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Tony Almeida - 24
Kunch
"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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When I covered the 24 Jack Bauer and President Palmer
from Enterbay, I mentioned how great it would be to get Tony. Is this
head and outfit combo from Kunch the answer? Jeff Parker is going to
let us know - tell us all about it Jeff!
When Enterbay announced the first two 24 figures, I have a feeling
the fans hoped it was to be the merest opening of the floodgates. I
myself (who have barely watched the series) thought the first Jack was
such a strong figure they were sure to follow him up with numerouse
re-worked versions for all the different seasons, not to mention a
whole swathe of the supporting cast. But, for reasons unknown to me,
(perhaps licencing) it was not to be. We ended up with just Jack and
Pres Palmer. They were both strong figures, not without fault, but
deffinetly memorable as they came at a time when no one seemed able to
hold a candle to the juggernaut that is Hot Toys, but all of a sudden
we had a contender. I suppose we still do, but the sluggish delivery
rate from Enterbay means we’ve not seen much new product from them over
the last year. However, when they do deliver, they tend to deliver
firing on all six cylinders so my hopes for the Prison Break brothers
is still kept pretty high, and although there have been production
problems, the Storm Warriors set still looks most impressive.
But enough of past glories and pontificating on what might have been,
we’re here to talk Kunch!
Seeing
that the gap left open in the market for 1/6th 24 related merchandise
had been left wide open by Enterbay (and almost destroyed by Diamond select),
Kunch decided to step in. They have already produced a couple of
alternate seasons outfits to swap the Enterbay Jack into, I reviewed
both sets, the season 5 out fit HERE
and the season 7 HERE
and both were more than respectable. But apart from that it looked like
the 24 ranks would not be fleshed out. That is untill Kunch upped the
ante with this, at last you could have someone other than Palmer to
keep Jack from being lonesome.
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Packaging
- N/A
This
has no official box as such, but the goodies came well packed, held in
a zip-lock plastic bag within a big padded Jiffy envelope. So not
exciting, but it all arrived in top condition.
Sculpting
- ***
This looks to be a pretty good representation of Carlos
Bernard, the guy who plays Tony Almeida,
he’s one of the few characters in the series that Jack trusted, well
until he died in Jacks arms in season 5… but in the ever more
convoluted (and it has to be said slightly ridiculous) world of 24 he
was then resurrected in season 7. But lets not get bogged down in the
minutiae of the series, because after eight truly dreadful days it has
been decided Jack should now move to the silver screen. I thought it
obvious it should be called 2.4 and chronicle two hours and forty
minutes in real time of Jack having a sh*t morning/afternoon, but alas
tis not to be. Instead it’s going to be a full story arc set through
the course of a day but compressed into 2 hours.
But enough
waffle (I’m so easily distracted, attention span of a goldfish!), so
lets look at the set. The head was sculpted by Average Joe for Kunch
and is sold unpainted (as standard), however onesixthbruce sent me one
fully painted up by their in-house artist Sickboy customs (thank the
lord, cheers Wai Man, as I’m the unwrap and display kind of a
collector, not the buy it, ship it, get it painted, get it shipped back
kind and I certainly don’t have the skills myself to do it) The
painting service is available at an extra £15.
The actual sculpt work looks pretty solid, as you can see in the pics HERE
of the unpainted head, so I’m guessing that in the hands of a master
this could be pretty spot on. The expression is the determined side of
neutral and shows some nice texturing on the facial hair, and the
overall proportions manage to capture the actors features well.
Paint
-
**1/2
Sickboy
customs have done an OK job here, but certainly not an exceptional one.
It has to be said, as a group, us 1/6th collectors have been getting
pretty spoilt of late. The apps we are getting from the hi-end big
hitters are getting more and more impressive with each new release,
reaching levels that were hitherto unthinkable. This however is
slightly lower than the Sideshow standard, as the eyes lack clarity and
fine definition, however they have managed to get them nice and glossy
so they catch the light well without the need for a doll dot. The flesh
tone manages to match the slim shouldered TT that I put the head onto,
and it shows some nice graduations within its application, especially
on the stubble at the sides of the face. However the painting of the
eyebrows, moustache, beard and hairline lacks any fine feathering or
subtlety. It’s all serviceable but looks a tad too solid, especially on
the eyebrows. I also found the lips to be a little on the pink side,
nothing too bright, we’re not talking full on lipstick, but the colour
used doesn’t work quite right with his skin tone.
