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King Kong! |
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If you look through my list of reviews over the last 8 months, you'll
notice very few McFarlane figures. Sure, there were the Austin
Powers figures, but not much else. I bought everything they produced
at one point, but I began to get away from them as the Spawn lines got
more repetitive and less unique. However, they still do the finest movie
tie-in figures out there, and the Movie Maniacs concept is an excellent
one. It looks like their choices are starting to get a little off
the original intent - I certainly wouldn't classify Shaft or Edward
Scissorhands in the same ballpark as Jason and Freddy - but it's nice to
see a place where single figures that couldn't support an entire line by
themselves have a chance to see the light of day.
King Kong is just such a figure. Certainly, you couldn't do an
entire line off that single movie, but by integrating him into the Movie
Maniacs series, we've been afforded the chance to get a great figure of a
great movie monster.
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Sculpts - ***1/2
Excellent work - obviously McToys strong point. They don't disappoint
here either, with a overall sculpt that is very true to the source
material. The head sculpt is dead on, but don't overlook the excellent
detail on the rest of the big ape's body. The shackles themselves
could have been a little more detailed I believe, but overall this is a
perfect example at McFarlane sculptors at their best. The real chains
attached to each of the cuffs is also a very nice and much appreciated
touch. Also of note is the paint work on the eyes - they've used a
glossy coat here, making them appear much more life like.
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Packaging - **
Less than thrilling, to say the least. Graphics aren't too exciting,
and the packages don't appear to stand up to well to shelf wear.
Most I've seen are already damaged coming out of the cases. Add to
that the fact that the packaging engineer on this one went absolutely nuts
on twisty ties and you've got a nightmare. They didn't just use too
many - they even glued many of them to the cardboard! I have no idea
why they would feel the need to glue these closed, but if you don't have a
pair of wire cutters handy, expect to spend a lot of time freeing this
guy.
Articulation - ***
This is an area where McFarlane is hit and miss. Some figures have
useful, ingenious articulation. Others (can you say Alice Cooper?)
aren't much more than a hunk of plastic. Kong is somewhere in the
middle. He has seven points - neck, shoulders, one elbow (cut joint),
waist and hips. Having a cut joint on the other elbow, along with
wrist articulation, would have really helped, but still, it's not bad.
As usual, the unique sculpt causes problems with the articulation - poor
Kong can't raise his arms above his shoulders because they will run into his
head. But overall, this is fairly well articulated figure.
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Accessories - ***
Fay Wray is one of the accessories, and if she was it they'd have scored
mighty low in this category. Last time I saw the movie, she was
blonde - was there some sort of licensing issue, perhaps her estate is
still in control of her likeness and didn't want this figure to appear
like her? I don't know, but since she's pretty much just a little
piece of plastic without much personality, on her own it would have been a
major disappointment. Oh, and yes, it was in black and white, but
trust me, she was a blonde.
Ah, but she's not the only accessory. We are also treated to a
terrific base, again very true to the source material. The base is
extremely sturdy, well designed, and looks terrific. Forget Miss
Wray - the stand is the real beauty here.
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Value - ***1/2
While we expect McToys to produce fantastic sculpts, an excellent value is
not something I usually associate with them. However, this time the
do a terrific job. This monster cost $12.99 at my local Toys R Us,
and he is one hefty, well built chunk of monkey. This figure is one
of the very best values McFarlane has produced in a long time.
Overall - ***
This is the nicest figure McFarlane has produced in awhile, and perhaps
the nicest so far in the Movie Maniacs line. I was pleasantly
surprised to see this level of quality and detail at this price point, and
it has me anticipating the ultra cool Where the Wild Things Are figures
even more!
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Figure from the collection of
Michael Crawford.
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