Review of Bucky Barnes
Avengers: Infinity War Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

I didn't pick up every Infinity War figure from Hot Toys, but I did grab a few. One of the last ones to ship is Bucky, a figure they did in his Winter Soldier duds a few years ago, but one that really needed an update. When I saw the new head sculpt, I couldn't resist.

This guy is just starting to ship in the U.S., and will run you around $230 or so, depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***
Nothing particularly unique, but the cover photo is sharp, and it's all quite collector friendly. The interior trays keep things safe, and removal is easy as pie. There's some basic instructions as well, although you can probably figure out most of it on your own.

Sculpting - ****
The number one reason I picked up this figure was the portrait. While the 2014 Bucky was great by 2014 standards, he wasn't quite up to 2019 expectations. And the work here, at least from the prototype marketing photos, looked outstanding.

The production release is every bit as good as I'd hoped. It's a fantastic likeness, but it's the realism that lets that likeness shine through. In some ways, the realism overtakes any likeness, creating a portrait that's so human, so life-like, that you might forget to worry about whether it actually looks like Bucky Barnes or not.

Thankfully, it does. He's slightly pissed off here, serious, but not silly, with no excessive dynamic expression. The fine strands of hair in the beard, mustache, and long locks look amazing, and the subtle skin texture is age appropriate. It's hard to do sculpted long hair in a way that's both realistic and relatively unencumbering, but Hot Toys proves it can be done.

His right arm is also sculpted, and the mechanical look matches the movie appearance. The included right hands match of course, and the various extra hands are designed to work well with the other accessories.

He comes in at just a smidge over 12", fitting in nicely with the rest of the series scale-wise.

Paint - ****
Hot Toys does production paint like no one else at this point. Some companies are making strides to catch up, but everyone still has a way to go to reach this level.

The skin tone is slightly freckled, with a subtle transition between skin and hair at the forehead. The beard has highlights and dark sections, creating a realistic variation based on how thick the section of hair would be in real life.  The eyes are life-like and sharp, staring out from slightly squinted eyes. It's impressive work, although most Hot Toys buyers have come to expect no less.

Articulation - ***
The underlying body is very articulated, but I did have one issue that might not affect everyone, particularly once I warn you.

The longer hair, soft as the material might be, does still affect the neck movement, particularly backward. You can still get a little personality out of the tilt though, and the collar and hair rub less than I expected when turning the head.

The costume isn't particularly restrictive, and the hips, knees, and ankles benefit the most. You can get natural short stances and great deep fighting stances, and the ankles can rock side to side enough to allow the feet to remain flat on the ground.

The torso turns and crunches, and of course the shoulders, elbows, and wrists allow for most natural arm poses. The single joint rotating hinge elbow is not my favorite, and you won't get it to bend as tightly as you might like, but you should still be able to get decent gun poses.

My one issue is with the mechanical right arm.  The shoulder is a plus - it can pop up and out to allow for greater mobility. However, the material the arm is made out of - and the corresponding wrist post - is more brittle than the plastic used with normal bodies.  Be particularly careful freeing up the elbow, as mine was quite tight and took some effort. It felt as though snapping the elbow was a distinct possibility until I moved it a few times to loosen it up.

The wrist peg did snap on me, inside the hand. Again, this peg is more brittle than normal, so take extra care. They include a second just in case, and once I managed to dig the original out of the hand and pop it off the arm, the new one worked fine.

Accessories - ***
There are four extra sets of hands to go with the set of fists he comes wearing - a gun grip set, a tight grip set, a splayed set, and a relaxed set. These pop on and off fairly easy, but you'll want to be careful working with the wrist peg on the 'mechanical' arm.

He has a second mechanical arm as well. Pop off his left arm - it comes off pretty easily - and pop on a version that is turning to dust right in front of his (and your) eyes. Perfect for recreating that final Infinity War scene!

He has two weapons - a Kabar style knife that fits in a sheath on his right thigh, and a large machine gun. The gun is very intricate, with lots of moving parts including a extending stock and bi-pod front rest, but be extra careful. Many of these attachments are quite fragile. There's a magazine of ammo that fits tightly in the side, and a scope that pops on top.

His last extra is his base, bedecked in the AIW logo. He stands great on his own, but if you regularly use the stands, it's nice to have for consistency.

Outfit - ***1/2
The costume isn't particularly complex, but they nailed the few pieces there are.

The wrap across shirt with shoulder armor is like a modern 7th Calvary, while the boots and boot covers are right out of WWII. The brown pants are well tailored and the quality of all the materials and construction is top notch. It's a simple costume, but it's nice to see they nailed it.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
Combine this guy with various other AIW figures, and you can set up a pretty cool display. I actually like this Bucky for any group or movie theme setting, as the quality of the figure overall is quite a bit above the original Winter Soldier release. But hey, I'm not quite as OCD as some on who gets to hang with who on the shelf.

Value - **
I did dock them slightly here. This is a higher end price point, running $230 - $250 depending on the retailer. That's quite a bit for what amounts to a standard figure release, and I'm concerned we'll see them raise their average price once again. The days of $220 might be slipping past us.

Things to Watch Out For -
As I mentioned earlier, take extra care with the brittle wrist post on the left arm. You'll also want to take care with the gun, ad many of the smaller doo-dads are quite fragile.

Overall - ***1/2
For a lot of folks, this will be a four star figure. He's certainly got it in the sculpting and paint work catgories, and I can't really argue too much over the costume.  He's a tad light in the accessories department for a figure in this price range, but most folks will be able to overlook that.

If he hadn't had the fragile wrist, which I spent quite awhile working on after the snap, I probably would have gone four stars as well. Learn from my suffering, and work slowly with that particular wrist.

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

Where to Buy 
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Related Links -
This isn't the first time Hot Toys did Bucky - they did the Winter Soldier version back in 2014. Also from Infinity War I have Thanos, Iron Spider, Thor, and Black Widow.

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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