I
used to be a regular customer on the Sideshow website. I would say
that once a month I would get online and reserve a figure, whether it
was Star Wars, Buffy, or Sideshow’s proprietary zombie offerings –
The Dead. When I first started buying from Sideshow Collectibles
their 1/6th
scale figures averaged fifty bucks apiece.
Eventually
they stopped producing Buffy and seem to have moved to different
formats for The Dead. Star Wars has gotten prohibitively expensive
and I think it’s GI Joe’s fault.
I was beyond excited when Sideshow announced they had the license to produce GI Joe toys. I have a big weakness for 1/6th scale figures and always have. My very first pursuits on eBay were for the GI Joe Hall of Heroes 1/6th scale figures. These were Target exclusives and honestly weren’t even very good, but I had to have them. Once I had them I did a bit of customizing to make some of the more ridiculous features less so. I also created some figures myself for characters they didn’t produce – Firefly, Lady Jaye (Scarlett would have been too hard), Baroness, and Zartan. The Firefly was so good I still have him displayed (and am kicking myself for passing on Sideshow’s version, which now costs upwards of $300). The Zartan was okay, but this one… Well, obviously this one is better.
Back
to my point – I was very excited about Sideshow producing Joes. I
was significantly less excited when they announced the first figure –
Snake-Eyes – was priced at $119.99. This was a huge jump from even
the most expensive Star Wars figures, which were topping out at
around $69.99 at the time. I resigned myself to skipping the GI Joes
from Sideshow, reasoning that I was still collecting the smaller
figures and didn’t need to start up a new scale anyway. And
honestly their Snake-Eyes didn’t blow me away. The next figure
offered was Storm Shadow and I outright did not like that one, so I
thought I’d be okay with not buying this line.
But
then Sideshow put up a teaser for a Cobra Commander figure and it
looked amazing.
So I preordered the Commander and once I got him he really was
amazing. I decided that if they did Destro I’d buy him, too. But
that would be it. And then Sideshow put up Duke and he looked
awesome, so I got him. He really was a great figure, but standing
there on the shelf he just looked kind of bland. I ended up selling
him on eBay and even made a little profit. Unfortunately, a
side-effect of my reaction to Duke was that I cancelled the preorder
on Firefly. I really thought that was the end of me buying these
Joes.
Until
the preview for Zartan came out. Firefly is my favorite GI Joe
character, but Zartan is a very close second.
First
Glance:
I hadn’t fully noted the smirk on Zartan’s face in the online
photos. Just seeing the box for this figure is exciting. It makes me
wish I were rich so I could buy more 1/6th
scale figures. It’s killing me that the Avengers are all coming out
and I can’t have them. Well, not all of them. I’m getting a
couple.
Sculpt:
Sideshow has stepped up their game an amazing amount since the last
figure I got from them. They are obviously paying close attention to
what Hot Toys does.
I
haven’t reviewed one of these types of figures in a while, so I’ll
tell you right now that I don’t go taking all of the clothes and
armor and stuff off to see what the articulation looks like. Heck, I
usually don’t even pose them too much because it can bunch up the
clothing or pull things out of place. So if you want a detailed
rundown of what kind of joints are where and which body type Sideshow
used, you’re going to have to check out their site.
I
will say that Zartan has some very different sculpting from any other
Sideshow figure I own. Rather than having the bare, double-jointed
arms that other figures sport, he has sculpted arms with standard
(yet deep) elbow pivots. This is an outstanding
improvement. The arms look great and still have as much functionality
as you really need. This is the thing that I think Sideshow picked up
from Hot Toys. Both of the Hot Toys releases I own have sculpted arms
(granted, they are a rubber skin over an armature) and look so much
better for it. The ends of Zartan’s forearms have holes to
accommodate the pegs on his various sets of hands and the gauntlets
on his forearms cover the connection point.
Zartan
comes with a shit ton of those interchangeable hands. He has 8
right hands and 4 left hands. I’m actually okay with the
disparity since there’s so much more he would be doing with his
right hand anyway. This is a better plan than if he just came with an
even number of each for no good reason. The basic design of the hands
is the same throughout. Each hand wears a glove with a bit of padding
and some very nice detail as far as seams and creases. The hands
switch out very easily but stay firmly in place. They are made of a
flexible material that can grip the various included accessories
well.
