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Kurgan

Brandon is back tonight with a guest review of the 12" Kurgan from Sideshow - the floor is all yours, Brandon!

First I want to thank Michael that it was possible for Me to guest review on his great page! What I am about to review is one of the Sideshow figures that is exclusive to their official page. The figure is a limited edition of only 500 pieces and that figure is The Kurgan from the 1986 cult classic The Highlander! However this is not the exclusive version with the severed head of Sunda Kastagir which is also limited to 500 so there is a thousand of the same figure combined. This is the regular version in this review. The Kurgan/Victor Krueger was played by the very talented Clancy Brown in a astounding performance. 

As I mentioned this figure is only one of five-hundred pieces world wide which I believe is due to the same thing that happened to Sideshow's Krycek from the X-Files line. From what I learned the figure just wasn't demanded enough so the folks over at Sideshow decided to just release the figure to the fans who have been dreaming of owning such a character. I love the 1980's and just about every thing about it and Highlander is one of those things so when Sideshow announced the MacCleod figures I was in awe but when the announcement of The Kurgan came I instantly thought he is a must have! I dig the way he looks plus he's a great addition to My collection. Now let's see how he matches up!





Packaging - **1/2
Being a exclusive limited to 500 figures there is a number located on the bottom of the box which My number is 606. The packing is as the usual Sideshow flap open box with Velcro attached to both sides, the inner door and on the side of the inner box. However the box is a bit taller than most others. There is cool picture of Clancy Brown as the Kurgan on the front, pictures of the figure on the sides and back. Also on the back is some shadowy pictures of him from the film. His story (just the Character story and not the actor) is on the inside panel and on the back is the Highlander story. Like most Sideshow twelve inchers he is in a tray tied down with twisty ties and the thin dental floss. This is what brings down the score for Me. Its not the floss but the huge twisty around his neck and under his arms. Its bad enough that the clothing is fragile which I'll get to that in the outfit section. What I would have down is nothing but it was cool with the other Highlander figures with just the thick wrap around their necks. The packing looks great but its quite a pain getting the figure out. If they would have done what they did before the packaging would have most likely reached four stars.

Sculpting - ****
Sideshow definitely shows great talent with the sculpt. The likeness is more than fair. The expression is probably not what most would have chose and would have made his eyes a little buggier. I wouldn't say it looks exactly like Clancy but in My opinion its as good as you're gonad get. On the back left side of his head is a thick strand of brown hair that connects or turns into a tattoo. The hair looks a bit on the wavy side and the sculpting makes it look real. The nose is long and is a neatly sculpted formation with nostrils. The teeth are spaced out. The bumps and scars he has on his head is truly gruesome. They are coming up on his head like they are really forming. The scars are deep and look old. The huge long slit on his neck is the real horror of his head. Its safety-pinned closed. The scar tissue is of a fleshy color and the safety pins are large and look authentic. 

Now let's talk about his sword and other topics. The sword is just mammoth, its of goliathian size which it is for real. The crease on both side of the blade is evenly matched. The big points above the handle look menacing and sculpted superbly. There is a big ball at the end of the hilt. Now his gloves/hands are decent too though different from the prototype where his fingers were almost straight out. Sideshow changed not only his finger positions but also his entire right hand! Before his right hand glove had fingers where the actual figure does not! Both hands are now in fists and hold the sword quite nicely where you simply screw it in and you can have it in either hand or both. His fingers are sculpted very good and are huge! The right glove is excellently sculpted because it has a chain male covering over it! The left glove has air holes. I am amazed how much detail there is just on the big guy's hands. The boots look real but they are a bit small. As big as The Kurgan is I would think he would have ginormous feet like the Sideshow Jaws figure, you can compare them in the photo as well as how they match up in height. Everything I mentioned in these topics are sculpted very well and this proves that Sideshow has some of the best sculpting talent ever seen in action figures and collectibles.

Paint - ***1/2
The paint is applied very good. There is very little bleeding on the Kurgan's head. His are eyes are very good and the gray on his eyebrows are light. The snake skull tattoo on his head is painted on and joins the hair strand good. The glove is painted good and it appears to look like real steel. The paint on the huge sword is excellent and not one spot is missing. Hobnail paint is good but the ones on the back of the jacket are aren't colored solid like the others.  

Articulation - ****
In My opinion Sideshow has the best 1/6 scale body and arguably the best articulation in any action figure. The Kurgan has the new Big Boy body which measures a bit above the thirteen inch mark where the standard Sideshow male body is twelve inches. What differs from the regular is obviously the height but also the girth. The torso is very thick but it doesn't make him top heavy. The arms are articulated the same as is everything else and is just much larger. Compare his arm for instance and you'll notice its much rounder with thicker joints. He has the same movements like the other Sideshow figures. 

