|
|
Packaging - ***1/2
A nice box, again utilizing
the landscape format used on the recent Predator figures, this time
however we don’t have the slip on sleeve, in stead it has the magnetic
side panel that lifts and unwinds to show the figure through the
window. The overall colour is very pale, with a feint pattern, like
fabric brocade worked into the background. The front has a large
headshot of the actor Yôsuke Eguchi, along side the movie logo and
character name, the back has a brief synopsis alongside some shots of
the figure and his accessories whilst the inside flap has the
production credits.
In side he lays in the usual vac formed tray, held in place by 5
twisties alongside his accessories.
So, a very nicely designed box,
but so far pretty much all Hot Toys boxes are, and whilst this is
strong, it isn’t their best!
Sculpting - ***1/2
I freely admit I’m not that familiar with Yôsuke
Eguchi, either the actor or his back catalogue of movies, but
having done the obligatory Google search I found quite a few
pics, and this is most definitely him! Maybe Kojun has been a
little flattering on Eguchi’s
cheek-bones, however I haven’t seen Goemon yet, so perhaps the actor
managed to turn himself into a lean mean ‘fightin’ machine for the
production.
Here we have the actor in
character, as the master thief Goemon Ishikawa, and he certainly looks
heroic. There’s almost a bit of an Aragorn vibe coming off of him as he
has that swarthy, gipsy, slightly dishevelled, not averse to sleeping
rough look. But where as Aragorn was always so noble and upright, this
guy has more of a devil may care roguish charm. So we have chiselled
features with a determined look, there’s ‘almost’ the hint of a slight
smirk on the left hand side of the mouth, but the over all expression
is pretty serious. The hair is sculpted beautifully and Kojun has made
every strand stand out, it’s a layered style that is worn collar
length. The floppy fringe is stuck on as a separate piece, but the
quality of the sculpting and subsequent moulding and manufacturing are
fantastic. You’d be hard pressed to find a good customiser that could
better it as a one off.
He also comes with six hands,
the two relaxed ones are fitted to the figure in the box, but you also
get a right sword grip that holds his metal sword perfectly, another
left hand with a tight thumb and fore-finger grip that holds his pipe,
shuriken, Kunai knife and even the parchments, and lastly a pair of
fists, all are to good scale and observed very well.
Paint - ****
Absolutely perfect, I can find nothing to fault here at all. Lovely
warm flesh tones are applied over a slightly translucent base plastic,
the stubble is actually part of Kojun's masterful sculpt, but under
JC’s paint direction the artists have picked it all out beautifully.
The eyes are glossy, and all the details are crisp and well defined.
The paint also carries on down his neck and chest with subtle
airbrushed shadows to define his collarbone and throat.
The hair is left flat here, but as I said above, the sculpting is
absolutely phenomenal, plenty of detail comes through from the way that
light and shadow work across its surface.
This is a relatively simple job
for Hot Toys when compared to some of their recent offerings … but that
doesn’t stop it being any less impressive. As I said, absolutely
perfect!
Articulation
- ****
We’ve been over the True-Type
so many times, there’s really very little to say, apart from the fact
it poses like a dream.
This version has the solid neck like the Will Turner and James Dean
figures, but you still get some great movement at the top of the neck
to inject plenty of personality in your poses. The outfit doesn’t
hamper his movements at all, so this is about as close to perfection as
you can get in the world of 1/6th at this time, and even though his
sword is solid metal all the joints are more than strong enough to hold
it up in virtually any pose!
Outfit
- ****
When it comes to 1/6th tailoring the name of Harue Creative has always
been synonymous with top notch quality, they seem to pride themselves
on sourcing the best scaled fabrics with amazing weaves and prints, so
this project is just perfect for them.
He comes in split toed Ninja boots, these are made of a very soft
silicone/rubber material which means absolutely none of the
articulation is lost at the ankle, in fact he poses like he isn’t
wearing boots at all. The fact they are a soft material hasn’t
diminished the amount detail they carry though, as they still manage to
show all the folds and creases of the real fabric Ninja boots they are
sculpted to mimic. Next up are his brown linen trousers these are worn
in a loose style, but fit well. On his top half he wears an ornate
patterned tunic over which he has a red brocade waist coat with soft
red suede collars, then over this he wears a second less substantial
waistcoat, but although its more compact it still has a lot of detail,
with a very unusual configuration. It has patterned straps, an ornate
leather belt with a pleated and folded lapel and collar combo that has
leather and fur panels. As I said it’s quite unusual in it’s
construction and brings to mind some of the Jedi costumes that Dark
Horse comics gave their ‘early’ ‘Knights Of The Old Republic’ in their
expanded universe Star Wars stories. It certainly makes me realise I’d
love to see Hot Toys and Harue tackle some of the Star Wars characters,
this degree of detailing would be fantastic.
