Side
Note: I've been sitting on this one for a long time – since last
October. The figure is so detailed and well done, but the flaw that I
found frustrated the shit out of me at the time. I just wasn't sure
how to approach writing a review. I love the figure, but it pissed me
off.
The
other night I sat down and did something I never do: I wrote a toy
review at home on my own time. I'm okay with it and glad I got it
done. I also found out that the issues were still annoying but maybe
not as bad as I first thought. I mean, Alice has been standing on my
shelf for over eight months now and is just fine.
So
anyway, I hope you enjoy this one.
Oh, and the pictures aren't cropped because they were done on my neat-o Halloween backdrop.
I
love the Resident
Evil
movies and I’ve always been a fan of Milla Jovovich, so no problem
there. I even liked the fourth movie a lot. Not as much as the first
or third, but I did enjoy it. But when you’re shelling out over a
hundo for a single action figure it should really be your favorite
look for that character and while this is a close second, nothing
beats Alice’s gear in Apocalypse.
But
I wanted an Alice figure and who knows how long it’ll take to get
one from the third movie or if they’ll even do one. I would imagine
her more iconic look from the first movie will follow this one.
I
think a big reason I went ahead and pulled the trigger on preordering
this one from BBTS
was how much I am kicking myself for not getting one of Hot Toys’
early Iron Man figures or the more recent Scarlet Johansson Black
Widow. If you don’t pick up a Hot Toys release when it first hits
you’re going to end up paying out the ass for it.
First
Glance:
I’ll say this for Hot Toys’ products – they will blow you the
heck away right from the start. I still don’t know how I said no to
that Iron Man at Atlanta Comic Con. Alice here is no different. The
box is slick and once you open it up the figure is just mind-blowing
from the likeness to the costume to the accessories.
Sculpt:
This is the first time I’ve been able to directly compare two Hot
Toys figures. I’m surprised at how different the body types are
between Alice and my Abigail Whistler figure. They are immediately
recognizable as two different females. By which I mean their lady
parts are quite different.
Alice
has whatever huge number of points of articulation Hot Toys puts into
their figures. I can’t count. She has, like, ten in her neck alone.
Barring costume restrictions I couldn’t find a pose a real human
could do that this figure can’t. And the costume restrictions are
only because I didn’t want to have to rearrange pants and stuff,
not because the items couldn’t move or weren’t flexible enough.
The
proportions of the body used match Jovovich's to the point that it
almost seems to be a scan. I'm sure it isn't, but this is no generic
female body, either. The legs are a harder plastic and articulated
everywhere.
I have no idea what they look like. They could be hot pink plastic
and I'll never know. I don't even want to mess with trying to get all
her gear off. What matters is they're the right size and shape and
they bend in althe right places.
The
torso is a soft plastic – almost rubber – over an armature. It
bends in a bunch of places. I couldn't test the limits because of the
corset thing, but the figure seems to again be as mobile as a human.
Unlike
the Abigail Whistler figure, this one has hard plastic arms. This is
because Alice has fabric to cover her joints. Her shoulders, elbows,
and wrists are all covered and all move as much as humanly possible.
The
head is the typical spot-on Hot Toys likeness. It's just creepily
amazing. There is a magnet in the top of the head to allow you to
switch between two different hair sculpts – one disheveled and one
slightly more disheveled. There isn't a huge difference and I'm quite
frankly a little baffled as to why Hot Toys even did this, but
whatever. They both look good. They seem like they are going to fall
off when you first put them on, but those things are secure. Alice's
hairpieces aren't going anywhere.
It's
also worth noting that as posable as Alice is, she also holds any
pose you put her in. The joints are all very free-moving, yet stiff.
I've had her standing in a sort of leaning strut on my shelf for
months now and she hasn't shifted a centimeter from how I originally
posed her.
Design:
As far as actual paint applications there's not much to say. Both
hair pieces have at least three colors and look very real. The facial
details on the figure are just astonishing. Her eyes are painted with
a super-glossy paint that glistens like real eyes. It's almost
disturbing.
There's just barely a hint of some makeup, plus glossy
lip color.
The
clothing is accurate to the movie. She has boots, leg warmers (I
guess), super-tight pants, a super-tight t-shirt, her combat
vest/corset, assorted belts and holsters, a heavy coat, and arm
wrappings.
