Packaging - ****
As I stated above the packaging is what caught my eye. It is a very
urban looking metal “tin” with a large front window display. The rest
of the box has a lot of graphics and I find it to be quite attractive
and colorful. A “collector’s seal” is a plastic strip wrapping around
the front held tight with a sticker. I found this to be fairly easy to
remove and put back on if you want to make him look truly mint. The
front lifts off and resting inside is a plastic tray with 3 twisty
ties. Not too difficult to get him out.
Sculpting - ***
This
figure is very stylized and blocky looking. There isn’t a great deal of
detail here but all the lines are clean and well defined. One minor
annoyance I noticed when I was removing his clothes to photograph him
for this review is that he has a lot of holes for the screws that hold
him together. If you wanted to display him shirtless it wouldn’t look
very good but that isn’t the intent here. The hoody and parka are his
best points anyway. This figure doesn’t have any accessories
so he doesn’t need complex hands to hold them. On the right hand the
finger is pointing straight out disco style and the other hand is
partially closed.
Paint - ***
There are only two spots of paint here: his shoes and his eyes/cheek
bones. The shoes are fine. I don’t notice any slop or bleed between the
black and white really. The eye stripe across his face could be
slightly more precise and considering it is his only paint really it
should be perfect. I think this figure could have used a little more
paint detail. It’s a blocky figure so it is hard to decide how much to
put on. I would have preferred more paint on him because I like detail
but it looks fine on the figure. It isn’t a major drawback.
Articulation - ****
This figure says it has 18 points on the back of the box but that
doesn’t include the cut biceps or thighs so it has at least 24 points
of articulation
-ball jointed head and neck
-ball jointed mid torso
-ball jointed waist
-ball jointed shoulders
-cut biceps
-double hinge elbows
-cut wrists
-ball jointed hips
-cut thighs
-double hinge knees
-cut ankles
-ball jointed feet
Accessories - Bupkis
He
doesn’t come with anything. A boom box, basketball, or spray paint can
would have been applicable though and his hand is gripped to hold
something. The hand should be more relaxed if he isn’t going to have an
accessory.
Outfit - **** This is the coolest
part of the entire figure. He has shoes, socks, jeans, boxer shorts, a
hoody, and a parka. Some of the other figures had different clothing.
The other ecko figure I saw at TRU had a hoody and a messenger
bag.
The jeans are kind of bland and not that special as are the shoes and
socks. I didn’t even know he had boxers until I took the pictures! The
jacket looks excellent though. It has a working zipper, Velcro cuffs
and fake hair around the hood. The hoody is equally as good. It fits
very well and the printing on the chest looks excellent. The
drawstrings are a little out of scale but they work. The pockets on the
jacket are sewn shut but the pockets on the hoody and pants are open.
The jeans have the fake wrinkled look that is so popular these days.
I’m not a huge fan of it but this figure is supposed to be urban and it
fits him just fine. Real shoelaces would have been a nice touch but
that is my only real gripe.
Fun Factor - ***
He has really good clothing and awesome articulation. He doesn’t have
any small parts that can be lost either. I think kids might get a kick
out of him. He’s held together with screws so he is pretty durable.
Value - ****
I
got this figure a few months ago but I recall paying $16 for him. A
quick froogle search showed target has them for $20. $20 seems too
expensive for them in my opinion. I bought this figure because I like
ecko and the interesting packaging but I didn’t buy it JUST for the
logo. A $16 price tag seems just fine, any more and I’d start taking
some stars off.
Overall - ***1/2
I was
really impressed with this figure. It looks beautiful displayed on a
shelf - in or out of the package. This figure really helps to show that
the packaging can be an important part of the figure and a lot of
companies out there could take a lesson from this line. My only gripe
is the lack of any accessories. I’m not really too fond of the other
clothing companies in this series so I won’t be getting the others but
they are just as good from what I noticed in the store. Look out for
any dings or scratches on the front window. It is a large window and
while it is sturdy it’s still a plastic window and can suffer from
shelf damage. Also make sure that the paint on the face is ok. Mine is
pretty much fine but I could see how there could be some problems with
slop or bleed. Check out the citizen urban icon site at www.urbanicon.net. The site is user friendly so you can easily find the other figures in the line and their variations.
SCORE RECAP:
Packaging - ****
Sculpting - ***
Painting - ***
Articulation - ****
Accessories – Bupkis
Clothing - ****
Fun Factor - ***
Value - ****
Overall - ***1/2
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