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The Criminal (Stone Cold Steve Austin) by Heroic
"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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Travis checks in with a look at
a very unusual sixth scale figure - tell us all about it, Travis!
Thanks to Michael, I'm back for another guest review!
Back in 2007 a little movie called "The Condemned" came out.
Being a huge WWE and Stone Cold Steve Austin fan, I caught it while it
was in theatres and although it's not the consensus opinion with the
viewing public: I absolutely loved it. I felt it was a great package of
a movie with tons of action, good acting by all involved, and a
engaging storyline. Especially when compared to other WWE Films
productions, this one just seemed a bit better than the rest. At least
to me.
The storyline is as follows: (courtesy of fandango.com)
Jack Conrad (Austin) is a dangerous convict currently awaiting
execution in a corrupt Central American prison. "Purchased"
by a wealthy television producer and transported to a deserted island,
the formidable inmate is offered the opportunity to avoid capital
punishment and win back his freedom by fighting to the death against
nine other condemned criminals in an illegal game to be broadcast
uncensored over the Internet.
Although the movie came out over 4 years ago, no merchandise in the
figure realm appeared. I'm assuming it was because of the R rating, but
really, does that stop some toys from being made? I really thought
there would eventually be a WWE figure 2 pack featuring Stone Cold the
wrestler and Jack Conrad, his Condemned character. They had done it
previously with The Rock and The Scorpion King, but that movie was more
kid friendly.
Fast forward to today...
The 1/6 figure market is swamped with all kinds of high end
collectibles of almost every film star you can imagine. Hot Toys alone
domineers the market with the just about every license out there, but
not even they can secure every one you may want. Luckily, there are
smaller companies out there that make figures that might not ever see
the light of day. And, honestly, like Hot Toys has ramped up their game
in sculpting/painting/etc., so have some of the smaller companies.
Being that there's no text on the box, aside from the title "The
Criminal", I can only pass on the info that you can find online. The
figure is made by a company called "Heroic." At least I think that the
companies name. I really have no clue, but all that aside, I'll just
let the figure speak for itself.
Without further ado, lets get to the review. As Stone Cold says in the
movie, "Game on."
Oh, and always, I apologize in advance for the cruddy photos.
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Packaging
- *1/2
The package is a extremely basic and consists of a black slip cover The
package is a extremely basic and consists of a black slip cover over a
white box. Don't let the low score make you think the package doesn't
do it's job. It does it extremely well, but as packages go, it's just
plain. There's a photo of the figure on the front of the box with text
naming the figure, "The Criminal", but other than that, there's nothing
at all. Inside the box, the figure is held in place by laying in a
plastic bubble with a figure sized indention, exactly like almost all
action figures are. The accessories, and his head, are placed in
plastic zip baggies to protect them from scratches while in
transit. As I said: plain, but does the job it's meant to do.
Sculpting - ***1/2
Before I start, let's address the obvious: This is not a figure made by
Hot Toys and to compare it to them would be unfair. Especially when you
consider it cost a fraction of what Hot Toys figures run, so you get
what you pay for.
As I said, the 1/6 market has made leaps and bounds in the sculpting
and painting categories and this figure really shines in those
categories. Although the body appears to be a stock BBI 3.5 version and
could be better, it could always be replaced if you chose, so I won't
count too much against it in this category. They actually added a
sculpted neck and chest piece under the shirt and I really wish there
would've been a way for them to add muscular arms to complete the Stone
Cold look.
The figure comes with two heads and both have unique sculpts and aren't
the same head with different paint. In my opinion, one looks more like
Steve Austin than the other, but only when I compared them side by
side. Alone, without comparisons, they both look like him to
me.
Aside from the heads, the accessories are sculpted and look great.
Great detail all around, but more about that in the accessories section.
Paint
- ****
The figures comes in the package with his battle damaged head and it's
beautifully painted. One of the reasons I'm writing this review is I've
read so many negative things about this figure online. (I've never seen
a review, just negative comments about photos of the figure.) I have to
say, photos I've seen online do not do this figure justice. The paint
on his bloodied head alone is flawless, with sparkling eyes, great
facial hair and realistic lips and blood. Also, the skin tone is very
realistic on the battle damaged head, but to be honest, it's extremely
tan on the other head. It doesn't really match as well with the skin of
the figure, but it's passable. The neck and chest have the same skin
tone as the battle damaged head with nice blood, and shading.
