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Sculpting - ****
How many times have I discussed how difficult it is to capture Harrison
Ford as any character, let alone Indiana Jones? Too many times to
count. I'm going to tell you right here, right now, that this is the
BEST version we've ever gotten, at any price point. Does
that mean it's so perfect that nothing could be done to improve on it?
Nope. There's always something you could nit pick about, but the nits
are all very, very tiny this time around. For me, the one most
noticeable is the soft hair sculpt. It's not as defined or sharply
textured as you might expect at this scale. Of course, 90% of it
is non-existent because of the hat, and what hair is here is well
hidden by the brim, hence it has little effect on the overall
appearance. My other comment would be on the nose. It looks a
*smidge* thin and narrow to me. However, if a sculptor brought this
sculpt to me and said "should I mess with the nose to make it better?",
I'd tell them no. It's not far off enough to take the risk of making it
worse, and this sculpt is too nice overall to except that risk. One
of the nice features of a statue over an action figure is the lack of a
joint at the neck. That means the neck and jawline should be much more
realistic. Unfortunately, that's not always true. But here, the well
defined neck, with properly sculpted tendons and esophagus, really adds
to the subtle realism of the overall head sculpt. One of the
issues many PF's have had is oversized, alien hands. Again, they
managed to avoid that here. The hands are reasonably well scaled, and
look extremely good in their sculpted pose. While
the exclusive includes this same head sculpt hatless, I think it's the
hat wearing version that is the critical look. And they managed to get
the hat as close to perfect as I've seen. The production version seems
a little taller on his head than the prototype, but I can live, since
the texturing and weathering give it a very realistic look. Indy stands about 19" tall on his own, or about 22 1/2" tall with the base.
Paint - ***1/2
If there's one area that could be improved slightly in general, it's
the paint. Now, it's not terrible - Hell, it's not even merely good.
It's a great job, but there are a couple issues that I'd love to see
tackled by one of the many paint experts out there. The
work itself is very clean, with no quality issues whatsoever. Cut lines
are perfect, areas like the eye brows and eyes line up properly and
evenly, and they've given the eyes themselves the right amount of gloss
to get that life-like appearance. The skin tone is even as well, but it is slightly dark. Yea, he's going to be tan, but this is getting a little beyond that. But
the one area that could really use a little help is the stubble. Like
the much cheaper DST version, they sculpted the stubble as a texture,
and added paint. I like that approach (as opposed to trying to just do
it with paint), but I think that in the hands of a highly skilled
paint, this thing could be redone to look spooky real. Another
key aspect of this great paint job is the weathering effects on the hat
and shoes. I've already mentioned it on the hat, but they manage to
give a nicely worn look to his boots as well.
Articulation - Bupkis
Regular buyers of modern PF's from Sideshow shouldn't be surprised, but
this is a solid statue, without any articulation. This fact won't hurt
his Overall score any, but I mention it because in the early days, they
did have some articulation, and there is also the Ultimate Quarter
Scale Indy that's an actual action figure that could cause some
confusion.
Accessories - ****
Normally, 'statues' don't have accessories, but Indy has several. Although
he can't really stand without the base (the square steel post that
attaches him to the base is sticking out of his foot, making it
impossible for him to stand on his own), I'm counting that as one of
his Accessories. As I mentioned in the Sculpt and Paint sections, the
base is outstanding, and easily my favorite of any Sideshow PF. Thank
God it lacks any plaque declaring his name, and the sculpted ruins,
complete with vines, look fantastic. I'm also counting his bag as
an accessory, although I wouldn't recommend trying to remove it.
You can adjust it though, since the buckle is adjustable and you
can easily slide the strap up or down, lengthening it or shortening it.
The flap does not have a closure, but the bag hangs great on his
shoulders. The most obvious accessories are his gun, Fertility
Idol, and coiled whip. The gun is an excellent sculpt, properly scaled,
although there's no way for him to hold it. That means it will be gong
into his holster and staying there, but it's nice to know at this price
point that you still got an excellent version. And yes, the chamber
spins, although it's empty. I would have liked some sculpted bullets in
there, but that's one of those very minor nits. The Fertility
Idol is also very well done, and lacks any sort of mold line that would
make it look fake or manufactured. Instead it looks like the hand
carved artifact that it should be. It is held in his right hand with a
strong magnet, so that you can move the figure carefully and it won't
fall out. Don't go turning him upside down with it in his hand, but
minor adjustments won't knock it free. Finally, there's the
coiled whip. This one has a very sharp, strong sculpt, and looks
quite realistic for resin. It's a little tricky to get in his
right hand, but the trick is to hold it perpendicular to his body and
bring it up between his hand and hip, and then turn it into place. It
also only fits one way - the handle has to be at the back, not the
front of his body. The whip does not go on the belt, however.
