Review of Thor Sixth Scale Action Figure
Movie Version

Introduction

I've been a bad geek. Life has just been too hectic for me to get to the theater and see Thor, as great as the reviews have been. I'm kicking myself right now, but I plan on getting there...soon.

Until then, I must content myself with Hot Toys latest release - the movie Thor, as played by Chris Hemsworth. This is a bit of an early review, as these are just starting to ship internationally. I also have his father in my hot little paws, Odin, and I'll be covering him next week.

They haven't yet announced any further figures in the series, but with the success of the film and San Diego Comic Con right around the corner, I think that would be the ideal time for further announcements.

Thor and Odin were originally around $150 - $160, depending on the retailer. It's getting a bit tougher to find Thor now, so if you're interested I'd suggest getting him pre-ordered sooner rather than later. His dad is still available from a number of places, but I'm betting that as the photos of the production figure start to hit the web, those will dry up as well. The success of the movie, always a tricky thing for action figure companies to predict, is now likely to drive higher sales as well.

Packaging - ****
As you'd expect, the package looks terrific. Open the top flap, and inside you'll find the figure in a plastic tray with all the accessories, with no twisties, tape or bands. He's easy to remove with no damage to any packaging, and easy to return if you have the need.

With some past figures, Hot Toys has wrapped the hands, head and/or feet with plastic wrap. This time they went with small plastic bags, a big improvement since they are much easier to remove and replace.

There are instructions (along with a warning on the package to read them first, you big idiot, before you try anything with the figure), but they only show how to swap the hair for the helmet, and give the usual warning on turning the head when the chin is pushed down. Something on the cape would have been appreciated, but more on that in a minute.

Sculpting - ***1/2
If you compare this sculpt to some of the poster photos, you'll see it's definitely Hemsworth as the character. It's not as exact as some Hot Toys sculpts, which I suspect required offering up a live goat during the full moon to reach their level of perfection, but it's still mighty, mighty fine.

The hair is finely stranded and softly detailed, with about the right length. There are two swappable hair pieces - more on that later - and where they join the rest of the head, there's more of a seam and gap than I like to see. Obviously, it's completely hidden when he's wearing the helm, but it was more noticeable in person on the regular hair than I liked.

The portrait is very realistic, and as that's one of Hot Toys greatest strengths, it's not surprising.  The face seems a smidge thin for Hemsworth though, and in this case it tends to sit up too high on the neck. I suspect the reason was to allow for clearance with the armor, but it does give him a bit of the giraffe syndrome.

So overall it's an extremely realistic sculpt that does capture the actor well enough to be easily recognizable, but there's a few minor nits.

The hands are sculpted to work well with the accessories, and that they do. There's also enough variety to work with just about any pose.

Paint - ****
What can I possible say about Hot Toys production paint that I haven't said a million times before? It's simply outstanding.

Here, the facial hair looks most impressive, with spooky eyes and a perfect hairline to round things out. The skin tone is realistic, and there's no slop or mistakes to be seen.

I found that with the iris' painted toward the top of eyes, you can get a great look from him either staring straight ahead, or looking up to the heavens, depending on the tilt of the head.

Articulation - ***1/2
This is the beefy TrueType, an appropriate body for a large superhero like Thor. If you strip him down, he'd be able to take any pose known, but of course when you layer on an armored outfit like this, the articulation ends up getting a bit limited.

The neck works well (although as I mentioned, the head does sit a little high), and the shoulders, wrists and elbows are all tight enough to allow him to pose with the heavy hammer in hand. The armor restricts the chest and waist quite a bit, and the tight pants don't allow for too deep of stances, but you should be able to get some very athletic - and very natural - poses out of him.

There are two issues that I did find slightly annoying, but you may have less issue. The one restriction that bugged me was with the shoulders - you can't raise his arm directly above his head. I wanted to do a pose lifting the hammer to the skys, but that one wasn't possible. It's not a huge deal, and probably not unexpected considering the armored tunic and shoulder pads, but still worth mentioning.

The other issue was a bit more of mechanics. The left ankle tended to be a tad loose, so it had to be turned in just the right way to allow the foot to maintain poses. Again, a minor nit to be sure, but one that bears watching.

Accessories - ***1/2
Thor is a little light in this department, but that's largely because of the complex outfit driving up the cost.

He has his hammer of course, but it seems slightly small to me even for the movie version. Comic versions tend to be massive, but the film went with something a bit more realistic. Still, the head of the movie hammer should be a bit larger than his own head, and here it's about the same size. It's not a major issue, but another 20% would have been nice. 

The length of the handle is about right though, and the head is made from actual die cast metal, a very nice touch. The joints in the body are tight enough that he can hold the heavy hammer in most poses without wilting.

