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Captain Toy/Michael's Review of the Week

Review of Will Robinson - Lost in Space
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Executive Replicas
Date Published: 2017-07-17
Written By: Michael Crawford
Overall Average Rating: 2.5 out of 4

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Lost in Space Will Robinson 1/6th action figure by Executive Replicas

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Introduction

As a kid, I loved Lost in Space. But it wasn't one of those shows that I watched a lot as an adult, unlike a Twilight Zone or an Outer Limits, and that meant the majority of my love for the show was based on the perceptions and tastes of a child.

Re-watching it in the last few years, I realize much of my love is nostalgic. It doesn't hold up as well as some of the best 60's shows, but I can still enjoy it, and it transports me back to my youth.

Another thing I realized - Dr. Smith was a serious asshole. Watch the first season again and tell me he isn't pure evil. If the same character was on a modern show, say The Walking Dead, his fellow survivors would have used him for walker food by the second episode. The mere fact that the Robinsons let him live speaks volumes for their character - or naivety.

The LiS license is one I've been wishing would get the high end sixth scale treatment for years. Executive Replicas has tried, sometimes with success, sometimes not so much. Their latest release is Will Robinson, and he has just started shipping. Expect to pay around $180, depending on the retailer.

Click on the image below for a Life Size version
Lost in Space Will Robinson 1/6th action figure by Executive Replicas

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Packaging - ***1/2
Whoever designed the box gets a gold star. The outer cover is a three sided piece held in place by strong magnets. There's a good shot of Will himself, as well as several product photos on this exterior. Inside, they used the high quality dense foam to create the very soft tray for the figure and accessories. This is an example of the best type of interior 'trays' on the market, and works better than the standard plastic.

It's all collector friendly of course, and requires no damage of any sort. Except...and this is where they lose a half star...it's all in a vac-sealed plastic wrap?  Huh? I suppose they thought this was necessary to keep the three panel cover in place, but since this entire box is packaged inside another shipping box, I'm not sure it was a necessary move. And it does hurt the collector friendly nature.  Cutting it free is just *slightly* more damaging, in my opinion, than cutting the tape on a regular box, but it's still damage.

Lost in Space Will Robinson 1/6th action figure by Executive Replicas

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Sculpting - ***
This is a bit of a tricky one, because there's some very good things here...and some very bad.

Let's start with the realism. This is a much improved human sculpt for Executive Replicas. It's quite realistic, with some nice stranding in the hair, and good detail work on the lips, eyes, and eyebrows. There isn't a ton of skin texture, but he is very young, and should have a smooth face.

The emotive nature of the sculpt is also appropriate. He doesn't need to be overtly dramatic or in any extreme emotional state. He's got enough of an expression to give him a little life without looking silly. A bit more of a smile would have been nice, since the character was smiling way more often than not, but it's a small thing.

All this is a step up for Executive Replicas.  However, the final piece of the puzzle is the accuracy of the likeness, and there's all kinds of trouble there.  If you popped this head off the body and handed it to anyone old enough to remember the show, they'd have no idea who this was supposed to be. After working with it for awhile, I did find certain angles and lighting where I thought he looked a little like Will, but in general, it's not Billy Mumy.

I'm going with three stars here because the first two criteria are well met, and I think the likeness may be more of a paint issue than a sculpt issue.  More on that in the next section.

The figure stands 10 1/2 inches tall, and even that makes him a tad too big. He's a third season version though, so I'll give them a pass on the height.

Lost in Space Will Robinson 1/6th action figure by Executive Replicas

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Paint - **1/2
The paint work is another tricky area, because the general quality is a step up for Executive Replicas...but is a let down in other ways.

The quality is good - the skin tone is smooth and consistent, the lips are realistic, and there's an appropriate gloss to the eyes. In macro photos you can see a little slop around the hair line, but in hand it looks quite good.

Here's the rub - there's some very specific issues with the paint that could have greatly improved the likeness accuracy, and they missed the boat.  First, there's the eyebrows. As a ginger, Will's eyebrows were barely there. Here, they are dark and obvious, and a missed opportunity.

His other trademark feature? Freckles. He always had freckles. Leaving them off was a crucial mistake. I think a more character accurate paint job would have gone a long way to making this sculpt pop, and I'll be interested in seeing repaints by talented customizers.

Lost in Space Will Robinson 1/6th action figure by Executive Replicas

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Articulation - ***
Since the Phicen logo is on the box, I'm assuming the underlying body is by them. There's all the joints you expect, and they are generally well designed and mobile.

I'm not thrilled with the neck, even though it's a double ball. The head fits around the neck tightly, and there's not as much tilt and lean action as I'd like.

The arms have the usual shoulder, elbow, and wrist mobility, but a couple of the joints - particularly the right elbow - were quite loose. The hands swap easily though, always a plus.

