Review of Captain Jack Sparrow - Dead Men Tell No Tales
Pirates of the Caribbean DX15 Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

There aren't too many positive things to say about Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. It was better than At World's End, although I'm not sure that says a whole lot.

Perhaps its best feature is its effect on Hot Toys - it got them rolling again with the overall POTC license, and they are producing their first Jack (and first DX) in many years.  There's always a downside though, and I don't think another Jack was really what fans were hoping for. We've gotten multiple Jacks, Elizabeth, Will, Davy Jones, even two versions of Sao Feng. But where's Barbossa? Where?

It's really not a surprise that when they dipped their toe back into the icy waters of POTC, they started with Jack. He is the star, after all. But it will be extremely disappointing if Barbossa is passed over once again.

As I mentioned, this Jack is a DX (DX15), a style we haven't seen in a long time. You always get a ton of extras with a DX, but the real differentiator is the PERS - parallel eye rolling system. The actual mechanics have changed over the years, but the effect is the same, with the user able to adjust the direction of the gaze.

Jack has been shipping for a few weeks, and will run you around $265, depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ****
Hot Toys goes all out with their DX releases, including the packaging. The lid wraps around, and the figure is encased in soft foam inside. There's a couple plastic trays too, holding the large number of accessories safe and sound. It's all collector friendly, it's all very heavy duty and well made, and it's all extremely attractive.

They added in one of their little extras too. On the very top layer, rather than a simple cardboard cover, they have a heavy duty full size card, with a smaller, thick card in the center. This smaller card has a red plastic window, designed to look like the ruby from the film. It's a cute touch, and shows a lot of care went into the planning and execution.

Sculpting - ****
The overall quality of the Depp sculpts in the POTC series has varied a bit over the years. Personally, I love the Cannibal version, but the earlier DX was perhaps their best.

This figure is based on the new film of course, which means Depp is much older. They've translated it well, and the skin texture and aging is apparent without being over done. It's clearly him as Jack, with the eyes, nose, lips, facial hair, and overall facial shape almost a perfect match.

There are actually two portraits with this release.  That's unusual for a DX - the PERS tends to give you so much control over expression that it's not really necessary - but they wanted to give you some variety in the rest of the face as well. The second portrait has a wry grin, the sort of look Jack tends to get when you think you've got him, but he knows better. Both portraits have the PERS included, and the entire 'face' pops out of the head and hair. It's held in place with a strong magnet, but is not too difficult to remove. Just pop the head off, pull downward on the bottom half of the head (minding the tiny beard!), and it will come apart.

The DX06 Jack also had two portraits with PERS, and the mechanism for swapping the faces remains the same. However, the PERS does not. With the earlier release (and many other earlier DX figures), there was one lever to move both eyes in concert. This system was prone to breaking though, and now they use one lever for each eye.

The rest of the head and hair is a combination of sculpted dreadlocks and rooted hair. I did find I had to play around with the rooted pieces quite a bit to keep them looking good, and in a couple of the photos I think it's still sticking out too much. But it does add a realism that I like, particularly when it's done lightly like this.

I've seen complaints with the PERS in the past that the eyes are too deep set. I don't think that's an issue here, particularly in hand, and the glassy, life-like appearance is quite remarkable. I don't like the smirky portrait quite as much as the standard, but I'd take either of them any day over some of the previous attempts, including the DX06. And we thought those were amazing at the time!

Paint - ****
Perfect pant is no surprise for Hot Toys, and they crush it once again. The importance of this can't be underestimated, and there are a ton of very nice, sometimes excellent, portraits from other sixth scale companies that simply fail to have this level of quality and realism in their paint work, and it hurts them considerably.

The skin tone is excellent, the make up around the eyes looks perfect, and even the sculpted facial hair is made to appear more life-like through the application of perfect paint. Small details look great, like the beads and trinkets in his hair, but it's the realistic work on details like the scar on his right cheek that really make this figure pop.

Articulation - ***1/2
I do have one complaint, but it's a tiny one.

It's not with the quantity or usability of the underlying TrueType body. There's plenty of joints here, and you can use them in concert to create very, very fluid and life-like poses. The hands swap easily, as do the faces, and while there's lots of layers to the costume, none of it gets in the way of the posability.

The soft boots are particularly good at allowing the ankles a full range of movement, and you can keep the feet flat on the ground in a natural way even in deep and complex stances.

So what's the problem? The joints in the knees and ankles are a tad loose this time. Getting him into cool poses wasn't hard, but keeping him there was tricky at times due to the looseness. It wasn't awful - he's not flopping around like a rag doll - but it was a bit of a surprise, considering how tight the TrueType tends to be.

Accessories - ****
A DX always comes with a boatload of goodies, and Jack is no exception.

There's a nice assortment of hand's, and because they were all sculpted for this particular character (the wrappings on the rights and various rings on both make it necessary), the scale was a little better. They swap easily, and there's a couple extra wrist pegs just in case.  The sculpted wrappings and rings look great, and while the gestures are designed to work with specific extras, they are generic enough (and character specific enough) to work with plenty of unique poses as well. There are seven hands in total - four rights and three lefts.

