Sculpting - **1/2
This is a tough one – we’ve all seen the high-end stuff, and I’m not sure who hasn’t taken a crack at Harrison Ford’s mug avec stubble (well, okay, Hot Toys hasn’t – and THAT would be the keeper.)  All were passable to good (except Gentle Giant – I think me with a tub of playdoh and a popsicle stick could have done better) but somehow fell short in my book, though the PF Indy came real close, tanned complexion and all.  Believe it or not, this Hasbro head is the same mold as the Whip crackin’ Indy, with elements of the hair from the talking Indy blended in.  There must have been some Pawtucket alchemy at work here, because they’ve somehow taken a sow’s ear and turned it into a silk (well, faux-silk) purse.  I’ll get to the paint section below, but suffice to say, the combo of a slight reconfigure of existing elements using a more matte and “detail-holding” plastic, coupled with vastly improved paint apps have elevated this head above what it was.  It’s really a night and day difference.  There’s a good dollop of Harrison Ford in there, and it works well for this type of mass-market toy. 

Paint - ***
They’ve done a remarkable job on this.  I will just say up front that I would have added another ½ to full star had my second Indy of this type not had the greens of his eyes painted on his eyelids, looking like mascara.  But honestly, this is a gorgeous paint job, perhaps a little heavy on the stubble, but even the high end stuff gets tripped up on that.

Articulation - ***
This is a standard, decent body for a $20 figure, nicely proportioned (if a little short, maybe 11”) one that Hasbro introduced in the final year or two of their Star Wars 12” line.  This one lacks any action feature, so no big flesh-color button (like on whip crackin’ Indy) to hide with your figure pose, and has a quite a good range of movement.  It has those kung-fu grips hands, and they work fine, though some of the joints (elbows in particular) can be a little loose.

Accessories - ***
This guy obviously comes with a bazooka (to recreate the classic face-off with Belloq,) which is remarkably accurate to the movie for such a mass-market piece.  There are any number of cheapo bazookas (Zacca makes a bunch) Hasbro could have sourced and included, but they chose to sculpt the actual one, so extra points from me.  It’s appropriate too, because as with much of the hardware and vehicles in Raiders, it was custom-created specifically for the movie out of bits and pieces, though this weapon is pretty close to an RPG-2 (which wasn’t around in 1936 by the way.)  It has a spring-loaded firing mechanism, which fires the round exactly one foot.

Outfit - **1/2
Hasbro encountered a few issues in the Indy line both in 3 ¾” and 12” in terms of depiction of Nazi insignias.  They treated this carefully with good reason – it’s illegal to even possess in some parts of Europe.  But the German uniform Indy wears in Raiders was thankfully pretty generic, so Hasbro didn’t have to go as far with this one as they did with the (awful in every way) German Officer 12” figure last year.  The jacket is vaguely screen accurate – the green’s a bit too Chairman Mao and the collar emblems aren’t there, though they are very faded in the movie.  The belt’s leather K98 pouches look decent, as do the harnesses and buckle.  The green pants and cap are plain wrong (and contributing to the 1950’s Chinese uniform look,) possibly done to pull it away from the German uniform look.  In the movie, Indy sports a tan Afrika Korps (well, this is several years before the Afrika Korps in N. Africa) cap with insignia and beige officer’s pants.  The boots are okay, perhaps a reuse of the same mold as 12” Dooku’s, but they do the job.  I did a quickie fix of the uniform, shown in the pics.

Fun Factor - ***
Like anyone plays with 12” dolls anymore, kids included.  But despite this probably not being the most exciting choice for an Indy figure in terms of play possibilities (no whip, no idol, no fedora, very scene specific), it has a great facial expression, somehow more expressive than the previous releases, and so elevates the display value.

Value - ****
Yep.  Four stars.  The biggest thing to remember, which Michael pointed out in his original review of the Hasbro 12” Indy figs last year, is that these are a $20 price point.  In this day and age – where 3 ¾” figs are sneaking toward $10 and Sideshow’s basic 12” offerings are inexplicably being drawn toward $100 a pop – these dolls are (well, were) a phenomenal value.  That is, of course, when Hasbro chooses the right character and executes it well, as they did here and with Cairo swordsman and to some degree the whip crackin’ Indy.  Mutt and German officer are two examples of Hasbro messing up at least one of those two things – and it’s pegwarmer time.  Reading between the lines of Hasbro’s Q and A regarding this line, it seems if there is a new Indy film, the 12” line will return, good news for younger collectors and those not willing to drop a Benjamin for a doll.  Of course for the next movie, seventy year old Indy will probably be teamed with his wayward hippie daughter (Willie Scott cameoing as a wrinkled madame) seeing how the fifties greaser son didn’t pan out, so prepare those clearance aisles ahead of time… 

Things to Watch Out For –
The paint on those eyes!  Cross-dressing mascara Indy is not something you want in your collection.

Overall - ***

Score Recap:
Sculpting ** ½
Paint ***
Articulation ***
Accessories ***
Outfit **1/2
Fun Factor ***
Value ****
Overall ***

Where to buy -
These really only hit retail for a short while (mostly Pacific Northwest it seems), so EBay is it.  While some brave and loyal souls paid big money ($100 or so) for this guy when he was first released, I was patient (and cheap…) and paid around $35-40 for each.  That seems around average these days. You can search ebay, or hope that the leftovers hit someplace like Big Lots or TJ Maxx at some point.