All of these garments fit the body perfectly, and the scaling of the
material means it doesn’t bunch up, I did find after posing a few times
I had to futz a bit to get everything laying right again, but that is
only to be expected, a top class bit of tailoring all round.
Accessories
- ****
Goemon comes with his-
“Tenka” sword (metal) and scabbard
Smoking pipe (of the design often mistaken for Opium)
Treasure Box
Map
Signature parchment with traditional calligraphy
Shuriken (Throwing star)
Kunai knife
Figure stand with nameplate
I think I’m right in saying this is the first time Hot Toys have done a
metal sword, I remember that my old firefighter
figure had a lot of metal accessories, but a metal
sword is a first.
It has engravings down the blade and an ornate handle, this fits into
the scabbard, which is cast in solid plastic but is sculpted and
painted to mimic leather, it is bound with some real leather straps
that attach it to the belt, this has a working buckle so you can adjust
how loosely you want it worn. The only problem I did find was that the
metal sword is so heavy, that when placed into the scabbard it tends to
over-balance forwards, making it hard to pose him when his weapon is
sheathed.
His smoking pipe is very thin and delicate, but the bowl fits well into
his specially designed hand, this hand also does a good job of holding
his throwing star and the pieces of paper he comes with. These
documents are printed to look like antique parchments with ornate
glyphs and Japanese characters painted onto them. His Kunai knife can
be held in either the sword grip or the tight grip hand, depending on
the pose you want to achieve, and although like all the other
accessories it is made of plastic (apart from the sword) it is painted
well, to mimic dark metal.
Next is the small blue trinket box, this seems to be a pivotal object
in the story and has two small opening compartments… quite what it’s
significance is I don’t know yet as I haven’t seen the movie, but my
guess is the small printed map might play a big part in why it has
‘secret’ compartments.
Last is the obligatory figure stand, this ‘as always’ has the movie
logo and character name printed onto it, but you’ll find the figure
stands just fine without it.
Fun
Factor - ****
This figure is very robust, in fact the only real delicate area is
where the scabbard joins the belt, apart from that ol’ Goemon could
give GI Joe a run for his money… but of course at $149.99 he wont have
to.
I freely admit I love posing these things, and the soft fabric outfit
coupled with those groovy boots makes this figure just wonderful for
getting into any number of cool poses (if anyone out there reading this
remembers Edwint, I’d love to see him let loose on this figure).
As I said above it makes me itch to see how Hot Toys would do some
Jedi, and now we all know HT has the Marvel licence this material used
on the foot-wear would make great boots for everyone from Spidey to
Blade to give us the ability for totally kick ass super hero poses!
Value - ***1/2
When HT announced in their newsletter that they had the Goemon licence
I seem to remember it said they were also investing in the movies
production. I hope it pays off for them, as I only know of one person
who has seen it so far on a trip to Japan, luckily he liked it a lot
and it made him want to pick up the figures (Hi Maz!). So HT have got
to try and make their money back on these, and it’s my guess that even
if the movie bombed, these would still sell well.
I have a feeling Saizo will be
the most popular… everybody loves a black clad Ninja! But it’s
testament to Hot Toys popularity, and also that people trust them to
deliver, because all three figures from the movie have sold out on the
Sideshow web site at $149.99, without the movie even being released in
the US!
So not a full score in this
category, but that metal sword and amazing head sculpt help drag it
closer than many figures would get at this price point.
Overall
- ***1/2
I toyed with a full score here, but $149.99 is a lot of money for a
figure that doesn’t come packing a lot of accessories.
However he has an amazing Kojun head sculpt, JC’s paint is as good as
ever, he comes with an outfit tailored by Harue creative, and to top it
off he has a real metal sword… a couple of years ago a figure with that
dream team involved would have probably cost you over $300… so to me
it’s a bit of a steal!
Scoring
Recap:
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ****
Articulation - ****
Outfit - ****
Accessories - ****
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - ***1/2
Overall - ***1/2
Where
to Buy -
Sideshow did sell the complete set of three figures, but all three are
sold out on pre-order, but you can still try the wait list.
Alternatively Michael’s sponsor
Alter Ego Comics
have him in stock
for $144.99.
Or try
eBay where I’m seeing him from $135 up to $170.
|
