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Amber - Sucker Punch
Hot Toys
"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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It's another terrific Hot Toys
guest review from Jeff tonight, as
he hits up a early review of another great figure - take it away, Jeff!
A big thank you to Mike as always.
This is going to have to be concise and as brie as I can make it. Time
is tight and but not quite as tight as Ambers outfit.
Just
a few weeks ago I received the first figure from this movie in the form
of Babydoll, and I was quite frankly amazed at how knocked out I was by
a figure from a movie I wasn’t actually that into. So, can Hot Toys
pull off a double whammy, can Amber
the second heroin from Zack Snyder’s overblown homage to hot chicks,
robots, dragons and nazi’s also hit the nail on the head… well, lets
find out.
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Packaging
- ****
I
loved the first bit of packaging, and this one is following all the
cute design cues laid down by that box. So, you can expect a gimmicky
bit of design with real elastic suspenders and some nice typography,
all courtesy of Dixon Chan and Monster Jr. The only real difference is
that Babydolls box had a blue outer slipcase whereas Ambers is a dark
military olive green to reflect their respective outfits. But as a
great man once said, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it… classic!
Sculpting - ****
The
outstanding sculpt of Emily Browning as Babydoll was by Yulli and it
captured almost perfectly her fragile innocence, so I hoped that this
sculpt by Song Hye Hyun would manage to do the same for Jamie Chung as
Amber… would she be worthy of standing next to her comrade. Well yes
she does, the portrait is unmistakably Ms Chung, but whilst it is very
strong it doesn’t quite have the gentle subtlety of Yulli’s work on Ms
Browning. Perhaps this is more down to the ambiguity of Babydoll’s
character. Amber certainly came across as a more self-assured ballsy
character in the dream sequences of the movie that she briefly appeared
in, and that cockiness is exhibited in her slight smile/smirk and the
inclusion of her lollipop holding hand. I guess that feature alone
shows that this is a gal who try’s not to take things too seriously.
The
trouble is, that even though I do admit to favouring the Babydoll
sculpt, there is very little here to actually complain about here. The
features are well captured, the fine detailing of the skin texture is
expertly applied, and even though Amber has sculpted hair, it works
just as well Babydoll’s rooted hair when you consider the style it is
intended to replicate. So of the two I guess I’m saying that Babydoll
steals the princess tiara award, but Amber is only a gnats whisker
behind her in terms of quality… and I bet even this might be open to
debate in some quarters.
She also comes with a selection of
fingerless gloved hands (meaning the gloves have no fingers, she
displays a full set of ten digits), all are expertly crafted and where
necessary interact with her weapons and accessories well. The most
notable being the lollipop holding hand, because of its unique design.
The full selection includes-
1 right gun grip
1 left knife grip
1 right with lollipop in hand
2 relaxed
Paint
- ****
Yet another
home run! The outstanding subtle work on the skin tones and make-up
help the beauty of the sculpt shine through. As well as attracting
regular collectors, there have been folks exclusively into hot fem
figures for quite some time. It seems to have its own niche market with
whole online forums dedicated to their appeal. And some companies have
managed to produce some truly outstanding figures. But I think it’s
fair to say that over the last few months with the release of Babydoll
and the recently unveiled pics of the forthcoming Black Widow from The
Avengers that the ante has been seriously upped.
And as per
usual the resident 1/6 paint control artist in residence, Mr JC Hong
has delivered the goods for Hot Toys. The actual paint job is every bit
as good as Babydolls, but because she had a more subtle make-up
application and paler eyes in the movie, it again means that Ambers
paint is left just a miniscule hairs breadth behind in the visible fine
tuning stakes. Still fully deserving of a full score and it has to be
said that Ambers warmer flesh tones are handled exquisitely. And of
course it goes without saying that the uber accurate glossy eyes are
the perfect finishing touch.
Articulation
- ***3/4
The base body appears to be
the same as the one utilised on
Babydoll, so you’ll have to forgive my laziness but may I be so bold as
to recommend reading my low-down for that figure here.
But
a brief summary is to say it shows a great range, however the cool new
ankle design is abandoned because of her ankle boots, but the problem
with knees being ‘unusual’ looking when bent acutely is less of a
problem here because of Ambers tight pants… every cloud has a silver
lining.
Accessories
- ***1/2
Amber’s haul isn’t quite as outstanding as Babydoll’s, but the bits and
pieces she does have a very well put together on the whole.
Her full inventory consists of-
- Five interchangeable hands with fingerless gloves (and lollipop
attached to one)
- One Glock 19 automatic pistol
- One Zippo lighter with dragon motif
- One kitchen knife
- Two spare magazines
- One set of aviator earphones with mic
- One hat/cap
- Spare wrist pegs
- Figure stand with movie logo
As
always with Hot Toys the pistol features articulated elements and a
removable magazine, the knife is a simple sculpted piece (I kind of
hoped it might me metal after seeing the Katana that Babydoll came
with… but secretly suspected it wouldn’t be).
