
Resident Evil Biohazard - Sheva
Hot Toys



"The
following is a guest review. The review
and photos do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Michael Crawford
or Michael's Review of the Week, and are the opinion and work of the
guest author."
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Haru Haruko is back tonight
with a terrific Hot Toys review...take it away, Haru!
Firstly, thank you to Michael for his continuing service he provides
here with this site.
So,
Biohazard currently remains the only Videogame license Hot Toys have
produced figures for. With Biohazard 5, we are being treated to a slew
of figures, which only cover 3 of the characters from the 5th
installment, but all welcome additions.
Hot Toys' Sheva Alomar
figure has gone through some updates since the initial magazine
articles and Hot Toys official press release, through to their blog
entry and toy fair images in July showing redeveloped Hot Angel arms
with hidden joints that have been the subject of some debate. Not to
mention the apparent differences in the final head sculpt and/or paint.
Packaging
- ***1/2
My main
praise for the packaging is that what it does well is protect the
figure inside. Multiple tray covers, spacers, cellophane wrap, neck
braces and sturdy cardboard leaves no question that the figure inside
is secure.
I spent an inordinate amount of time feeling the
different textures used on the printing of the box graphics, but the
graphics themselves and the familiar fold out design with magnetic
closures, when compared to the innovative packing of Iron man,
Predator, Alien Big Chap and Terminator Salvation, does come off as a
little perfunctory if not robust. Plus they 'shopped Sheva's elbow on
the back of the box.
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Sculpting- **1/2
Hot
Toys as a company have delivered to us head sculpt likeness from Brando
to Schwarznegger, Worthington, Ackerman, Jackson and so many more with
baffling accuracy.
Perhaps there is something about video game
characters that makes them harder to sculpt - perhaps the CG models are
more lights and textures than they are useable 3D reference. Or perhaps
there is some more desultory explanation as to why this particular head
sculpt just doesn't seem capture the character as well as other Hot
Toys figures.
The head sculpture itself is very nice no doubt,
professional and very high quality. But it just doesn't look all that
much like Sheva. The flatness of the forehead, the broadness of the
apex of the bridge of the nose and the roundness of the tip of the
nose, the length and angle of the philtrum and the chin and the shape
of the parting of the lips are all aspects that looking at a few CG
images of Sheva, doesn't take long to notice the discrepancies which
work together to throw off the likeness.
I feel the hair has an
unwelcome 'anime' feel to it as the detail is rendered in contoured
lumps with a smooth high gloss finish. Again professional looking but
doesn't equate to the nicer realism of other hair sculpts HTs have put
out.
The sculpture of the arms is actually very nice. The
proportions don't equate to Sheva's in-game arms, which are much more
toned and muscular with more pronounced deltoids, but they compliment
the Female TT body type and could be used generically for future
products.
Paint
-
****
Perfectly
applied, really. Coefficient with the sculptural parts its just
amazing. Couldn't find a single bleed on the gloves where they meet the
fingers.
If there was anything worth nitpicking it would be
that the drybrushing on some of the larger, flatter areas on the
weapons is evident as just that; and the gloss paint on the necklace
looks a bit funky. The eyebrows are very thin compared.
The
printing of the tattoo on the left arm is particularly nice but take
note that the paint used on the rubber arms is not 100 percent durable.
Articulation
- **1/2
Lets
talk about the arms. They are a rubber sheath over a metal armature
which can give more than the recommended 100 degree bend at the elbow
should you choose to risk the rubber. There is a hinge for
abduction/adduction at the actual shoulder and a true ball joint
located in the torso at the shoulder.
For a video game
character that spends the bulk of her time shooting all manner of guns
and rifles and whatnot, it's disappointingly awkward to pose the arms
to hold the majority of the weapons included with the figure akin to
how Sheva does in the game. This is really evident mostly when trying
to get the figure to shoulder the guns included. Most noticeably
confounding this is the lack of biceps articulation. The inner torso
ball joint does help to alleviate this somewhat but usually this means
contorting the torso rubber.
It kinda works, it just doesn't comfortably work and that is
disappointing especially when considering the character.
Notwithstanding,
you have the Female TT body, with it's superb double neck joints, good
range of motion from the two torso joints, excellent wrist joints
etc... The wrists joints were fairly stiff where they connect to the
arm but swapping hands on the other end was unproblematic.
The
hips are noticeably restricted which is mainly the fault of the pants.
Forcing the hip joint to flex causes the velcro holding the pants
closed to pull apart. Not great.
The feet can rotate and flex
but do not allow inversion and eversion of the foot so the soles cannot
sit flat on the ground in this way in deep stances.
The
individual articulation points in isolation are all good, but perhaps
more importantly the range of motion overall that the fully costumed
figure offers is quite lacking in some respects.
Outfit
- ***1/2
Its
difficult to divide up the outfit and accessories a little but I'll
stick to the soft goods and what was already attached in here and play
the rest by ear.