The
boots are each one molded piece but don't look like it. The soles,
eyelets, zippers, laces, wrappings, buckles, and seams are all very
realistic. The painted details look great, but I feel like those
straps under the knee should have some color. They shouldn't –
check the movie – but it sort of seems like they should.
The
pants and leg warmers look good. The leg warmers have that sock
texture and are ragged at the top. The pants are a sort of shiny
spandex and fit perfectly. I'm guessing they go down over the
figure's feet, because they don't bunch or sag anywhere.
The
t-shirt is a v-neck and fits well. Not much to say there. The vest
things is amazing. Not only does it fit the figure perfectly and not
interfere too much with movement, it is amazingly stitched and
detailed. The front is crisscrossed with actual fabric straps and the
back laces up. The arm wrappings are the same material as the pants
with a black faux leather wrapped around it. They look great, but if
you move them too much out of place they're going to be a bitch to
fix. And you will have to move them a little out of place to slide
out the pieces of plastic that were packed in between the arms and
wrappings.
The
holsters look
outstanding. The belt sits low on the figure's waist and the holsters
snap around the thighs and go up to the shoulders. Everything is
sized well and fits nicely. There are two underarm holsters for the
revolvers, two loops for the shotguns, and three loops for the sword
sheath. The faux leather is weathered. And the whole rig is scary
flimsy. The snap on the left revolver holster popped off the second I
touched the figure. The stitching on the loop for the shotgun on the
left just kind of fell apart the first time I tried to slide the
weapon into place. I very carefully put all of the weapons into place
after I took my pictures and haven't touched them since. I realize I
could reasonably return the figure, but I didn't want to deal with
the hassle. It's not like I'm going to be sitting on the floor having
Alice fight The Dead or anything. She is purely shelf candy. Still,
you should be aware of the delicacy of the belts.
The
jacket is awesome – very neo-Russian. The fabric is tough and heavy
and the collar is wooly and a bit complicated. There's a lining and a
ton of buttons and pockets and detail. It looks really good, but I'm
not going to be using it for display.
Accessories:
Alice comes with a set of regular hands, a set of pistol grip hands,
a set of open fist hands, a katana, a sheath, two shotguns, two
revolvers, two MP5KA4
Submachine-Guns, two
large knives, and a riot baton.
The
hands are slender and detailed and switch in and out easily. The
weapons fit in them securely.
The
katana appears to have a die cast blade with a plastic hilt. The
detailing is fantastic, from the lines on the blade to the wrappings.
It fits snugly into the sheath, which is a simple black plastic that
slides into the loops on the harness.
The
shotguns and revolvers are made up of multiple functioning parts.
There are shells inside the shotguns and the cylinder pops out of the
revolvers.
The
submachine guns are perfectly detailed to the point where I looked
them up to find out what they were called and the picture looked
exactly
like the toys, down to the insignias. The clips are removable and
have shells in the top.
The
knives match and look nice and a little worn thanks to some good
paint. The riot baton looks like a riot baton and has a shiny,
metallic look.
Packaging:
The box is a massive, fold-out ordeal with tons of graphics and a
really classy feel. I am a huge fan of the fold-out window box and am
always eager to see what kind of new designs Hot Toys and Sideshow
will come up with.
Overall:
This Alice is truly a work of art. Aside from the belts/harness,
everything is just about perfect. From the way the two hair pieces
line up with the front of the scalp to the facial paint to the fit of
the clothes. Everything is the finest example of toy making skill.
4
out of 5
If
you can get one without the faulty harness this is totally worth the
money. Hot Toys' stuff is expensive as heck, but absolutely worth it.
You will never find other toys as nice as theirs. You can still buy
Alice direct from Sideshow or a bit cheaper at BBTS.
If you want to see a shitload more pictures, go check out my Photobucket.
-Phantom
I have never played a Resident Evil game or seen a Resident Evil movie, and aside from a brief pubescent crush based on her cameo on Married... With Children I have always been politely indifferent to Milla Jovovich.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet this is one of the toys I want most in the world. I think it's just 'cause the sculpt is so great and I can interpret her as any sort of hero character I wish. Mostly, I just want to photograph the damn thing outdoors.
Dude, this is just a damn cool-looking toy. I don't know how to say it's an awesome toy of a hot chick without sounding like some kind of weirdo pervert, but it is. And most of the Hot Toys figures I'm buying are going to be just that. I assume someday I'll end up with a dude or two, but Hot Toys just really knows how to do the ladies justice in a way that no other toy company does.
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