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Packaging - **
I've been a little disappointed in the packaging on my recent bbi
purchases. Here again they've taken a step back.
The box is sturdy, and the graphics are decent, but the
front and back are identical, and the interior of the flap fairly
plain. There's very little text here, although they do give you the
roughest of ideas of who the three girls are on the spine.
These could have been very collector friendly, except for
one point. They didn't use ANY twisty ties - yay! Everything
in the tray comes out easily, and there isn't even any tape on either end
of the box.
But the gear on the inside flap is bubbled to the flap
itself, meaning just like a carded figure, you'll have to tear up the flap
to remove them.
Another item that I'd like to
see with figures like this with more complicated weapons and outfits - how
about some instructions on putting things together? Her weapons come
in several pieces, and there's no explanation on the small pegs (which I
figured out for myself).
Sculpting - ***
The sculpting here is very nice. While her face isn't
particularly difficult or unique, it's better than a Barbie, but still
attractive with no snarling or constipation in her demeanor.
The rooted hair works well
again, and unlike the pictures which show her as a brunette, she's
actually a blonde with VERY long hair. Unfortunately you can't
easily tuck all that hair up under the helmet, but it still looks pretty
good running down her back.
Uniform - ***
The uniform uses a pleather material, similar to the Famous Cover modern
Wolverine or Storm figures. It stretches fairly well, and it's
heavier than the material used on figures like A.J. It is a bit
stiff though, which might make some poses a little more difficult.
The stitching is good, and
the overall construction solid. The outfit is removable with some
work, since the feet are still the boot feet that have to be unscrewed.
There's also a belt, with a
Cy Girl insignia and 'Born to be wild' written on the buckle. It's a
basic outfit, but decent.
Accessories - **1/2
How could so many cool looking accessories get such a low score?
Well, it's not because of numbers - Nikki has plenty of extras.
First there's the two
required weapons, this time a CGG-TA1 Maggy Hammer revolver, and a
GG-SMG-2 Viper-583 automatic rifle. Both guns sport great sculpts,
and futuristic designs. There's a scope that fits on the top of the
Maggy Hammer, and the cylinder also turns. The Viper comes with two
clips, and there's a space on the fold out stock to hold the second
clip. That's a particularly nice feature!
Nikki also comes with her
motorcyle helmet, that includes a removable chin guard, a smoked face
plate and a silver sun guard. The construction on the helmet is
excellent, and it's got the heft and feel that you expect from a quality
accessory of this size. There's a pretty worthless chin strap
however, that you'll not use and may consider snipping off completely.
Nikki has a pair of silver
sun glasses, just like the other Cy Girls, and a holster that fits well
and holds the Maggy Hammer without any trouble. She also has the
requisite ID card, and three, yes, count them, three extra sets of hands.
One set is open, wearing full
motorcyle gloves. That's the set I prefer, and which you see in the
photos. The other three sets are fingerless gloves, one set open,
one set closed, and one set in a traditional 'chop' hand pose. They all
pop on and off fairly well, and have very sturdy posts.
The final extra is a set of
four silver 'pins'. These pins are actually replacements for the
pins that hold the face plates and chin guard on the helmet, on the off
chance that you break them.
So why only three stars with
so many accessories? The first big reason - I had to get the super
glue out too soon after getting her out of the box.
The back half of the Maggy
Hammer, the stock and cylinder, look like they are supposed to come free
from the front half. However, the connection was so loose that I
couldn't keep them together at all, and had to super glue them
together. Also, be careful with the small rectangles on the bottom
of the front half of the Maggy - they slide off and are easy to lose!
As I said, my favorite hands
are the full gloved ones, but oddly the thumbs on these gloves are a
separate piece, glued on at the factory. Just trying to get the guns
into her hands I popped one of the thumbs off immediately, and had to glue
that back on as well.
Now let's talk about the
helmet. It looks excellent! But there's a reason that none of
the web sites selling Nikki show her wearing it - using it takes a ton of
effort.
It's a tremendously tight
fit, and I had to experiment to find the best way to get it on her without
damaging her. First, remove the chin guard and face plate (or sun
guard if that's what you're using). Be careful not to break the pins
- I suspect that's why you get extras.
Then, remove her big silver
earrings. There's no way you'll get the helmet on with those still
in, but fortunately they seem to come out pretty easy. I have no
idea how easy they'll go back in.
Finally, squeeze poor Nikki's
head together from the sides, and force the helmet on from the back.
*whew* It's a tight fit, but it does look good once you're
done. I probably wouldn't have minded the effort to get the helmet
on if I'd had some instructions from the manufacturer, but since I had to
figure it out for myself, it was far more annoying.
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