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Medicom lacks in the head sculpt department, and their best work is
monsters or masked characters. However, they have just as good of
accessories and costumes as Hot Toys (better generally than Sideshow), and
an excellent body as well. Unfortunately, the scale on their bodies
can be a bit funky at times, but the articulation is still great, and they
hang very naturally. But they are dealing with a much higher price tag
than even Hot Toys, and convincing collectors to spend that kind of money
when there isn't as much of a discernable difference between them and Hot
Toys is a tough one.
So what's going to happen? Well, no one knows of course - at least
not anyone that can say - but I'm happy to make a prediction of what I think
and/or would like to see happen. We already know that Sideshow is
moving more and more away from the sixth scale market, focusing on statues,
busts and Premium Format figures instead. It seems likely that they'll
turn to either Hot Toys or Medicom - which ever one is more amiable to the
idea - and propose a merger or acquisition. I can easily see them
buying up one of them to get the Asian distribution, the superior body, and
turning over the production of all the sixth scale lines to them.
At first glance, it would seem Hot Toys would be the most likely
candidate for such a deal. Scale is similar, as is the general company
philosophy. However, Medicom already has the Star Wars license
internationally, so there would clearly be a synergy there as well.
But if I were a bettin' man, I'd say that we'll see some sort of merger
between Sideshow and Hot Toys before the end of 2008.
So where would that leave Medicom? Well, tonight's review covers
one of the most anticipated figures they've done this year - Boba Fett.
And this figure is a perfect example of the issue they must overcome if they
expect to grow. He's a fantastic figure, but can you convince enough
people to spend $150 or more on it? Let's see!
Packaging - ***1/2
As usual, Medicom delivers a collector friendly package, but one that's
short on text and graphics It's fairly basic, but it still
doesn't compete with the quality of packaging we see from companies the
competition. Then again, if you just toss the package five minutes
after he hits the door, it's probably moot.
I will say that this is a VERY collector friendly set up. There's
one piece of tape to cut on the box flap, and that's it. There's not
even any tape holding the plastic trays together, and certainly no twistie
ties!
Sculpting - ***1/2
I'm fairly happy with the sculpt here. Now, I'm usually one to remind
people that helmets on REAL people always look too big. You can't
possibly have a human head inside a helmet and not have it look larger than
just the head on the body. But even I have to admit that this head is
a bit too big.
The suit should give the body enough bulk that the helmet doesn't look
nearly as large as this does. Oh, it should be a little big for the
body, but this one is about 20% too large.
The armor is well done, and fits nice and snug. The sculpting on
the gauntlets, knees, and backpack looks fairly screen accurate. I
have no doubt that capital letter serious fans are going to find additional
issues with the sculpt, but the average person will be extremely impressed.
And just so you know, the helmet is not designed to be removable
(although the whole head pops off and on pretty easy if you want to swap in
a custom Boba head), and neither is the backpack. However, if you pop
the head off you can easily remove the whole backpack/neck armor.
Paint - ****
Again, the seriously retentive fans are likely to find scratches that
aren't quite exact, or spots that don't match the source material.
For me - a huge fan of the design but not quite as critical when it comes
to the exact layout of the scratches and damage - this is an excellent piece
of work. The armor is a little darker than the helmet and gauntlets, which
is actually accurate as far as I can recall, but the difference is slightly
greater than stills show.
However, I think that's a pretty minor nit. When it comes to purely
paint work, we haven't seen many Fett's better than this one.
Articulation - ****
Medicom has one of the very best bodies in the industry. Hot Toys is
gaining huge ground on them, and even Sideshow has made major improvements in
recent figures like Asajj, but Medicom bodies still have the most natural
hang and pose of any out today.
Boba is no exception. When I first pulled him out of the box, I
wasn't so sure. I had some trouble getting good poses out of the legs,
which were stiff and clunky. But the more I played around with him,
the better and better I liked it.
You can get some really realistic poses out
of him. The joints are smooth and tight, he
stands great on his own, and you can easily distribute the weight in a very
natural way. I wonder if that's part of the trick - to get a body that
flows and hangs naturally, you have to mimic not just the body proportions
in terms of scale, but in weight as well. In other words, should
companies look to model the weight ratios of the body parts - torsos, heads,
limbs - to more realistic proportions to get a more natural distribution of
weight and a better center of gravity? It's certainly something to
ponder.
