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Packaging - ***
There are a few twisty ties, and some tape holding in a couple of the
accessories, but for the most part the package is collector friendly, with
no real sort of damage necessary to get the figure free.
There's also some personalization on the back, giving us a bit of Jack
info as well as some info on the figure, but the listing of the accessories
is incorrect. It mentions handcuffs, but there are no handcuffs.
And besides, Jack doesn't need handcuffs. He just kills them.
Sculpting - **1/2
When I first saw this figure at SDCC, I thought it was truly awful.
Not just sort of bad, but West Virginia double bagger bad.
Once I had it in hand, I realized that the head sculpt isn't nearly as
bad as I had originally perceived. In fact, in some ways I like this version of
Jack better than the much more expensive Medicom head sculpt, although I
suppose that could be construed as not saying too much, since neither Bauer
was Medicom's shining moment.
Jack is a little young, with smoother skin that I think works for him.
He also has a little too much hair, something every Bauer head sculpt has
suffered from. The Mcfarlane version probably came closest, but Keifer
is a bit balder than any of the action figures make it appear.
The actual detail work on this hair sculpt is quite impressive though,
with a very fine touch being used on the strands and layers.
On the minus side, the head does seem a bit small, but that might be
because of the atrocious clothing. This clothing is also why the head
sculpt can't really be appreciated - you simply can't see it for all the God
awfulness that is his clothes. Like a bad car accident, it's hard to
look away, and harder to appreciate any quality about the rest of the
figure.
The biggest issue the head sculpt has - and this is exacerbated by the
paint job - is the caterpillars he has over his eyes. One thing Jack
does not have is big bushy looking Brooke Shields eyebrows, and they throw
off the whole look.
Keifer is a tough guy to pull off, because he does tend to be a bit
non-descript. His face doesn't quite have as much 'character' as some,
making it hard to get an extremely close match. They've done an
admirable job here, and certainly better than I had expected. One
thing they did get right is a softer look to his face. I don't want to
say 'flabby', because that's a word that just doesn't go with Jack Bauer.
But his face isn't as sharply chiseled as some action heroes, and they did
get the shape of the jaw, lips, nose and eyes just about
right.
That's not to say the head sculpt is perfect. Like I said, it's a
tad small, and a tad young, and oh those eyebrows. But considering the price on this figure,
you're actually getting a better head sculpt than I expected.
The hands are sculpted to hold the accessories, especially the guns.
They work fine with the cel phone too. There's a second set of hands
(fists) that have a reasonable well done sculpt as well.
Paint - **1/2
The paint isn't quite there, but you can't fault them too much
considering the price point.
Everything is quite clean and neat, with straight eyes, even lips and
eyebrows, and a clean hair line. Even the highlighting in the hair is
done pretty well, and dirty blonde hair is very hard to pull off. It's
a little too dark here, but they gave it the old college try.
The biggest issue is the eyebrows, just like with the sculpt. Not
only are they huge, but they are well down on his forehead, practically on
top of his eyes. They really ruin the whole look.
The skin tone is a bit too toy-like, lacking some realism. This
flat appearance tends to make him a bit more mannequin-like, and adds to the
too youthful appearance.
The paint work on the hands if fine, if not exceptional. There's no
clumping of the skin tone, which is a big plus.
Articulation - **1/2
If you're a Sideshow collector, this body is going to look awfully familiar.
Yep, it's the Art S. Buck body so well known to the world of Sideshow fans.
The wrists are different, because the body has new forearms (replaced at the
cut joint much like some of the earlier Universal Monsters), but otherwise
it's identical.
The wrists are basic cut joints, to allow the swappable hands to pop on
and off pretty easily. That makes the figure short a pretty critical
joint for posing, reducing this score over the usual Sideshow score.
But what really pulls the score down is the annoying right forearm.
The forearms are held to the main arm with a peg, and it's much too short on
the right arm. I couldn't pose the figure without reattaching the arm
repeatedly, making me a very frustrated boy.
Those two issues were the only additional problems, although the body has
all the issues we've come to discuss to death. It doesn't hang quite
as naturally as either the Medicom RAH body or the Hot Toys True-Type, and
tends to look fairly gangly in most clothing. Which lead us to the
next category...
Outfit - *1/2
Aaaaaaaggghhhhh! It burns, it burns! Seriously.
Jack's outfit consists of black shoes, pants, long sleeve shirt, and
suede jacket.