Along with the hammer, there's a rock outcropping that the hammer can be displayed buried in. The fit is pretty tight, but once you get it in place it looks terrific.

I'm counting the helm and cape as part of the outfit, so they'll be discussed in the next section.

There are extra hands of course, four in total. He comes wearing closed fists, and there's a set of relaxed hands and hands to hold the hammer. The hammer-holding hands are different in style as well, with the right being a more traditional smash them in the face pose, and the left being designed to appear more like he's posed to throw the weapon. 

The hands swap easily, and there are a couple extra wrist pegs included just in case.

Because of the tight fitting helm, the normal hair sculpt can't remain in place with it on. I discussed the slight gaping on the hair because of this earlier. The flowing hair piece pops off just behind the front hairline, being held in place with a magnet. A second hunk of hair, mushed down in a helmet head style, pops on in its place. That allows the helmet to fit properly, and still have the long locks trailing down the back. It's not a hair piece I'd suggest using sans helm, but it's critical to have with the helmet.

There's the usual black display stand too, a key add-in for those that have used them consistently in their display. He stands fine on his own, but the stand can give a little extra insurance for the long term.

Outfit - ***1/2
The first full body photo you see on the left was included to show you how he looks right out of the box, minus the helmet and cape.

His main outfit consists of the mail-style tunic, with armor breast and back plate over it, along with armored gauntlets (complete with soft red linings!), tight black pants, and armored 'boots'. The boots are in quotes, because the uppers that run up the calf are separate from the foot, allowing more posability in the ankle.

The sculpting on the armor is excellent, and the materials they've used are all top quality. Little touches, like the red lining on the gauntlets, really adds to the overall impression of quality work and attention to detail.

The tailoring and fit are perfect as well, and the costume looks very natural and realistic on the underlying TrueType.

Along with this main costume, there are two additional key pieces - his helm, and his cape. The helmet fits tightly over the second hair piece, designed specifically for this purpose. Although it is plastic, the bright, shiny silver color looks very much like actual metal. The wings are a slightly softer material, less brittle than I expected, and therefore less likely to break. They aren't soft enough to wilt, however, and are an excellent compromise.

The final piece is the long, flowing red cape. The cloth is thick and soft, befitting the son of a God. The material is sewn in a layered, folded manner, so that it flows off his back properly.

Inside the top of the cape is a rounded plastic piece designed to fit over the shoulder armor and hook in place. Unfortunately, this doesn't work quite as well as it should, and is the reason for the loss of a half star in this category. The plastic tabs that are intended to fit in the slots have small rubber pads which do help keep them in place, but without a lot of futzing, it was very difficult to have the cape lay properly. Either it sat too far back, or it sat too high up. The instruction sheet did not take it into consideration, so you're pretty much on your own figuring out the best way to get it just right. Eventually I found a spot I could live with, but the cape tends to fall out a bit too easily, making it necessary to go through the fiddling all over again.

Fun Factor - ***
Kid's figure? No, not at $150. But this is a very sturdy figure, much more so than most Hot Toys releases. There's no small pieces to lose, no brittle pieces to break. 

I've mentioned this many times, but it bears repeating - Hot Toys produces 1/6th action figures that have the DNA of the the 60's Joes and Best of the West figures in their blood, and yet take the style to a level that can only be described as art.

Value - **1/2
Most places had this guy for $155 or so originally, which is about the average price for a Hot Toys release. Considering he's a licensed movie figure AND he has a more complex costume than many AND he comes with the metal hammer, I'd say that's a decent value. For me, **1/2 stars means an average value, and the price won't effect my overall score in a positive or negative way.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much, which is unusual in itself for a Hot Toys release. The wrist pegs were very solid, and I had no trouble swapping hands. The helmet is made from a slightly bendable plastic, so breaking the wings is very unlikely. You'll have to really work at damaging this figure in any way.

The only caveat is the one mentioned in the instructions - don't turn the head when the chin is resting on the front of the rubber covered neck. You could leave a mark, so tilt the head back first.

Overall - ***1/2
I had enough minor issues with the figure that a perfect score wasn't in the cards. Most notable was the cape, which really needed a better way to attach to the armor.

That being said, I'm extremely happy I got this figure, especially with the good reviews the film is getting. I suspect that once I see the movie, I'll be all the happier to have a screen accurate version for the display, and when I get Odin cracked out and standing next to him, I expect to be thrilled with the duo.

Now I wish I had bought Wolverine and Blade...

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Sideshow has him at $170, but he's on back order.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other reviews of the Mighty Thor include:

- the recent Walmart exclusive Thor and Goliath set.

- there's also a couple of the small movie figures from Hasbro.

- going back further in time, there's the Hasbro Icons version, but there's also the Marvel Legends series 3 version (guest reviewed), the Marvel Legends series 2 version, and the Marvel Legends Giant Man series version.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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