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Twilight
Zone - Kanamit
(To Serve Man)
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The terrific Twilight Zone series from Sideshow
Toy continues with the release of the Kanamite. This character is
from the extremely well known episode "To Serve Man", possibly the
most famous, even showing up as a joke in the Buffy premiere last week.
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The Kanamite never spoke with his mouth, but
used telepathy. The character was played by Richard Kiel, a terrific
character actor who is perhaps best known as "Jaws" from the Bond
films.
If you know Mr. Kiel, you might imagine that
this character was tall - at 7' 2", Richard Kiel is one of the taller
actors in the history of film. And yes, the Kanamit was a big guy. Therefore,
it was obviously important that Sideshow produce a figure larger than the
rest, and they succeeded nicely.
Other Twilight Zone figures that Sideshow
have out or coming up include the Gremlin
from Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, the Invader
from The Invaders, and the Doctor
and Nurse from Eye of the Beholder (reviewed here).
Other Outer Limits figures include the Helosian
from O.B.I.T., Andro
from the Man Who Was Never Born, the Zanti
Misfits, Gwyllum
from the Sixth Finger (reviewed here), the Ebonite
Interrogator (reviewed here), and Ikar
and his Soldier (reviewed here).
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Packaging - ***1/2
Again, Sideshow produces some of the nicest boxes in the sixth scale
industry, and the work they do for Twilight Zone and Outer Limits is their
best.
There's terrific graphics, with
various scenes from the actual episode, along with great explanatory
text. There's the show credits, along with both a general TZ synopsis,
and a very detailed synopsis of the specific episode.
The only reason that this isn't
a perfect four star box is that it's not collector friendly. The
figure stand is sealed to the cardboard insert, and if this wasn't the case,
it would have been perfect.
It's also interesting to note
that this box is at least 1 1/2" taller than the usual to accommodate
the larger figure.
Sculpting - ***1/2
Sometimes being extremely good at a particular aspect of action figure
manufacturing means you end up being held to a higher standard. That's
the case in this category for Sideshow.
Their sculpts are almost always dead on, and I think the do
the finest 'real people' sculpts in a sixth scale format. While this
sculpt isn't bad - it actually looks extremely nice if you don't scrutinize
it too much - it's not quite up to the standard of some of their other work.
It's not way off, but the width of the nose and space
between the eyes is narrower than the actual actor, and comparing the sculpt
to the pictures on the box shows these slight variations.
Paint - ****
The paint ops are extremely good, and very similar in their quality to the
Sixth Finger figure from Sideshow (part of the Outer Limits line).
The eyes have extremely good detail, with a slightly reddish
look, and the pupils are turned slightly to the right. If you watch
the episode, you'll see the character look off to the side this way many
times in the episode as he addresses the human delegates.
The skin tone is also quite good, and there's a light wash
to highlight certain spots.
Articulation - ***
This is a very interesting figure from an articulation perspective.
Surprisingly enough, it's not just the same Sideshow body with extensions -
there's a number of different pieces.
As you can tell in the bottom photo, he's a good 2" taller than the usual Sideshow body. To accomplish this,
Sideshow has given him longer thighs, and very tall boots with relatively
thick soles (think Herman Munster). The arms are also extended below
the elbow, with a longer solid forearm, similar to the original Frankenstein
figure.
But just extended part of the arms and legs wasn't enough,
since the figure needed to have an overall larger frame. Sideshow gave
this figure a new torso as well, thicker and wider than the usual version.
However, these changes mean that some of the articulation is
reduced. There's no wrist articulation, or ankle articulation.
On top of that, the new torso has only a cut waist joint, with no ball joint
at the waist or chest.
While the overall articulation score drops because of this,
Sideshow gets some general brownie points for putting so much effort and
cost into the new body to do this figure right.
Outfit - ****
The Kanamit has a fairly basic uniform, but Sideshow did an excellent
job nonetheless. They caught all the important aspects, such as the asymmetric
collar, and unique sleeves.
He also has the best disco pants I've ever seen - these babies are a
bright silver material, with big old tubular legs. With the silver
boots, he looks ready to boogie the night away!
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The only minus to the outfit is that it's not easily removable.
You'll have to remove the head t get it off, since there are no snaps or
velcro.
Accessories - **1/2
There's only one accessory, and although it's the most obvious one, and
fairly well done, that's still pretty light for a figure in this price
range.
The Kanamit comes with what else - his cook book. It's open to a
center page, with alien writing on both pages (and the cover), and there is
a cloth book mark attached, just as in the show.
Okay, I lied slightly - there's a second accessory. It's the now
standard figure standard that Sideshow includes with every licensed
property. It works fine, but there's really no need to use it with
this particular figure. He stands great on his own.
Value - ***
The Kanamit is a big figure, with nice sculpting, outfit and
accessories. He's slightly expensive with a SRP of $35, but shop
around and you may get him for under $30
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Overall - ***1/2
I couldn't be happier with the entire Outer Limits/ Twilight Zone series
from Sideshow. They look terrific together on the shelf, and are
perfect for the B movie monster collector.
This figure is also limited to a run of 7500, but I think
that's a pretty good estimate of the current demand, so finding one
shouldn't be too tough.
Where to Buy -
You may find these at Media Play or Sam Goody stores soon, but I
haven't seen them there yet. I'm betting they'll be around $30.
On-line:
- Sideshow
has him for $35. Usually, Sideshow has the highest on-line price, but
this time I've actually seen several places charging $38 or so. (MROTW Affiliate)
- Big
Bad Toy Store has them for $30 each.
- Aisle
Sniper has them at $33 each.
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Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford. |
