Review of Short Round - Indiana Jones mini-bust

Introduction

After a monsoon of Indiana Jones products over the last couple years, once again we're seeing the drought. It's no real surprise, since there was no line that did well, be it action figure, statue or bust. Sadly, much of that is due to a lack of general quality across the board, and by the time the licensors DID get the quality up, most of the interest had waned.

Such is the plight of the Gentle Giant Indiana Jones mini-busts. Me thinks they had big plans, but only two made it out, both of them of Indy himself and neither of them very good.

Why do I suspect big plans? Because the third bust planned wasn't Marion, or Toht, or Mola Ram, or Indy Sr...it was...what for it...Short Round. If you only planned to do a few busts, I suspect Short Round wouldn't have been on the short list.

He has finally seen the light of day though, as an exclusive through Entertainment Earth. He has a very low production run at only 350 busts, but costs $55.

Packaging - ***
The box follows the standard look of the previous boxes, as you'd expect. It has the cool Gentle Giant baseball card sized Certificate of Authenticity, and a big plus is the window that allows you to see the bust before you buy. Unfortunately, the bust is at an odd angle inside, but that's a minor quibble.

Sculpting - **
When I opened up the bust, my first thought was that Short Round had gone on Weight Watchers. And was actually an Asian girl hiding as an Asian boy.

But my memory ain't what it used to be, so I googled a few images to double check. Here's one showing his face straight on, and another one showing the shape and size of his nose and eyes quite well. Here's one where he's in a similar (sort of) pose as well. They all confirmed my suspicions.

The face is much too long and thin, the nose very sharp and thin as well. The long thin neck isn't that inaccurate, but on the skinny head it looks far more obvious. Add in a hat that's even more over sized than it was in the film (again, the skinny face accentuates the large nature of the hat), narrow eyes, and weirdly painted lips and you get a mishmash that looks very little like the character it's based on.

The work on the body is better, with some nice detail in the outfit and the burning torch. I like the stone base as well, but all those points can't make up for the weak portrait. The scale is pretty good with the other busts, as he comes in at only 5" tall.

Paint - **
There are some good features to the paint, and again these are largely in the outfit and torch. The dirt effect on the clothing works well, and there's a slight wash to bring out the detail. The torch, especially the flame, looks terrific, with a nice dynamic look. The translucent appearance adds some realism, as does the color variation through the flame.

But, like the sculpt, things from the neck up are less appealing. The lips are just awful, with a bright lipstick color that adds to the feminine appearance.

The stripes and cut lines on the hat are weak as well, as is the hair line. Any one of these things wouldn't be a deal breaker, but add them all up and you end up with a far less attractive picture.

Design - ***
Sadly, the design is pretty good. I say sadly because had the sculpt and paint supported the design, the overall look would have been great.

One flaw is the lack of a light up feature, especially at this price point. That translucent flame is just screaming for a light.

Value - *1/2
Gone are the days of $40 mini-busts, and this one is a low production exclusive. Still, $55 is going to be a tough pill for most fans to swallow.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.

Overall - **
Gentle Giant seems like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde these days, with very different results on different lines. I loved the work on the Wall-E, Remy and Bolt maquettes, but they've done an awful job with the Indiana Jones line.

I would assume that this will be the last of the disastrous series we see, and I'm sure they (and others) will blame the economy, or the weakness of the last movie, or something else, anything other than the poor execution on the series - but we know better.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - **
Paint - **
Design/Quality - ***
Value - *1/2
Overall - **

Where to Buy 
This is an Entertainment Earth exclusive, so that's the place to go. The bust is $55.

Related Links -
Other Indy busts include:

- Gentle Giant did the regular Indy.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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