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Packaging
- ***1/2
The Resident Evil 5 packaging has had its layout set in stone over the
release of the first 5 figures in the series, and so this obviously
keeps very much to the formula. As I have said in every other review I
have done for this line, they are well designed and robust boxes, but
they just don’t ‘actually’ excite me that much.
We get a wrap around cover that is held closed by concealed magnets.
The inner side of the door has a tray holding the weapons and
accessories, and opposite is the ‘near’ fully constructed figure with a
few more accessories packed beside her. Inside the box Jill lies in a
black vac formed tray with a clear lid to hold everything in place.
So, as I said I like it, I like it a lot, just not as much as some
others!
Sculpting - ***1/4
Like Sheva, Jill here is the work of Hiroki Hayashi, a man with a solid
history of sculpting beautiful female figures in 1/6th, in fact he was
even responsible for his own fan made versions of Jill
and Alice based on how they looked in the Resident Evil live
action movies. If you try to Google his name (with safe-search turned
off) You will see just how lifelike and indeed titillating some of his
past work has been, veering somewhere between fine art and soft porn,
an area that seems to interest many collectors of female figural
sculpting. But here its all about the face, and Hiroki has done a fine
job of taking the pixel version of Jill, as seen here
and here,
with that second image being just about the best reference I can find
of her in this version of the game. He’s translated it well, but I do
feel that like Sheva he has made her look just a little too soft. She
needs to have a little bit more of an edge, an expression that says ‘I
might look like butter wouldn’t melt’ but with an undercurrent of kick
ass attitude. However, that’s just my take on it. As far as the
likeness goes then this is very close to the source material and is
also certainly very attractive.
Her expression is relatively neutral, but that means it will suit a
good range of poses, and her hair is worn in a relatively simple style
with a few wispy strands falling over her forehead and a low pony-tail
at the back. So, I’d say this is a strong piece of work that stands
well next the other Resi figures and the likeness is closer to the game
seen character here than it was with Sheva, but it still lacks a
certain wow factor!
Paint
- ****
Yet another homerun, nothing to complain about here at all!
We get some beautiful soft flesh-tones showing her fresh-faced and
youthful complexion. She’s definitely more natural beauty than Barbie
doll, but the attention to her subtle eye make-up, well groomed
eyebrows and pale glossy lips is all carried out to the highest of
standards. The hair is painted in a relatively flat tone, but it works
fine in letting the sculpted work beneath show through.
The continued high standard of work that we are getting from Hot Toys
really never ceases to amaze me, they are so far ahead of the
competition that it’s almost embarrassing. I keep seeing the so-called
‘hi-end’ stuff being released from their rivals, which end up looking
like the very poor relations in a one horse race, admittedly I always
take price point into consideration, but even so, c’mon!
Suffice to say the finished job is near perfection, and even though
Jill is a character from a video game she looks more realistic at 1/6th
scale than many other companies will achieve for years!
Outfit
- ***3/4
Like the BSAA fatigues worn by Chris, this has the look of a specially
designed hi-tech tactical outfit. The boots are like a cross between
Oakley tactical combat boots and some kind of cross-trainer sports shoe
with multiple panels, seams and a high grip sole. Her trousers are made
of a stretchy synthetic material and have zips on the outer shin, they
are also covered in numerous panels and seams to help in her mobility…
well, they are meant to help in her mobility but the trousers are
actually so tight that some articulation is hampered, especially at the
hips. On her top half she wears a blue and black ¾ length sleeved shirt
which is tailored to be form hugging, again to help in her ease of
movement, luckily this does actually do its job and hardly restricts
her ability to pose at all. Under this there is also a black skin-tight
leotard that fills the gap in her midriff between her trousers and
shirt when you put her in one of her more extreme poses. Over the
outside of the blue shirt she also has a shoulder holster for holding
extra magazines for her hand gun and also to attach her radio to on the
left shoulder, this whole rig is actually more of an accessory, but I
figured it made sense to describe the way it fitted into her wardrobe
here. The belt also has multiple pouches that hang from it and you have
to fit them all yourself. So it’s time so pour a stiff drink, maybe
assume the lotus position, meditate for a few minutes, get your
magnifying glass and then just get on with it. There is a sheet of
instructions included letting you know where everything is meant to be
situated and to be fair it is all pretty straightforward, just take
your time and ‘enjoy’ the construction process… it’s all part of the
‘experience’.
Lastly comes her hat. Oh the hat. What a shame!
I liked the rest of the outfit a lot, but the hat just doesn’t work for
me. I have positioned, pushed, pulled, futzed, tweaked, repositioned
and futzed again but I just can’t get it to sit in a way I am 100%
happy with. I can get a reasonable approximation of how it looked in
the game, but I feel this is a time that we either needed a sculpted
vinyl hat or even a second head with a permanently attached hat sculpt.
Ultimately it should be quite firm in its form, looking like
this but try as I might I just couldn’t get it like that. I
guess some of you out there might get it better than I did, but my Jill
has thus far been displayed hatless.
So it’s the hat and the hat alone that robs Jill of that final ¼ star,
a ¼ star that would have lead to a full score!
