SEARCH      FEATURES    NEWSLETTER    EMAIL     HOME
Captain Toy/Michael's Review of the Week

Review of Harvey Dent, Two-Face sixth scale action figure
Batman The Dark Knight

Hot Toys
Date Published: 2009-06-15
Written By: Michael Crawford
Overall Average Rating: 3.5 out of 4

Please share with your friends!

Dark Knight Harvey Dent, Two-Face 1/6th action figure by Hot Toys

Dividing Bar

Dividing Bar

Introduction

We've gotten our share of Dark Knight Joker's from both Mattel and Hot Toys. Hey, even DC Direct got in on that act. But Ledger's psychotic criminal wasn't the only one in the film with emotional and facial scars - let's not forget Harvey Dent's transformation to Two-Face.

While his performance wasn't as critically acclaimed, Aaron Eckhart did a terrific job as the damaged prosecutor turned vigilante. Unfortunately, his character has not been immortalized by the purveyors of plastic in quite the same quality or quantity as the Joker.

We have gotten the woeful Mattel version as part of their 5" movie line, but we have not seen their promised 6" Movie Masters version, and things aren't looking good at this point. And that's about it. With Two Face getting so little love, what chance is there for poor Commissioner Gordon to ever see a figure?

Hot Toys has at least come through for fans with their high end sixth scale version of BOTH Harvey Dent AND Two Face. Yep, that's right, there's all the parts in the box necessary to display either one of these figures.

If you were outside the U.S. (or bought from an International distributor), you would have gotten this guy back in January, but for those of us in the States, the figure is just now showing up. I have a number of suggestions at the end of the review on where to pick him up, and you can expect to pay around $150.

Dark Knight Harvey Dent, Two-Face 1/6th action figure by Hot Toys

Dividing Bar

Packaging - ***1/2
Hot Toys used the dual nature of the character and the contents to the fullest extent with the packaging, using one side to highlight Harvey Dent, and the other to show off Two Face. As always, the graphics are great, but I have a couple minor niggles.

There's not as many twisties as on Abe and Hellboy, but there's still a couple. They've also used small circles of tape to hold the separate tray for the jacket, which can be dicey to remove. Not impossible - you can remove the tape without tearing the box if you're careful - but it's not quite as collector friendly of a design as their usual.

Dark Knight Harvey Dent, Two-Face 1/6th action figure by Hot Toys

Dividing Bar

Sculpting - ***1/2
Nobody in the market right now is coming close to the quality of portrait work that's coming out of Hot Toys.

The first element is the realism. Skin texture, hair texture, amazing lips and eyes...it all adds up to a very human appearing plastic head. 

The Dent likeness is solid, and you'll instantly recognize the character and Eckhart. It's not as perfect as some of their work - the nose is a little off, and the mouth needs to turn down slightly - but it's still excellent work.

I'll be using the Two-Face head until I can come up with a second suit for the Harvey.  This head sculpt is much better in person than I had expected, and I love the detail work on the nasty burnt skin and flesh.

Both heads are a smidge small for the wide shoulders of the TrueType body. However, it's really the large hands that make the head's appear small. They are certainly too large for the body, but it's a fairly minor complaint.

Dark Knight Harvey Dent, Two-Face 1/6th action figure by Hot Toys

Dividing Bar

Paint - ***1/2
Guess what - the paint work is immaculate. This is a Hot Toys figure after all, and we've become accustomed to life-like eyes, great skin tone, and even perfect five o'clock shadow. Everything you expect from Hot Toys you'll get here, at least in terms of quality.

Of the two heads, I prefer the paint job on the Two-Face. The burned, scarred side has subtle variations in the muscle and charred skin, and all the details are here right down to the finely painted veins on the exposed eyeball.

They've also used the paint to help define the soft edge of damage between the burnt side and the healthy side of his face. Rather than having a hard line, they've used both the sculpt and paint to soften the transition.

So why the loss of a half star? More an aesthetic issue than an qualitative one. They used a lot of gold color in the hair, trying to capture the dirty blond appearance. In photos, it looks pretty good, but in person I thought it was much too obvious.

Dark Knight Harvey Dent, Two-Face 1/6th action figure by Hot Toys

Dividing Bar

Articulation - ****
Harvey uses the TrueType body, which is the best sixth scale body on the market right now. While neither his good guy or bad guy self are exactly extreme posers, the TrueType allows you to do very natural, flowing, realistic stances.

Accessories - ***1/2
Some of these accessories are awfully small, but they are still extremely well done.

There's his gun of course, with swing out cylinder and movable hammer. The sculpting detail and paint work are fantastic, and Hot Toys continues to impress with their guns.

The figure comes wearing the Two-Face head, so I supposed the Harvey Dent version is the accessory. I think I've gone on long enough about its sculpt and paint, but the important note is that getting an alter ego like this is extremely high on my 'best accessory ideas' list.

