Review of Doc Brown - Back to the Future III
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

The Back to the Future trilogy did something very few trilogies do - they stuck the landing with all three films. I love them all, but because of my adoration of all things old west, the third installment holds a very special place in my heart.

Hot Toys has produced sixth scale versions of Marty and Doc Brown from both the first and second film, adding in a second, updated version of Marty from the first film as well. But this summer, they finally shipped the long awaited and much anticipated (at least by me!) versions of them for the third and final installment.

I just received Doc, and he's going for around $270 or so, depending on the retailer. I don't think we'll ever see Biff, or any of the other characters from the films, but with all six key looks for the two main characters, I can finally die happy.

Packaging - ***
Same old same old, although they did use a great looking photo of the actual Doc Brown for the cover, aged in a very tin type sort of way. The figure and accessories are cradled in the usual plastic trays, and everything is very collector friendly.

Sculpting - ***
I don't know about you, but I was pretty disappointed when the BTTF Doc Brown portrait arrived earlier this year, and it was exactly the same - right down to the holes for the futuristic glasses - as the BTTF2 version. Thank goodness, we get a new one this time.

The hat and head are all one sculpt, which makes sense in context. The hat is already large, and looking at photos that's absolutely accurate. But if they'd tried to do this large hat over top of a hair sculpt, it would have been out of scale. That's a common problem with sixth scale hats, and by doing this as all one piece, they avoid it.

And it's not like you were going to have this particular version on the shelf without the hat. It goes great with either outfit choice (formal or cowboy), and they have the sculpted wild hair sticking out nicely on either side of the head. The detailing in the hair is good, and the style fairly accurate, although by sculpting the locks, they end up thicker and less wispy than in reality. In fact, you could argue that this was a perfect opportunity for rooted hair, since they could have rooted it on the sides of the head under the hat, and glued the hat in place. At almost $300, that wouldn't be an unreasonable ask.

The face has a stern, stoic expression, not like a mannequin, but not overly expressive either. It works with a wide variety of poses, and is a good choice for the character in this particular movie.

It's also very realistic. Ignoring the improvement that rooted hair would have given it, the face itself has tons of skin texture and detail, with life-like glassy eyes and just the right amount of squint.

And yes, it's definitely Christopher Lloyd as Doc. Even without the hat and the hair, I have no doubt the average movie goer would pick him out of a line up.

The hat takes the figure up to 12 1/2 inches tall, and he looks great standing next to the Marty from the film. I would have gone another half star in this category, but the sculpted, thick hair did bug me enough at this price point to take some off. C'mon, Star Ace was able to do great rooted hair on their Dumbledore figures six years ago, and at a cheaper price.

Paint - ***
This is a category where Hot Toys usually crushes it, but this time there's one flaw that really bugs me, enough to drop them a full star.

The actual quality of the paint applications is excellent, as you'd expect. The skin tone is even and realistic, and the eyes are so human it's kinda spooky. Small details on the accessories look great, and even the brown on the hat looks more like cloth than plastic. If I were going just off these areas, I'd go another half to full star easy.

But while the skin tone is even and realistic, it's also really, really dark. Now I realize that he was tan in this movie, but this is a bit ridiculous. George Hamilton would be jealous. When my wife saw the figure, she commented on his dark skin first, before anything else, and when a non-collector type notices something like that immediately, you can bet it's pretty damn obvious.

Articulation - ***1/2
The underlying TrueType has no real restrictions, although the multiple layers of clothing are a little tight.

The neck and head are a once piece sculpt, making it look better but restricting the amount of tilt and lean a bit. Still, I was able to get plenty of personality in any pose I did, and I was fine with the outcome.

The shoulders, elbows, and wrists all work great, and he can take most gun holding poses. It's hard to get the rifle up into a full aiming pose, but he can hold it in most other one and two handed stances pretty easily. The included extra left hand seemed to work particularly well, using the wrist articulation to get good off hand holds.

The torso can crunch and twist, but the layers do push it back toward center a bit. Work with it and adjust the clothes, and you should be able to get the look you're going for.

The hips, knees, and ankles are great, and deep stances or sitting poses are possible. While he's not a ninja, you can get great, natural stances that will flow in a realistic way.

A big plus is the wires added to the outside edge of the front of the duster, and inside the bandana. These will help a lot in getting a natural look, especially around the collar. You can also add some dynamic flow to the bottom of the duster this way, enhancing your pose.

Accessories - ***1/2
There's a smidge of re-use here with the BTTF3 Marty, but it's fairly minor, and he has all the most critical bits for the character.

He only has one extra set of hands, which is pretty odd for a Hot Toys figure. He comes with relaxed grip hands on, and you can swap in a gun grip right and a loose grip left, perfect for using the rifle. They swap easily, but there's a couple extra wrist pegs just in case.

He has both his guns, the revolver which fits neatly in the holster on his gun belt, and the sweet rifle with the scope he designed. Starting with a Winchester rifle with a large loop lever, Doc added the sighting system that allowed him to 'shoot the fleas off a dog's back at 500 yards'. The detail work on this gun is really, really impressive, and is a big reason for the score in this category.

