This pair of figures have
been hotly anticipated by sixth scale collectors for some time now, and
not just because they're fans of the original film. This is
Amoktime's
first foray into the production of action figures, and they
have announced a metric ton of additional figures based on all kinds of
1950's and 60's B horror movies, many of them scheduled to hit this
fall. Fans will be looking to this set as an indication of
the
expected quality of those future releases.
This pair isn't cheap, costing about $110 at most retailers.
You can buy direct from Amoktime,
or you can hit one of the very dependable sponsors I have listed at the
end of the review.
Packaging - ***
Gort is a big boy. That means these
two are going to come in a big package, no doubt. And it is
big,
so big it's one of those situations where you won't really comprehend
it til you see the box in person.
It's a big bigger than it needs
to be, and I really, really wish they'd added some background text to
the inside
of the fifth panel, but overall it's attractive and fairly collector
friendly.
Sculpting -
Klaatu ***1/2; Gort ***
The
character of Klaatu was played by Michael Rennie in the old film.
True Batman fans might better know him as the Sandman from
the
60's show, and he was also Harry Lime in The Third Man television
series.
Rennie had a distinctive
look,
and whomever Amoktime used for this sculpt did a fantastic job
capturing it. From the slightly droopy eyes to the long English nose,
this is a very realistic 3 dimensional portrait.
I do like the
poofy hair, or non-helmet head, version a bit better. The
hair on
this one even has the distinctive wave in the back, with nice detailing
on the hairs themselves. The flatter hair is necessary to fit the
helmet over, but isn't quite as good of a look for anyone, alien or
not.
You probably won't notice a lot of difference in photos (the
only photo with the flat hair is near the bottom of the
review,
just
before the first helmeted photo), but it's a big difference in hand.
Gort's
sculpt is solid, but not quite as impressive as Klaatu. It's
not
like anyone isn't going to recognize him immediately, but just from a
basic inspection you can notice a few key issues. For
reference,
here's photo
1 and photo
2 of the original Gort.
When I say the sculpt is
'solid', I mean good, not that he is an actual solid figure. He is
hollow of course, made from vinyl much like a designer figure.
Let's
start at the top with his helmet. This is very accurate from
what
I can tell, although I would have liked a slightly different color to
the visor. Hey, a moving visor would have been even better,
opening to reveal the black inner visor that fires death beams...but I
supposed I have to be reasonable. Man, I could really use a death beam
though.
The rest of the body is off
mostly in terms of proportions. The legs are longer and
thinner
than I remember, with a shorter, stumpier torso. The chest is
also sharper cut than the actual robot, who's torso was rounded and
smoother. These aren't the kind of issues you notice
immediately, but upon a closer inspection they become apparent.
The scale on Gort is quite
good. The actor that was in the original suit was 7' 7", and
the
top of
the helmet was actually almost a foot higher than that. Let's say Gort
was 8' 6" tall, just to make it relatively simple. In sixth
scale, that should put him at about 17". and the figure is almost 16
3/4", making it very close.
Paint - Gort ***1/2;
Klaatu ***
Gort is a pretty basic color - silver. All silver. They've done a nice
job getting it very even, clean and consistent. It has a
spray painted metal look that works extremely well with this character.
Klaatu has more of the detailed
paint job, particularly on the head sculpt. The work is
largely clean, especially when considering that this is being done by a
small company, with limited resources. There are a few issues, but
overall I'm quite impressed.
The issues do include things
like a slightly sloppy hair line, eyebrows that are a bit on the bushy
side, and a slightly unusual lip color.
On the specific plus side, the
skin tone is very well done, the eyes are very clean and straight (they
went with a catchlight, but it's very tiny and in scale), and the hair
color has a nice two tone effect.
Articulation - Klaatu **1/2; Gort
*1/2
The
level and style of articulation on Klaatu isn't going to surprise you
if you've ever bought a Sideshow figure. While these aren't
Buck
bodies, they are extremely similar.
That is a bit of a downside
for Amoktime, since the rest of the high end sixth scale market is
making the jump to much better bodies right now. However, this
body did work better for me than the Buck does, and was a bit more
natural in several poses.
It's
also an adequate body for this particular character, since Klaatu
wasn't a martial arts master. He pretty much just stood
around,
and this body can do that just fine. So while it's not the
best
body on the market, it's sufficient for this purpose.
I did have
one other minor issue though. The right elbow got pretty loose
pretty fast with just some basic posing, which could be an issue for
them.
On the plus side, the wrists are
a big improvement over
most figures with this style of body. Not only is there a cut
at
the top of the glove, but the wrists is also pin and post, allowing for
quite a range of movement.
Gort is not particularly
articulated,
although I'm betting he moves better than the poor guy that was stuck
in the old suit. He has a cut neck, cut shoulders, cut waist
and
cut ankles. These cut joints allow him to stand extremely
well
stock straight up, just ike he did in the movie. I do wish
the
neck had a better ball joint, but even in the film he never tilted his
head or had any sort of human personality. Much like with Klaatu, the
basic score is lower than average because of what else is on the
market, but this won't weigh heavily on my overall score because the
articulation here works properly with this character.
