TOY REVIEW ARCHIVE    LIVING WITH LATE FEES    FEATURES    LINKS    BIO    MISSION    EMAIL    MAIN PAGE >


Terminator 2 Mini-figures

The college bum is bumming around tonight with a review of the Terminator 2 mini-figures from Noble Wealth.  Take it away, Sean!

I’ve stayed away from collecting mini figures for the most part. However, in the past year or so I’ve slowly begun to succumb to certain lines. I really like what Mezco has done with their Mez-Itz line, and added their Predator and Alien sets to my ever-sagging shelves. I picked up a few of the new Stikfas figures as well, only to watch them break quite easily in comparison to the older models. 
For a while I’ve been seeing a set of block figures from Terminator 2 at various online stores and finally decided what the hell. This set is produced by a Chinese company by the name of Noble Wealth. I tried to find more information on them but couldn’t come up with anything.
The set comes as a collectable tin with three figures: the T-1000, T-800, and T-800 Endoskeleton. So, how do these stack up against the other Kubricks, Minimates and Mez-Itz out there?





Packaging - ***1/2
Well it’s easy to say that the packaging is the best feature on this set. The figures come packaged in a collectable tin box. The box is done in black with silver lettering with the T2 logo on top. The figures are in a plastic tray with a clear plastic cover for easy viewing upon lifting the lid on its hinges. If there were any graphics on the box I would have given it four stars. It’s classy, collector friendly, stores & displays well, and isn’t likely to be damaged.

Accessories - T-1000: **; T-800: *** ½; Endoskeleton: Nada
I’ve noticed that lots of mini figures seem to be a little spotty when it comes to their accessory assortment. The same is evident here.

First off, there isn’t a single gun to be found in the whole box. A Terminator without a gun? C’mon. I mean, what’s the point?

The Endoskeleton doesn’t come with anything. Of course, he couldn’t hold it if he did.

The T-1000 comes with three interchangeable metal hands. Two of which are in the L-shape used when the T-1000 tried climbing into the back of the patrol car during Sarah Conner’s escape from the nut-hatch. The other is a long blade. The blade is sure to be a bit of a sore spot with parents as it does come to a nice sharp point.

I’m ticked that Noble Wealth didn’t give mini-Arnold his shotgun, but I can’t be too upset with what is available. The T-800 comes with his own Harley Davidson. The bike simply looks great and has better detail than any of the figures. I’m sure it’s also compatible among other Kubrick-style figures. The T-800 also comes with a motorcycle jacket. Well it looks more like a vest to me, and not a very good one. 
For those of you who like to mix and match, the shotgun found with any of the basic Stikfas figures works pretty well with the T-800 (see photo).

Sculpting - T-1000 & T-800: * ½; Endoskeleton: ** ½ 
These guys are basically cheap Kubrick imitators. The T-1000 and 800 have almost the same dumbed-down sculpt with a variation or two. The hairline is a little different between them. The 800 has sunglasses and the 1000 has a belt. Most Lego figures look better than these guys.
The Endoskeleton fairs a little better with his skeletal head and hands, but still looks pretty lackluster among others of his ilk.

Articulation - **1/2
Each figure has the same eight points of articulation: neck, shoulders, wrists, waist, and hips. The range of movement is pretty poor on most of these however. The ball joints on the shoulders may as well have been cut joints. There’s a little more play in the legs however, allowing each figure to straddle the motorcycle’s seat. 

All the joints are really loose. I understand Kubrick figures are easy to break down and swap. In fact, it adds to the customization on these figures, especially between the T-800 and the Endoskeleton. However, each of their joints are so damn loose that these guys practically lose a limb every time you touch them. 

Paint Ops - T-1000 & T-800: **; Endoskeleton: ***
There really isn’t much in the way of paint detail on these guys since most of their parts are molded in their final colors. The 800 and 1000 both have some real slop on their faces. Both figures’ ears are a different a different color than their faces.
The Endoskeleton at least has a dark wash over his silver skull and the chest panel is pretty clean.

Durability/Quality - * ½
These guys fall apart quite easily. While that makes for some fun customization between the 800 and the Endoskeleton, it’s still pretty frustrating when you bump a shelf and have to put them all back together again. 

Value - *1/2
That’s for the suggested retail price of twenty to twenty-five dollars. These figures are so shoddy in comparison to the other Kubrick types out there, that asking for a picture of Andrew Jackson is an insult. Luckily they’ve been around for a while, so you should be able to get them at least five dollars below that. It also makes them a little harder to find in stores, especially being an import. 

I got mine at Tower Records for $14.99. It’s not a great price, but better than $20. Spend that much or more and you get free shipping! Action-HQ has them for $24.95.

Overall - **
In the end I think I took a hit this time around. Sometimes I pick up a figure for more money than I’d like to spend, but in the end if I like the figure, I don’t worry about it that much. Of course, if the price keeps sticking in my gullet afterwards, something’s wrong.

For less money than I spent on Noble Wealth’s Terminator set, I got better figures from Mezco’s Mez-Itz line. I had to read the label very carefully to make sure that these things were real licensed products and not some clever bootleg –the figures are that bad.

If I were only grading the figures in this set, I’d probably lower the score, but two other factors come in to play. First off, the collectable tin they come packaged in. It’s a nice way to present and show off the figures and you can never have too many boxes around the house to hold miscellaneous little stuff. Second, there’s the motorcycle. The bike stands out very nicely compared to the figures, and would be a great addition to any other Kubrick figures out there. 

Of course paying fifteen to twenty bucks for a block figure bike and a collectable tin is still ridiculous. I do go through my collection every now and then to weed out the loose ends. Once in a great while I sit down and make decisions regarding whether or not to strike a particular figure or set from my shelves and toss them up on eBay for the secondhand market shoppers. I have a feeling that this set won’t escape a future purge.

Then again, I still have Otis from SEG’s House of 1000 Corpses line, which is probably one of the worst ones I’ve ever owned, so there’s still some amount of hope for this Terminator trio.


Figures from the collection of Sean Teeter.

This page copyright 2003, Michael Crawford. All rights reserved. Hosted by 1 Hour Hosting.com