Packaging - Functionality: ***** Artistic Impact: no stars
It Sucks. Not only is it the old-fashioned single-flap style box with the Velcro tab holding the flap in front, but also the artwork is nothing more than a shot of the figure inside, which blends into the black background. Honestly, they should have saved a few bucks for the consumer and just packed him in a plain brown cardboard box. This is throwaway packaging of the highest order. Oh sure the figure is secure, so functionally it works fine, but we’re talking about the box as something to display, and this thing is just utterly plain. Some movie stills, some higher contrast lettering, anything would be better than this. The T2 movie poster would have been a nice choice for flap artwork. Compared to their Star Wars, LOTR, and heck even their yearly Zombie Comic-Con exclusives, this is embarrassing packaging for what I would think would be a bigger-name license for them. I guess not.

Sculpting - ****
I tend to be either a little too lenient with sculpts, or a little too harsh when it comes to Sideshow’s offerings. There are times when we can criticize Sideshows final production sculpts compared to their prototypes as not living up to the hype, either due to changes in the sculpt, the molding process, or the paint application. I am pleased to say this is not one of those times. This is a very, very good likeness of Robert Patrick. Sideshow had previously released a sculpt of a slightly older Robert Patrick figure as Agent Doggett, from their X-Files line, but this is not the same one. From every angle the sculptor, Andy Bergholtz, has done a very good job capturing the almost feline-like characteristics of Robert as the T-1000. The piercing stare, furrowed brow and determined face really bring the character home. The jaw-line, the shape of the head, even the hairstyle is all highly accurate. And of course, the best part, the ears…they give the character that feline look, sticking out from the head. Nicely done.

The areas where things suffer a bit is in the profile, namely the chin. We’ve seen this sort of problem with other Sideshow offerings. Its not a deal breaker by any means, but Robert Patrick at that age had a fairly pointed jaw with a pronounced chin-dimple. The figure has more of a puffy chin, no dimple at all. It’s a small nit to pick, but it makes the profile look a bit strange from the nose on down. Otherwise, however, there’s no mistaking who this is supposed to be.
Nice Job. 

Paint - ***
The T-1000 is a figure that has little paint detail. The face is painted an acceptable tone that looks similar to the way Mr. Patrick looks on film. The lips are painted an acceptable shade as are the eyebrows (pictures don’t do the figure justice so take the close up headshot with a grain of salt). They really did a fine, fine job on the eyes. Piercing is an excellent way to describe them.

There is a nice sterling-silver paint application on the police badge on his uniform, with gold highlights. This is a small detail but very nicely done, which is what I expect from Sideshow. Otherwise most of the other accessories are unpainted, molded in either black plastic or rubber. Unfortunately the paint on the hair falls somewhat flat. Literally. It’s flat brown paint. In scenes from the T2 film, the T-1000 seems to have lighter brown hair, almost a dirty blonde sometimes, or lighter brown hair with blonde highlights, but this figure has plain brown hair. Period. Methinks a wash or dry-brush at the factory could have helped things out here. 

Also we have been seeing paint detail added to rubber and plastic items like boots and belts for years now from other 1/6 manufacturers, when is Sideshow going to ride this train? Of course painting heads is an area Sideshow has always struggled with. Or perhaps our expectations have risen too high? The silver paint on the “liquid metal” accessories is a flat silver. Now, Sideshow could have gone two ways with this, Flat Silver, or polished chrome. I think Sideshow chose wisely and went for the flat silver look. 

Articulation - ****
Standard Sideshow Body. No ape-arms. I really don’t know what to say since we already know what this body type is like. I haven’t undressed the figure to see if there are some fancy new cut or ball joints anywhere. Frankly, I don’t care. He displays nicely and is more articulated than the average human being. The best part is that the ball joint on the neck works perfectly, so you can tilt the head forward to give the figure that creepy Robert Patrick T-1000 “I’m looking up through my eyebrows, calculating the best way to kill your squishy human ass” look when you pose him on the shelf. Nice.

Outfit - ***
I gave this figure 3 stars out of 5 not because it’s bad in any way, but because it’s not really spectacular either. The figure comes dressed in a relatively simple LAPD black (or is it dark, dark blue??) duty uniform. That means duty shirt with collar, white undershirt, duty slacks and black boots. The slacks have the dual-thigh pocket details sewn into them, so that is cool (but I couldn’t tell you if that’s movie accurate or if these pants are a reissue from some previous set). So what’s the problem? For such a simple uniform they could have fixed these small issues I’m about to describe.

The boots don’t have any paint detailing added to them that I can see, just standard black molded rubber. The buttons used on the shirt are definitely oversized (think: Doll Clothes buttons), and the t-shirt they provided is made from a material so thick that at first I thought he was wearing a white winter turtleneck. The little accessory touches on the uniform are nice, the silver stamped buttons and epaulette fasteners are silver like they should be, they even included the silver pen that the character keeps in its pocket in the film, but I wished they had used scale buttons. It’s a simple little thing that brings the overall look down just a notch. Its 2007, they make scale buttons for 1/6 clothes. So simple, effective, but could have been just a little better for a truly perfect look. Oh yeah, the pockets on the shirt look a bit large and “sewn on”, but this is a fairly common problem with 1/6 clothes….and may have something to do with the magnets that are located inside the shirt that hold the “bullet-hole” attachments to the figures torso.

