a leading part, which
makes this a composite figure rather than a specific character portrayal. I wonder if the film reference to Mechanic: Resurrection was chosen simply because
that was Jason Statham's most recent big film. In fact, not one film character portrayed by Jason Statham can be said to be fully replicated in this action figure,
although Frank Martin from the Transporter films is nearly complete, save for his watch and driving gloves. Under the various categories, I will point out, as
best as I can, the origin of specific items that come with this product. For some reference images of the actor, see here
(Mechanic: Resurrection), here (Transporter), and here
(Transporter).
Packaging - **
I do not own much from ZC Toys and perhaps did not know what to expect. The promotional images featured a stylish spliced image of the product's head and upper torso on
the one side and Hong Kong's nighttime skyline on the other (which was in fact briefly shown in Mechanic: Resurrection). But none of this comes on or inside the
minimalist unpainted cardboard box that contains the product. One corner includes a generic white sticker with the ZC Toys logo and a choking hazard warning for young
children. Inside, below a thin sheet of plastic foam, is a deep open-backed foam tray, sitting atop another thin sheet of plastic foam. The action figure and its
accessories are placed within the cutouts and indents of the plastic foam tray. Everything inside is collector friendly and safe. Although at least the product's name
would have been nice, I am not particularly bothered by the minimalism of the box, which does its job of containing and protecting the contents. But there is nothing
particularly interesting or impressive about it.
Sculpting - ***1/2
The head sculpt is almost unmistakably Jason Statham, although it is not a perfect likeness. It is difficult to say where exactly they went off (it reminds me of what I
have seen on photos of the Art Figures sculpt), but it might be that the lower part of the face appears a bit too full. It seems to me that the Belet and Poptoys head
sculpts of Jason Statham were a little better at conveying the actor's distinctive appearance. Otherwise the sculpt is beautifully executed, with realistic wrinkles and
imperfections, as well as finely sculpted stubble and sparse hair (a look that works for Statham far better than for most mortals). Overall, it is realistic and
lifelike, without being a perfect likeness of the actor rather than, say, a Jason Statham lookalike.
This category should include ZC Toys' muscular male body, which is used here. This action figure body is of the type that can be displayed short-sleeved or
bare-chested. It features a sculpted rubbery torso and also rubbery skin over the upper and lower arms, covering the elbow joints. The rubbery surface is imperfect and
matte like actual skin, avoiding the glossier surface of regular plastic. The muscles are executed in a somewhat impressionistic manner, but this works in terms of
overall appearance. The nipples and navel are very finely sculpted. If it were not for the rather obvious seam on the torso's right side, the body's appearance would be
close to perfect, at least as far as the sculpting is concerned.
The action figure stands about 11.5 inches, which is just a little on the tall side for Jason Statham, whose 5 feet 6 inches would translate to 11 inches in the 1/6
scale.
I struggled between 3 and 3.5 stars in rating the head- and body-sculpt but decided to be supportive.
Paint - ***
Apart from the gun (which is black with a pair of sharply executed silver screws on each side of the handle), the only item to which this category applies in a
meaningful way is the head. The eyes are generally cleanly and sharply painted, and have a suitably glossy surface to reflect the light. The skin seems to have some
intentional imperfections in the paint that give it realism. The stubble and sparse hair are given a darker color than the nearby skin, and when this is combined with
the right light and the shadows produced by the fine sculpting, the effect is enhanced. However, and this seems to be a problem in pretty much every high-quality
1/6-scale head sculpt of Jason Statham I have seen or own, one of the distinctive features of the actor's appearance is how dark the hair and stubble appear to be (at
least in the majority of his films). And this is not nearly dark enough in 1/6-scale renditions, perhaps because of the inherent difficulty in painting thinning hair
and stubble in a realistic manner. Beware that promotional photos of Jason Statham head sculpts you might see on eBay or elsewhere are sometimes either touched up or
feature a more detailed and darker paint job than the actual products.
There is no special paint application detail applied to body, including the sculpted nipples, and here the hair is not even sculpted to begin with. The actor is rather
hairy, and that is not conveyed here at all. It might be argued that he is not supposed to be displayed without his shirt (even if his movies feature bare-chested fight
or beach scenes), but if so, then why go with the articulation-restricting covered single-jointed elbows? Despite this, I base the rating here on the painting of the
head-sculpt, which is good, but not perfect.
Articulation - ***
The legs, ankles, and wrists have excellent articulation, and the waist can swivel sideways. Beyond this, the rubbery torso and arms restrict the articulation. There is
some possible bending at the waist, but not meaningful ab crunch to speak of, and the elbows cannot bend beyond 90 degrees. There is some movement possible at the
shoulders, allowing the arms to move forward and backwards, rather than just up, down, and sideways. There is very little movement to the lower neck, although the ball
joint allows the head to tilt and rotate very well on top. Clearly, as with most non-Phicen muscle bodies, here appearance has been prioritized over articulation.
One thing that is not exactly articulation but helps this product, is the rather loose fit of the neck connector inside the head. This allows the head to be positions
lower or higher on the neck, which helps in cases where the collar might give the impression of an overly short neck.
