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Hot Toys Kyle Reese

Tonight's review is from Jeff Parker, big fan of high end sixth scale figures.  He brings us a great review with lots of photos of the Hot Toys Kyle Reese - take it away, Jeff!

Firstly I must apologise for the gap between my T-800 review and this, the only excuse I can offer is I'm moving house and my collection has been and indeed is still mostly in storage. But enough groveling, here's the low down. When I first saw these two figures I was immediately drawn to this one of the two, the attention to detailing just seemed incredible, however in the flesh I feel the T-800 just pips this guy at the post, that leather jacket and the light up eyes are just too cool. That said this is a very sweet figure, so lets grade him.









Packaging - ****
I feel I pretty much said everything in the last review, this just continues the line. Great high end packaging with no expense spared, slip on sleeve as with the T-800, flap fronted box and a snug vacuum formed tray with two twisties. Plenty of pictures of the figure in full colour (sadly lacking any actual movie shots, but very nice all the same). 

Sculpting - ***
I've read a lot of other peoples views on the face sculpt, and he really has people divided. I however fall into what I think is the more popular view, that it's actually pretty good, definitely having more than a passing resemblance to Mr Biehn, (It'll be interesting to see if the upcoming Hot Toys Cprl Hicks, from the same range uses a similar sculpt, from the pic's I've seen I don't think they will, and of the two this looks the most 'Biehn' like). Apart from the hands (which though nice are pretty generic) all the other sculpting is on the accessories which are plentiful and well done, but I'll cover that later.

Paint - ***1/2
Lovely skin tones on the face, and the detailing on the eyes, eyebrows, mouth and hair are all very tight with none of that annoying over made up/lipstick look going on. The subtle airbrushing on the 5 o'clock shadow is also really nice and quite similar to the Hot Toys James Dean, I reviewed a while ago. The hair is a flat brown colour, but as it's sculpted so well the definition comes from the natural lights shadows and highlights.

Articulation - ****
This seems to be the same body as on the T-800, so no complaints from me, the garters and boots slightly restrict ankle movement, but apart from that he's good to go! You'll have to excuse me not stripping him off, but the outfit is even more complex/layered than the T-800, with a number of buckled straps going round the arms, so I think I'll keep him as he is. I had a bit of a feel around and he doesn't seem to have cut biceps but does have ball mounted/swivel shoulders so that makes up for it.

Accessories - ***1/2
Although not packing quite as much firepower as his nemesis, he's in no way left lacking in accessories. He comes with a (future) rifle, hand gun with fabric holster, a bomb that fits in his shoulder carrier, a gas/respirator mask with carry case (fantastic detail on this, with a fabric mesh connected to elastic straps holding it to the main body of the mask), a utility belt with openable fabric pockets, a hat, see through padded goggles and a headset/communication device, oh! and a severed T-101 arm from the elbow down. All are supremely crafted and fit the figure well. I really like those hidden details. I will probably display him with the gas mask in its bag, you'll never see it....but it'll be there...Mmmmm, nice!

Outfit - ***1/4
I went back and watched T1 recently to compare, and this is pretty damned accurate, OK this guy has to wear his head set 'over' his hat, but apart from that it's spot on (I'm sure there are some pedants out there who will tell me otherwise), but to my untrained eye it's good. Fantastic detailing on the garters, a weathered leatherette with working straps and buckles. The jacket is also a mini work of art, and seems to be a perfect scale realisation of the one worn in the movie. The hat being fabric is a nice touch, and means it can be folded/rolled and put into one of the jackets or trousers working pockets when not worn, and as Kyle is seen in the movie sans chapeau as well as avec chapeau, it's a nice touch. The only garment that needs a little attention are the trousers...or pants to our American cousins. On mine at least they are a little loose round the waist, easily rectified by unpicking the press stud and moving it a few millimetres , but it would have been nice not to have to, so this is the only reason I dock 1/4 of a point.

Fun Factor - ***
There's no denying bits of this figure are fragile, but the accuracy kind of makes up for that. I'd advise you to be careful with the headset in particular. but apart from that it all seems pretty play friendly, as long as you play carefully.

Value - ***
As I said in the T-800 review he seems to be going on eBay for between the $99 to the $130 mark and don't forget shipping as most dealers seem to be sending them from Hong Kong, and as Hot Toys is a Hong Kong based company, and this is officially a Far East exclusive, I guess that makes sense. I got mine from Andy at Popsalute through eBay, so try him out, it's always worth asking for a dealers best price or try doubling up on an order to get more of a discount on the actual figures and shipping.

Things to Watch Out For:
No actual problems with mine, but just be careful with the accessories. Also those of you who read the T-800 review will remember the question hanging over the naming/numbering of the various Terminator models. Well it seems that the naming of Kyles assignment number has also ruffled a few feathers. This figure is sold as Kyle Reese-Sergeant Tech-Com DX 38416, where as he is heard in the film to say his assignment was DN 38416, just a simple translation error maybe, but a lot of people would be pretty unhappy had Hasbro sold us figures of C-3DO (mind you they did feed a thousand arguments over the whole 4-LOM/Zuckass debacle). Thanks to Vic over at Terminator files for pointing this one out.

Overall - ***1/4
Only 1/4 of a star separates this from the T-800, and if this guy had glowing eyes (OK, OK, I know he doesn't need glowing eyes) then he'd probably have got ***3/4. A really nice figure all in all and a must have for any Terminator collector and a real taster of things to come in the Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece collection (boy, those Predators look good). 

Score Recap:
Packaging - ****
Sculpt - ***
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ****
Accessories - ***1/2
Outfit - ***3/4
Fun Factor - ***
Value - ***
Overall - ***1/4

Where to Buy - 
I got a great deal from Andy at Popsalute on eBay, you can also find him at his website. As I said last time drop him a line, say you read about him here and see what kind of deal he can offer (I have to say that the more often you go back to the same dealer the better the deals seem to get) but shop around and see what's out there.

You can also shop at Twenga for Terminator figures.

SCROLL DOWN FOR LOTS MORE PHOTOS!


Figure from the collection of Drunken Fist.

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