Articulation
- ***1/4
Jill comes on a variation of
the female True-Type (TT), you can see semi clothed versions of it in
the overview I did of the recent crop of TT’s here. However this has
quite a few modifications, I didn’t want to strip her off for fear of
never getting her outfit to look right again, so after having had a
good feel around and posing experiment it would seem she utilises the
same body as the recent Black Widow (BW) figure which looked like this.
Now, I can understand some aspects of the redesign, like the larger
bust that was necessitated to suit both the characters that they have
used it on so far, but for some reason they have also tweaked her arm
sculpt and the mechanics of the actual elbow design, and on this
occasion it is to the detriment of the functionality for these
characters.
One of my biggest gripes with Sheva was the limited articulation, as
because of her bare arms they had gone for aesthetic over function. I
admit I’m first and foremost an articulation junky, but I could see how
it worked better for her on that occasion. However, for Jill (and
indeed BW) they have given her a new design of arm, meaning the part
that is viewable from under her ¾ length sleeves does have a little
more texturing and fine work than the standard female TT, but this is
at the expense of a double elbow.
It means I had to struggle to get a good pose on Jill with the sniper
rifle, it was ultimately doable, but a double elbow would have made all
the difference to getting a deeper, tighter and higher position. The
rubber torso covering the whole of the abdomen down over the waist to
groin also means a little articulation is lost here, especially when
coupled with the tightly tailored trousers.
So to sum up, there was no way she could get a full score, but compared
to Sheva she’s a veritable contortionist!
Accessories
- ****
The category that the VGMS really comes into its own is in the
accessories, and Jill doesn’t disappoint. Sure there is a little… OK, a
lot of re-use from previous Resi 5 figures, but she ends up with quite
a little arsenal, her full inventory is thus-
- Blue cap (oh dear)
- Radio with earpiece
- Radio pouch
- Shoulder holsters with two holster pouches for magazines
- Belt with multiple pouches including one to hold the first-aid spray
- Drop-holster (right leg thigh)
- Drop-magazine pouch (left leg thigh)
- Knife
- Knife sheath (right shin)
- Handgun
- 2 x extra pistol magazines
- H&K PSG-1 sniper rifle
- H&K MP5 machine gun
- 2 x extra H&K MP5 magazines
- VZ61 compact machine gun
- Torch with flip-up lens cover
- 2 Flash grenades
- 2 Smoke grenades
- First-aid spray
- 2 Ammo packs
- 2 x spare wrist pegs
- Figure stand
The weapons are all up to the usual calibre (sorry) with the stand out
being the H&K PSG-1 sniper rifle; it has a removable magazine,
positionable panel on the stock and a red lens at the end of the sight.
All the other weapons have removable magazines and articulated features
as well.
The remainder of the other items are well sculpted with finely observed
details and they fit and interact with the figure well. But be warned,
you will need another one of those much needed blobs of Blu-Tack to
hold the earpiece on. It has a small curved clip that does fit around
the ear, but I found that the smallest re-pose would lead to it coming
free, so by using a miniscule ball of the famous blue putty it will
help hold the earpiece in place when moving the head. Also it’s worth
warming the small pouch that holds the radio before pushing it into
position, as it is a very tight fit.
So, a great haul, and this category can thank it’s lucky stars I am
considering the hat part of the outfit section, where it has already
done its harm… meaning the accessories are left to get a much deserved
full score.
Value
- ***1/2
The RRP from sideshow
for all of the Resident Evil 5 figures has been $149.99, which to me
means that the two Wesker figures with their light-up eye function and
funky selection of weapons are still the tops in terms of bang for
buck. But Jill here still comes up looking like quite a good deal,
especially with her great selection of weapons.
However with a little rooting around you can easily find her for
$134.99, and basing her on this price I think she’s approaching a full
score, but she just doesn’t quite have the oomph to jump that final
hurdle for a top score, still a cracking figure though.
Fun
Factor - ***
Jill has a lot of play potential, if you were someone who did still
actually ‘play’ with his or her toys. That said, if futzing and
fiddling about to get the outfit looking it’s best, and then spending
hours posing and photographing her isn’t ‘play’ then what is?
Hence I consider myself duly charged!
So, while she can’t hope to compete with either of the Wesker figures
in terms of how much fun I had posing her, she still manages to make
Sheva look like a wall flower, and that counts for quite a bit.
Overall-
***1/2
The only thing I don’t like about this figure is the damn hat and the
restricted articulation (which is mostly down to the way she moves… or
doesn’t, within her outfit). Everything else is top notch, even the
price isn’t extortionate considering she’s a licensed figure with more
guns than you’d find under Charlton Heston’s bed!
So had those arms been better suited to the jobs they needed to
perform, and had she come with a hat I would be proud to display her
in, then she would have romped home with the gold.
As
it is, we have a great looking figure, well painted, with a ton of
accessories and a nicely tailored outfit… apart from that damned hat!
Where to buy
Sideshow
has her for $149.99 or you can try some of Mikes sponsors where you
could potentially save up to $15-
Fan
Boy Collectibles $134.99
TFAW.com
$134.99
BBTS
$144.99
Or try
eBay where her BIN prices are between $135 to $175.
But act fast unless you want to end up with ‘Umbrella's leftovers!’ ;)
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