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Tonight, I found this Edward
doll, along with the Bella Swan Barbie at
Toys R Us and promptly bought him. I could only afford one, so I waited
on Bella since Edward is my favourite character. Let's see if I like
him more or less after he's open. "Will the Lion fall in love with the
Lamb?" Read on and find out...
Oh, and always, I apologize in advance for the cruddy photos.
Packaging - ***
The package is very nicely
done and the background looks quite believable.
In fact, every time I see the
moss on the tree, I keep thinking it's that fake moss stuff you can buy
at any hobby shop, but it's just a photo. The "tree" is actually a nice
3-D curved piece of thin cardboard. The package itself is basically a
clear plastic box with the Twilight logo printed on it in silver and
the doll looks great on the shelf and stood out nicely while keeping
the Twilight movie look. The back of the package sports a photo of
Robert Pattinson as Edward and has a short blurb about the franchise.
The only negative thing I can
say about the packaging is the following: I've bought my share of
Barbie dolls over the years and they are a b*tch (no pun intended) to
remove from the packages. It's almost like they aren't meant to be
opened...EVER! I know they do that to "pose" the doll in a way that
shows it off and make people see it in all it's glory, but sometimes it
feels like you're actually destroying the doll as you open it. Add to
that, the fact they never look as good in the package after you open it
and replace them. I wish they were a bit more collector friendly.
Sculpting - ***
Ok, this is not Hot Toys quality and it shouldn't be for the price, so
it's unfair to make comparisons that way. (Speaking of which, I wish
Hot Toys would get the Twilight license, but this Mattel version will
work in the
meantime.) The sculpting in this category include the head, torso and
hands. The headsculpt is unlike the Bella doll in one way: Bella looks
like a Barbie doll in the face and Edward doesn't look like Ken in any
way, unlike, for an example, the James Bond dolls. His headsculpt is
made of soft rubber and looks like a characture of Robert Pattinson and
that's good enough for me. (On a side note, it's pretty close to the
photos I've seen of the Tonner version of Edward, but having never seen
the Tonner in person I can't really make many comparisons there
either.)
Edward's hair is rooted and
spiked up and works for the character quite well. All of his features
are Pattinson-esqe, like his jaw line and flat nose and I'm pretty sure
people will have no doubt who the doll is supposed to be. His torso is
sculpted with a six pack and looks more ripped than the average male.
No wonder girls like Ken so much.
The doll stands around 12" tall.
Paint - ****
The paint is your typical Barbie fare and include his eyes, eyebrows,
lips and sideburns. All done with crisp detail. The doll is actually
molded in a pale lighter skin which fits his vampire lifestyle. The
eyes appear to be slightly reflective in the brown/gold area, but
speaking of reflective, it's another area that adds to the overall
appeal of the doll. Anyone who's seen the movie or read the novels know
that Edward's skin appears to be coated in diamonds whenever he's in
sunlight and it actually sparkles. Well, going the extra mile in my
opinion, Mattel has covered the head, neck and chest in small glitter
sparkles in the plastic. It is a very nice effect and looks great.
Sorry if it doesn't show up well in the photos, but it's there.
Articulation
- ***
The body appears at first
glance to be a typical jointed Ken doll, although his legs and body
appear more lanky than I remember the Ken dolls being.
Without being able to strip the doll down, I can only grope the doll as
best I can. (yes, I realize what this sounds like.) The body appears to
have limited articulation at the shoulders, neck and 870-upper legs.
It's really hard to tell, but it appears to have sculpted muscles under
the sleeves and pant legs exclusive to this figure and unlike anything
I've seen with any other boy Barbie dolls. It seems to be a dressed
action figure more than a doll.
Accessories
- **
The only accessory is a doll stand, but it's a welcome addition. It has
the Twilight logo printed on it and looks great. Oh, and there's a
Certificate of Authenticity saying that the Edward doll is a Pink Label
collectable. The labels include Pink, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
Basically, the Pink's aren't limited in production and shouldn't be
hard to find.
Outfit
- ***1/2
Edward's outfit is his most iconic from the first film and is very
nicely made. The outfit consists of his Grey Pea coat, blue and white
striped, long-sleeved shirt, black jeans and black shoes. All of the
pieces are great looking and made with quality material. It would've
gotten a four star rating, but strangely missing is the one piece of
Edward's outfit that I like the most: his family crest Wristband. I
wonder how they could've forgotten about that and wouldn't be surprised
if they corrected that mistake in later waves.
Fun
Factor - ****
What kid wouldn't want a handsome immortal Vampire to pay a visit to
Barbie's dream house once in a while? I pretty sure a lot of little
girls would want to add an Edward Cullen doll to their collection and
since he seems a bit more action figure than doll, maybe other
collectors would want one too. I know I did and I'm happy with him. It
won't be everyone's cup of tea, but the people that want one shouldn't
be dissatisfied.
Value - ****
A 12" collector figure or doll for only $24.99? Am I in the Bizarro
Universe? I've gotten so used to buying $100+ figures that something
like this seems so...odd. Sure the sculpt isn't anything special
compared to the latest Hot Toys figures, but for a fraction of the
cost, can you really complain if you still get a character you like in
12" form? I'm not: four stars!
Things to Watch Out For -
I'd take care removing him from the package and I'd think twice about
removing the little plastic tabs that stitch the clothes together,
since they'll probably never hang properly without them, but that's up
to the person buying it. Oh, and be careful with his hair if you want
it to keep it's styled look.
Overall
- ***1/2
This figure is nicely made, looks great, cost little and filled the
"lack of an 12" Edward Cullen figure" void in my figure shelf, which
was something I've been waiting to do. This doll could've turned out to
be more of an Edward/Ken amalgam instead of just a full on Edward and
I'm very happy with the results. I have plans to get a Bella the next
time I see her, so I must be happy with the Edward doll. Aside from the
aforementioned missing wristband, I have nothing bad to say about the
doll in the least.
Scoring
Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***
Paint - ****
Articulation - ***
Accessories - **
Outfit - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ****
Value - ****
Overall - ***1/2
Where
to Buy -
This one came from Toys R Us where they had two of each. (Bella and
Edward) Thanks again, Michael!
Until next time, folks: Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel! ^_^
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