Scale is still the same issue it's been for the entire run of SW figures
from Medicom. If you have their Vader or Troopers or Luke, Boba will fit in
nicely. But if you want him to fit in with Sideshow Star Wars figures,
he's going to come up a bit short. Literally.
This body is also on the thin side, which doesn't cause much of an issue
except for the knees. Because the knee pads are so tight, it pulls in
the pants close to the legs, making their skinny nature all the more apparent.
Accessories - ****
Medicom figures usually don't come with too many accessories. Boba is
a big departure from that though, and it's certainly a welcome thing.
There's an extra set of hands, sculpted to hold things. The right
hand can hold either gun, and the right hand has the usual 'kung fu grip'
pose to hold the tools or other items.
Speaking of the tools, all four are present in the cuffs of his
pants. The sculpts and paint are terrific, as you'd expect, and scale
is quite good as well.
There's also his two weapons, the rifle and pistol. The pistol fits
nicely in the cloth holster on his belt, and he can hold the rifle in plenty
of great poses.
Finally, there's the usual clear display stand. These work great,
and I much prefer the clear color to the black we get from companies like
Sideshow. Still, you might not want to pay too much attention to what
I think when it comes to display stands, because I don't use them unless
absolutely necessary.
There is one more pseudo accessory. The rocket is removable from
the top of his backpack, so it's technically an accessory. I think
most people will leave it in place, but it's still nice to have the option.
Outfit - ***1/2
The outfit consists of more than just the armor of course. There's
also the cloth under suit, including pockets.
The armor looks great, as I mentioned earlier, but the tight fitting body
suit is almost as good. There's a few issues though that need to be
pointed out.
The boots cause the overall body to tilt back further than I'd like,
creating some posing issues where there should be none. You'll get
around it, but it didn't need to be an issue at all.
The large pockets are held closed with very tiny pieces of velcro.
That's a good idea, but unfortunately, it doesn't work so well in
reality. The pockets don't stay closed, and you'll find it a tad
annoying when you're posing him.
The range finder is articulated of course, so you can place it in any
position. It's also a tight joint, so that it doesn't merely fall down
fully at a slight touch.
Now the biggest issue - the lack of weathering. This is going to be
a major issue for some folks, but I had expected it not to be a problem for
me. You see, weathering, especially at this scale, is such a tough
thing to pull off realistically that I normally prefer them NOT to try it,
rather than to try it and blow it. The risk is just too great.
However, once I had this guy in my hands, I realized just how REALLY
clean this outfit it is. We're talking really, really clean.
Like, right off the rack at Galactic Bounty Hunter Uniforms R Us. Even
a wash or two would improve the situation. This one is even too clean
for me, and that's tough to do.
Perhaps it's the visual confusion that it causes. You see, the
armor IS weathered and beat up. And yet none of the clothing is.
The Sideshow PF did have some dirt and softness to the uniform, so it wasn't
as big of an issue. The cape on his shoulder did have damage.
But here, all the cloth is absolutely perfect, while the armor is very beat
up. That might be causing me my issue, and you may find it's not as
big of a deal.
One other thing worth mentioning is the clear hose on his right gauntlet.
Unlike the PF Fett, I'm not having any worries about kinking, but the hose
is fairly short. You'll find that it pops out of the sleeve in many
arm positions, but if you turn the gauntlet appropriately, it's still
usually long enough to stay in place. Just barely, but that's good
enough.
Fun Factor - ***
If Donald Trump is reading this (and I know you are, The Donald!) and wants
to spend mad money on a grand kid for Christmas, he could do worse than
picking up one of these guys. Normal play though could be rough on the knee
pads and range finder.
Of course, if you're a geek looking to have fun with his 'collectibles',
then you'll be in nerd heaven. Hey, I know about what I speak.
Value - **
Hey, I love him and all, but $150 is an awful lot of cash, especially
considering the kind of quality we're getting from Hot Toys in the $100 -
$120 range.
Things to Watch Out For -
Most of the outfit and accessories are pretty sturdy. I would take some
care putting the rifle in his tight right hand. It's sculpted to hold it
very realistically, but that means getting it in place can be a little
tough. And since the hand is a very hard rubber, it is possible to
scratch or break the gun.
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