Sideshow has
been doing quite a few armored figures in their Star Wars series over
the last few months, but that doesn't mean they've completely neglected
the regular soft cloths wearing characters. And who had some of the
best looking clothes in the Republic? Why, Lando Calrissian of course!
Lando first showed up in Empire Strikes Back, acting as a modern Judas
to Solo's Jesus. He's since gone on to be a major character in the
saga, and been part of some of the funniest Robot Chicken Star Wars
parodies.
Sideshow has produced the usual regular edition (size 1500) and
exclusive (size 750). I'll be looking at the exclusive tonight, but
since that only means one extra accessory, pretty much everything I
discuss will apply to the regular version as well.
Lando was played by Billy Dee Williams, and it turned into the role
he's probably best known for, even after being in over 100 films and
shows. It's either that or as the front man for Colt .45 malt liquor.
Nothing against malt liquor, but wouldn't you rather be known as Lando?
Lando originally cost $80, for either the regular or exclusive version
direct from Sideshow. The deal...seems very fair, and I'm happy to be a
part of it.
Packaging - ***1/2
As time moves on, things get better, contrary to what nostalgias will
lead you to believe. Case in point - action figure packaging. When
Sideshow's Star Wars packaging first came out, it broke new ground with
it's wrap around lid and magnetic closures. Now companies like Hot Toys
and Enterbay are finding ways to jump over the high bar, and I'm sure
that with the next major Sideshow line, we'll see further improvements.
Sculpting - **1/2
This is an excellent Lando Calrissian sculpt - just excellent. In fact,
this is one of Sideshow's best human likenesses in quite some time,
with wonderful work on the hair, mustache, lips and eyes. The shape of
the face, and nose is dead on, and the eyes are just the right distance
apart. It really does look both like the character AND the actor as the
character.
So why the low score? Because I
can't abide by an oversized head, not these days. This one isn't
*quite* as bad as the recent Indy in German outfit, but it's still at
least 20% too big. Lando gets lucky because he has the cap, making him
a little fuller in the shoulders, but it's still not enough to
completely hide his oversized noggin'.
You might think me too harsh
since the likeness is so good, but I think that actually makes the
situation sadder. If the head sculpt was bad all around, its
encephalitic nature would simply be one more problem in a sea of
problems. Instead, it's the one very obvious problem that really pulls
down an otherwise great portrait.
The hands are all sculpted to
work with the accessories, and do it fairly well. They also work well
with a number of poses.
Paint - ***1/2
You can't fault the paint for a big head, and here Sideshow does a much
better job. Much better than many other human figures, although to be
fair their paint work has been improving consistently with recent
releases.
Here we get an excellent clean
skin tone, perfectly painted lips, mustache and eyebrows, and even
fairly clean eyes. There's still a little bleed of the other colors
into the whites of the eyes, and the hair line could be a smidge
cleaner, but these are issues you'll probably only notice under close
scrutiny.
Articulation - ***1/2
The Pro body has improved in tightness considerably from it's first
release on Obi-Wan. It has all the usual joints you expect, and they
are all tight enough to hold most poses.
I was particularly happy with
the ball jointed neck, which has a great range of movement.
I'm not too keen on how the hips
tend to stick out in front, and this has been an issue I've noticed
before but rarely commented on. It's sort of the Crawford Heirarchy of
Complaints - get past the most obvious, and a less obvious one seems to
crop up. It's not a major issue, but it's an annoyance I don't have
with something like the TrueType, for example.
Accessories - ***
Lando has a nice assortment, and the exclusive gets an extra as usual.
There's two blasters - the
silver tipped version he's probably most associated with, and a regular
Trooper blaster. Both have excellent sculpts and paint (Sideshow has
excelled at the Star Wars armory) and look terrific in tons of poses.
Even though we've seen the Trooper blaster several times before, it's
still a great addition. It has the usual folding stock, too.
He has an extra set of hands as
well. The left is better suited to holding the barrel of the guns, and
the extra right hand works well with the smaller Bespin Communicator.
Speaking of which, that's the
exclusive add-in. Again, nice sculpting and paint work, but it is a bit
on the basic side.
Finally, there's the usual
display stand. You won't have to use it this time around, but if you
like using them, it's an important addition.
Outfit - **1/2
I didn't mention the Lobot Controller in the previous section (you can
see it on his left wrist in many of the photos) because I consider that
more 'outfit' than 'accessory'.
It's a nice piece of his outfit
too, with a pleather strap and sculpted face. Be careful when swapping
hands though, as you can crimp the band or lose the thing altogether if
you forget it's there.
He has some very funky 70's
style boots, and these are sculpted nicely. They do tend to make it a
little difficult for him to stand up in some poses, but it's a minor
issue.
There's the shirt and pants of
course, both of which are fairly well tailored. The pants use thin
velcro as the closure, which works better here than it often does on
Hot Toys figures.
The cape is the true highlight
of the costume though, with a gorgeous lining, and wired collar that
keeps it in place. I dressed up as V for Halloween, and I have to say
that someone needs to bring capes back in style. They're just so damn
cool.
The big downside here is the
belt, which I hate. It's that cheap pleather around the back, and the
front tends to ride up the body. It also makes it very tough to keep
the shirt in place, even tucked in the pants, and feels really, really
cheap. Considering the price tag, the belt is well below the quality
you'd expect.
Fun Factor - ***
He's a mighty smooth mama jamma - who wouldn't want him in their
collection to take down the evil Empire or stab Han Solo in the back? I
suppose I should let that go, since he did manage to redeem himself,
but old wounds heal slow.
Value - **
Fix a few of the big issues - oversized head, cheap belt - and
you'd get another half star here. But with these issues, he's not as
good a value at $80.
Things to Watch Out For -
The only thing to really watch out for is the Lobot Control device. As
I mentioned, it can get crimped or lost when you're swamping hands.
Overall - ***
This is one of those figures that had the potential to be exceptional -
and fell short because of a couple serious issues. He's not quite as
much of a bobble head as the last Indy, and the cape helps fill out his
frame.
But it's still annoying, and not
necessary. At this price point, Sideshow needs to get this situation
corrected, particularly on their human portraits.
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