Accessories - Exclusive *** ½. Non-Exclusive: *
If you buy Exclusive version of the T-1000, you will get the super freakin’ awesome “Metallic Hook Arms”. Pop those suckers on your T-1000 figure and nobody will ever question what figure that is that’s on your shelf from across the room. They make this figure. They pop onto the mini wrist-peg after you remove the hand. The cloth material at the wrist is somewhat shabbily painted silver, I guess to suggest the transformation from cloth to metal. The effect doesn’t really work, and the paint stiffens the fabric above the metal hook arms making it look like…well…bad. Nice try though, it would have likely been impossible to pull this off in any other way, so Kudos to Sideshow for trying at least. 

One other negative, and it’s a nit to pick again, but the hook arms have a very noticeable seam line running down them front and back. It would have been nice to see these molded as one solid piece, to really give it that “liquid metal” look. You also get a “stick your stepmother in the eyeball” hand-with-needle-finger replacement hand, and a whole bunch of magnetic bullet holes. Huh? Yeah, I thought they’d be Velcro, but it seems sideshow has placed magnets inside either the uniform or the torso of the figure, allowing you to attach the large and small silver “impact holes” to the figure to simulate battle damage. It’s a pretty cool idea…but sadly, it doesn’t’ really work all that great in the end. On my figure the magnets really only seem to be in the oversized pockets of the shirt, and when attached…they really don’t look like bullet holes, but the idea is still cool. 

But here’s the bitch of it all, if you buy the non-exclusive version of the T-1000, you’re buying a $50+ cop figure. Frankly, the hook arms should NOT have been the feature that makes this figure exclusive, because without them, this figure has almost no accessories to speak of. The interchangeable pointy-finger hand, now there is a good choice for an exclusive piece. Nice, but not a huge major component of the figure overall. Without the arms, you lose ½ the fun of this figure. The stick-on bullet holes are ok... well, they sort of don’t really work... they look like things hanging off the clothes…but then when you get to the police officer duty belt, things actually get worse, and this part applies to the Exclusive version as well, Sideshow includes cases on the utility belt for mace/pepper spray holders, handcuffs, and a hanging flashlight ring (like comes on the Sideshow Zombie Guard figure). Trouble is, Sideshow neglected to give us anything to put into those pouches. I can accept having to leave the oversized (somewhat grossly I might add) handcuff pouch empty, and the mace pouches…but to not even include the mag-light that comes with the Zombie Security Guard when you give us the belt loop and holder to carry it…that’s just…cheap. The problem with the other pouches is that they are all somewhat open, even when closed, so its easy to see they’re empty. Sideshow is usually really good about giving us small plastic junk to stick in to belt pouches... why they neglected this on this figure is beyond me.

Fun Factor - ***
I tend to always rate my 1/6 figures the same way. 3 stars because they’re really “just fer lookin’ at” on your shelf. While Sideshows offerings are usually sturdy enough to handle some play, these guys really aren’t for taking out into the back yard and hammering on. If you have the other Terminator offerings from Hot Toys and other Japanese manufacturers, then this T-1000 will make a fine, fine addition to your display. But when it comes to playing with them, who can tell. I’ve always preferred to 3” GI Joe over the 12 inch guys when it comes to firing the imagination.

Value - Exclusive Version: ***1/2 Non-Exclusive: *1/2
Simply put, the exclusive version gets you the hook arms, combined with the excellent head sculpt and decent enough uniform (missing accessories not withstanding), he’s worth what Sideshow asks for him. But the Non-Exclusive? Return him. You’re shelling out $50 bones for a head sculpt and an otherwise generic (and incomplete if you wanna talk about those accessories again) figure. Didn’t get the Exclusive? Wait for the Sideshow $20 clearance price. I know it’s harsh, but that’s the way I see it. A head sculpt and a pointy finger should not a $50 figure make.

Things to Watch Out For:
There aren’t a lot of breakables on this figure, so I would guess the only thing to watch out for is that you don’t snap the super pointy finger replacement hand accessory that the figure comes with while you’re trying to force it onto that tiny little wrist peg. And don’t lose any of the belt accessories. OH WAIT, too late! J (cough)cheap shot(cough)

Overall - ***1/2 exclusive, *1/2 non-exclusive
This figure has some excellent qualities, and a few snippets of suckage. The good generally outweighs the bad, but there is really no getting past the fact that without the exclusive hook arms, this figure is definitely overpriced, and missing accessories to boot. If you are lucky enough to have the exclusive version on order, you’ll most likely be pleased. I’m happy with the purchase. However, if we are talking about the standard version….I don’t have much good to say. The hook arms make the figure. I think the sculpt is excellent, and fully kitted out he’s a great figure. Just make sure you get the hook arms, it really is a huge big deal (at least to me).

SCORE RECAP:
Packaging - Functionality: ***** Artistic Impact: no stars
Sculpt - ****
Paint - ***
Articulation - ****
Outfit - ***
Accessories - Exclusive *** ½. Non-Exclusive: *
Fun Factor - ***
Value - Exclusive Version: ***1/2 Non-Exclusive: *1/2
Overall - ***1/2 exclusive, *1/2 non-exclusive