Review of Dean Winchester - Supernatural
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

When Supernatural first aired, I watched a couple episodes. It didn't grab me. And with the sheer volume of excellent programming available to us these days, if a show doesn't really grab me in the first couple episodes, I'm probably not going to hang on. I didn't.

But the show took off, and built a solid and dedicated fan base. It turned into one of those shows where someone mentions that it's in its 13th season and you think "Holy crap! Has it been that long?" Yes, yes it's been that long.

The story of the Winchester brothers has clearly been one that has resonated with fans, and while there has been a decent amount of general collectible goodness, there has been one area sorely lacking - sixth scale figures.  Quantum Mechanix decided to rectify the situation, and is producing a set of Dean and Sam. They showed off a Castiel at last summer's SDCC as well.

Dean is the first figure to hit, and this is a bit of an early review. He'll start shipping widely within the next couple weeks or so. You can pick him up at most retailers for around $200 - I have some great suggestions in the Where to Buy section below.

Packaging - ***
Nothing exceptional here, but the package is attractive, uses themes from the show, and is completely collector friendly. No need to damage anything when you're removing the figure and accessories, which is the expectation in sixth scale packaging these days. They've also added a 'season 10' sticker to the front.

Sculpting - **1/2
While I'm not a watcher, my youngest daughter most certainly is. I relied on photo comparisons for my thoughts on the sculpt, but I also asked her what she thought. It's important to note that she is not a collector or aficionado of sixth scale in any way, which makes her thoughts on the sculpt and paint perhaps that much more relevant to the fan base in general.

I used several photos for my comparison. The show has been on a long time - Dean has aged. I looked for shots from the later years, like this front view, or this excellent clip of him talking with Crowley, straight from season 10.

Let's start with realism. Both my daughter and I were impressed with the work on the hair, because this style is particularly tricky to capture in plastic. It's that sort of wild but not quite look, and they've added enough fine detail to create a very realistic appearance. The skin texture is good too, not too overt but enough to give him life-like skin. The one piece head/neck design works well, with the sculpted texture and natural look extending down onto the neck.

Then we have the emotive aspect. He's not very dynamic, but clearly concerned. I do think a little more squint, or a little more emotion in the mouth would have gone a long way to making the portrait a bit more exciting and less waxen.

And now we get to accuracy, the bane of all portrait sculptors. Let's face it - Dean is a pretty boy. And pretty people are really, really, really hard to get right. They don't have extreme facial features that you can snatch onto, and without movement and action to provide them personality, it can be almost impossible to create a portrait that will get universal praise.

As I said, I love the hair. I think they captured the eyes and nose, although a bit more of a squint would have improved the look. But something goes wrong from there down. The lips are a little off, the jawline a little too wide, and the huge cleft chin? Not sure what's up with that. This was my favorite reference photo, and you can see where they went awry by direct comparison. My daughter agreed - it's the shape of the jaw and lower face that is wonking it all up.

That's not to say it's terrible - in hand, it's one of those portraits that works, but doesn't wow. He's about 12 1/8" tall, fitting in fine with other sixth scale figures on the shelf.

Paint - ***
The paint work is very clean and sharp, but lacks that certain something to set it apart in this market.

The hair has good highlights and shading, and the eyebrows and shadowing on his face are well done. I think the work on the beard could be a little better, but my daughter thought they did a great job capturing the subtle impression of needing a shave.

A highlight is the work on and around the lips. The lips are a little darker, with a slighlty pale area around them that fades into the darker skin. It's quite impressive, and shows a level of attention that I appreciate.

The eyes are a little dead, but that's due in part to the sculpt. They are proper plastic, reflective eyes, and create their own natural catch lights. The skin tone could use a little more variation, but overall this is solid B work.

Articulation - ***1/2
I was pleasantly surprised by how well the underlying body worked, and the use of the single piece neck is really the only restriction.

It's a restriction I'm happy with, because I do think the sculpted neck adds to the overall realism of the figure. But you have to understand that you won't get quite as much tilt and lean movement.

The rest of the body is tight but fluid. The shoulders, elbows, and wrists allow for just about any natural arm pose, and the hips, knees, and ankles can take shallow to deep stances with ease. The soft boots allow for plenty of rocker movement in the ankle, so you can easily keep the feet flat on the ground even in wide stances. The torso turns, leans, and crunches, and the costume does not force it back to center immediately.

