Packaging - ****
I wish every package had the level of depth and information that this box
does. Production notes on the episodes, synopsis, great stills, it's got
it all.
I am going to complain though about the shipping boxes. I received this
one damaged again, because the shipping box is exactly the right size for the
package to fit inside. The shipping box gets damaged, the inside box gets
damaged. It happens fairly often too, and while I didn't keep this one MIB,
I would have been pretty upset as a MIBBer.
Sculpting - Andro ***1/2; Helosian ***
Both of these figures look extremely nice, particularly in terms of the
quality of the sculpt itself. But both also suffer from at least one drawback.
The Helosian looks great at first glance, and matches the uni-brow expression
from the still on the front of the package extremely well. But they've
chosen a very hard, Bakelite type plastic for the head, much harder than
usual. Or at least it seemed to me at first - after double checking with
the Kanamit and Gwyllm, it doesn't seem harder to the touch. It doesn't hold any texture well, and the paint ops make it look
shiny and toy-ish. The hard plastic makes it tough for the head sculpt to
have as much detail or depth as we've come to expect. Both Gwyllm and
Kanamit look much better though, so I suspect a lot of this has to do with the
shiny gloss paint.
Andro doesn't suffer from a glossy hard plastic head, but his seems just a
tad too small. Due to the old style of makeup prosthetics (and actually
modern ones have this same problem), the heads of the monsters were usually
oversized. If you look at the photos, Andro certainly had a big head once
you take into account his lumpy appearance. However, the sculpted Andro
head seems small on the shoulders, and slightly out of place.
Other than these two issues, the head sculpts are kickin'. The hand and
foot sculpts on both of these are also extremely well done, and unlike the usual
human figure, give them a chance to show off their sculpting talents. I
particularly like the meat hooks on the Helosian.
Paint - Andro ****; Helosian ***1/2
There's very little to pick on when it comes to the paint ops, although you
know I can always find something!
Maybe not something every time - Andro is near perfect. The work on his
head, feet and hands is all superb, showing off the craggy sculpt and facial
deformities. This guy would make a great candidate for The Swan.
While the Helosian paint ops are good, the hard plastic head makes for both a
shiny appearance and increases the risks of rub marks and damage. The work
on the hands and feet is well above average however.
Articulation - ****
Both have the usual Sideshow bodies, with plenty of articulation for most
poses. Once again, I had no trouble with loose joints, and while both
figures come with bases, I didn't find any reason to use them.
Accessories - Andro ***; Helosian Bupkis
I have the book pictured with the Helosian, but that's just because he felt so
left out. All three accessories that come with the set are technically
from Andro's episode. And yes, he was the one that was going to shoot
someone.
He comes with his pistol, book and flower. All three sport great
sculpts, and fit in his hands. They all make great sense with the episode
as well.
The Helosian didn't have many choices, but something would have been
nice. Of course, some sort of O.B.I.T. screen would have been ideal,
espeically at this price point.
Both figures also come with the standard Sideshow base with the name of their
respective episodes.
Outfit - ***1/2
Both outfits are excellent, even if they are somewhat boring.
Okay, that's not really fair to the Helosian, who has a nice shimmery body
suit underneath a plastic 'dress'. The outer clothing is made from a
plastic similar to a rain slicker, and has a basic belt. The inner body
suit fits great, and overall the tailoring is excellent.
Poor Andro has the drab looking outfit, but it's not really his fault - you
know how they never have any sense of fashion in the future. His clothes
are a basic brown - shirt, pants, 'skirt', and vest. However, the
stitching, tailoring and overall quality is excellent on every piece.
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Even though these are intended as high end collectibles, they have plenty of
opportunity for play. I know that I would have loved to have a pair of
sixth scale monsters like these when I was a kid, and the great sculpting,
outfits and articulation all work in their favor.
Value - **
Ouch. $90 for a pair of figures comes out to $45, in case you don't
have a calculator handy. Considering that we are getting the very
intricate and complicated Live By The Sword figures for about the same price,
these take a bit of a hit. However, I have a suggestion down below where
you can get them for $36 a piece, and at that price you can add to this score.
Overall - ***
Sideshow has produced some excellent figures in the Outer Limits and
Twilight Zone series - Ikar and Ikar's Soldier ,
the Doctor and Nurse from Eye of the Beholder, Gwyllm
and the Ebonite Interrogator, The Kanamit,
The Invader, the
Gremlin from Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, and the Zanti
Misfits. Out of all of these, I still like the Doctor and Nurse the
best, but these two rank up with Gwyllum and the Kanamit as great examples of
early sci-fi makeup.
Where to Buy -
I haven't seen Sideshow figures in a store in I don't know when. On-line options include:
- Sideshow
still has them for $90 for the pair. They just started shipping last week.
- Alter Ego Comics has the pair
for only $72, an excellent price!
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