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Introduction
Ray Harryhausen created many of the creatures that influenced the kids of the 1950's and 60's. From Mighty Joe Young to Clash of the Titans, his stop motion work elevated mediocre films to classic status.
But we haven't gotten a lot of these characters as collectibles. Star Ace has been working to remedy that with a series of vinyl figures based on the film One Million Years B.C, among others. They already released an Allosaurus (which was available with or without Tumok), and are following that up with the Triceratops. Like the Allosaurus, the Triceratops comes in two versions. The regular is by himself (herself?), and the special release comes with Loana. The latter set is the subject of the review today.
These vinyl statues are expensive, no doubt about that, and this
pair is particularly so. The single Triceratops will run you
around $225, while the pair goes for closer to $300. Even so, they
are sold out at many retailers at this point.
Packaging - ***
The large box works well, and they've used some nice photos of the
figures themselves. Inside, a couple plastic trays hold the dinosaur
and the damsel, but it's not quite as collector friendly as some
releases. There is one big ass twisty tie holding the big beast in
place, but it's not too odorous to remove.
Sculpting - ****
The weight of this score is going largely toward the Triceratops.
He's a beaut. The heavily textured skin, the lifelike glassy eyes,
the open mouth and tongue, even the bone appearance of the horns,
all of it looks amazingly realistic and quite screen accurate. He's
big too, about 16" long and a little over 6" tall at his highest
point. The scale works quite well with the earlier Allosaurus (see
the last photo for a comparison).
He's posed with one front foot slightly raised, moving forward. This foot actually sits nicely on the included base if you want to go that route, but he also stands just fine on the other three feet.
But what about Loana? Well, the fur bikini is well done, and the general proportions and scale are good. She stands about 6" tall, and the detail work on the outfit is quite nice. The pose is pretty classic too, and works well in combination with the dinosaurs. But is it Raquel Welch as Loana? I'm going to have to say it's closer to cosplay Loana that on screen Loana.
While she comes with a base as well, she stands just great on her own on any flat surface.
Paint - ****
The paint work on the dinosaur might not seem critical - it's not a
lot of operations. But getting it to be the right color, the right
shading, the right finish, all lead to the end result and whether
it's toy-ish or realistic.
They nailed it, with just the right variation in skin color, a super realistic bone finish on the horns and nose, and taxidermy quality eyes.
Loana also looks great. She has the smaller details, including the tiny eyes and lips, as well as the highlighting and edging on the fur. The blonde hair is tricky of course, since any shade of yellow just looks yellow. They went with a more metallic shade, which works about as well as you're going to get in t his scale.
Articulation - N/A
This is an information only category. These are vinyl statues, hence
there's no articulation on either one.
Accessories - ***
This category is a bit tricky, since you could consider Loana an
accessory herself.
I did, and that elevated this score. It's really nice to have the human figures, in scale, to go with the Harryhausen dinosaurs.
Even if you consider her a main figure and not an accessory, there's technically two more extras. There's a larger base for her, about 4"x4", covered in sand and rocks. It works well, and I believe you can interconnect it with the one from the earlier set.
There's also a small rocky base with the One Million B.C. logo on it, which the triceratops can place his raised foot.
Fun Factor - ***
At first glance, it might not seem like these have a lot of fun
potential for adults. Oh, if you gave them to a kid, they'd have a
great time, articulation be damned. But for adults, posing and
re-posing in the display is a big part of the fun, and with no
joints and no extras, you'd assume that would be limited.
But with two figures, you can do some rearranging over time. Also,
if you add these two into the set up with Tumok and the Allosaurus,
you'll have even more opportunity for 'play time'.
Value - *1/2
The price on these is the big drawback - they aren't cheap by any
stretch of the imagination. You'll pay just over $200 for the
dinosaur only, and when you add in Loana, expect to pay another $75.
This isn't unusual in the high end vinyl statue market, especially
when they are imported from companies overseas. Still, it's the
biggest factor that will play into your final decision.
Things to Watch Out For -
This is like a high end statue...but since they are vinyl, you don't
have to worry about breaking anything easily.
Overall - ***1/2
If this set was $100, it would be an easy four star review. The
price is the only thing pulling it down, and depending on the
collector, this may not be a deciding factor. As much as I love
Harryhausen, it is definitely a key consideration.
Combining this set with the earlier Tumok/Allosaurus really takes them to the next level. Star Ace is doing a terrific job with these, and should make fans of the stop motion master quite happy.
Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ****
Articulation - N/A
Accessories - ***
Fun Factor - ***
Value - *1/2
Overall - ***1/2
Where to Buy
Online options include these site sponsors:
- Entertainment Earth was at $230 for the dinosaur alone, but are also sold out. Definitely a popular set!
- or you can search ebay for a deal.
Related Links -
You'll want to check out the Tumak and Allosaurus set that I used in some
of the photos.
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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This product was provided for the review by the manufacturer. Photos
and text by Michael Crawford.