Although there's no blood anywhere else on the body, the shirt and
pants are nicely stained with blood, sweat and dirt.
Articulation
- ***
As I said, I believe the body is a BBI 3.5, but I'm no expert in this
category. It has all the same articulation of any 1/6 figure
(shoulders, double elbow, wrist, abs, waist, upper leg, double knees,
ankles and neck.) The only thing that brings the score down is the neck
articulation is hindered by the sculpted neck piece and it isn't able
to look up or down, just spin. Honestly though, the look of the
sculpted neck is a nice trade off. The figure itself is a bit loose and
could've used
a stand to keep it standing over long periods of time, but that's
easily fixable.
Accessories
- ****
Aside from his screen accurate outfit, the figure comes with some great
accessories.
Taped to his forearms are the metal bars Jack Conrad used as a
makeshift defensive weapon in the movie. These could be removed, if you
chose to upgrade his body and yes, they are real metal.
He has a machine gun with removable clip and extending stock.
A small silver handgun that appears to be a recast with no moving parts.
He has shackles for both his wrists and ankles and are screen accurate.
The cuffs are plastic, but the chains are metal.
Lastly, if you've seen the movie, you'll know the last accessory is an
important one: his ankle bomb! Like everything else, it is screen
accurate and has all the features from the red pull tab to the defusing
key. (that is removable!) Nice!
As I mentioned above, he also comes with an extra (non battle damaged)
head. Although the paint on his skin tone is darker than the other, the
eyes, lips and facial hair are extremely well done.
Outfit
- ****
Accessories aside, his outfit consists of a tan shirt, khaki pants and
sculpted boots. The clothes are all very nice and look exactly like his
outfit in the movie. They are nicely weathered with blood, sweat and
dirt and they represent Jack Conrad in mid adventure. As simple as the
outfit sounds, this is how Stone Cold appears for almost the entire
movie. The only thing he could've came with, (I guess) is a clean
version of the pants and shirt to represent the first part of the
movie, but I love the dirtied version, so no complaints here.
Fun
Factor - ****
I'm not sure how many kids got to watch The Condemned, but I know a LOT
of kids love Stone Cold Steve Austin, so the fun factor goes through
the roof if they're a fan of his. For everyone else, this figure
deserves a look and I think most people would enjoy it if they gave it
a chance. I'm glad I did.
Value
- ***1/2
Ok, here's the deal: This figure is listed at $84.99 plus shipping, but
I got mine for $59.99 and that included free shipping from China, so my
score will reflect that. Do I think I got a good, fair deal? YES! I was
really afraid of what the quality/paint/etc. would be once I had it in
hand, but I was happily surprised. No, it's not as good as anything
fresh out of the Hot Toys factory, but it's better than you'd think.
Things
to Watch Out For -
I'd be careful with the
taped forearms. They are very nicely taped and snuggly in place, but
it's still just silver tape and could be damaged if you're not careful.
I'm not even going to attempt swapping the heads out, for fear of
damaging the head or neck post.
Overall
- ***
This figure is better in hand than I hoped it'd be. Is it perfect? No,
but the sculpt and paint alone deserves a closer look and photos don't
do it justice. I wouldn't recommend anyone who isn't a huge Stone
Cold/Condemned fan spending more than I did, but if you are a fan, this
figure should please you. I wish the body were a bit tighter and had
better muscle arms, but I'm still happy with it and the company did an
awesome job. Maybe they'll make a Vinnie Jones (with bow and arrow) to
go with him someday... ^_^
Scoring
Recap:
Packaging - *1/2
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ****
Articulation - ***
Accessories - ****
Outfit - ****
Fun Factor - ****
Value - ***1/2
Overall - ***
Where to Buy
I bought this one through eBay,
but they are available through many 1/6 dealers online, as well. Shop
around to find a good deal.
Thanks again, Michael!
Until next time, folks: Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel! ^_^
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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer.
Photos and text by Travis.
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