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James Bond: Christopher Lee as Scaramanga

 

Tonight, Customikey is here with another great Sideshow guest review, this time on Scaramanga from the James Bond line.  Take it away!

I own a few Bond figures and I’ve been really impressed with them. Sideshow is the best toy company in the business as far as accuracy, accessories, and variety of licenses in my opinion. They’ve done well with the Bond license and put out some magnificent figures. Tonight, I’m taking a look at film icon Christopher Lee as Francisco Scaramanga from Man with the Golden Gun. It’s not a recent release, but anyone interested in the Bond lineup that hasn’t yet purchased this figure might want to read on.





”At last!!!  Satanic Rites of Dracula on DVD!”

Packaging - ****
I like to open my toys, and Sideshow made it easy with only three twist-ties. The doll stand is in the plastic tray which makes putting everything back in the box a snap. The cover art is very nice and makes a great backdrop for the figure. The inside flap has a rundown of the plot and a cast list, while the back of the box has a brief bio of the actor, Christopher Lee (opera star?!) and more info on the movie. Well done and sturdy packaging.

Sculpting - **1/2
I was prepared to be very hard on this sculpt, but the more I look at it, the more I’m satisfied with it. The features are a bit rounder than Christopher Lee’s gaunt face, and I would have preferred an expression that conveyed more of the character, but it’s otherwise okay. Hasbro actually put out a better Lee with their 12” AOTC Count Dooku. 

The hands are nothing new, which is kind of disappointing. Scaramanga wore gold rings on his pinky fingers, and they’re not on the toy. If second-stringers like Oddjob and Bela the Gypsy get new hands, why not The Man with the Golden Gun himself?

Paint - ***1/2
There’s no slop anywhere. The hairline, eyes, and mouth are perfect. There’s a subtle blush applied to the hollows of his cheeks and forehead that works very well. Certainly a milestone with this license, Scaramanga has painted nipples. One of the character’s distinguishing marks was a third nipple, and that is not sculpted, but painted on. The other two nipples were painted as well to match. They…uhh..look …great. Nipply.

Articulation - ***
Sideshow has a great standard body with some of the best articulation out there. What really sets them apart from other bodies are the special wrist and ankles that allow more intricate posing of the hands and feet. Mine suffers from loose hip and ankle joints.

My only issue here is that Lee is a noticeably taller-than-average man and the figure doesn’t convey that. Sideshow’s bodies are taller than most 1/6 scale figures anyway, but Scaramanga really should be taller than Bond. Just another ¼ of an inch would have done it. 

Accessories - ***
He comes with a pen, lighter, and cigarette case (used to make the gun in the movie), a solid gun, and the Solex Agitator. The four Golden gun accessories are molded in gold rubber. They would have been much more striking if they had been vac-metalized (I think that’s the right word), like Hasbro’s C-3PO. The gold-colored rubber is a bit bland. The Solex Agitator is the nicest looking accessory, with good paint-ops, and a transparent casing. It looks a bit like a modern TV remote. All of the accessories are tiny. I’ve already lost the pen. 

Outfit - **1/2
Scaramanga has a white dress shirt, tie, cream-colored suit, black socks, and white shoes. The dress shirt is well-tailored and looks great. The shirt cuffs have no snaps, so you’ll have to pull the hands off in order to remove the shirt. He has Golden cufflinks like in the movie. The black tie is stiff and fits snuggly with elastic. The suit doesn’t look as well-tailored as previous entries. The collar doesn’t sit quite right, but some light ironing might work that out. There are no buttons on the cuffs, which is completely wrong. The coat pockets are real, which is great except the sides of the pockets on the inside aren’t sewn shut. I discovered this when I lost an accessory that fell out of the inside of his pocket. The coat is held closed by a single snap. The shoes are not new sculpts, but look fine.

Value - ***
I got mine on eBay for $20, which is the perfect price. You’ve got to be a huge fan and not too picky about quality to pay the retail price of $40. Take off a star and a half if you pay more than $30. 

Overall - ***
Scaramanga is not the best entry in the Bond line, but it’s nice to have a figure of one of the series best villains, and anytime Christopher Lee finds his way into toy form, it’s a good thing. Now if we can only get his little sidekick, Nick Nack, with a suitcase accessory to pack him up in!

Customizer's Corner - 
Hammer Horror fans might want to use this figure to cobble together their own Horror of Dracula figure. Wrapping loose joints with rubber bands can help tighten them. The costume is perfect for that Colonel Sanders figure I know you’ve all been dying to make.

Where to Buy - 
Sideshow themselves still have Scaramanga available at $40, but if you do some searching you may be able to find him at another on-line retailer at a better price.


Figure from the collection of Customikey.

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