There is also the second, un-scarred jacket, so that you can switch to the Harvey Dent persona properly. It's every bit as good as the regular version, and lacks the minor issues added by the rubber burns.

There are two additional hands, both open in a relaxed pose. These go along with the 'coin flipping' left hand and gun gripping right hand. The hands swapped easy enough, but they are a bit large, which I mentioned in the Sculpt section.

There are three very tiny accessories too. There's two coins, one the normal two headed version he used as Harvey, and the other scarred on one side, for when he's in the Two Face outfit. Man, these things are tiny, but they look great.

There's also a Harvey Dent campaign button, properly scaled, and printed with great care.

Oh, and of course there's the usual display stand. It works fine if you need it, but Harvey stands fine on his own in just about any pose.

Dark Knight Harvey Dent, Two-Face 1/6th action figure by Hot Toys

Dividing Bar

Dividing Bar

Outfit - ***1/2
The Two Face outfit consists of the suit pants, shirt, tie, belt, and charred jacket. The shoes are his actual feet, as is the norm with Hot Toys figures, and the sculpt is very good. The pants, shirt and belt are all high quality, and if you've picked up the Tony Stark suit, you've seem something similar. In fact, the shirt is the same shirt. The shoes are the same sculpt, however they have a high gloss finish instead of the matte. While the belt is real leather again, with proper holes, the buckle is different than Stark's. And of course, the material used for the suit is slightly different than the pinstripe variety that Tony has.

The tie fits well, and lays better than the aforementioned Stark version. It's also tied just like the real deal, and you can re-tie the knot as you wish.

The shirt collar lays better as well, and the charred jacket is very high quality. Unfortunately, the rubbery compound used to create the burnt effect limits the movement and natural wrinkling of the jacket. It doesn't hang and flow quite as well as the undamaged version.

That jacket is used with the Dent head, of course, and looks great. Swapping coats is easy enough, although if you pop off the hands first it will go even easier.

The jackets don't appear to close, however. Hot Toys often uses the actual tiny buttons and button holes to close their jackets, but this time it doesn't appear as though they are designed to work. No biggie, as he looks better with the jacket open, but it's worth noting.

The tailoring here is better than the Stark suit, and the shirt lays better. I'm not sure why, but even though this suit is a better fit on this body, I'm still interested in seeing how it looks on the upcoming thinner TrueType.

Dark Knight Harvey Dent, Two-Face 1/6th action figure by Hot Toys

Dividing Bar

Fun Factor - ***
While it's unlikely any kid will actually get to play with this guy, they could. The figure is sturdy, and the outfit and accessories are no more fragile than other much cheaper clothed figures.

Dark Knight Harvey Dent, Two-Face 1/6th action figure by Hot Toys

Dividing Bar

Value - **1/2
At $150, you're paying the usual Hot Toys price. You're getting two heads, a decent number of accessories, and even a second jacket. You aren't getting an amazing deal, but you're getting your money's worth.

Dark Knight Harvey Dent, Two-Face 1/6th action figure by Hot Toys

Dividing Bar

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. This is one of the more sturdy Hot Toys figures you'll pick up, with really nothing here that is too easy to break. Your biggest problem is going to be not losing the tiny coins and button.

Overall - ***1/2
I love getting two figures in one. Yep, you have to snag another body, and you'll need to come up with the shirt, shoes, pants, belt and tie to go with the second suit coat, but it's the head sculpt that is the biggest issue for any kitbasher. And here you get a terrific Dent head sculpt.

I've said this before, but it's worth repeating - Hot Toys figures are like Pixar movies. Are they absolutely perfect? Of course not, and if you look close enough you'll always find a few nits to pick. But they are so far above their competition, it's hard to do a fair comparison.

While it's nice that we're getting ANOTHER Joker from them, I really do wish we'd get a Commissioner Gordon. They'd be able to do such a truly amazing job with him - if you're reading this Mr. Oldman (hey, it's possible!), then please, let them make it happen.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint -  ***1/2
Articulation - ****
Accessories - ***1/2
Outfit - ***1/2
Value - **1/2
Fun Factor - ***
Overall - ***1/2

Dark Knight Harvey Dent, Two-Face 1/6th action figure by Hot Toys

Dividing Bar

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- has a great price at just $138.99.

- has him at $148.75.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
If you want to find more links related to the Dark Knight, check out the 'Related Links' section of my review of the Bank Robber Joker.  Here are the other Two Face reviews I've done, based on various properties:

- I looked at the Dark Knight Mattel version, while Jeff Parker did an earlier guest review on the Hot Toys figure.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

Discussion:
Want to chat about this review?  Try out one of these terrific forums where I'll be discussing it!

Enjoyed this review? Be sure to head back to the main page to find thousands more just like it!

Dividing Bar

Dividing Bar

Please share with your friends!

Dark Knight Harvey Dent, Two-Face 1/6th action figure by Hot Toys

Back to Main Page
This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.

This page copyright 2000 - 2017, Michael Crawford. All rights reserved.