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Che Guevara
Enterbay
"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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Ryan Siller is back tonight
with another great guest review. He has a great site over at Uryaen.com, which I
highly recommend you check out. Take it away, Ryan!
Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Ryan Siller, of www.uryaen.com.
This is my second guest spot on mctoys, but certainly not my last. I
highly encourage you to visit my main site and see more images of each
of my reviews. I do reviews on hardware and other media, but for 1/6
I'm adapting my unique review style to the expected format for readers
of these sites. Let's get into it:
UPDATE: As Enterbay has so kindly linked to this review on their Facebook page,
I have decided to expand my coverage of Che. Look for exclusive images
to come either during or after Comic Con. I promise they'll be amazing!
See the new video review embedded at the bottom of the review on my site.
Packaging
- ****
I
mentioned last week that packaging was one of the areas where HOT TOYS
Babydoll dissapointed. Really one of the only minor nits, but I'm a
huge aesthete and this is something that is important to me.
ENTERBAY
has really come through on their packaging. Che arrived direct from
Enterbay PR in a thick outer box for his international trip, and inside
this was a plastic bag and finally, inside all that, the thick, sturdy
box of the figure itself.
The box is a magnetic
clamshell style, and like any good collectible box, has embossed text
and imagery on the front. The color scheme is a stylish and classy red
and black, which is an obvious nod but we're going to skip by that for
the moment.
When you open the flap, which isn't just a
one layer flimsy piece of cardboard, but a fully cored and wrapped
panel, the box slides smoothly apart into two sections. The sliding
action is extremely satisfying and really shows some care in designing
it.
On the left is the only nit I have about the
packaging. The stand, some of the clothing, and the accessories are all
mounted in a plastic retainer. This retainer is sturdier than the one
HOT TOYS uses. However, the way they designed it, it sits low in the
box and it's hard to get it out. They have an indent in the plastic,
but it doesn't really help. That said, everything arrived in perfect
shape, and looked beautiful.
This figure retails at $220
and for that, you get a high quality array of accessories, if a bit on
the small side for each. I'm happy with the value due to the overall
quality of the presentation however.
On the other side
sits a thick foam cover. You know without even removing it that
something special hides under there, and sure enough, upon removing the
foam insert Che is standing tall in a fully cut out foam bed. He's
surrounded on all sides by foam. The foam is high quality and doesn't
stick to the figure nor does it inhibit his removal.
Putting
him away is easy and seamless. He only came with a few small pieces of
protective plastic, and is ready for display immediately.
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Sculpting - ***1/2
Sculpting
is hard to judge on this particular figure. Modern movies have ULTRA
high resolution stills we can look at to see the performer, but Che is
a real person from a while back in history. There aren't any modern,
digital images of him. The sculpt is extremely high quality, with about
the same level of detail on the face as Babydoll. There is a very
definite difference in tonal quality between his face and the rest of
his body, which is much lighter in color.
As you know, ALL
images I take are color profiled exactly. I use an X Rite chart to map
the color profile and white balance. Compare my images to others, and
you'll see a huge difference in color grade quality. What you see,
assuming that your monitor is likewise profiled, is exactly what you
get.
This is also a pretty minor nit. The face is very
human, for lack of a more appropriate term. The sculptor and painter
did an excellent job interpreting existing and mostly black and white
images, and the color cast on the face is very warm, which lends well
to humanizing the portrait.
Paint
- ****
Paint is a
little easier to judge. It either looks good or it does not. There is
not a single flaw in this paint job. Feel free to load up the full size
images at Flickr. The paint is outstanding. I have nothing more to say!
Articulation
- ****
In my first 1/6 review,
I mentioned that Babydoll had some limitations in articulation,
specifically that her arms couldn't raise above level, and that her
ankles are weak. Both are true. Che can raise his arms up high, as seen
in the image to the side where you see him making a raised fist.
He can assume a variety
of interesting and realistic poses, and feels more solid, his various
joints ratcheting into place perfectly.
His boots allow him to
stand highly stable without using the included stand. Hands come out of
the arm a little more easily than Babydoll, and changing the wrist post
is smoother as well.
His arms hold tight
center positions quite easily. This is a quality body, and I am looking
forward to seeing the new female bodies that ENTERBAY is working on for
release late this year.
Accessories
- ***1/2
I mentioned earlier that Che comes with a variety of small accessories,
and this is true. You don't need a big ticket item. Let's have a look:
Part
Outfit thing, Part Accesory, his gun belt with ALICE mounts comes off
very easily but stays on firmly. This makes it easy to change the look
around and is a welcome addition.
His camera has a
removable lens, although I'm not sure why. You can move the film
advance lever, which IS cool. On mine the strap on one side came loose,
but I was able to slide it back on easily. The strap also feels like
leather, and might be.
His gun is interesting. It's not
as detailed as the one Babydoll came with but the slide actually moves,
whereas hers did not. That makes it kind of a wash. Both are fantastic
for different reasons.
The rest is what we'd expect: a
small watch, cigar, extra baret, another gun with clip, and extra
hands. All of it high quality stuff.
Outfit
- ***1/2
I'll
tell you right now, I'm in LOVE with his jacket. It's just about the
coolest thing ever. It feels like real leather, is lined, and has a
functional zipper. It sits perfectly on him, and just adds so much more
value to the figure than you expect. It doens't look goofy or oversized
the way jackets looked a few years ago. The jacket alone almost makes
him four star.
The rest of the outfit is a basic BDU and
boots, and that's fine. That's all he needs. There are additional
outfit options, but I was not sent these, so I can't comment on their
quality.
Value
- ***1/2
I've said it already but these guys are getting pricier every year. The
quality is rising as well, so it's fine, but unless you're a fan of
Che, or history, or just want an awesome figure to fill out your shelf,
you might not "get it" and that's fine.
If
you've never bought a 1/6 figure before, this is a great way to get
into the hobby. He's sturdy enough for a first timer, and striking
enough in person to elicit response from visitors.
Fun
Factor - ****
If fun is playing with something actively, you’re looking at the wrong
review. If fun is posing a quality figure in movie/life accurate poses
for your shelf, it doesn’t get any better. He's sturdier than many 1/6s
I've seen, and while I'm not going to comment on the man himself, his
figure is a great addition to any 1/6 collection.
Things
to Watch Out For -
The strap on the camera is a bit delicate, but that's the only thing.
Overall-
*** 3/4
The
combination of first rate packaging, sensible and quality accessories,
a rock stable base body and top notch paint and sculpting come together
in one of the most coherent 1/6 presentations I've seen.
Next
up: What's next from ENTERBAY? I probably won't be seeing Agents K and
J, but 1/4 T 800 is still out there, so maybe that? Rambo? Not sure,
but I can say that I have extra renewed enthusiasm for ENTERBAY.
Integrity Check -
This is a special feature I do on my site. Be sure to check it out at www.uryaen.com.
Conclusion -
Stay
tuned as I add additional images for the review and for the publication
of an exclusive version of this review here along with the reprint of
my Babydoll review.
Comic Con is taking place this
week, and I anticipate announcements from ENTERBAY. What will my next
review be? I have ideas, but it’s up to them. Enjoy the images, and
thank you for reading.
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This product was provided free for the review by the manufacturer.
Photos and text by Ryan Siller.
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