His joints is as follows: ball jointed neck, slide jointed shoulders, ball shoulders, cut biceps, double-jointed elbows, cut forearms, double wrist where its cut but also moves up and down and side to side, hinged chest, cut waist, ball hips, cut thighs, double-jointed knees, cut shins and the double ankle where its cut but also moves up and down and side to side. I count about thirty-eight joints! All move great and the neck joint actually moves smoothly and is not hampered by the neck sculpt. That is a big plus because you'd want a great ball joint to get the maximum movement and I really like the newer sliding shoulder joints where the arms can move back an fourth. The ankles are some what restricted by the boots but that is expected. None of the joints are loose either. Sideshow did great in this department! 

Accessories - ***1/2
This brute comes with the standard Sideshow stand. It has the highlander logo and the copyright information on it. Its identical to the stands that came with Connor and Duncan. The immortal also comes with his huge sword. It is sculpted very realistically. It's made out of a soft plastic like the other Highlanders' swords. For the people who want to know if Duncan's Claymore is longer than The Kurgan's sword, the answer to that question is yes but it isn't as massive though. Now the exclusive edition came with the severed head of Sunda Kastagir. Since I do not own this accessory I can not comment on it. However, If you where one few that received the regular version mark down three stars and a half but if you where one of the few that got the cut off cranium then give it four stars. 

Outfit - **
Here is the really bad section that brings down the figure. It is very important to know this info but onto that in a couple minutes. Let's first talk about what his outfit is. He has he iconic look from the 80's as a punk rocker but also resembles a Harley dude. He has a cool looking jacket with hobnails and the jacket has only one sleeve and its on the left side. The other is cleanly cut off! There is some mesh and studs as well. the jacket has a working belt which it isn't to hard to slip through the buckle. The pants is made out of a soft pleather just like the jacket so he can move fluidly. The boots are a bit loose but not very tight. He also has a ultra cool under shirt under the jacket which I just totally dig! 

Now here is the where the downfall of it is. It all started when I noticed that one of the hobnails that is on the back of the jacket was missing. Then I found it on the table and I wanted it back in. Then another one came out. I found out that all of them are just put in there and not glued or anything. There're like tiny beads! I was very disappointed about this. Also the left sleeve is only stitched with a couple threads so that is something else I was disappointed by. It should have been stitched all the way around! I don't know what they were thinking. I hate to complain but it seemed like they worked on the outfit on a very lazy day.

Fun Factor - ***
This figure is very fun to have especially if you have the other Highlanders displayed with him with either simply standing, posed or fighting each other. Even though a youngster may like a huge bald guy with a sword I would not give this figure to a child because it is simply a collector's piece and not for hard play. 

Value - **1/2
Being known that only 500 of the regular at the original price of $50.00 and the exclusive at $55.00 its a pretty good deal. I bought Mine at Amoktime.com for $79.99 plus shipping so that total came up to $89.10. Its much higher than the original price but for Me he was a must get figure. I would only get him at that price if you absolutely want him. If you can find him for the regular price or just a hair higher than give this category three stars and a half of one.

Things to Watch Out For - 
The jacket is extremely fragile with the nifty idea of just placing the hobnails in and not securing them. I would use caution on all of them and that counts the ones on his pants as well. Another is the not so stitched left sleeve. Move his left arm gently. Also even though the sword is of a soft plastic I wouldn't bend it. I think that covers it all.

Overall - ***
The figure has his ups and downs. The downs are mostly the outfit. He has great sculpting everywhere from his head to his gigantic sword. He is articulated greatly and I am very pleased that he can hold his weapon in either or both of his huge hands easily. The disappoint all began with the packaging with that one pesky twisty tie and then his jacket. I could complain more but I give the figure three big ones. If the jacket was made better this would be a four star figure even with the annoying twisty in the tray. But the Kurgan was made and he looks just awesome by himself or with Connor and Duncan. So even though he has his problems he is one heck of a figure!

SCORE RECAP:
Packaging - **1/2
Sculpt - ****
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ****
Accessories - ***1/2
Outfit - **
Fun Factor - ***
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***

Related Links:
Michael reviewed the Sideshow Connor Macleod here and a guest reviewer gave his thoughts on the Origins Connor Macleod here.

About Myself -
I have been an action figure collector all My life. I currently collect 12" Sideshow figures of Highlander, Universal Monsters, Star Wars, POTA, X-Files, Horror and others. I also collect G.I. Joe Sigma 6, Marvel Legends and sub-lines, SOTA's Street Fighter, Godzilla, Gamera and King Kong stuff as well as DC, Marvel & Dark Horse comics plus movie books. I'm a big fan of Action, Sci-Fi, Horror and Monster films and I love movie Scores & Soundtracks, Baseball, Boxing, classic Video Games, Cryptozoology, Aliens, UFOs, strange phenomena etc.


Figure from the collection of Brandon Miller.

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