Accessories - **1/2
Apart from the outfit, on which see below, the figure comes with some spare parts and a couple of accessories. The spare parts are three additional pairs of hands
(making altogether four pairs: the fist hands that come on the figure, relaxed hands, gun-grip hands, and sword-grip hands), and a pair of spare wrist pegs. The latter
are a good idea, especially as the wrist pegs already on my figure snapped at the slightest provocation. Taking no chances, I replaced them with Hot Toys wrist pegs
immediately. There is no stand.
The accessories proper are a gun and a necklace. Be careful with the gun: I managed to break its thin trigger guard while removing it from the figure's hand, and had to
repair it with super glue. The gun is a black M1911A, with a pair silver screws on each side of the handle. Now a very similar gun (M1911A1) made a rather significant
appearance in the original film, The Mechanic, except that it was wielded by Jason Statham's character only once, and it was nickel-plated and engraved rather
than black. In that movie, Jason Statham's character used mostly a Glock 17, while in Mechanic: Resurrection, he employed a black Beretta 92FS. The M1911A gun
does seem to correspond to the what Jason Statham's characters used in The Transporter and in Parker (although the color might be off). How do I know
all this? Well, apparently some people pay close attention to such details and there is a whole Wiki website on the matter of firearms used on film, which you can see here.
The silver necklace has a dagger or knife as its pendant, and was worn by Sylvester Stallone's character in The Expendables. I was unable to verify whether
Jason Statham's character ever wore or had anything to do with this necklace, but from what I saw, his necklace in the Expendables films had a different, round
medallion on it. In an early scene in Furious 7, Jason Statham's character takes a somewhat similar looking necklace from the bedside of his comatose brother,
which is actually the cross belonging to the Vin Diesel character.
Thus, neither of the two proper accessories (but especially the necklace) is altogether correct or appropriate, especially in relation to Mechanic: Resurrected
or even the original Mechanic film. Since the overall appearance of the action figure matches most closely Jason Statham's character in The Transporter
(see below), other accessories might have been more appropriate: a different-colored gun (or model), Panerai watch, alternate driving-gloved hands, an axe, sunglasses,
etc. The lowish rating reflects the scarcity and questionable relevance of the accessories.
Outfit - ***1/2
The outfit has nothing to do with the appearance of Jason Statham's character in either of the Mechanic films, but it corresponds to the actor's appearance in
The Transporter (and its sequels). It consists of black dress shoes (though not very shiny), black suit, silver-buckled black belt, white dress shirt, and black
tie. The ensemble does not hamper the articulation and works very well, whether in full or with various items taken off to match the character's appearance in different
scenes. The white shirt has non-functional tiny shiny white buttons on the front and on the cuffs. The cuffs are actually sown closed, while the front closes with a
thin strip of Velcro. The look is very good, but the tiny white buttons sometimes detach and I had to glue two of them back into place. Given their size, I could have
easily lost them. Another minor annoyance is the lack of socks. This becomes quite apparent when the action figure is posed in sitting or kicking stances. The ankles
are neither realistic nor meant to be seen, and they go straight into the shoes (the foot peg attaches to the shoe, and there is no actual foot). At any rate, they do
not seem to be appropriate for full-dress. I suppose one could customize.
Fun Factor - ***
Overall, the action figure is pretty good and can be fun, although its fun potential is limited by the scarcity and dubious relevance of the accessories, as well as the
absence of other characters from the respective films. But if you want a Jason Statham (and especially a Transporter) and if you are going to mix him up with
other characters or customize, there is plenty of potential.
Value - ***
Retailing at $80-95 (often with shipping included), this product compares rather well to other 1/6-scale action figures based on movie characters. You get a good body
and a good head sculpt (although neither is extremely outstanding), and a very good outfit, as well as a nicely-sculpted gun and a rather unique necklace. Various
limitations notwithstanding, this is a pretty good package overall, at a price that seems reasonable at this time. Of course, better quality, accuracy, and selection
might have necessitated or justified a higher price.
Things to Watch Out For -
Quite a few things. The wrist pegs were both exceedingly stiff and brittle, and broke with the slightest provocation, even as I thought I was being careful with them. I
recommend just swapping them with Hot Toys (or similar) wrist pegs, although the fit inside the metal-lined opening in the lower arm is rather tight. The non-functional
buttons on the shirt can detach and need to be re-glued, if you can find them!. The trigger guard of the gun is exceedingly thin and thus fragile. I wasn't being very
careful while removing it from the relatively soft plastic hands (which I thought would have made the process easier) and it broke; superglue to the rescue again. All
of these are reparable problems, but annoying nonetheless.
Overall - ***
Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - **
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***
Articulation - ***
Accessories - **1/2
Sound Feature - n/a
Light Feature - n/a
Outfit - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ***
Value - ***
Overall - ***
Where to Buy
Online options include these site sponsors:
- you can search
ebay
for a deal.
Related Links -
Some years ago, Michael Crawford reviewed Hot Toys' Expendables Barney Ross (there was also a
guest review by Ryan Kelly) and Hot Toys' Expendables
2 Barney Ross.
You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.
Discussion:
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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Ian Stefan.
