Review of Skeleton - Sixth Scale
Action Figure

Introduction

Halloween is just around the corner, and every great horror display needs...skeletons! There are a few out there in sixth scale, but they tend to be cheaply made, plastic, and poorly sculpted.  The company COO Model has just started shipping a die cast metal version, which is available as just a straight up skeleton, or you can pick him up with a variety of weapons and armor. I went with just the plain version, with plans to use him in a 'mad scientist laboratory' sort of diorama.

This guy sells four around a hundred bucks, depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***
Nothing too unique, but it's sturdy and collector friendly. The front window shows off the figure, and the plastic tray holds it (and the accessories) safely.

Sculpting - **1/2
There's not a lot of complexity with a skeleton, but they did a reasonable job with the bone like texture and random pocking. The majority of this figure is die cast, with the notable exception of the swappable hands. Even the discs within the elbows and knees look metal, although it's hard to be sure.  That makes this guy heavier than you'd expect, and the joints are solid enough to maintain poses.

He stands about 10 3/4" tall, which can look pretty small next to the normal 12" sixth scale action figure. While your skeleton is obviously shorter than you are, this is way too short for a sixth scale male. This is potentially a female, or perhaps a teenager, but a full grown male should be at least another half inch to three quarters of an inch taller. I'm hitting them hard on this point, since it negates much of the purpose for the figure with sixth scale collectors.

Also on the negative - the teeth. The sculpt is rough and ragged, much like it is with the other bones. The teeth need better definition and cleaner lines to look realistic.

Paint - **1/2
They went with the 'slop some on and see what happens' paint technique, but it works well enough. It highlights some of the sculpted textures, and it gives it an aged, weathered, antique look. It does tend to darken some of the casting seams, however.

Again, the biggest issue is with the teeth. Rather than having any sort of enamel appearance, they are very sloppy, with spots that look like the paint was touched when it was still wet. It doesn't help that much of the dark wash congregated along the lips, making it look like he had a double row of teeth.  The pre-production figure in the marketing photos looked much better.

Articulation - **1/2
It seems like they always articulate skeletons the same way, from the cheap plastic Halloween decorations right up to something as expensive as this. I'm not sure why - your hips and shoulders are ball joints, but they go with cut joints instead.

That means that even with the double pin elbows and knees, you can't do a whole lot with the arms and legs. There's no twist movement or outward/inward movement in any of the limbs. It's a huge negative.

The ball joint at the top of the neck works well, and the aforementioned ankles and wrists are fine. The ankles are ball joints, and wrists use the normal wrist pegs. While there's no articulation through the torso - it's all metal parts - that's not a major issue. It's these poorly designed shoulders and hips that kill the posing potential.

Another negative - the jaw is not articulated. In the promo photos, you get a nice looking screaming skeleton. Here, you get a closed mouth grinning skeleton.

Accessories - ***
He doesn't have a ton of stuff, but he's just a lot of bones after all.

He does have two extra sets of hands. These all swap easily, and I had no worries about damage.

He also has a brain. It's kind of a weird add - why would he have any soft tissue left?  But you can actually open up the skull and insert the included brain. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the skull plate back on over the brain, so it will get relegated to a bottle on the mad scientist's lab bench.

Fun Factor - **1/2
With the reduced articulation and small size, this guy is going to be a lot less useful for me.  I can still make up some sort of stand to hang him up, but the scale is going to annoy me.

Value - **
I paid almost $100 for this dude. I paid around $50 for the plastic sixth scale warrior skeleton from Go Hero ten years ago. I realize that the majority of the difference is plastic vs die cast, but it being die cast metal is not a critical factor. Better scale and accuracy needed to be part of the higher price tag as well.

Things to Watch Out For -
The metal is a little soft - not lead or pewter soft, but it ain't steel either. Take some care when working the joints, especially around the neck.

Overall - **1/2
I was hoping for a nicely scaled, accurate, human skeleton in sixth scale.  It's too small for most purposes, the articulation isn't any better than a cheap Halloween decoration, and while the heft and weight provided by the die cast metal is nice, it's not enough to offset the other disappointments.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Of course you'll want to check out the other sixth scale skeleton I reviewed, this one from Go Hero.

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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