The shoes are good. The sculpts are nice, they fit well, and they
don't have that oversized clown thing going on. He stands fine in them
in even extreme stances.
The pants are something out of a bad 70's sitcom. They're
polyester. Really. With a big velcro closure up the back.
There are actual pocket openings in the front as well as belt loops, and one
has to wonder why go through that much trouble for a pair of pants that look
this bad.
The shirt has an oversized collar, oversized buttons, and terrible
tailoring. But the tailoring on the shirt is nothing compared to the
work on the jacket. The collar is monstrously large, and the suede
material makes the jacket look like Bauer is six years old, dressing up in
daddy's clothes.
Swap Keifer's head with a balding middle age guy, put his sunglasses on
and a cigar in his hand, and you have the perfect kitbashed used car
salesman.
Accessories - ***
Jack comes with an extra set of hands, sculpted into fists, two hand guns,
sunglasses, a steel briefcase (plastic, of course), and his trademark cel
phone.
If you've seen the accessories that the Medicom came with, you may
actually appreciate these more.
For example, Medicom's cel phone was plain black plastic. Here, the
phone has paint details to give it a more realistic appearance.
Unfortunately, it doesn't close, and that disappointed me a bit. But
the open look works well, and it fits nicely in his left hand.
The extra hands pop on and off easily enough, but take a little care.
The posts seem a tad weak, and might be damaged if you aren't paying
attention.
I was most disappointed in the briefcase, because it looks like it should
open and does not. Considering how cool some of the small cases we've
gotten with lines like Sigma Six have been, I was really hoping to be able
to store things like the guns inside this one. The sculpt and paint
are fine, but I was still hoping for a bit more.
The two guns are the highlight of the accessories, done nicely in scale
and with two different unique sculpts. While the clips don't come out,
I was actually quite impressed with the sculpts and paint work on both
weapons.
Finally, there's the sunglasses. I'm not hugely fond of the paint
job, with slop on the lens and around the frames. But the sculpt is
surprisingly in scale, something that's pretty rare in sixth scale eye wear.
I don't plan on using them with Jack, but they might make good cop shades
for a kitbash.
You'll notice that one thing missing here that we tend to see with every
sixth scale release these days is a display stand. I wouldn't have
used it anyway, but if you had grown accustomed to getting them, be aware
that you'll need to come up with another source.
Fun Factor - ***
If you have kids that want to play like Jack Bauer, then this isn't the
worst figure in the world. The articulation will work well for them
with the exception of the ever dropping right arm, the accessories are
fairly sturdy, and you won't feel bad about them tearing up a $25 figure (as
opposed to a $125 figure).
Value - ***
This is actually a pretty good value. I picked him up for about $23,
and if I wanted to buy the Buck body from Sideshow, that alone would cost me
$20. I may pick up a couple more of Jack, not because I need more
Jack's, but because of the customizing potential.
Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. I'd be careful swapping the hands, but even those are
probably sturdy enough to withstand normal use.
Overall - **
The accessories and price point save this figure from a lower
score. Had this figure been up in the $40 range, it would have been
creamed.
If you're looking for a Jack Bauer figure to put on the shelf next to
your Hot Toys Jack Sparrow or Superman, this ain't it. But if you're
looking for a Jack to go with your Zizzle 12" Jack Sparrow, that's a
different story. Considering the similar price point, that's not too
much of a surprise.
But I think the real value here is in the customizing potential. If
you want to use the Sideshow Buck body, you'd end up paying $20 for it
anyway. For the extra three bucks, you get two good guns, a pair of
sunglasses, a cel phone, decent shoes, and maybe some clothes that would
look good torn up and bloody on a zombie figure. And while the Jack
head sculpt isn't perfect, it is good enough to kitbash out a better looking
Bauer on your own.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpt - **1/2
Paint - **1/2
Articulation - **1/2
Outfit - *1/2
Accessories - ***
Fun Factor - ***
Value - ***
Overall - **
Where to Buy -
Your local LCS might have him, or you can try:
- CornerStoreComics has
him at $23, in stock. They also have the pre-order up for the "3 pm"
version.
- Amazing Toyz has
him in at $23 as well.
- Alter Ego Comics has him at
$25.50.
- Circle Red has
for $27.
- Time and Space Toys has
him at $30. They also have pre-orders up for the "3 pm" version.
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