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Packaging - **1/2
All the required elements are here, including decent artwork, and pictures
of the other characters on the back with appropriate text.
The reason the score isn't
better is because while they elements are there, they don't do much for
you. It's not particularly eye-catching, and the photos of the
figures on the back are rather bland. The bases are very hard to see
in the bubble, which is important since the bases are a large reason to
buy these.
I do like the photo portraits
on the front though, and each capture the actor/character nicely.
Sculpting - Angel **,
Cordelia **1/2, Faith ***
It's extremely tough to do real people. I'm betting that if David
had been a real guy, someone would have complained that his nose was too
big. Or something.
Some of the Buffy figures
have been fantastic, particularly Spike and Oz. Others, like Willow
or Cordelia, weren't nearly as nice. This set is a mixed bag.
Faith is the nicest sculpt of
the set, and looks the most like the actress. Add to that an
excellent body sculpt with just the right amount of action to the pose,
and you have the best of the series. She's not up to the level of
detail of Spike, but she's certainly better than many of the others.
Cordelia is an improvement
over her Buffy version, but there is still something wrong with the
face. It seems to me that her eyes are too close, and mouth too
wide, giving her face a longer look than it has in reality. The body
sculpt isn't bad, but is standard Moore style.
The Angel sculpt is the
poorest, and I honestly prefer the original sculpt. With too much
forehead and certainly too much hair, he looks like he has a huge
head. Compare the head to the photo right next to it and you'll see
what I mean - they tried to capture that look, but missed. When
you're dealing at this scale, just millimeters can make the difference.
Angel's body sculpt doesn't
do anything for me either. Think Giles with a new head. And
I'm not sure why so many of the recent Buffy/Angel figures have been
caught by surprise - Angel, Giles, and Xander all look as they are leaning
back suddenly.
Paint - **1/2
The paint work on this set is a mixed bag as well. Angel is actually
the best of the set here, although with a rather bland facial expression,
the ops can't improve much.
Faith's eye work is great,
but she and Cordelia have a major face issue - no sculpted eyebrows.
It's not a major issue for Faith, who has her's painted low as you'd
expect. With Cordy's being so high on her forehead, it's very obvious, and
they end up looking like the old 1950's version where they plucked them
all out and painted them on again.
Most of the paint work on the
outfits is good, with one notable exception. On my Faith, the area
on her lower back, above her paints but below the waist joint, is heavily
over-sprayed with black.
I had one other issue with
the paint ops, and that is because the right hand was painted shut.
I had to cut the figures loose from the thumb to fit another accessory.
Articulation - ***
There's certainly plenty of points of articulation here, and they've even
added a couple from previous Buffy figures.
There's neck, shoulders,
bicep cut, elbow, wrists, waist, hips, thigh cut, knees and now ankles, at
least on Faith. Angel does not have ankle articulation.
*CORRECTION* Angel DOES have ankle articulation! Just Cordy is
missing it.
The only real problem here is
one I've mentioned before - the joints are very tender. The
shoulders, elbows and especially wrists are susceptible to breakage, and
you have to be very careful posing them with their weapons, or at least
getting the weapons into their hands.
Accessories - ****
Each figure is well equipped with monster fighting gear, and each also
comes with a display base.
Angel has five blade weapons,
including a neat little short sword that fits in a sheath. Cordelia
comes with an axe, purse, mega-stake, and what looks like a mag
flashlight. And Faith has a cross bow, compound bow, and mega-stake
as well.
The nicest accessory though
is the base. Each comes with a very detailed base, similar to those
in the later Buffy assortments. The sculpting and detail are
excellent on all three, but of course my favorite was Faith's - check out
the little doll in the garbage!
Value - **1/2
If you can find these for $10, that will help this value score.
Since I paid about $12 each for them, the value isn't quite as good.
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