Accessories - ***
There are a couple accessories, in addition to the Klaatu and Gort
figures.
There's a nice display stand,
emblazoned with the logo. It works fine with Klaatu, and Gort
really doesn't need one.
There's
also Klaatu's doohicky thingamabob. I don't recall him ever calling it
something, but if he did, I'm sure some astute reader will remind me.
It fits nicely in either or both hands.
There's also that
second head for Klaatu. I discussed the sculpt and paint above, but I
wanted to mention here that it's very difficult to do the head swaps.
You're definitely going to want to use very hot water to help
you
in this pursuit.
The helmet is also included, and
this fits
neatly over the second head. It pops together, front and
back,
and looks fairly good on his head. Whether it's the right
color
or not is tough to tell - it was a black and white movie.
Outfit - ***
Obviously, Gort isn't wearing any costume, so he gets a pass in this
category.
But
Klaatu has his distinctive space suit, including the helmet.
The
suit is made from very high quality material that has a bluish highly
reflective sheen. It has that perfect 50's sci-fi feel, and
fits
him quite well. It's not quite as tight as the original suit was,
particularly through the legs, but I think that's a smart move
considering how skinny the underlying legs are.
The high quality
nature of the costume extends to the zipper in back, as well as the
elastic sewn into the waist. The silver belt is a separate
piece,
held in place with a snap, and the upper section of the 'boots' are
also separate pieces, held in place with velcro in back. Only the
gloves are sculpted.
The
helmet is designed to fit over the second head, the one sculpted with
flatter hair. It fits well, and snaps together tightly.
It's transclucent enough to be able to see his eyes and face
through the front, which I don't remember from the film (it's been many
years since the last time I watched it) but is a pretty cool look
either way.
Fun Factor - ***
Gort is the better of the two in this category. What kid
doesn't love a cool retro robot? Okay, so maybe quite a few,
but there are plenty of others that find the old style 50's robots
pretty interesting. Klaatu is a guy in a space suit, making him
excellent fodder for alien attack. And for big fans of the films of
this period, these figures are a welcome addition.
Value -
**
You'll pay at least $100 for this pair, which isn't cheap by any
stretch of the imagination. Then again, it's not one but two sixth
scale action figures, and one of those two is a big boy.
Would you pay $50 for each on
their own? That's a tough call, but it feels like these are about $20
over as a pair. If you take into consideration factors such
as a the size of the company, the likely size of the production run,
and the issues with getting a first set of figures to market, the price
doesn't seem quite as extreme.
Things To Watch Out For
-
Swapping heads can be
tough, and you don't want to pull too hard. It's fairly easy
to
break the neck post of the body, or tear up the joint at the torso.
Use hot water to soften the head if it seems like it won't
come
off easily.
Overall - ***
I'm looking forward to plenty of sixth
scale products - Batman and Iron Man from Hot Toys, Indy and Star Wars
from Sideshow...but none of them have me as excited as the stuff coming
from Amoktime. As a huge fan of the B-movies of the 50's and 60's, I'm
thrilled to see the number of figures they have planned for release.
This pair was the first release, setting the initial tone for
the
line, and I have to say I'm very, very pleased. Oh, Gort's
sculpt
might not be to die for, and the price point is a little tough to
swallow, but fans of classic sci-fi and horror should be quite happy
with the overall quality.
I also have to say that I'm very
impressed with the work Amoktime has done so far. They acquired some
very cool licenses, and got product out in a reasonable amount of time.
They have also been friendly, personable and courteous in any
conversation I've had with them or witnessed online. What more can you
ask for from a start up?
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - Klaatu ***1/2; Gort ***
Paint - Gort ***1/2; Klaatu ***
Articulation - Klaatu **1/2; Gort **
Outfit - ***
Accessories - ***
Fun Factor - ***
Value - **
Overall - ***
Where to Buy -
You can pick it up directly from Amoktime
for $110, or you can hit one of these sponsors:
- Time and Space Toys
has the pair for $100, or just Klaatu for $60.
- CornerStoreComics
has the pair for $100 as well, and Klaatu for $67.50.
- Urban-Collector
has hit for $119.
- You can also use the
sponsor MyAuctionLinks
to search ebay.
- for the British readers, Forbidden
Planet has him for 90 GBP.
Related Links -
If you're a fan of old B
movie monsters, you'll want to check out all my Sideshow reviews.
Most notable:
- I recently looked at the
quarter scale Premium Format Creature
from The Black Lagoon.
- not a Sideshow product, but a
classic is the 12" version of Return
of the Fly.
Discussion:
Want to chat about this review? Try out one of these terrific forums where I'll be
discussing it!
Reader Ratings!
Here's your chance to weigh
in! Select your rating for this figure(s) to the
right.
Yea, it's a five star system and not a four star system like
mine,
but it's the best I've been able to come up with so far. You
can
only rate once from any particular IP. For comparison, my
Overall
Score adjusted to a five star system would be: 3.75
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