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Disney Park Exclusive Temple of Doom Indiana
Jones
"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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Indy fan Guy Klender is back
tonight with another look at Indiana Jones - take it away, Guy!
Without a new film, a new ride, game or even comic book, a new Indiana
Jones figure exclusive to Disney Parks seems unexpected, however it is
also uninspired. He is based on the look of the
character in The Temple of Doom however the accessories are from all of
the films and the base is the same one we were given in the last
figure. Much of this seems to be repacked and somehow they
were able to make it worse than before rather than improving on
it. I love the Indiana Jones films, I love the comics the
books, the Young Chronicles and often the toys, but this line of toys
misses on so many things it is difficult to become excited about
them. This figure appeared this week at both Disneyland and
DisneyWorld Parks and I fear will be sitting on the shelf there for a
long time to come. Let us get to the review so you can
understand why finding this won’t be difficult at all.
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Packaging
- *1/2
Boring and ugly. I did not care at all for the packaging used
over and over on the Indiana Jones toys from Sideshow, Gentle Giant and
the like that Lucasfilm demanded but this oversized boring rectangle
makes those others look like Degas painting next to 3rd graders finger
paintings. It is oversized and the color is a cross of pea
soup and public restroom.
The back art is even worse with the pose of the figure making it out to
be something you would laugh at when you saw it in the 99 cent
store.
The massive tray that hold the figure and accessories does not even fit
the card properly and after looking at 30 of them mine seemed to have
the least amount of fall off the bottom of the card. The
WARNING CHOAKING HAZZARD text is as large as the words TEMPLE
OF DOOM ACTION FIGURE. It is not collector friendly packaging
at all but I can not for the life of me thnk of anyone who would want
to keep this thing on card.
The lack of twist ties and the tray showing all the accessories are its
only good points and that is a stretch to say it is a plus.
Sculpting - **
Seventy five percent of this figure we have seen before. The
pants, the torso, the hat, the boots, the bag, gun and holster, all
repeats of the last bad figure. The head and the arms are the
only things changed on this one and they are not helping to make this a
better figure at all.
Harrison Ford hit the gym hard before doing Temple of Doom and he did
get bigger arms but this is silly. My bet is that the naked
arm on the right arm is being used on a super hero figure in another
line somewhere, and the left was done with the shirt sleeve
only for a bit of change.
The head sculpt perhaps looks more like Harrison but with ¼ inch of
paint on it that is hard to tell. The shankara stone, the
machete, the voodoo doll and the antidote view are the only other new
sculpts.
The doll is the only one worth mentioning. The stones seem too small
and the veil is a plastic stick, there was no “sculpting” going on
there. The playset is also the same one we saw before with
only a different paint job.
Paint
- **
I said the paint was bad, and it is but in some ways they made
improvements. The color of the pants, the boots, the holster
and satchel all are more screen accurate, getting the tan color of the
pants right was an improvement. The shirt stayed the same
color and that was a saving grace here. The playset of pillars
and columns is now a yellow tan color and the base in an awful green to
represent grass I would suspect but it makes even the cheapest
Astroturf seem realistic. The journal appears the same as does
the Cairo Swordsmans blade that has no business being in
here. The journal appears to be more from The Last Crusade and
even so, he did not use a notebook in Temple of Doom.
The head paint is where things go from awful to gut wrenchingly
horrific. The hat is the same sculpt but now a reddish tan
that is further off than the last time they did this figure.
The eyes this time were given white around the pupil, the only
improvement but the hairline has so much slop a drunken monkey with a
brush could have done the same task. I am not sure of they
are to be cuts on his face, or dirt, or claw marks but there are brown
lines going in multiple directions on his cheek and forehead.
Indy did not fight a Bengal tiger in Temple of Doom as I
recall. True it is the one I watch least but I still pretty
sure that scene was not in it. The head is more Ford but with
the thick slop paint it is too hard to notice if you really are seeing
something closer to Indy or not.
Articulation
- **1/2
Again we are given some improvement but the worst parts stay the
same. the odd socket design of the hips does not allow for
any real poses and looks strange. The feet again only swivel
right to left not up and down so getting him to balance, good
luck.
The head is able jointed so her can look up and down and a tiny
movement from side to side but I am not sure if mine was just broken or
loose or if that is part of the design. The arms, well this
is the only area they did any real changes so that’s what we
need to talk about most.
Ball jointed shoulder sockets this time are not hindered by the jacket
design so you have more options this time. Cut bicep makes
for a bit more as well as elbow joints that are 3 pieces and a cut
wrist. There is more realism to the movement of the arm this
time and I give them credit for that.
Accessories
- **1/2 if you DO NOT have first figure, *1/2 of you own
other figure
Most all of this is a repeat of the first figure so even though you get
9 pieces and a stand all but 3 of them you have and better versions as
well.
The Cairo Swordsmans blade from Raiders of the Lost Ark has no business
in this set and appears to be exactly what it is, filler to make you
think your getting something better than it is. The
stone is too small and does not fit in his hand making it
pointless. Here is an idea, take out the Raiders sword and
give me THREE stones like there were in the film. The
Antidote, while it was from the second film, he drank it while wearing
a white jacket tuxedo not a torn shirt khaki ensemble we know him to
wear so often. The voodoo doll is the best park of the whole
figure and may have been the only reason I bought this figure other
than to show all of you. The machete is a nice choice and put
in his hand and with the white bandage on the hand does make him stand
out from the last one if you saw them next to one another on the
shelves.
The playset and stand you may want to get to Home Depot and pick a
spray paint color that looks more like grass if you want to salvage
this piece. If you did not pick up the first figure they did
you may see this as pretty good as far as accessories go but if you
have the first, enjoy your voodoo doll and machete, the only piece you
will bother using at all.
Fun
Factor -
You will not pose him much, and as the base is a bad repaint and most
of the accessories are repeats or make no sense there is little fun to
be had. The younger kid who wants a Indy figure for sandbox
play will have hours of fun but the adult collector hoping for
something great no luck. The excitement I did have was riding
the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland and finding this figure as I left
the park but without that experience he misses by miles.
Value
- ** ½ of you DO NOT have first figure, * ½ if you have first
one
As I mentioned in the accessories section, of you do not have the first
one he comes with lots of stuff but if you do have it, all but a few
things are new at all. At $15.00 the price is not awful but
there are so many ways this could have been better and I would have
found myself buying more than one.
Things
to Watch Out For -
You see what you’re getting
and there is no way you could think you were getting anything more than
it is when you see it. Enjoy it for what it is. Set
in on the shelf and enjoy its bi annual dusting as that is all you will
ever do with it.
Overall
- **
I was lucky enough to see what Gentle Giant wanted to do with this
figure from a person working on it and what can now be purchased is 180
degrees different from that. Somewhere along all the
corporate lines and cost cutting and lost interest in product we
received this. Get rid of the big bad base give him a smaller
more exciting package and accurate accessories, charge a few dollars
less and watch us pick these up Disney.
Score Recap:
Packaging - * ½
Scuplting - **
Paint - **
Articulation - ** ½
Accessories - **1/2 if new to you, * ½ if you bought first one
Fun factor - * 1/2
Value - ** ½ of you DO NOT have first figure, * ½ if you have
first one
Overall - **
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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer.
Photos and text by Guy Klender.
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