Review of T'Chaka - Black Panther
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has produced some terrific movies, but none have gotten the attention and accolades of Black Panther, a film currently nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Movie, and one many critics are saying will be nominated in the same category for an Academy Award. I'm sure Cartman's head will explode.

I really enjoyed the film, putting it in my top five in the MCU.  It's also a film with some tremendous costume and character designs, and one where we won't get another Iron Man, another Captain America, or another Thor from Hot Toys. Thank God.  We're getting several new characters, all of them interesting and well designed. And I'll be picking every one up.

Hot Toys always does what they call their 'toy fair' or 'summer' exclusives.  These are figures with a lower production run, usually of a B character or a variant that will be less in demand, and sell them at various conventions around the country.  For 2018 one of those is T'Chaka, Black Panther's dad, dressed in his full ass kicking outfit.  While this guy was available last year at SDCC, I ordered mine through Sideshow for $220. He's just finally shipping to those of us that couldn't make the con.

Packaging - ***1/2
Like the costume itself, the package is very colorful, very beautiful, with a textured cover. It's a shoe box design, and the interior card is lacking again, but everything is collector friendly and the single plastic tray holds it all safe and sound.

Sculpting - ***1/2
A big disappointment with this figure is the lack of an unmasked portrait. That would have set him apart, and certainly made the price point far less painful.

The only head included has the full mask, similar in design to Black Panther's but not an exact duplicate. Yes, this is a whole new sculpt. It looks accurate, and has sharp edges and clean definition. Scale is good too, always an important factor.

There are several sculpted hands, and the detail and pose look terrific. T'Chaka stands about 12.5 inches tall, fitting in fine with the rest of the MCU figures.

Paint - ****
While the paint work isn't extreme - this is largely a black costume, and the majority of the color comes from the cloth sections - the paint operations that are here are super clean.  The gold highlights are particularly difficult to do, as it's a color that has trouble with consistency and sharpness. No problem for Hot Toys, where the edges are razor sharp and there's no black showing through, especially on the critical areas of the mask.

The detailing on the rubbery belts is another area where the paint work shines, matching nicely with the colors and style of the cloth pieces.

Articulation - *
This is the one area where I was really, really disappointed with this figure. A figure must be able to stand on its own - it's the most basic requirement you can have.

Let's start at the top, where the ball jointed neck works great. While there's a joint at the bottom of the neck in the torso too, you'll get most of the tilt and lean out of the top joint under the jawline.

The suit is a bit restrictive on the shoulders and elbows, but you can still get decent arm poses, just nothing extreme. The waist turns and the torso bends forward, adding to the number of poses you might think are possible. You be mistaken, due to another joint coming up.

I'm not sure what's happening with the hips, because they were more restricted than the cloth pants would seem.  The knees were a little better, but it's the ankles - the terrible, awful, not good ankles - that ruined it for me.

These things are flop city. Getting him to stand even for just a few seconds was an exercise in futility. I wrapped some handy plastic around the ball to try to tighten things up, and it did very little to improve the situation. Maybe I just got a bad figure. Maybe it's a one off error. Maybe you won't have the same problem. But I was about ready to throw him through a window by the time I was done.

Accessories - *1/2
The first Black Panther Hot Toys did, for his first appearance in an MCU movie, didn't have much in the way of extras either, so I suppose this isn't a surprise. But he only has two sets of extra hands and the bracelet, very light for any Hot Toys release.

He comes wearing fists, and there is an extra set of grabbing hands without the claws extended, and one with them extended. They swap easily and stayed in place, and there's a couple extra wrist pegs just in case.

The bracelet fits on his wrist nicely, but doesn't have a ton of detail.

As you'd expect, there's a basic display stand with the movie logo and a simple support rod. Unlike most figures, you'll definitely need it.

Outfit - ***1/2
The underlying black body suit has a great sculpt, with a ton of texture and pattern. It fits tightly, but is stretchy enough to accommodate arm and leg poses. The hard plastic gold pieces look great, and it all meshes well with the cloth sections.

Those include his pants, his sash, and the wrap or skirt around his waist. Lots of beautiful colors and patterns here, and a nicely tailored fit. The wrap has one side where it's tied together, front to back, with small eyelets and a pleather edge.

My only nit is with the rubbery belts. Not that they are rubbery, but that they are placed pretty high on the waist, and tend to ride up from there. It's a really minor nit though with an otherwise terrific looking outfit.

Fun Factor - *
Yep, it's those ankles. How can you have any fun with a figure that can't even stand?  You'll end up using the display stand, even if you've never used one with another figure before, and the odds that you'll repose this guy regularly are pretty slim.

Value - *1/2
The other big issue here is price.  You're getting a variant without a lot of accessories. Sure, you can assume the production numbers are lower, but it's still extremely hard to justify a $220 price point when you're getting so little.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. Take some care with the sharp claws when swapping the hands, but otherwise you should be fine.

Overall - **1/2
This isn't a terrible figure. It's an average figure with terrible ankles. And a high price point. Combine those things and you can color me disappointed. While there are ways to fix the ankles - and I'll be trying several - you should never be in that position when you're spending this much money.

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

Where to Buy 
This was one of Hot Toys 'toy fair exclusives', which means they sold it at various conventions around the world. In the U.S. you can pick it up through Sideshow for $220, or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Hot Toys hasn't hit up the Black Panther movie with a lot of actual releases yet (we still have several figures to come), but they did do a Black Panther figure based on his first appearance in Avengers.

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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