Paint - ****
No slop, no over spray, no poor lines, not a single problem on any of
them. They eyes are all centered and clean, and they look like the
eyes of the characters, not some generic figure.
There's not a lot of ops outside the heads, but what is on
the guns and other accessories is well done and realistic.
Articulation - ****
These all use the standard Sideshow body, but they have the ball jointed
necks rather than the simple cut joint.
That means there's a ball jointed neck, shoulders, cut
biceps, double jointed elbows and knees, chest, waist, ball jointed hips,
cut thighs, the special Sideshow wrists (which work extremely well) and
ankles.
With the ball jointed neck, the better wrists, and no
looseness in the joints on any of the three I got, these bodies are as good
as any others. I have no idea how manufacturers are going to find a
way to top the current crop of excellently articulated 12" bodies from
Sideshow, bbi, Dragon and Drastic Plastic.
Accessories - ****
All three of these guys is fully loaded. And while there's some re-use
of accessories, there's also a surprising number of completely unique items,
specific to each character in the film.
Taylor (Sheen) comes with his automatic rifle, with bayonet. While
I don't recall him using it specifically, they did have the bayonets
attached during the scene in the village.
He also has two canteens, four various solid plastic pouches, three hand
grenades, his belt and rigging. Most of those items are shared amongst
the figures.
Taylor also has a unique cloth bag, used to carry his claymore mine and
reel of wire. There's also a mine detonator ("Squeeze it three
times"), and these items were central to a couple scenes in the
film. Taylor has a helmet (as does Barnes, but Elias does not),
specific to his character with the inscription "when I die, bury me
upside down so the world can kiss my ass".
Everything attaches to the belt or various straps, and the bayonet fits
nicely on the end of the rifle. Unfortunately, while Taylor's helmet
is great looking, it doesn't fit his head particularly well. I think
it's the hair sculpt that throws things off.
Barnes has some exceptional accessories as well. He too has a
helmet, but his has a pack of "Morlley" (Marelboro) cigarettes in
the band. His fits extremely well over the sculpted doo rag.
Barnes has the pouches, grenades, canteen, belt and rigging just like the
other figures. He shares a couple items just with Elias - his watch,
small metal bracelet on his left arm, Colt sidearm, and his rifle, which has
a telescoping stock. Finally, both he and Elias carry a cloth bag that
holds seven additional clips of ammo. It's a little tough getting all
those clips in there, but once you do it looks terrific.
Just like Taylor, Barnes has a few unique items. He has a Kabar
knife and sheath, and the 'knuckle blade' that he pulled on Taylor during a
tense moment in the film. Another clip is also taped to the clip
currently in his rifle.
Elias has the same pouches, grenades, belt and rigging that I already
mentioned. He also has an additional plastic pouch that is unique, his
large brass wrist band, a different knife and sheath, flashlight, canister
grenade, and necklace with white beads and cross.
He shares the sidearm with Barnes, along with his rifle, extra clips and
ammo pouch, watch, and probably some other stuff I'm simply forgetting, even
with them sitting right here in front of me.
All three figures are wearing their specific dog tags, with the
information cut into them. Bet you didn't know Barnes was a
Protestant?
Suffice to say there's tons of accessories here, and using so many
character and film specific items really adds to the realism of these
figures. I'm tremendously impressed with the effort that Sideshow has
put into this license.
Outfits - ****
There's far less unique about the outfits between the figures, but
there's still a few differences.
All three are wearing combat fatigues, with jacket and pants. The
pants have elastic at the ankles just above the boots, making them look far
better than if they had stuffed the pants into the boots.
Speaking of the boots, all three share the same sculpt as you'd
expect. They look excellent and fit extremely well. No oversized
clown feet here.
I mentioned the belts and rigging in the accessories, but it's worth
mentioning them again. The fit together great, and I wish all belts
had such well done buckles and real metal eyelets.
Each of the jackets has the proper rank and other markings for that
character. They also included the scarf that Taylor wore, making his
outfit even a little more unique.
I would have preferred the tank top that Elias wore during his climactic
scene, but I think the uniformity of the outfits works well on the shelf.
Value - ***1/2
If you end up paying $40 each for these, pull off a half star. But
there are plenty of places selling them for $30-$35, and at that price, this
level of quality and detail for a licensed product is great.
Overall - ****
These figures are simply amazing. Certainly some of the best
produced by Sideshow so far, I have to say I'm tremendously impressed.
If we could get a Tom Hanks from Saving Private Ryan, a John Wayne from Back
to Bataan or the Longest Day, or Lee Marvin from the Dirty Dozen, we'd be on
a roll!
Where to Buy -
Sideshow is selling them direct, and many sixth scale retailers will
be carrying them. I'm betting they turn up at specialty stores like
Media Play as well.
On-line:
- Sideshow Toy has them available direct for $40 each.
- Aisle Sniper has
them available for $32 each plus shipping, and has them currently ready to
ship
- Big Bad Toy Store
had the set listed at $85 for pre-order, with a flat $5 shipping.
- Entertainment
Earth has the set available for $99 plus shipping.
Keep scrolling down, as there are a ton more photos!