So, a fair
paint app, but not one that stands out in any particular way, however
if you are buying the base head unpainted, as I believe most people
will, then this is just a good pointer as to how it looks when painted
up. So if you’ve got the skills, this could be a nice little project!
Outfit
- ***
This set
consists of three items, well four if you count the belt. You can see
most of the elements they are based on pretty well in this pic HERE
and it shows that the overall look is pretty close to the source
material. It’s not perfect as the leather needs to look more weathered
(easy job in the right hands) and the jacket should have cut side
pockets. The shirt should have rounded corners where it sweeps down to
the buttons, but even taking this into consideration, for a 1/6th
depiction it still manages to look pretty close to what we saw in the
series.
All the tailoring is solid as well, the seams are well
finished and the jacket is lined, the zipper is a little oversized, but
when partially zipped up it still looks good and fits well to the body.
I’m not sure if Tony wore the shirt tucked or untucked, I went for
tucked at first, then decided it looked best untucked with the belt
removed as it bulks up under the shirt. The shirt’s my favourite piece
in the set and hangs well on the figure, the buttons are to a good
scale and the overall fit is excellent. The black slacks have working
side pockets, belt loops and a velcro fly, the fit is again solid and
the length works well on the standard narrow TT.
It’s a good
outfit for any number of civilian bashes and would work well even if
you decide not to go for the head and the whole Tony Almeida set up.
For my photos I used the shoes that came with the mech-test Tony Stark,
these can be picked up parted out on eBay.
Articulation
- N/A
No base
body is included, but Kunch have designed the head to fit the Hot Toys
True Type, and I found the head fitted just fine, once it’s fitted and
he’s fully dressed it doesn’t hamper the articulation at all.
Accessories
- N/A
He could
have done with a gun, but the kit just contains the head and outfit,
you’ll have to find the shoes and the weapons for yourself.
Value
- ***
All the
bits are available from onesixthbruce.co.uk, the unpainted head costs
£20 and the outfit comes in at £25. You’ll need a base body on top of
that, plus a pair of shoes and some firepower meaning at the end of the
day you should be able to pull a figure of Tony together for about £65
to £85 depending what bod you decide to go for and how many guns you
think he needs.
Fun
Factor - ***
This is totally down to how much of a fan
of the series you are, but if you had given up all hope of getting any
more decent 24 figures, then this could be another solid addition to
your set. Admittedly it isn’t quite Enterbay standards, but neither is
it Enterbay prices. I know it’s been made in limited numbers and
onesixthbruce tell me that after the initial flurry of buying when it
was stocked, just a few sets are now left.
So, if you decide to
go for it, you’ll find all the component parts are of a solid quality,
and once fitted to a TT the clothes don’t restrict the articulation at
all, making him as play friendly as you want him to be… which it has to
be said in terms of poseability is up there with the best.
Overall
- ***
At last Jack has
a comrade/foil to stand alongside, I never got Pres Palmer, he was an
outstanding looking figure that Michael reviewed HERE,
but I just wasn’t a big enough fan of the series to go for it. And
while this figure of Tony isn’t up there in terms of final quality, he
certainly looks good on the shelf just standing slightly behind Jack,
like a shadowy nemesis… which he kind of turned out to be.
The
work on the head is strong, but needs some jaw droppingly good paint
apps to really exploit the underlying sculpt, however if you have the
skills and are up to the challenge you’d have a top class figure on
your hands. The outfit is all well tailored and fits the base TT figure
snugly without being too tight, and for a combined sum of £45 (about
$65) it seems like a good quality mid-priced set to me.
Where
to Buy -
Onesixthbruce.co.uk have the unpainted head for
£20 and a painting service is available, just enquire with
Wai Man. The outfit set is also still available
for £25.
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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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