Whatever
articulation there is at the shoulders compensates for the simple
elbows, as Zartan can convincingly draw his bow.
Obviously
I would have loved an Arnold Vosloo head on this guy, but I think
Sideshow did a great job with what we got. In all honesty this face
kind of reminds me of the wrestler Raven. Obviously it’s leaner and
it might just be because Raven wore facepaint like this. Whatever the
case, this face looks awesome. It has so much character and the smirk
is just excellent. The lining and texture of the skin is fantastic.
Finally
(I guess – there’s so much to this guy I hope I don’t leave
anything out), Zartan comes with two sets of feet. One regular
flat-footed set and a set with the toes bent, presumably so he can be
posed kneeling. I really appreciate that Sideshow went the extra mile
here, but it was kind of unnecessary. I never would have thought,
“Gee, I wish his feet looked like the toes were bent.” But both
sets of feet do look awesome. They plug into the ankles the same way
the hands plug into the forearms. They are easily interchangeable but
fit snugly. The sculpt on them is great, with armor plating to match
the boot tops that are separate pieces that simply sit on top of the
feet. It’s an ingenious system and the boot tops are loose enough
that you can pose them to cover the gap between them and the feet for
the most part.
Design:
I believe that Zartan is the closest and best interpretation of a
classic GI Joe character that Sideshow has produced. He is slightly
updated and still has that “real world” touch of the rest of the
line; but he is undoubtedly Zartan. As much as the rest of the
Sideshow Joes and COBRAs almost seem a little too generic, Zartan
retains his look and personality. Well, personalities.
Zartan’s
boot tops are very reminiscent of the original figure, but with more
detail. The armored plates are scratched and discolored with wear and
look fantastic. The boot tops fit the figure well and pretty much
stay where you position them.
The
trousers are a slightly heavy (for this scale) burgundy material.
They fit loosely and approximate the look of the old figure. The pads
on the thighs resemble a leathery stitched material that would be
more practical than the armor plates of the old figure. Granted, they
do not have a color change feature, but going along with the more
realistic approach they actually look very good. They have some very
nice wear coloration and are stitched securely onto the trousers.
Zartan’s
belt and holster are beautiful examples of Sideshow’s
craftsmanship. As a matter of fact, I would go so far as to say
Sideshow has Hot Toys beat in the tiny (fake) leather goods
department. While both of the Hot Toys figures I own have (fake)
leather accessories that feel a bit flimsy and in one case have
actually fallen apart (that review of Resident
Evil’s
Alice is still coming one of these days); Zartan’s gear all feels
very sturdy.
The belt features several functional ammo pouches with magnetic clasps. They each hold a clip for his rifle and I wasn’t worries about loosening the stitching or pulling the pouches out of place when I was placing the clips inside. The holster is equally sturdy and also sports a magnetic clasp. Zartan’s pistol fits inside perfectly. The only thing I didn’t like was the tie at the bottom of the holster. It’s sturdy and works well enough, but the waxed string is a little tough to handle and chances are you’re going to have to re-tie it. I did mine.
The belt features several functional ammo pouches with magnetic clasps. They each hold a clip for his rifle and I wasn’t worries about loosening the stitching or pulling the pouches out of place when I was placing the clips inside. The holster is equally sturdy and also sports a magnetic clasp. Zartan’s pistol fits inside perfectly. The only thing I didn’t like was the tie at the bottom of the holster. It’s sturdy and works well enough, but the waxed string is a little tough to handle and chances are you’re going to have to re-tie it. I did mine.
The
regular belt is probably the best belt I’ve seen at this scale. I
own real belts that aren’t as nice. The stitching adds so much
texture to it and the Dreadnok logo belt buckle is great. I wish I
had one.
The
Master of Disguise has two layered shirts. The bottom one is a
sleeveless black shirt of a thin material that is basically there to
cover up the joints on the figure and break up the burgundy. It looks
good and serves its function just fine. The top shirt is the same
color of burgundy as the pants but in a material that is more like a
miniature version of a sweatshirt. It looks great and is cut to
compliment the chest armor. Also, Zartan’s trademark hood is
attached to it. This makes a lot more sense than the original
floating, unaffiliated hood that looked more like Taz’s entrance
apparel. This hood is lined with black fabric and has an extremely
tiny wire sewn into the front so that it can drape properly over
Zartan’s face. It’s brilliant and I love it.
