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Introduction
There are certain licenses where collectors will go for any release because the property is so beloved, and the number of action figures available are so small. Willie Wonka, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday from Tombstone, Blade Runner, and of course, The Thing all fall in this category.
While NECA has been doing some very nice 7" figures, the sixth scale market is pretty bereft of choices. Mondo recently announced their MacReady, and while it was on the high end at $235 - $265, it was still welcomed by the community.
The reason for the two prices is there are two versions, as usual with Mondo, one a regular release at $235 that's available through multiple retailers, and a 'timed' release that was only available for a short period and included multiple additional extras at the higher price point. I'll be looking at the timed release tonight, and if you'd like to see my Top Ten Kurt Russell Figures, check out the CIOPCC video.
Packaging - ****
This is one of the nicest boxes I've seen in a long time. Like
EXO-6, they've included corner protectors inside the cardboard
shipper. The outer sleeve is clear, dark plastic, with the logo on
the front. The interior box has a front opening fold, with the
outpost doors on the cover. These are held closed with magnets -
preferable to velcro, which tends to tear off over time - and when
you open the doors, inside is a pop-up book of horror, with
tentacles and claws coming for you. It's really beautiful work, and
was a nice surprise.
It's hard to photograph, but it's amazing in hand. Of course, the
figure and accessories are all packed safely and can be removed
without any damage to the box or trays.
Sculpting - ***1/2
There are two head sculpts with both releases, and they vary in both
sculpt and paint work.
The main head has all that wild, blown hair that we all wish we had. It falls forward on his face, but underneath is a hairline, including a painted hairline that creates a realistic look. There's lots of finely stranded hair, and there's no tootsie rolls.
The hair on his face is also well done, with a very thick and bushy beard. Again, lots of realistic detail. But it's the underlying likeness that sells it. And yes, it's there.
I know, we've heard whining and moaning from the usual sources that always whine and moan, especially when it's a company they think they can attack without drawing too much ire from the community. But this is a very good Russell, with an almost perfect nose and eyes, two key areas to getting this to look specifically like him. The realism is there in the skin texture, hair texture, and teeth (which are very clean and sharp on both heads), and the accuracy is sold through the hair and beard matching his on screen look, and a very good underlying Russell likeness.
The standard head has an open mouth, showing both upper and lower teeth. I'm not a huge fan of open mouth sculpts, but it works as a determined look. The eyes are straight ahead, and slightly squinted. The second head is more surprised, with only the lower teeth showing, and wider eyes, looking slightly upward. I'm likely to be going with this second head on the shelf, largely because of the paint work we'll discuss in the next category.
I do wish there was a bit more detail in the eyebrows and lips, where a little more texture would have added some additional realism, but it's a small detail. By the way, while you might think at first glance that the hair sculpt is different between the two heads, it is not. The paint work creates a bit of an illusion.
I've heard some inaccurate claims that the hands are too small. I think this is because far too many people have gotten accustomed to the ridiculously oversized Hot Toys hands that have been the norm for way too long. While the fists are a smidge small, the rest of the hands are much closer to reality.
Paint - ***
While the two face sculpts are unique, it's the paint work that
will be the first thing you notice. The brown locks have white
powdery highlights, and this snowy effect is on the beard and
mustache as well. This is a very hard effect to pull off, and
while it's not perfect, they do a pretty admirable job.
Other key highlights are the bright blue eyes, as well as the very nicely done teeth. I mentioned how clean the sculpt was earlier, but the paint work is also excellent on his pearly whites. Small details like this can be critical to your overall impression of a figure in hand.
And of course, there's some beautiful skin coloration to create a very life-like appearance on both heads.
The timed release also came with two extras that we'll get to in detail in the later section, but suffice to say here that both the alien dog and alien head pieces sport excellent paint work.
Articulation - ***
The underlying body is solid, with tight joints and a good range
of movement. All the usual joints are there, and they all work
well.
Perhaps the best is the double jointed neck, with a very long post. You can get some very good forward lean, so he can actually look down, but the long hair does restrict too much backward or side to side lean. You can add a little personality, more than I expected with this sort of hair sculpt.
The torso can tuck and twist, and it holds its position well thanks to the tight joints. The softer boots also allow for the ankles to have a bit more movement than I had expected, but they are still slightly restricted.
There's no articulation in the dog or head alien, but they are posed in a way that works with the sculpts.
Accessories - ****
I'm grading this guy on the timed edition, not the regular, but
the only two extra accessories in this set is the dog and head.
There's that second head I mentioned earlier, and it's always nice to get more than one. Would I have complained if we had gotten one with the hoodie and hat? No, but that was probably asking too much.
He comes with six standard hands, including two fists, two gun grips, and two regular grips. There's also a gloved set, with splayed fingers. They all work well and swap easily enough, and since they all have their own wrist pegs - thank you for that - swapping is quick. If you use the gloves with the jacket, you'll want to open up the sleeves of the jacket to get the gloves inside, but that's simple thanks to the elastic around the wrists.
He has two guns, a revolver and a shotgun. The details are reasonable, but not extreme. The scale on the revolver is good, but the shotgun is a little small, and if I were going with that look, I'd probably swap in one from a general weapons set.