Jack has several weapons, including a dagger that fits tightly in a small sheath. In fact, it fits so tightly, that once it's in there you probably won't be taking it out. If you do, use extreme caution.

There are two flintlock pistols, each with their own specific appearance, and matching up nicely with the film. You can slip these inside the top belt, but it's another tight fit. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but you might end up considering other options for him to carry them, even if it is less film accurate.

Jack has a smaller telescope, and it is not articulated. There are also five small extras that you attach to his belt - the monkey's paw, a shrunken head (mom!), a simple beaded string, the compass, and a lock of long hair. They give you instructions on where to loop these around the bottom belt, and it works pretty easily. I used Jack's dagger to help slip the thin string under the belt each time. Be particularly careful with the compass, because they don't give you a lot of string to work with.

Speaking of the compass, it opens as you'd expect. If you plan on having him hold it, don't put it on the belt - as I said, there's not a lot of string to work with.

Jack has one more weapon - his sword. It's the only metal accessory, and it looks and feels great. It fits nicely in the included scabbard, which in turn fits inside the loop on his sword belt.

Jack has two bottles - one for drinking, one for carrying around and pining over. The brown bottle is his rum of course, but the clear bottle houses the Black Pearl. This is a nice movie specific extra, but I don't love the obvious seam where it was assembled.

Another movie specific extra is the wanted poster, and it has a nice faded, worn look to it.

Finally, he comes with a large display stand. This stand looks like rugged water, with the undead shark rising up amidst some floating pieces of the ship. This includes a mast with cloth pirate flag. There's a long, bendy metal support rod to hold Jack up, but I didn't use it in either of the poses in the photos of the stand.

It's worth noting that a lot of these extras are re-used, particularly from the old DX06 version of Jack. But the old DX goes for crazy money these days, and was released over six years ago. Lots of collectors missed out the first time around, and this new version gives them a chance to glory in the wonder of a true DX.

Outfit - ****
There's so much to this costume it's hard to not forget something. Shirt, vest, coat, pants, boots, multiple belts, hat, scarf...I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

He comes wearing almost all of this, so there's less kitting you need to do. That's a good thing too, since it can be tough to get a nice tight fit on all those belts and layers.  You can adjust the coat and belts of course, add the hat, and you're good to go.

All the material is excellent, and the quality of construction top notch. I already mentioned how cool the soft boots are, but the fake snakeskin belt (or is that alligator?) looks terrific, and the scarf even has a magnet feature to hold the top half folded down over the sword belt!

The coat has several stiff wires along the bottom edges as well, which will allow you to add some flair to the more dynamic poses. That's not the only time these are important though. Even with simpler, less dynamic stances, the wires allow you to fake the sort of hang that heavy material has in real life. As usual, they include a few extra tiny buttons just in case one falls off and gets lost.

Fun Factor - ****
I had a ton of fun with this figure, and I'm not done yet. You don't have to put a bunch of clothes on him - that can be fun sometimes, but has the possibility for frustration as well. You do get to attach various goodies to his belt, add in the guns and knife, and work with the two different portraits and PERS. You'll have plenty to do, and I wasn't annoyed or frustrated during the process.

Once you have him outfitted, the articulation, accessories, and base create the potential for dozens and dozens of great looking poses. You'll be limited only by our imagination.

Value - **1/2
This is a DX figure and comes with a DX price. There's plenty of re-use, but there's also new portraits, new PERS, and plenty of value for the collector that never got the old version. The old DX06 cost around $220, and a $45 increase might seem like a lot. But basic figures are $220 now, and considering all the booty you're getting, I had to go with an average value here.

Things to Watch Out For -
When you're swapping the faces, be careful with the little braided beards. One of mine came out of the hole - it didn't break, it just popped out of the hole it was glued into - and I might have lost it had I not noticed right away.  I was able to quickly glue it back in, but you'll want to pay particular attention.

Overall - ****
It's no surprise that you get better doing something the more times you do it. If you didn't, no one would ever practice anything. Therefore, it should be no surprise that the two best figures Hot Toys has done for 2018 have been figures they've done more than once.

Originally, the GOTG2 Star-Lord was an easy winner for the Poppies for 2018. While he did make it out to some folks late in 2017, he remained off the ballot for that year because the judges decided not enough people had gotten to see him in hand prior to voting. He'll be on the ballot this year though, and he was my front runner.

And then Hot Toys went and released this guy, another Jack Sparrow. Not just another Jack, but another DX Jack. And he's stupendous. He's going to give old Peter Quill a serious run for the money. Now if Hot Toys could just wow me with the first release of someone new and unique, like they did back in the day with the Godfather or Aldo Raine. Perhaps Barbossa?

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

Where to Buy 
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Related Links -
This isn't Hot Toys first rodeo when it comes to the Pirates of the Caribbean, but it is the first in awhile.  They previously released Angelica, the DX06 deluxe version of Jack Sparrow, Cannibal Jack and Davy Jones, their first Jack Sparrow and Sao Feng, and Will Turner.

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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