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Packaging - ***
When I reviewed Lola
I pointed out that Triads philosophy seemed to be that the less they
had to spend on the packaging, the more they could lavish on it’s
contents. Well that mind set is carried on here, but I have to say this
box still manages to evoke a feeling for the Old West without relying
on clichéd trashy carnival fonts. Instead we have some simple
typography printed in a semi translucent brown on a mock textured
background. I say ‘mock’ textured as it’s all just printed, the
colouration mimics something between a sheet of distressed leather,
antique parchment and a tobacco leaf. It sets the tone well making the
package look a little like it’s been branded.
It’s a nice
compact 5 panel box that opens to show the fully assembled figure on
the right held tight by 5 twisties, with a tray of accessories mounted
on the inside flap. These are held in place with 4 push on pegs, making
it a cinch to get the goodies out and replace them without damaging the
package at all.
So, a simple box but effectively carried out, and it gets the contents to you in first-rate condition… well mine did anyway!
Sculpting - ***1/2
As I already said, my memories of the show are very, very hazy, but
McQueen is an old school Hollywood actor, one of the all time classics,
so it was only a matter of time before someone did a great 1/6th
portrait of him, and this is pretty darn tootin (sorry, am I taking
this Old West thing too far, dagnabbit?). It’s
not quite up there with Hot Toys or Enterbays finest, but it has to be
pointed out, neither does it cost as much as the fares on offer from
either of these companies
I couldn’t find any info on the box
or website as to who is responsible for the head sculpt, so I contacted
Triad and was told it’s the work of Shane Talbott
(I highly recommend a look over his blog, definitely one to watch!).
He’s done a great job of capturing McQueen’s steely gaze, and he even
remembered his trade mark mole on his left cheek here.
The basic shape of the head, with the well observed details on the
nose, cheeks and chin make this instantly recognisable as a young
McQueen, the only thing that seems off slightly is the eye area. But
even here there is a bit of a paradox, as from the front they do appear
to be a little too narrowed, like they’re in a semi squint (I think
this is accentuated by the dark edge they’ve been given in paint apps),
but in profile they look great.
So it would seem this sculpt is based on reference from many different
sources, but for me it really brings to mind a McQueen from a few years
later when he stared as Henri Charriere in Papillon (if you haven’t seen this movie go watch it NOW!). The
lower half of the face is however absolutely spot on, as is the overall
shape of the head (this is again more marked when viewed in profile).
The hair is a good approximation of the style he wore, but is slightly
let down by the softness of the sculpt, it’s not as bad as say
Sideshow’s Aragorn or Beloq, but it’s no where near as good as Enterbay’s Bauer or Hot Toys Godfather. And the one thing you can say is that once up on your shelf it is unquestionably Steve McQueen as Josh Randall. Paint - ***1/2
This is another nice clean paint app from Triad, the eyes and lips are
carried out very well, the outer edge of the eye might be a tad too
dark, but is only noticeable from a few angles when viewed up close.
The general skin tones are also very convincing with some good quality
washes that subtlety enhance this sculpt, it also has a good matte
finish so all the great skin textures in the sculpt aren’t lost.
The
hair isn’t quite so convincing, a blonde base coat is washed over with
a dark burnt umber colour, which has flooded the low lying areas. From
a distance it looks OK on the shelf (and to be fair most will spend
their displayed existence in their hats) and I certainly prefer this
effect to some of the mondo flat paint apps we’ve seen from other
companies lately. That said it’s still not quite reaching the lofty
heights of the elite big hitters in 1/6th… however, it’s certainly
heading in the right direction and gaining on them.
His boots, hat
and trusty ‘Mares Leg’ all have some paint effects as well, most work
well but the ‘wooden’ areas on the guns stock and barrel do look a
little flat, apart from that, for a figure in this price range it’s all
good! Articulation - ***1/2
Josh comes on the Omega base body,
which shows a great range of mobility, it is however a little tall for
McQueen who actually came in at a little over 5’9“, and as this figure
stands a full 12 ½ inches high that translates to 6’ 6”.
But 1/6
collectors can tie themselves in knots getting wrapped up with the
height of any given character/actor against the translated height in
1/6th, and it’s totally unrealistic to expect manufacturers to tailor a
revised base body for every new release, so I for one am happy enough.
I
found I could get any number of very natural poses from this figure, it
hangs well and has all the double knees and elbows we expect from
hi-end base bodies these days. However I did also find that if you
position the head at too acute an angle to the neck, then the joint can
become very visible, and it’s not the most attractive of joints. But as
far as actual articulation goes the only area it seems to be lacking is
the shoulders, which still offer good movement but don’t have the
ability to cross over, arch back or shrug, which is why I’m so looking
forward to seeing how the EVO comes out.
Outfit - ***1/2
This
figure actually has a very good representation of the outfit he wore on
the show, but as always some bits are better than others. So kicking
off with my favourite elements, his shirt and trousers. Both have
working pockets and are finely tailored to fit the Omega body, and the
thinness of the material coupled with the fine weave of the fabric make
both items look great at this scale. A pleather belt with a working
buckle holds up the jeans, and over the jeans he also wears his
pleather holster, specially designed for his signature weapon the Mares
Leg.