The torso and waist work well, and the hips, knees, and ankles allow for plenty of good short, medium, and deep stances.  I couldn't get as much rocker movement out of the ankles as I'd like, and this is not due to the boots. They used a nice, soft material for the boots, and the ankles could have worked better if the underlying joint allowed for it.

Lost in Space Will Robinson 1/6th action figure by Executive Replicas

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Accessories - **1/2
As I mentioned, you get to swap hands...but not a lot. There's the gripping set he comes wearing plus a set of relaxed hands. The sculpts on these are Barbie doll quality, especially the extra set.

He has a second belt, with a good buckle, that allows him to wear the included cylindrical holster. I always thought these holsters were the stupidest designs on the show (and this is a show that had a giant carrot monster), but at least the sixth scale version is well done.  There is a metal hanger on one side to attach it to the belt.

The best accessory by far is the blaster pistol. Unlike the goofy holster, the pistol was a great design, and Executive Replicas has upped their game on this one, including translucent sections at the tip and the rear.

There's a small, silver display stand with a waist grabber support as well. This stand is the same one we saw many years ago with the figures of Maureen and Dr. Smith, so it creates a nice consistency across the line.

Will has one other weird extra - another black belt and holster. This wasn't listed on the marketing specs, and it is clearly designed for an adult sized figure.  It looks like the holster we should be getting with the next John Robinson release (with the jet pack), but I'm not sure why they are including it here.

Lost in Space Will Robinson 1/6th action figure by Executive Replicas

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Lost in Space Will Robinson 1/6th action figure by Executive Replicas

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Outfit - **
Perhaps the biggest issues with this figure lie in the outfit, where there are plenty of nits to pick.

The one area that is NOT a problem is the boots. They are really well designed, made with a soft upper and hard plastic sole. They look great in hand, and offer no restriction to the ankle.

The pants and black belt seem to be about the right color to my poor eyes, but the tailoring - ouch. I know it's hard to get them to lay smooth and straight like they were on the show, but the tailoring here is still pretty atrocious.

The shirt and collar are actually two separate pieces. The yellow turtle neck is a separate shirt under the velour wide neck shirt.  It never looked like two pieces to me on the show, although in this group shot it appears that it's at least a possibility. The disadvantage to sixth scale is that making two separate pieces is much more difficult, since the thickness of various layers becomes an issue. Back when they did Dr. Smith, they did the white and black pieces of the shirt as one, not two layers, and I think it looks far better. See the photo of these two together near the end for a comparison.

The shoulders of the thicker velour tend to make the round knobby nature of the shoulders all the more obvious. Rather than try to find a way to pad it or smooth it, they just went with this, and the high end sixth scale market tends to frown on such things.

But perhaps the biggest problem is the shape of the open neck.  As I mentioned earlier, this is the season three outfit, and the collar of the velour shirt is supposed to be squared off at the bottom. You can see that here, or in the photo on the box. What we ended up with was some sort of perverse mating of a square and a V, all lop sided and sad.

With all that negative going on with the shirt, there's at least one good thing - they managed to do the two different colored stripes on the sleeves, a nice touch that could have been overlooked.

Lost in Space Will Robinson 1/6th action figure by Executive Replicas

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Fun Factor - ***
The underlying body allows for some fun posing and re-posing, even if the overall level of the other categories isn't up to current sixth scale market snuff.

Lost in Space Will Robinson 1/6th action figure by Executive Replicas

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Value - *1/2
This guy costs $180. That's right up there with a lot of the other mid-range sixth scale figures from companies like Asmus, Star Ace, and Qmx. And this figure in no way rivals any of their normal work.

Remember, Dr. Smith was $80.  While there's a few significant improvements over the figures ER was doing back then, I can't find enough to justify a $100 mark up.

Lost in Space Will Robinson 1/6th action figure by Executive Replicas

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Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. While you should always take some care when swapping hands, there was nothing here that seemed fragile or easy to break.

Overall - **1/2
I'm cutting them some slack on the portrait, because I think that with the right paint job, you'd actually get a recognizable Will out of it. But the paint work and costume are a let down at this price point.

They have upped their game in several areas over the LiS figures they put out several years back. The realism of the sculpt and paint is much, much better, and the work on the blaster pistol is ten times better. They even added a metal clip to the goofy cylindrical holster rather than the plastic clip they used to use.

But the only aspect of the uniform that's really an improvement is the boots, and the work on the outer shirt is pretty awful. Considering the price point, I'm pretty disappointed with the overall quality.

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

Lost in Space Will Robinson 1/6th action figure by Executive Replicas

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Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- has him at $180.

- is also at $180.

- Entertainment Earth is a dollar cheaper at $179, and better than that, they have free shipping.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Lost in Space reviews include the recent Verda, as well as the Maureen Robinson from many years ago. And many years ago, there was a series of 9" figures produced as well.

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

Discussion:
Want to chat about this review?  Try out one of these terrific forums where I'll be discussing it!

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Lost in Space Will Robinson 1/6th action figure by Executive Replicas

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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.

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