There's his flame thrower with backpack tank as well, and it is very well done. I love the straps, and while that sounds silly, too often we get these ridiculous pleather straps that are simply not going to last. Here we have nylon straps that will last forever, and solid buckles that allow you to adjust the straps easily.
The 'gun' part of the weapon fits in his hands, and there's a large - but rather heavy - flame effect complete with 'dripping' fire. He can stand with it inserted in the end of the barrel, but he'll need to lean back a bit. The rubber hose that attaches the pack to the gun tends to stick out on one side, and doesn't have a wire to pose it, so you'll notice that I wrapped it around one shoulder to avoid that.
The timed edition included two more items. First, there's a version of the alien as a dog, midway through the process of taking the animals shape. There's a nice bloody, skinless look to the creature, with various limbs and muscle detail adding to the realism.
Second, there's the scuttling spider head, as the alien got caught trying to assimilate the form of one of the scientists. It was a great practical effect in the film, and they did a fantastic job recreating it here. It might be my favorite thing in this release.
And yes, there's a stand with a crotch support rod, but he stands great, and you won't need it to keep him upright.
Outfit - **
This costume has some very good aspects, some decent aspects...and
some truly awful ones.
Let's start underneath. It looks like (based on what you can see at the neck under the flight suit) both the t-shirt and the long john shirt are here. I hope so, because I may end up displaying him with them exposed, with the flight suit top down around his waist.
The flight suit looks good. It's very well tailored, very high quality material, and very natural looking. There are some fake zippers where they used fabric details to recreate them on the suit. There's a bunch, so I'm not surprised, and on the shelf it looks reasonable.
The boot sculpt allows for some ankle movement, thanks to the soft material, even though they aren't two piece. The sculpt is reasonable, and the paint looks good.
My favorite aspect of this costume is the belt and holster. Why? Because again, they aren't made from the crappy pleather that companies like Hot Toys continues to give us. The belt is a thicker material, and the sculpted plastic holster both looks better than the cheesy pleather, and will last forever.
And then we get to the bad. That jacket. It's bad. I'd like to say it isn't, that it's just photos, that you can futz it...none of these things are true. It's poorly tailored, sitting too far back on his body and shoulders. I took it off and tried to get it to fit further forward, and the result is the photo below. It's slightly better, but only slightly, and it doesn't stay that way. As you pose him, it shifts back.
The pockets are too big as well, throwing off the look. Since it rides back on the body, it also makes the arms look short (they aren't). I will say the collar looks good, and the zipper is scaled properly and works well. But those two things can't overcome all the bad.
So yea, I'm going to be looking for a replacement for this jacket, and in the mean time I may take it off and go with the open flight suit look.
Fun Factor - ***
Thanks to the two versions of the alien, this guy is a lot of fun.
You can pose him blasting the dog or the head, either with a gun
or the flame thrower, and he'll look good on the shelf.
Value - **
For regular readers, you know this category is unique. If I feel I
got what I paid for, I rate it **1/2, an average score. At that
score, this category has no effect on my overall. But anything
over **1/2 increases my overall happiness, and anything under does
the opposite.
This version was $265, and that's a lot of money. I'll give them
some credit for getting out a figure that no one else seemed
capable of doing. I'll also give them a lot of credit for adding
items we rarely get at this price point from others, like a second
head sculpt, the large flame thrower, and the two versions of the
alien. Still, the quality of the jacket pulls this down a half
star from where it should be.
Things to Watch Out For -
I didn't have any trouble with any of the accessories or the
figure. Nothing was fragile, nothing was weak, and I didn't have
any worries while I was working with it.
Overall - ***
There's going to be plenty of haters on this figure. Mondo will
hopefully be able to sell enough to move forward with some of the
other great licenses they have planned, and learn the necessary
lessons from this one to improve.
The big issue here is the jacket. The head sculpts are both good - as I've said, these are close to the best Russell sixth scale sculpts we've had (see my video for my pick for number one), and the majority of the costume is solid. The smaller hands, the posts for every hand, the various accessories, the improvement in materials for the belts and holster, all are positives.
But that jacket is all some people will be able to see. I understand, because it is so front and center, and I do understand collectors looking to find a replacement. But that one issue isn't enough to trash this figure, and I think Mondo can do some great things. I know I'll be ordering Nada next!
Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ****
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***
Accessories - ****
Outfit - **
Fun Factor - ***
Value - **
Overall - ***
Where to Buy
You could get the 'timed' release directly from Mondo at their
webstore for $265, while the regular is still available for $235.
Online options include these site sponsors:
- Entertainment Earth has the regular for $235. Use my link when it comes in stock and get an additional 10% off, plus free shipping!
- or you can seach ebay for a deal.
Related Links -
This isn't my only MacReady, since NECA has done several in a 7" scale. Many years ago, SOTA
did a playset
with MacReady in the same scale. Other sixth scale Kurt
Russells include Big Trouble in Little China, Escape from New York, and Hateful Eight.
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 purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos
and text by Michael Crawford.
