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Packaging: ****
This box is perfectly attuned to the first
two Appleseed figures and as he is, like them, part of the Movie
Masterpiece Series (MMS) we get the nice shiny metallic sleeve, this
outer sleeve has an image of Tereus from the movie sans head protector
and mic, but all other pictures are of the figure. The inner box is the
classic flap, fronted, 5 panel design, inside the flap the windows are
die cut to show the various parts rather than a large window, this is
obviously because of the ‘kit form’ nature of the figure. The whole
thing is covered in an abundance of images. Inside the tray he’s held
in place by 5 twisties and is in a semi kit form like the others. So,
all you have to do is pop on his head boots and hands, then strap on
his thigh holster and he’s ready to rock’n’roll. Sculpt: ****
Tereus
is an Anime character, not a ‘real’ person, so sculpting is a bit
easier… not easy… just easier. That doesn’t mean HT have taken any less
care, I would imagine just as much observation has been lavished on
Tereus as there was on such recent 1/6 works of art as the Bruce Wayne
head with the new TDK Batman. And like the recent Resident Evil (Bio
Hazard if you are in Asia), and indeed the first two figures in this
series they’ve managed to nail the transfer from pixel to 3D reality
very well. This is a great likeness of the character and the ponytail,
loose strands of hair and the mic on his head are all applied as
separate pieces, in the movie his loose hair at the front is a little
wispier, but this is still a great representation. Like his comrades
virtually every square inch of Tereus’ is sculpted, as his skin-tight
body glove and armour are all made from rubber, silicone and plastics.
His outfit is like a hybrid of Deunan’s and Bri’s sharing many elements
but also having it’s own unique ones, like the design of his pectoral
and abdominal armour. He also comes with a sculpted HECATE P-08 pistol,
HECATE stg 1002 futuristic assault rifle the same as Deunans and a new
pistol unique to him. He has six hands, two fisted, two relaxed and two
gun grip, all these hands swap out easily and hold the guns well. You
may notice if displayed alongside ‘real world’ figures, i.e. figures
based on representations of actors from live action movies, that his
head seems a little small, but this is again accurate to the source
material, and he fits perfectly with Deunan and Briareos.
Paint: ****
As this is a CG character the paint apps have to be good at
representing the character as seen on screen rather that ‘ultra’
realistic. So after the amazing paint jobs HT have done on recent
releases like Davy Jones, The Joker and Batman this must have been a
walk in the park for them. However, though more straight forward it is
still a great job, with some lovely subtle work on the mouth, eyes and
skin-tones. As I said this is based on an Anime/Manga type of
character, so the eye paint mimics this showing multiple light
reflections, unlike Hot Toys ‘real’ person paint apps where they let
the glossiness of the paint do the work. This is all top quality with
absolutely no slop.
Just par for the course on HT ever continuing, faultless paint apps!
Articulation: ***1/2
Any figure with this amount of rubber clothing and rigid armour is
going suffer some degree of immobility. But like the two that came
before him I was surprised at just how much movement he still had.
Under all of his attire is the True-Type body which can do a very
decent job of mimicking human anatomy, but when fully kitted up in his
ESWAT armour that body is gonna struggle for any extreme or deep
stances, so the three star score is purely down to restrictions caused
by the outfit, not the base figure. But if you approach this figure
with that in mind I think you’ll be very happy.
Accessories: ***1/2
As I said above Tereus comes with a
HECATE P-08 pistol and a HECATE stg 1002 futuristic assault rifle, he
also has another silver pistol and the traditional HT stand, so pretty
much the same as Deunan, just swapping out her knife for his gun. Not
the biggest selection ever but it covers everything he used in the
movie. Both the pistols have a cocking mechanism and removable clips;
the assault rifle also has a spring loaded cocking action and coloured
lenses in the sight. He has six hands, two fisted, two gun-grip and two
relaxed, a nice selection. Lastly he comes with a stand, emblazoned
with the movie logo and character name, I got mine to stand fine
without it, but it’s there if ‘stands’ are your bag!
Outfit- ****
You could
pretty much read the last ‘Appleseed’ review linked above for this
section. Suffice to say they have done another amazing job. This outfit
sits right between Deunan’s and Bri’s in both terms of scale and
design, only having subtle differences from both, and as mentioned
above most of those are in the chest and abdominal areas. Hot Toys seem
to have mastered the art of making 1/6 characters with multiple layers
of clothing or armour still look to scale without bulking up and
looking ‘toy’ like!
Obviously there is always going to be a
compromise or pay-off, in this case it’s the slight loss of
articulation, but as I also mentioned I was impressed and more than
happy with the amount of poses I could still get him into. A small work
of 1/6 genius!
Fun factor- ****
I admit Tereus isn’t as much of a ‘must
have’ as Deunan and Bri, unless you are a big fan of the anime, but ‘at
the moment’ it looks like we might not be getting any more Appleseed
figures. I still wonder if they might make Manuel Aeacus (maybe as an
exclusive?), with his cybernetic head and mecha-arm he’d be an easy
sell, and most parts of Tereus would be re-usable. But back to the matter in hand, Tereus looks great along side the other two so it’s full marks for me.
Value: ***
This is one beautifully put together figure, with
a nice range of accessories, his outfit is a work of art and it all
comes nicely packaged. However $149.99 (SST price) is still a lot of
money… increasingly the norm, but still a lot. If you can get it nearer
the $120 mark (which is possible) you can add another star. Overall: ***1/2
It’s literally just the price keeping this from perfection! A fantastic
companion for the other two and very glad I picked it up. I imagine
he’ll be a slow burner in terms of sales, as the pull isn’t as instant
as either Deunan or Bri, but I sense he’s a future classic, great
figure!
Score Recap:
Packaging - ****
Sculpt - ****
Paint - ****
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ***1/2
Outfit - ****
Fun Factor - ****
Value - ***
Overall - ***1/2
Where to Buy -
Side Show Toys are still the official US importer on these and they have them on pre-order for- $149.99
Some of Michaels other sponsors also have them-
Dark Shadow- $135.00
Cornerstore- $134.99 Forbiddenplanet
£ 52.99 - PRE ORDER
Or you can hit eBay where people are asking for between $115 to $190. Youu can use Michaels sponsor www.MyAuctionLinks.com.
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