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Packaging - *** The box is attractive, and inside the
interior foam trays the various pieces (there are quite a few this
time!) are all well packed. There's even a metal rod tied to his feet
with red ribbon to provide extra strength to the legs in transit. While
there is not a Certificate of Authenticity, the edition size and number
are printed on both the bottom of the box and the base of the statue.
Sculpting - ****
Most PF's come in a few pieces, three, four, maybe five. This guy
requires a whopping nine pieces to be complete, and that doesn't
include his extra hand. Assembly
is pretty straight forward though, and the magnets at the hands and hat
work great. He has a long metal peg in his back foot to ensure he stays
put on the rock, but the small 'ribbons' at the top of his socks are
held in place with very short pegs. Watch out for these falling out and
getting lost. There is also a velcro attachment to place the scabbard on the belt, and this works well and is hidden once it's in place. The
overall look matches his proportions and style from the Disney cartoons
extremely well. The thin mustache, large nose and chin, and flowing
black hair all look great. The pose works well too, in a very
traditional fighting stance with his hook hand raised. Which hand was a
hook has varied from story to story, but for the Disney version it's
always been his left. Remember that these are quarter scale
statues, which is approximate for a cartoon character of course. He
stands about 21" tall at the tip of the hat while on the rock, with the
hook taking it up overall a few more inches.
Paint - ***
While I'm digging on the sculpt, there's a few issues with the paint holding back this score. There's
some rough texture on the socks and shoes, with some bubbling or
possibly dirt mixed in. Thankfully this only seems to be an issue in
those areas. There's also a bit of slop along some of the cut
edges, particularly around the eyes and shoes. It's not atrocious, but
generally B grade work, especially when you consider the price point. The paint does not include any sort of beard shadow, something that I recall being a facet of the Disney character. Whether or not that's an issue for you is probably a matter of taste, since sometimes the character had it, and sometimes he did not.
This difference also may have been between the original movie and the
awful Return to Neverland. Even a cartoon villain shaves occasionally.
Articulation - Bupkis
Obviously, I'm not deducting anything here for a lack of articulation,
but I wanted to point it out in case your expectation was different.
This is a statue, not an articulated figure.
Accessories - ***1/2 The
exclusive version has an extra hand, of course, and I'd say that counts
as an accessory. This extra hand has Peter Pan's hat skewered on the
hook, a nice touch for the display, but probably not worth spending big
bucks on just to get it. The sculpt is a little soft, with very little
detail work even on the feather. Since both versions were $325 at
Sideshow originally, you weren't really spending extra cash, but other
retailers are carrying the basic version for $25 - $30 less now, and
I'd be hard pressed to recommend spending the extra on the hand if you
aren't enamored with it. So why the high accessory score? Because
of the crocodile Tick Tock, of course! I've always wondered if he was a
crocodile named Tick Tock who ironically then swallowed a clock, or a
nameless crocodile given the moniker only after swallowing the noisy
timepiece. This is the sort of question that keeps me up at night. Tick
Tock is huge, and a completely independent display piece. Most displays
will probably have him rising up from behind the rock base, but the
sculpted eyes and expression allow for quite a few different
placements. The sculpt is fantastic - he's huge! - but the paint
suffers from some of the same slightly sloppy edges that I mentioned
earlier. Another reason I bumped this score a bit is the
inclusion of not just two but three of the ribbon thingies for the top
of his socks. I'm assuming the third one is a replacement, on the off
chance you lose or damage one of the other two.
Outfit - ***1/2
There's not as much mixed media on this figure as I'd hoped. 90% is
standard statue, with just the cloth coat and leather belt thrown in
for good measure. Thankfully,
both of these are extremely nice. The fit is excellent, and the coat
includes a sturdy wire running through the bottom seam that allows you
to pose it nicely in a variety of ways.
Value - ** It might just be me, but it seems like there
was a time when you paid $300 for a PF, it lit up, or had extra heads,
or maybe came to life and dusted the shelves for you. Now, that's
becoming the normal price, and it's not easy for those collecting them
to absorb. With a less complicated outfit than someone like Jack
Sparrow, and therefore less mixed media, I docked this guy slightly in
this category. His saving grace is the large croc statue, which really
adds quite a bit to the overall display.
Things to Watch Out For - Be
very careful around his mustache, since the thin points can break. They
used a slightly less brittle material, thank God, so they can take a
minor tweak or two, but still keep them very much in mind when handling
him.
Overall - ***1/2 Disney's Hook is sort of like Lucas' Boba
Fett - you have to ignore some of the on screen buffoonery and just
think of him as a visually cool bad guy. I have two wishes with
this statue - slightly better paint, especially on the socks and shoes,
and a bit more cloth, leather and metal. Premium Formats should be more
than just statues, and the beautiful coat is a great example as to why
this format works so well. But more could have been done, especially at
$300. I do love the pose and sculpt though, and the inclusion of Tick Tock as a separate piece is brilliant. If
you can get the exclusive at the same price as the regular, then I'd
get it - obviously, you never turn down an extra at no additional cost.
But if you have to spend $30 or more just to get the Pan hat on the
hook, then I'd think twice about it. With the lower edition size, it's
likely to be worth more down the road than the regular, but there's no
guarantee either will ever be worth more than the $300 they already
cost.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ***
Articulation - Bupkis
Accessories - ***1/2
Outfit - ***1/2
Value - **
Overall - ***1/2
Where to Buy -
Sideshow is the place to pick up the exclusive,
where it is on back order for $325. They also have the regular,
but other online options include these site sponsors:
- Alter Ego Comics
has him for $293.
- Fanboy Collectibles
has him listed at $300.
- Big Bad Toy Store
has him in at $310.
- or you can search
ebay for a deal.
Related
Links -
Sideshow has produced a few other Disney related premium format
statues, including the Rocketeer,
the Evil Queen, Maleficent, and Jack Sparrow.
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