There is one of the loops, or 'keepers' on his belt, but it's NOT
designed to open or hold the whip. If you managed to snag the
exclusive, you got an extra head at no extra price. That's always a
good deal, but in this case, it's not a particularly necessary extra
accessory. I would never display him without the hat, since the capped
look is so much more iconic, and they pulled it off so well.
Outfit - ****
Premium Format figures are 'mixed media' statues. That means you get
cloth, resin, metal, plastic and other materials all used to create the
final effect. We've
already talked about the hat, so let's jump down and start at his feet.
The boots are sculpted, and have that weathered paint job I
mentioned earlier. The feet are a little small scale wise when compared
to the rest of his body, but it's not enough of a difference that most
folks would notice. His pants are well tailored, and are made
from a soft material that is going to hand and drape better the longer
you have him out of the box. The box induced wrinkles will soften
on their own over time, but you can always speed that process up with a
little steam. He has his traditional belt, and you can adjust the
buckle as you need to. Out of the box, his pants are way too low on his
body, unless you're going for an 'urban Indy' look. The holster
belt is also adjustable, and the holster and loop for the whip are made
from the same leather material. These are much higher quality
than what we saw with the 12" figure, complete with stitching on the
holster. Oddly enough, there is not a magnetic closure for the holster
though, and you'll have to use the old 'hole/post' style closure to put
the gun in it's proper place. The gun fits well though, and the entire
arrangement looks good on his hips. The shirt is...well, the
shirt. This is one area that most versions seem to get pretty
close, and this one looks terrific. They went with small hidden snaps
to hold it closed in front, with properly scaled buttons on the outside. Most
of the conversation around this figure is going to center on the
jacket. It's the one area where there is actually a major, obvious
issue, and for some folks, that error will be all they can see. What's
that error? The jacket is too short. Now, you can adjust for it and
improve the situation. You really, really don't want to display him as
he comes out of the box. You need to adjust the jacket forward on his
shoulders, and that will bring the front edge of the jacket down. You
also need to hike up those baggy pants and tighten the belt, as I
mentioned above. Don't bring them up too far, or he'll like like he did
in KOTCS, and nobody wants that. But get the pants at a good height,
and get the jacket forward on the shoulders, and you can reduce the
obviousness of the short coat. Reduce yes, eliminate no. The coat
is still about a 1/4" too short, and when you see the length of the arm
next to the length of the jacket, it becomes clear. That's too
bad, because that is the ONLY issue this jacket has. Is is a
perfect Raiders version? I think we've already discussed why
George seems to want to make the jackets more a compiled version of all
three original movies, so I'm not surprised that's the case here. But
this jacket isn't fake leather - it's the real deal, done in scale.
It's a nice, soft leather too, that hangs very naturally and looks
terrific. They've already weathered it perfectly, and only the
die hard fans will find minor issues with the design. BTW, the
jacket isn't green. It's very brown, although in some bright
lighting or direct lighting, it can look a bit green. But that's just
the lighting - in hand, it's very clearly brown.
Value - ***
This is not a cheap item at $280. But this is a pretty common cost for
statues in this scale, and in fact, there's simply no comparison
between the quality of this PF at $280, and the quality of the much
lesser Bruce Lee PF at $250. In fact, this PF is better than some at
the $300 - $325 mark, and just might be the nicest overall PF Sideshow
has ever produced. The only other similar collectible is the
Cinemaquette version, and that runs $2000 - and has areas where this PF
is superior. So yea, even at $280, it's a decent value. Since retailers
are selling it closer to $260 - $270, it gets even better.
Things To Watch Out For
-
When you're handling Indy, remember that the Idol can fall out of his
hand if you get to crazy. Also, to get the whip in his hand, pay
attention to my instructions above in the Accessories section.
Overall - ****
Fans of Indiana Jones have waited a long time for collectibles to be
abundant. Hell, existent. This year they've been hit with a whirlwind
of product, some good, some bad, a small amount terrific. But if you can
only have ONE Indiana Jones collectible in your possession, it should
be this PF. It's one of Sideshow's best, perhaps THE best they've done,
and it's going to take a lot of effort to top it. There are minor
issues of course, there always are - but this overall PF will be a
standout in any collection.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - Bupkis
Accessories - ****
Outfit - ****
Value - ***
Overall - ****
Where to Buy -
Options include these terrific sponsors:
- Dark Shadow
Collectibles has him on back order at $252.
- Alter Ego Comics
has him for $266.
- or you can search ebay using
the sponsor MyAuctionLinks.
Related Links -
Oh, there's PLENTY of Indy
stuff I've reviewed:
- the most recent was the Ultimate Quarter Scale from DST
and the 12" Indy
from
Sideshow.
- there was the recent Medicom Professor Jones Sr. - one of my favorite new Indy
collectibles is the Mighty Muggs from Hasbro, and I've reviewed waves 1, and 2. Of course,
they've already been canceled.
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