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Packaging - ****
I've been pretty hard on Sideshow packaging lately, complaining more than
complimenting, and that's not really fair. They produce some of the
finest packages in the business, and perhaps the nicest in the sixth scale
world.
These boxes are a great example. The graphics are excellent, using
the prototype figure for many of the shots, but including key images from the
film.
They are also quite collector friendly, and like Zaius, they do not have
the twisty tie going all the way through the cardboard tray. Unlike
Zaius, they do not have the annoying dental floss around the neck, making them
the best of all worlds.
Sculpting - Zira ***1/2; Cornelius ***
Both head sculpts capture the look of the characters in the film, but Zira
seems to be closer to the most common look.
I complained about the soft nature of Zaius sculpt, with a lack of detail
in the hair and face. Both of these are a little softer than the
prototypes as well, but not nearly as much as Zaius was. Perhaps it's
that they paint ops do a better job of bringing out what detail there is, or
perhaps there's simply more depth to the details. Either way, both head
sculpts are an improvement over the old orangutan.
Zira is nearly perfect. She looks like she's contemplating something
deep...or perhaps she's scolding one of her lesser peers. She looks
almost identical to the film makeup, and the choice of expression works great.
Cornelius also matches the film version extremely well, but I'm less
enamored with the expression. The detail is good, especially around the
eyes, where both figures have quite a bit of life.
But Corny looks pissed, angry, and downright mean here, something that was
rather rare in the films. I would have prefered something a little more
inquisitive or thoughtful, something a less gorilla and more chimp perhaps.
The hand sculpts are very well done, and they are designed and sculpted to
hold various accessories. That's always a nice touch, particularly in
the sixth scale arena.
Paint - ***1/2
The paint ops are great, highlighting the detail that's here, and bringing out
a nice realism in the eyes and mouth.
The hair line has the rough edge, with paint brought out onto the face on
purpose, giving it a more realistic appearance from a slight distance. I
like the effect, and think it works very good with the monkeys. The
darker hair also looks much better than the rather plain colors of Zaius.
The clean paint ops extends down to the hands, where there's great detail
and consistent tones with the face and hair.
The bodies are sculpted in a dark brown to avoid any issues if the sleeves
or pants should ride up. The booted feet are less detailed than you
might expect though, both in sculpt and in paint.
Articulation - ****
I don't know how I managed to not mention it with Dr. Zaius, but this line
represents a huge new change to the Sideshow body - they're smaller!
Both the male and female body has been scaled down to allow Sideshow more
variety in future lines.
It works tremendously well for this line, where the chimps need to be
smaller than the gorillas and humans. This attention to the scale within
the line is going to make the overall display that much more exciting.
The rest of the body and it's articulation is just what you'd expect from
Sideshow, with all the standard 12" body joints, plus their super cool
ankles and wrists. The joints were all tight, and I had no issues
getting these into various poses and holding them.
Accessories - ***
Zira comes with six accessories, Cornelius with four. They fit in well
with the movie, and make quite a bit of sense.
First, both figures come with the usual Sideshow display stand, emblazoned
with the POTA logo on the base. They look nice and work well, but you
really won't need them, since the figures stand great on their own.
Zira also has two monkey scrolls, reused with Zaius and even Cornelius, a
paper airplane, the note from Taylor, and a small pad/pen. The pen is
sculpted onto the pad, but the combo fits perfectly in her left hand.
While the plane and note are pretty cheap accessories, they are actually
very appropriate and fit with the character and her experiences on film
perfectly. You can get picky and point out that the paper plane in the
film had a pointed nose, while this one has a blunt nose, but then again, you
could always adjust the folding to your preference.
Cornelius has that damn, dirty scroll again, along with a pretty dirty doll
and a map of the Forbidden Zone. The map is attached to a plastic bar,
the sort of thing you roll up a soft papyrus map on.
Again, both accessories look great, and are very movie specific. I
think I would have put the doll with Zaius rather than Cornelius, simply
because of what it's discovery meant to that character, but it's great to have
in any case.
The doll probably looks the least like it's movie counterpart, mostly
because of the hair. Getting the dirty, wild doll hair right in this
scale was going to be difficult no matter how they chose to go, but they did
what they could with a patch of glued on hair.
Outfit - ***1/2
The outfits on both chimps are much closer to the regular Zaius in quality and
design, and don't have the cheaper appearance of the exclusive Zaius.
The stitching and material are top notch, and the tailoring is truly
perfect. The clothes hang on both bodies very naturally, and fit
properly all around.
The tunic designs match the film extremely well, although there are some
*slight* differences. After going back and forth though with some stills
from the movie, I have to say I'm very impressed with how well they captured
the look.
One slight disappointment is that the shirt underneath on Cornelius, which
we see as the softer sleeves poking out from the arms of the tunic, are not a
separate piece. They are sewn to the tunic at the elbows, making it
clearly cheaper to produce. Zira doesn't have this issue, as the design
of her tunic would have made that impossible. Her shirt is actually sewn
to the skirt though, making it all one piece.
One thing about Zira's costume that is well worth complaining about though
is the color. In the film, at least as far as I can recall, the color of
her outfit and Cornelius' was the same - dark brown. Even Corny's is a
little light, but hers is green! It might add a little color to the old
display, but it's certainly not accurate to the film. UPDATE!
Okay, I'm now debating with people on the color of the outfits. I've
been informed by my wife that yes, my color blindness is working overtime
again, and both costumes ARE green, as they were in the movie. I'm still
complaining though because there is such a distinct difference between Zira
and Cornelius.
The chimp booties work fine, and I like that the men's pants were given a
stirrup on the bottom to keep them pulled down close to the feet. Zira's
feet are green here, and that's definitely not right. Overall, the outfits look great, and the only real problem is the color of
Zira's boots and the great difference in the shades of green.
Fun Factor - ***
I'm sure kids could find some great uses for monkey figures whether they like
the old films or not. Had these came out back in the 70's, they would
have been tremendously popular with the under 12 set.
Value - ***
I'm going to give these a slightly better value score than usual for
Sideshow, since the accessories are a little interesting, and the quality of
the sculpts and outfits is so good. If you pick these up for closer to
$32 - $35, this three star value is even more appropriate.
Overall - Zira ***1/2; Cornelius ***
The POTA line is starting to look up, and with Taylor and the gorillas
right around the corner, it's going to start filling out nicely.
These two are very nice, perhaps two of my favorites from Sideshow this
year. While the sculpting is still a little softer, especially around
the eyes, than I had hoped, it's an improvement over Zaius and bodes well for
the rest of the line.
I can't wait til the Lawgiver statue and the rest of the line are here,
ready for one huge display! I don't know how much further they'll be
able to take the line, although I'd love to see at least one chimp in and
astronaut suit before it's done.
Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing this time around.
SCORE RECAP:
Packaging - ****
Sculpt - Zira ***1/2; Cornelius ***
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ****
Accessories - ***
Outfit - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ***
Value - ***
Overall - Zira ***1/2; Cornelius ***
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