The gold Zippo
lighter (like the knife) is one of the ‘real world’ items that the
girls need to locate to aid in their escape. I was also hoping this
item might flip open, and maybe even have a small rotating flint. But
sadly it is just a single moulded item, don’t get me wrong it looks
great, but knowing just how detailed Hot Toys can get it does seem a
little simple.
By far her coolest item is the pair of earphones
with the attached mic. The detailing here is of the highest standard
with many pieces able to swivel and move, it takes some gentle futzing
to find the optimum position over the cap, but with a little
perseverance you will get it looking just right.
Lastly we have
the classic black oval figure stand, not an item I like to use too
often, but due to the solid boots it might prove to be quite handy on
this occaision.
Outfit
- ****
Like with
Babydoll, Ambers outfit is far more concerned with looking sassy than
with being usable in the field of combat… but an outfit this hot would
fell you at 40 paces anyway. It consists of moulded upper shin height
black lace up ankle boots. Military styled trousers that seem to be a
foxy variation on a pilots G-suit like those seen here,
here
and indeed here,
so they are at least based on something from the real world. However,
instead of being worn over a flight suit, Amber here sports a pair of
black fishnet pantyhose paired with white trimmed black panties… as you
would. The side panels on the trousers have some beautifully observed
detailing on the two-tone panels, and lace up seams that all work
fantastically at this scale!
To hold the trousers up she wears a
wide pleather double buckled belt that is attached to a black pleather
harness for her pistol and spare magazine holsters. Her upper half is
clad in a short bolero style military jacket, tailored and fabricated
in the same fashion to compliment the trousers as a suit.
It has the same criss-cross lace up panels running up the sides of the arms
and also incorporates working zips at the cuffs, up the front and two
at the rear of the collar running down over the rear of the
shoulders. Under this she wears a rather fetching French-maid
style bustier with another zip up the front and a crossed back strap
that runs around her neck acting as a choker.
Lastly is her
military/air stewardess style cap (think Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds
but sexy!) This is sculpted and held in place by means of a concealed
magnet in the hat and also within the head, it’s a feature that works
surprisingly well.
In terms of aesthetic the whole outfit comes
together beautifully, the only disadvantage over Babydoll’s outfit is
the moulded footwear. Sadly the cool new design of ankle is rendered
useless here because of the solid boots… what Hot Toys giveth with one
hand they taketh away with the other!
Value
- **3/4
Same story as it was for Babydoll I’m afraid. It’s basically an
outstanding figure, but not quite $170 of outstanding!
If
we knew we were going to get the rest of the line up from the movie
then Amber might seem a little more essential, but with only her leggy
blonde bombshell of a group leader available to stand beside her, she
might prove to be something of a hard sell. Which is a shame because as
I said she really is great looking bit of kit. But whilst talking of
kit, she is slightly let down by the amount of extras she has, which
again doesn’t quite measure up to Babydoll’s superior haul.
Fun
Factor - ***1/2
For me
this figure doesn’t have quite the punch of Babydoll, I think because
the earlier figures outfit was more iconic and because she was pretty
much the team leader it makes Amber feel more like foot soldier (OK, I
admit, an exceptionally hot foot soldier, but a foot soldier
nonetheless).
However, in terms of actual play value she seems
pretty solid, she poses well and has an exquisitely tailored outfit.
It’s just simply down to the individual in terms of how much fun you
can have with her… and that question might be best avoided… there are
some weird folks out there!
Overall-
*** 1/2
She is
definitely a stunning and beautiful figure, and the amazing detail
observed on her outfit s up their with the best, however Amber comes in
with a final score just a fraction under Babydoll’s. This is down to
the lost articulation at the ankle and the smaller selection of
accessories.
But in all other respects this is a very nicely put
together figure, and even though the movie didn’t turn out to be the
blockbuster that Zack Snyder and perhaps even more importantly Warner
Bros hoped it would be, it hasn’t stopped Hot Toys from delivering two
fantastic figures from the story. If you are one of that rare breed
that happens to be an avid fan of the film, or if you are just a
collector of female figures in general, you can’t go too wrong with
these!
Where to Buy -
Sideshow has Amber
available for pre-order at the full RRP of $169.99 here
whilst Babydoll is available and in-stock for the same price here.
Or hit up some of the sites sponsors where you could stand to save up
to $20-
Urban
Collector - pre-order- $139.99
Alter
Ego – pre-order- $152.99
FanBoy
- pre-order $152.99
BBTS
pre-order for $159.99
Or try eBay
where the BIN prices are between $150 to $260 (not sure why the second
high price is being asked).
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This product was provided free for the review by the manufacturer.
Photos and text by Jeff Parker.
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