There are several hands of course, and they swapped easily without any fear of breakage. There's also one, uh, attribute that I haven't noticed before, but it's worth mentioning here. I could have included it in the Sculpt section I suppose, but since I normally discuss all aspects of the body here, I figured it was the best place to include it.

His 'package' is sculpted to the right. I didn't actually strip him down, but it appears as though he has a sculpted lump at his crotch, and it swings to the right when he's wearing jeans. Look at the photo below and tell me you don't notice it. And then try to deny that it doesn't create a more realistic look to the figure. Remember, it's the little things that make all the difference. It's possible that this body has had this, uh, feature in the past and it's just the jeans that made it so apparent, but in any event, it's worth noting.

Accessories - ***1/2
Dean comes nicely outfitted with some very good extras.

There are hands of course - there are always hands. They're a little big, but not quite as awful as we've seen with many of the Hot Toys figures. They swap easily, and they work great with some of the specific accessories. There are nine in total, including two gun grip rights. One works a little better with the Colt, one a little better with the Winchester.

He has his watch as well, a nice add that slips over his wrist when you swap hands.

And yes, he has his Colt 1911A, complete with pearl handle, and his Winchester shotgun. While they are pretty standard sculpts, they look great in his hands.

He also has two very specific weapons. The First Blade was a regular on the show, and is made from the jawbone of an ass. There's also the larger Purgatory Blade, and both have excellent sculpts and paint work.

He comes with a well made duffle bag with working zipper. There's a hunk of foam inside to fill it out, but you can toss that and put the accessories in the bag with ease.

Finally, he has a pretty standard display stand with support. You won't really need it - he stands great on his own - but for those that appreciate the stands, it's a nice addition.

Outfit - ****
This is one of those outfits that might slip by your radar. It's not some sort of complex super suit, or some unique historical garb. It's a guy in a black t-shirt, red shirt, blue jacket, jeans, and boots. Oh, and there's a belt of course.

But it's an extremely well done example of everyday clothes. The tailoring is fantastic, and every layer hangs and lays properly. The jeans fit the body, and collars, buttons, and pockets are all properly scaled. Every stitch is well done, every edge neat.

And then there's the boots. Soft leather uppers are cleanly stitched, with proper eyelets and a real shoestring. Even the tongue is padded! They are soft enough to allow for plenty of movement, and they look great in any pose.

I'm not exactly sold on the color of the laces...I don't know if this is true to his on screen look. The laces are a little long too, but that's easy enough to fix with a pair of scissors. These are really minor nits, and these boots are some of the nicest non-sculpted ones I've seen in a long time, at least from a larger manufacturer.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
With great articulation and a nice assortment of extras, you'll have no trouble posing and re-posing Dean in a million different scenarios.  Match him up with other monsters on the shelf for some interesting displays!

Value - **1/2
Two hundred bucks is on the low end these days, where average prices for sixth scale figures are in the $220 - $230 range.  While the sculpt isn't quite where I'd like it, the rest of the figure certainly warrants the price. Because of the quality of the outfit and the number of accessories, I'm willing to go with an average score in this category, which means the price won't effect my Overall either up or down.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. Everything is sturdy and well made, and I didn't have any fear of breakage or damage when I was working with the figure.

Overall - ***
This was a tough call. I'm not enamored with the portrait - there's clearly something off. Much like other pretty people that are so hard to capture, there's something missing when it comes to the accuracy. That's a surprise with Qmx, because their other figures - like Picard, Kirk, or Khan - have been so good. In hand (and it's always important to remember in hand can be very different than in photos, thanks to scale) the portrait and paint are good...but not great.

But it's not merely about the portrait.  The accessories, articulation, and outfit on this figure are extremely nice. If I were grading purely on these three categories, I'd go another half star easy. You can see my dilemma. I stuck with the three stars, and I do think fans will be happy with the final result on their shelf.

If you do find him to your liking, go for it early rather than late. Don't wait around for Sam, because that sort of procrastination could spell doom for Dean's poor brother, and I'd really like to finish the set for my daughter.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has him on pre-order for $200, but includes free shipping!

- Sideshow also has him at $200.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
It's hard to believe, but this is the first Supernatural collectible I've reviewed.

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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