However, you'll want to be really careful with that lever. It's thin plastic, and it does go up and down. You'll notice that in some of the photos, I have the right grip holding it properly, with the fingers through the loop of the lever. In others, I have it lowered, out of the way of the gripping hand. That's because this hand fits very tightly around the stock and lever, and can easily break it when posing. I decided to stop risking fate while I was working with him, and I'll be posing him on the shelf with the lever lowered, out of his grip, rather than risk breaking it. BTW, the hammer on the single action revolver moves as well.

The scene specific wooden model of the DeLorean is also included, with moving wheels and 'time machine' painted on it. The one piece of re-use (other than the single action revolver) is the radio, identical to the one that came with Marty. The little antenna raises and lowers.

He also has his pocket watch, with a real chain. I didn't attach the watch, since it's a slightly difficult process, and I planned on displaying him without it, in the 'cowboy' look. The watch works better with the formal coat, because in that scenario the vest is closed, and the chain runs across the front.

However, after I finished my photos I noticed that in the movie he was wearing the chain and watch with the duster and open vest as well. I might play around a bit with it on the shelf, and see if I can get a look that I like using it with the open vest.

There are also four pieces of additional clothing - the gun belt and holster, the bandana, a bow tie, and the long duster coat. While these go toward increasing this score, I'll discuss them in depth in the next section with the Outfit.

Finally, there's the usual display base and crotch support rod, with the BTFFIII design and Doc's name plate. You won't have to use it to keep him upright long term, but if you're in an earthquake prone area - or have cats - it can be helpful.

Outfit - ****
There's a ton to this outfit, and it's all really well made. The tailoring and fit of the various pieces is excellent, and the overall quality of the material and construction is fantastic.

The hat is sculpted as part of the head, so it's not really part of his 'outfit' for purposes of this score, but it's worth noting again that the scale and design are great.

The costume itself consists of a white undershirt, the striped shirt and brown pants (which the instructions warns are not removable), the vest, a jacket or coat, a bow tie or bandana, and the boots.

The shirt, vest, and pants are all used in either the 'formal' or 'cowboy' look, although the vest is generally open in the latter. In all my photos where he is wearing the long duster, the vest is open, although it doesn't always look that way thanks to the close fit. Be particularly careful when opening the vest - these are NOT snaps! There are two hooks with little metal loops, and if you pull rather than slip the hooks off, you'll damage them.

There's a little staining and wear on the bandana and duster, but not much. I don't mind though, as the clothes do have a well worn look to them, not damaged but not brand spanking new either.

As I mentioned earlier, both the bandana and coat have wires that allow for better posing, and to get them to lay nicely around the neck and chest.

The boot sculpt has plenty of mobility too, which really helps with the ankle articulation. It's a one piece design, but works much better than I expected.

I am a little worried about the long term health of the belt and holster. We know that thin fake leather like this tends to age poorly, and only time will tell on these. The buckle works great however, and the holster is the perfect size for the gun.

The formal look is the vest closed, with the pocket watch in one pocket and the chain stretched across the front, with the jacket and bow tie in place. I'm a little annoyed that he didn't come wearing the bow tie, since getting it on requires a lot of messing with the collar of the shirt, and we all know how that can go. Since I knew I was going with the cowboy look, I  never ended up putting the bow tie on him.

With the cowboy look, you remove the blazer (and bow tie if you already put it on), open the vest (carefully, see above), and add the bandana and long duster. It's nice to get two completely unique looks, and really adds to the value of the figure overall.

Fun Factor - ****
This is the completion of the pairing for BTTF3, and also completes having all six versions of the two main characters through the entire trilogy. It's always great to finish up something on the shelf, and when you pair this figure with the appropriate Marty, you're gong to have a ton of fun swapping and switching. That's especially true since both Marty and Doc have two looks - formal and cowboy - that you can use to get your favorite look.

Value - *1/2
This guy was originally $270, but is already going up on the secondary market. This is a lot of money for a standard release with just one head sculpt. Considering the work we've seen other companies do with rooted hair - and yes, InArt is ripping you off for rooted hair - I can't help but believe they could have done it with this figure at this price.

Things to Watch Out For -
I mentioned two big items earlier - the vest closures not being snaps, and the fragility of the large loop on the lever. Take care with both areas.

Overall - ***1/2
I'm really happy with this figure, although I did have two main issues. The costume is fantastic, and the rifle is a thing of beauty. They did some amazing work on the details overall, and I'm so very happy to have finally completed the main two characters in all three films. Hot Toys is well known for bailing on a license before they get to a sensible end point, but this time they came through.

Still, he's really, really dark. A lot of collectors may not notice it at first - we've gotten a little too accustomed to incorrect skin tones. But I'll bet someone you know will mention it to you when they see the figure.

My second issue is probably a personal one, but I really do think there's no excuse for sculpting the hair at this price point. The rooted hair didn't have to be perfect at the root - the hat would cover it. The rooted hair didn't have to cover the whole head. It only needed to stick out from underneath the hat, and the wispy locks would have made this figure so much more realistic.

And yet, I'm almost tempted to buy a second. But then I'd need a second Marty too, so that I could dress them both up in the other costume. Sadly, the budget just can't survive that kind of crazy.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ***1/2
Outfit - ****
Fun Factor - ****
Value - *1/2
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
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I've reviewed the Hot Toys Doc Brown from BTTF II, as well as Marty from BTTF and Marty from BTTF II.

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