Review of Black Panther MMS470
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

I haven't been buying as many Hot Toys figures these days, but when they give me something unique, I'm all over it like crap on velcro. Hey, I'm tired of saying 'like hair on a bear'. One of the films getting some good treatment from them - and by that I mean more than just the main character or two - is Black Panther. Sure, the latest release is another version of the man himself, but we are getting some nice secondary characters, as well as the throne eventually.

This second version of Black Panther has some new features, including a cool 'light up' feature. He's just started shipping in the last few weeks, and will run you around $260 depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ****
The large shoe box package is attractive and well made, and the interior trays keep everything safe and sound. It's all collector friendly of course, and there's some simple instructions to aid in putting together the base. The extra height of the package is due to the larger size of the base itself.

I went an extra half star here because of the cover. It has an excellent design and a cool die cut and embossed pattern, and fits the theme of the 'luminous' concept nicely.

Sculpting - ****
Can't really argue with their work on either the masked or the unmasked portrait, and you even get an option with the mask.

The first Black Panther they produced, while really nice, lacked an unmasked head. They like to do that - suck you in with the first version, but save a critical piece like the actor's portrait for the next release. It's a dirty trick, and I fall for it every time.

The masked head looks amazing, with a ton of textured and realistic detail. This detail extends to the costume as well, where the entire body suit is covered in intricate and varying patterns. The silver 'claws' are tightly attached, and the underlying body is a huge improvement over the first release. No weird thighs or stubby appearance this time!

The masked head comes with a set of covered, protected eyes. These can be swapped out with a set of uncovered eyes, and the process is fairly painless.

But what you're really interested in is the unmasked actor's portrait, no? And while you can always - always - find nits to pick about the accuracy of any Hot Toys sculpt, it's only because we've come to expect so much.  The detail work on the face is amazing of course, with a tremendously realistic skin texture, perfect hair, and an ideal expression that is just serious and harsh enough to emote danger and determination without getting silly.

He's a big dude, coming in at about 12 3/4" in the masked head.

Paint - ****
Hot Toys are the masters of production paint work, but they added a new wrinkle with this figure.

The work on the unmasked face is life-like and realistic of course. The skin tone looks great, and the hair - including the hair line - is stellar. It's clean and neat, just as you expect.

But the real stand out here is what they did with the suit. It might appear under normal lighting to look all black with the silver highlights, but it's not. I'll be discussing his 'light feature' in a later category, but that will be about the light itself, a large pair of columns with blue LED's. These lights just don't illuminate the figure! Thanks to a luminous paint applied to the suit, specific patterns glow under the light. It's really eye catching, and sets this figure apart from anything Hot Toys has done before.

Articulation - ***1/2
I already mentioned how the underlying body is a big improvement visually over the first release. The joints work well too, and while the ankles are a little loose, it's not as bad as it was with T'Chaka.

The neck is an interesting arrangement this time. Because the masked head requires a large space inside (so you can swap eye plates), there's a large neck adapter that attaches to the normal ball joint. This adapter must be removed to swap in the normal unmasked head.

The ball neck works good in either case, as do the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. Sure, the shoulders are a tad restricted by the tight costume, but he can still take and maintain realistic arm poses. The torso is less restricted than I expected - the suit is tight, but the material is stretchy - and getting him to bend forward is easy. He can turn a bit as well, allowing you to have fewer straight lines in any pose, always a plus.

As with the arms, the hips and knees are a little tight thanks to the suit, and it does tend to bunch up around the hips. The ankles aren't as loose as they have been with past releases, but they are still a little too loose for my tastes. They do have a good range of movement though, and he can take fairly deep stances without much trouble.

Accessories - ***1/2
He has one big accessory, but take that away and he's pretty short on the extras.

There's the second unmasked head of course, always a big plus. As I said, it swaps pretty easily, once you figure out how to manage the neck post. There's also the second eye plate for the masked head, which can be a little tricky to get into place, but once you figure it out you'll be good to go.

There's a bunch of hands, including the fists he comes wearing. There's a couple more sets of posed grips, one with the claws extended and one without, and an extra right grip just for holding the spear. These all swap easily, and stayed attached as I was working with the figure.

Yep, there's the short spear, although it's more like a big double edged knife. Great sculpt, and a solid paint job make it an excellent addition.

But the real draw here is the specially designed base. There's the usual octagonal plastic base, with his name plate and logo. This fits inside a plastic tray that is designed to also support two large columns on either side. These columns look great - lots of cool movie specific printed runes - and each has a row of blue LED lights from top to bottom pointed back toward the figure. You assemble the base by putting the two posts in the plastic piece, threading the cords through and plugging them into the octagonal base, and voila! You have the light up feature!

There's a support post included as well, although you won't need it, and one of the cardboard backdrops. I'm not a huge fan of the back drops, but this one looks great thanks to the lights.

Light Feature - ****
So let's talk a little more about this light feature. It takes a little effort to assemble the base and get the cords plugged in, but the result is well worth it. You can power these lights by either putting batteries in the base OR you can use the included USB cord.  We usually don't get USB cords, but with this many lights (even if they are LED) you'd go through batteries pretty quick. With the cord, you could use a USB pack to power them too, rather than plugging it into the wall, if that's you're preference.

The lights are bright and even, and they really show off the cool luminous paint job. This is one of those 'wow factor' elements, something you'll use every time someone comes over to check out your collection.

Outfit - ***1/2
This suit is made from a stretchy material, which appears to snap back to normal after posing. Only time will tell how well it will hold up, but it's high end stuff, no doubt about it. The fit and tailoring are great, and the attached silver pieces are tight and unlikely to come loose.

It does bunch up around the hips in most stances other than a straight up museum pose. I'm not surprised, and it would do something similar to you if you were wearing it. But the bunching and wrinkling does look a little less realistic because of the design of the joints underneath.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
With good articulation and the cool light feature, this is a really fun figure to display and show off. If you bought the first version, there's good news and bad, and it's the same news - you can get rid of that one.

Value - **
The higher than normal price tag is being driven by the light up feature and luminous paint job of course, but I'm still feeling like this guy is ten bucks or so over priced. It's a minor nit, and most folks won't care, but once you get past $250, you better have a damn good reason.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. When you swap the heads or the eyes, getting the masked head back on can be a little tricky. It's all about alignment, and once you find the sweet spot, you'll know it. Don't force anything!

Overall - ****
When I first started shooting this figure, I was thinking he'd be a 3.5 overall. But the more I worked with him, and the more I messed around with the light feature, the more I liked him. He's still got a few nits, but damn, he's a huge improvement over their first Black Panther. And it's not like it was released that long ago!

So yes, if you have the first one, you have one now that is much, much better. Add in the already released T'Chaka with the upcoming Killmonger, Shuri, and Throne, and you'll have one kick ass display. The others can hang out around the throne, but this guy is going to be standing on his own under the lights!

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

Where to Buy 
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I've reviewed their first Black Panther release, along with the T'Chaka figure.

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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