The outfit is really exquisite, with the
highlights for me being the belts. The scaling and detail just looks
great. They function just like a real belt. But then again for all
intents and purposes considering their construction, they are real
belts. The belt buckles are plastic and so do not let the light kick
off them as convincingly as a metal buckle, and the belt holes and
studs appera to be metal so the contrast is a little more evident.
The holster on the thigh has excellent push fit closures but can pop
open easily if knocked.
The
arm guards are very accurate in the cut. Upon close inspection the
thinness of the material does trace a line between flimsy or cheap, and
realistically scaled, but from any sort of distant they look fantastic.
My
major complaint with the outfit is the top. Its a marvelous piece and
with all the details of the CG counterpart and some intricate webbing
on the back. It's so nicely made if one could scale it up you'd feel
comfortable wearing it. Mmm...maybe not. The cut of the V neck is very
wide compared to the game character, although through no real fault of
its own - the shape of the Female TT torso rather dictates that. More
irksome is the coloration of the pattern of the top. The pattern itself
is accurate, although not accurately positioned, but the purple used
'behind' the double zigzag sections should be about the same as the
darker purple. This has two esthetic effects in that the low contrast
means the pattern on those sections doesn't stand out which is a shame,
but also gives a distinct purple/white vertical banding effect making
it look akin to a jester's top, rather than...well, Sheva's.
The
pants are really cool, very thin material to give a realistic effect.
There are leg sleeves underneath which have small sections of foam over
the front and rear of the thighs; presumably to add a little extra bulk
and to fill out the gaps at the hip articulation, preserving the
realism. The latter benefit marginalized somewhat due to the
restriction the hip articulation has in the first place. The color used
is debatable but nothing much to gripe personally.
Boots are
awesomely made and I really like the choice to go with material rather
than plastic or rubber in this particular case. The feet are noticeably
smaller than the game model, perhaps no biggie, but there should be
hoops on either side of the ankle to be accurate but they are only on
the outside.
Special mention for the earrings that look great as well.
The
band on the left biceps is a bit wide compared to the video game
version and the color banding on it and the choker are a little off,
the choker being the length of the color sections shouldn't be of equal
length as they are. Additionally the colored balls on the necklace
aren't accurate. All miniscule points really.
Accessories
- ****
Weapons include:
Beretta 92FS
Vz 61 Skorpion SA
Ithaca 37
HK PSG-1
AK-74
Smith & Wesson Model 29
Benelli M3 Super 90
Hand Grenade
The
guns are all amazing pieces, with all but the Ithaca having moving or
removable parts, with some nice little touches like the removable
muzzle break on the AK-74, the adjustable cheek plate and rubberized
eye piece on the PSG-1, the break-open feature of the Skorpion and the
moveable hammer on the magnum to pick just a few of the multitude of
features the weapons sport. To be game accurate all the guns should
have laser sights mounted, save the PSG-1, but only the Beretta and the
Skorpion have them.
The harness, rather interestingly is made of
a flexible plastic. I can't initially see the benefit of this over a
material harness like used for the belts, other than the durability,
considering the complexity of the harness. Regardless, functionally its
sound and can hold the Icatha shotgun securely albeit somewhat loosely.
The
radio and earpiece (the radio being carried over at least from the T:S
John Connor figure) are very nice, the wire being flexible and
poseable. It clips very securely onto the harness and the earpiece sits
comfortably on the ear but alas, is prone to come off when turning the
head in certain directions or when being overenthusiastic with the neck
joint.
The knife sits snugly in it's sheath and fits perfectly in the gripping
hand presumable designed specifically for it.
Sheva
is left handed so the hands provided tend to work better in this
configuration for the majority of the weapons included although a right
hand 'pistol' grip is included and a more closed grip left as well.
You also get a stand...
You
might need it since the figure isn't always the most stable of figures
probably owing to the style of boot and the comparatively heavy torso
and arms.
Value - ****
950HK$
Hmm...No,
there's no need to mince words here, I think you are getting great
value for every dollar paid here because the quality of the product is
so superb. Beyond any esthetic or accuracy disputes the figure is
amazing quality. The fabrics are fantastic, and the intricacy,
detailing and execution of basically everything is stunning.
Things
To Watch For -
Apart
from due care and attention that this kind of figure would call for.
Everything is sturdy but self evidently delicate - anything thin I
suppose...perhaps pay attention to the wire on the radio set up where
the wire meets the plastic jacks. Also the lanyard ring on the stock of
the AK-74 has come off unbeknownst and its very small...
Overall
-
***
On paper (or
screen) it is easy to criticize certain aspects of the figure, but it
is equally easy to disregard those aspects when the figure is in hand.
The
head sculpt and the range of motion on the arms and legs are the
biggest detractors for me. How those aspects balance out against the
amazing accessories and superb costuming despite any nits they may have
will vary depending on your preference.
For what Hot Toys
accomplishes with this figure, the quality and detail, stacked with
accessories and the innovation with the arms, its amazing. But for
where it falls short, the questionable likeness, inaccuracies and
hindered articulation, are unfortunate in light of other Hot Toys
figures that have strived to get these elements correct.



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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer.
Photos and text by Haru Haruko.
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