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Packaging - ***1/2
The small box looks great, with well done photos and nice graphics that
look much like the early artwork. There's some good text on the back,
and the design is smaller than most current 12" figure packages. It
is collector friendly as well, with no need to cause damage when
removing the figure and accessories. There are a few twisties though,
and you know how annoying I find those.
Sculpting - ***
Like Hot Toys recent Black Widow,
Triad is working with rooted hair on their female figures. This isn't
anything new for them, but rather a continuing theme on their ladies. They
do a fairly good job with it, certainly with plenty of tight roots. You
can't see the scalp, and the hair is held tightly in the skull. It's a
tad too wild, but this figure has a wrap and hood that tends to contain
it a bit better than other characters. The head is sculpted with
a very feminine, soft appearance that matches the comic version
extremely well. The expression is serious, but not extreme. She's
pretty, but deadly. She's also more feminine than the recent Triad
Helga. Triad isn't up to the level of Hot Toys or Enterbay when
it comes to the realism of their portraits, but the comic based nature
of this character fits their style extremely well.
Paint - ***
The paint ops are very clean, but sparse. The eyes, eyebrows and lips make up the majority. The
eyes are looking upward, which works extremely well with many poses.
They're clean and straight, but not as realistic as we've come to
expect. The light skin is almost translucent in certain light,
which would look cheap on some characters, but not when you're dealing
with a ghost.
Articulation - ***
This is the female Alpha body, which we've seen them use on most of
their recent releases. It poses well, and certainly has sufficient
articulation, but the joints can be a tad loose. I
particularly like the ball jointed neck, which allows for lots of great
tilting. This works well with the upcast eyes, giving you the potential
for some excellent poses. Also quite good are the ball jointed
ankles. These allow the feet to stay flat on the floor even in some
pretty extreme stances. However, while the articulation of the ankles
is great, the tightness is not. I found it tough to keep her standing
because the ankles were a tad too loose. My biggest gripe with
the body was the short, tiny wrist pegs. These double ball joints (a
ball inserted into the hand and one into the forearm) allow for good
movement, but make swapping hands dicey at best. The pegs fit tighter
in the hands than the arms, so they pop off with the hands. I had to
use some needle nose pliers to pop them out of the hands, and to fit
them back into any of the three sets of hands, I had to whittle out a
bit of the peg hole. Take care!
Accessories - ***
The number of accessories is a little light, but all are extremely well done. There
are two .45's, sporting great sculpts and paint. The slides work of
course, and there's removable clips. They are properly scaled, too. They
fit in both the gun hands, and in the holsters. Speaking of the gun
hands, there's also a set of fists, and a set of relaxed, open hands.
Swapping is tricky as I said earlier, but they all look great. I
was surprised that there was no stand, but it's not a major issue for
me. I don't use them, but if you prefer a little extra support for
your...figures...then you'll need to find another source.
Outfit - ****
The outfit is the highlight of this figure. They've managed to capture
the comic look, and with a costume like this it's not that simple. There's
the tight body suit, which includes the lace up bustier. There are no
straps holding the front up, however, and that means she tends to have
wardrobe malfunctions. The cups stay up better than I expected though,
even without any sort of wire support. The boots are separate, with tight elastic tops. The overall effect is excellent, right down to the high heels. There
are two holsters with separate belts. These are made from pleather,
with metal buckles. The holster straps do not open, but the holsters
are deep enough that you can push the guns down far enough to fit back
up underneath them. The belts look great crossed in front, with the belts running from high hip to thigh, and they are easy to work with. There's
also a cape with hood, and a scarf. The scarf can be simply wrapped
around the neck, or around the head in a variety of ways. As I recall,
sometimes you saw more of her black hair than other times, so just how
you do the wrap is really up to you. The cape is the proper
length, almost to the ground but not quite. There's a clear plastic
snap at the neck, and the hood is large enough to cover the hair and
the wrap. The scarf and cape are both made from a stretchy, Lycra type
material, and with a little work (okay, maybe a lot), you can get it
looking just right. There's no wires to pose it, but they aren't really
necessary. Fun Factor - ***
The figure, accessories and outfit are surprisingly sturdy, but I
wouldn't give this figure to a younger child. At $100, she's a tad too
expensive to end up getting a hair cut or a magic marker make-over. But if you have a teen that has a hankering for those 90's Dark Horse titles, she'd be a great gift.
Value - **
Smaller companies like Triad have to charge more for their figures.
Smaller runs, expensive licenses, and less control over the
manufacturing process means higher costs for them, which means higher
costs for you. Still,
this figure is about $20 more than I'd like to pay. If you can find a
deal for her at around $75 - $80, you'll feel much more in line with an
average value.
Things to Watch Out For - My
biggest worry was around the small wrist pegs. As I mentioned earlier,
I had to whittle out the holes in the hands to allow the pegs to pop in
without damage. Be careful, especially since Triad didn't include any
extra pegs.
Overall - *** I have a number of Triad figures, but this
is my current favorite. The outfit is the real kicker, although the
accessories and portrait work well. Triad's female figures are
their strong suit, and Ghost is just about a perfect fit with their
style of body, sculpting and clothing. I'd be quite pleased to see them
delve a bit further into the 90's Dark Horse titles, especially X,
another of my favorites. This figure was almost cool enough to
snag another half star, but the price is still a bit too much. At
around $80, I'm betting I would have gone that extra bit.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ***
Paint - ***
Articulation - ***
Accessories - ***
Outfit - **** Fun Factor - ***
Value - **
Overall - ***
Where to Buy -
Online options include these site sponsors: - you can pick her up from Triad for $100. - Things From Another World has her for $100. - or you can search
ebay. Related
Links -
Other Triad figures include: - figures like Helga, Taki, Josh
Randall, Lola, Agent Indigo, and the Otaku female body. - and Triad does some cool dioramas too.
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