Now I did a bit of digging around and found replica holsters on sale in a number of places, but all have a second strap
to hold the weapon steady when worn lashed to the thigh, whereas the
one worn by the figure has only one. Now I’m not saying it’s wrong… I
don’t have the spec on the screen worn belt, however I did find this
pic which seems to indicate that this is pretty spot on,
but it does seem to me that a large heavy weapon would tend to flap
around a bit if it wasn’t held tight (no that’s not a euphemism).
However, I’m willing to trust that pic of McQueen, and as this 1/6th
facsimile is all constructed so well, it even has 14 real metal bullets
slid into the loops that run along it’s length, it definitely deserves
some kudos.
The boots are well observed too, constructed of
vinyl they’re of the classic western design, pointy toed, Cuban heeled
with a bit of ornate stitching up the side, but the icing on the cake
of his footwear are his spurs. These are constructed of metal, with a
free wheeling pronged spur, and are attached by means of small pleather
straps with working buckles. It’s quite a fiddly job getting them in
position and doing the buckles up, but that makes it all the more
satisfying once it’s all in place.
His hat is also made of a soft vinyl; it fits well and has some great texturing to mimic a rough felt finish.
Lastly
we get to his coat; this is beautifully constructed with nice small
tight stitching, tiny-scaled buttons and 4 working pockets. Even the
mock sheepskin on the collar and lining look great at this scale. But
there is a problem with it… well at least for me there is.
Now
I admit it might not jump out to most people, but it struck me when I
got him out of the box that his ‘double breasted’ coat was done up more
like a single breasted coat. What I mean is the double row of buttons
should run down his front parallel to his face, instead the right hand
row is in effect in the centre of his face. This makes the left hand
row too far over to the left, meaning the angled pocket cuts between
the buttons and the lower flap pocket is directly under the buttons,
both these pockets should be a good few millimetres over to the left,
it should look like this where you can clearly see the position of the pockets.
So,
overall this is a pretty outstanding outfit for a figure at this price
point, and most of the elements are damn near perfect, but the details
on the coat needed just a little finer observation… then it would have
been a full score.
Accessories - ***
While
researching this review I came across some interesting information
about his trade mark weapon… the simple fact is that a sawn off
Winchester as depicted in the show couldn’t work in the real world, but
audiences weren’t quite as sophisticated back then, hence they didn’t
notice the fact that Josh seems to fire off round after round without
the need for a reload (watch that ammo belt, it’s always full) and he
also uses shells that are too big for his weapon… but hey I’m picking
holes in the show, what I’m looking at here is how accurate the Triad
1/6th version of the Mares leg is, and it’s absolutely spot on, plus, lets face it, if the weapon was good enough for Zoe in Firefly… and it was, then I can live with it!
It’s
the only weapon he comes with, but to be fair it was pretty much the
only weapon the character used. It has a lot of nice details, the
fore-barrel can slide off, the loading chamber can slide back and
forth, the hammer can swing back and the cocking lever moves as well.
This lever was pretty loose on mine so I cut a micro strip of acetate
from some packaging then slid it between the lever and the body and
super-glued it in place. This is virtually invisible, and now the lever
works well, in fact it seems like its spring loaded as it snaps back
into place after having been pulled away. It’s a quick easy fix if
yours is loose too!
He also comes with his hat and holster, but
these items kind of straddle outfit as well, which I went over above.
It’s unusual these days that a figure doesn’t come with a stand, but I
got him to stand just fine, so no complaints from me on that score!
Fun Factor - ***1/2
This
is a very sturdy figure, and my guess is if you know a kid that has $90
to spend, and a love of the Old West, then this figure could stand up
to a fair amount of play. But of course he almost certainly won’t end
up in many, if any kids hands. However if you’re buying him to bring
back happy memories of a more innocent time, sat in front of an old
black and white TV, then he is perfect Detolf material!Value - ***1/2
It’s
not often you can get a good quality licensed figure for under $100
these days, so this is a breath of fresh air in that respect. It might
have been cool to get a couple of extra hands, if the head sculpt had
been just a little closer around the eyes, and if the coat had been
tailored a tad more in line with the actual screen worn garment, then
this would have been a full score category without a doubt.
As
it is, for $80 I still think you are getting one of the best McQueen
1/6th portraits done to date, and it’s something that’s approaching a
bargain. So with McQueen’s enduring popularity I can see these getting
as collectable as those old Toys McCoy ones in a few years down the
line… well, as long as Triad don’t flood the market with too many of
them, and as this seems to be an open ended edition that might be the
only danger!
Overall
- ***1/2
Is this figure perfect… No!
But
it’s fun, it’s dressed well, it poses well and the price is more than
reasonable. So if you fancy some hot Cowboy action but you’ve already
seen ‘Brokeback’ and don’t want to pierce your nipple with a sheriff’s
badge, squeeze into skin-tight leather chaps, a leather waistcoat,
10-gallon hat, growing a big black moustache and hanging around some
dodgy bars… this is the one for you!
Scoring
Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ***
Outfit - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - ***1/2
Overall - **** (*** at full price)
Where to Buy -
Your best bet is to get him direct from Triad, for $89.99, or saddle up for eBay and try for one of those ever elusive bargains, yee-ha…sorry!
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