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Packaging - ***
Because of the large display base, this guy comes in a box rather than a
clamshell. The box will be easy to store for MOCers, but because
he isn't holding the gun in the package, it doesn't really show off the
figure particularly well. This is one absolutely you have to open up
to enjoy.
Sculpting - ***1/2
Jack turned out MUCH better in the final product than I was expecting
from the prototype photos.
In person, this really does look just like Jack. There's still a
couple minor nits, but you don't have to worry about someone looking at him
in your cube and saying "Who's that?".
They really nailed the eyes, nose and mouth. He has a very unique
shape to his nose and lips, and they managed to capture that here.
They also did a terrific job with the shape of the lower jaw, and the hair
sculpt works great.
I have a minor issue with the forehead, which is a smidge too big.
It's just a little too tall for Jack - and not because it makes him look
like he has a receding hair line (which he does), but because it looks like
he has a tall head.
The other minor quibble is in how the head, eyeline and hands all line
up. Jack is raising his gun, and his eyeline is set up to be sighting
it in a general way. That means his head is tilted forward slightly,
and that makes sense, but it's tilted just a bit farther than I'd like.
The eyes appear to be looking a bit too far downward (partly due to the
paint), and even with the arms raised fairly high, he still appears to be
looking down a bit too much. Had the head been tilted back just the
tiniest bit more, it would have been perfect.
My last whine is on the aging of the sculpt. He's got some pretty
serious crow's feet going on here, and is aged a bit more than he is on the
show. In photos it's more apparent than in person, since close ups
magnify things beyond your own eye's ability to see, but it's still there.
But you'll notice that this sculpt still got high marks, even with these
couple complaints. That's because that these are very minor issues, and
really don't effect the overall quality of the work.
Mcfarlane sculpts are often noted for their detail and realism, and I
thought I'd point out one of those little things that's done here that might
not get noticed, but which is an excellent example. They could have
easily sculpted the body armor tight to his torso, and it wouldn't have been
noticed as a defect. When you looked at it, it might not quite seem as
realistic overall, but just what was off would have been difficult to say.
But instead, the armor is sculpted so that it's sticking out on his back,
away from his shoulders that are hunched inward, holding the gun out in
front of his body. That's exactly how it would look in reality, and
while your conscious mind might not notice it, it's these kind of small
details that will give you that overall perception of realism.
Paint - ***1/2
Mcfarlane paint work is always top notch, and it's not so much the general
quality here that I have some minor issues with as the aesthetics. In
other words, your mileage may greatly vary.
There's not a lot of small detail here on the body or accessories, since
he wears a pretty drab outfit. But even then they've found a way to
vary the colors and use techniques like dry brushing to make the various
pieces of clothing distinct and realistic.
The hairs a tad dark, but the highlights look good, and the paint work on
the eyes, eyebrows and lips is extremely clean and neat. The eyes are
pointed down a bit more than I'd like (see above), but it's fairly minor.
My biggest issue is with the skin tone, which looks somewhat yellowish to
me - or simply unrealistic in appearance. It's not that it doesn't fit
Jack as much as it doesn't look like anyone's real skin tone, and there's a
bit of a gloppyiness to the color on the hands.
Still, these are minor points, and I suspect most buyers will be quite
pleased.
Articulation - **
Jack has a cut neck, cut wrists, cut waist and cut shoulders. That's
actually more than I expected.
While you aren't going to be able to pose him in any way other than the
single sculpted pose, these particular cut joints will allow you to get that
pose exactly right. It also means that the man-purse is removable if
you're so inclined.
Accessories - ***
Jack is actually pretty well outfitted here for what amounts to a plastic
statue.
He has the aforementioned bag and gun, both of which are removable.
You can even put the gun in the holster if you feel the inclination,
although he's going to look a little silly with his hands out and no weapon.
The bag is removable, and made from a very soft rubber. The sculpt
is excellent, and looks extremely realistic. It contours to his body
perfectly, just as if it were made from material.
He also comes with his diorama base. I'm a bit disappointed here,
partly because we were teased with the more intricate early prototype
version, and partly because that even had we not seen that one, there's
still a couple issues.
He's standing at the door of a gated area in a warehouse. The chain
link fence on either side looks terrific, and is relatively sturdy. It
fits in the base properly, and you don't have to force it or risk breaking
it just to assemble things.
There's a couple loose wooden crates which look good stacked off to the
side. Different sizes would have been nice of course, but at least we
get a couple.
On the front is the trademark clock, at its final second. It's done
cleanly, and makes for a reasonable name plate - not too obvious, not too
obtrusive.
My only real issues are with the cardboard backdrop. This one fits
inside a slot in the back, with no attachment to the fence on the right
side. That means it leans back naturally from the base, looking a
little odd. I'm betting you use one of the stray pieces of tape from
the packaging to hold this in place at the top.
My biggest issue though is with the perspective in the photo. Maybe
it's because the color of the floor in the photo and the color of the
diorama floor don't quite match...maybe it's due to the inclusion of the
hanging lamp in the photo, which really requires the 'scene' to be much
further behind Jack for it to hang so low...whatever the case, the backdrop
just doesn't seem to fit with the front section of the diorama in terms of
physical perspective. Either the objects in the photo needed to
be much larger (appearing to be closer), or the amount of space at the
bottom of the photo implying the amount of floor between Jack and these
objects needed to be greater.
Fortunately, it's not a huge problem, but it does nag me, since the
entire figure/diorama could have been fantastic, but misses just slightly.
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