While
I would have liked it very much if the chest armor had a clear window
with some sort of color changing feature or at least the appearance
of such; what’s here is more practical and does look very good. It
is made of two separate pieces held together by functional buckles
and straps. The pieces feature sculpted-in damage and wear that looks
great. The paint also helps the illusion of years of field use. The
front panel does suggest the shapes of the original figure. The back
panel has two sort of hooks at the top that just sort of look like
cool details, but are actually functional – Zartan’s backpack
hangs from them. We’ll get to that in a minute. Each shoulder
features armor plating that is attached to the chest piece. There are
three separate pieces that make up the recognizable plate design of
the original figure. They move independently of each other and do not
interfere with the figure’s posability at all.
Zartan’s
gloves are each comprised of two pieces – the hands described back
in the Sculpt section and the actual gauntlet portion on the forearm.
The gauntlets are simple and leather-looking with some seams detailed
on them. They fit snugly and can easily be positioned to cover the
wrist joints in almost any pose.
Zartan
comes with:
Mask
– This is exactly like the old mask. It’s a generic, bearded
dude. The awesome thing is that it is an extremely thin piece of
latex-like material that is molded to fit over Zartan’s actual face
perfectly. It comes sitting on a piece of plastic to hold its shape.
Backpack
– It looks exactly like the old figure’s, only with more detail
and paint. There are d-rings attached to straps attached to the
backpack that allow it to hang from the hooks on Zartan’s chest
piece. The only problem is that it does just hang. It isn’t secured
by anything but gravity, so I was constantly knocking it off during
photography. I think if they had sculpted a notch onto the bottom
that could hook under the lower lip of the back armor it might have
been better. Other than that the backpack is great. It consists of
three pieces. There is a lid that opens, but the front portion also
folds down; so the functionality is the same as the original. You can
fit the included mask inside as well as a couple of other small
items.
Pistol
– Almost exactly like the original figure’s. I love that Sideshow
always does this. Each of their releases at the very least includes a
larger version of that character’s signature weapon. The sculpt and
paint are fantastic and it fits perfectly into Zartan’s hand or his
holster.
Rifle
and Accessories
– I’m sure a gun aficionado could tell me what model of sniper
rifle this is. It has several moving parts as well as interchangeable
clips that fit snugly into place. There are two different scopes that
slide into place using the same sort of system as actual firearms. I
don’t know what either is for but they both look cool. The larger
one even has an attached but removable lens cover. Zartan can’t
hold this rifle totally perfectly, but well enough. It’s the
restraints of making an action figure that keep the posing from being
perfect, not any flaws with the sculpt or design of the figure. There
is also an adjustable strap that fits in what I find to be a weird
way but that is probably realistic and accurate. I’m sure all you
snipers out there can fill me in.
Bow
and Arrows
– Zartan’s compound bow is fucking magnificent. Every little part
moves and it essentially functions as a real-life counterpart would.
It’s ridiculous. The string is a bit loose, but if you hold it in
place it works fine. The arrows are made of a single piece of molded
plastic. They are scaled correctly so that Zartan can actually draw
the bow and hold an arrow properly. There is a clip attached to the
bow to hold the arrows, but it is a real hassle getting the arrows
into it. The little slots they fit in are just a bit too small for
them to pop right in and the arrows themselves are so thin that you
feel like you are going to snap them in half trying to jam them in.
The plastic of the arrows isn’t as brittle as it seems and I was
eventually able to get them all in place. But the shafts ended up
looking bent from the way that they fit. It was truly nerve-wracking
getting those things in there and then they looked funny. With a lot
of careful positioning I was able to get them to look acceptable, but
this whole process was a real pain in the ass. I think the only
solution here would have been to make the shafts out of metal. It
could have been sturdy and thin enough to eliminate these problems.
Knife
and Sheath
– It’s a mean-ass looking knife. The sculpt is great –
definitely something you’d see in the Bud K catalog – and it fits
perfectly into the sheath. I’m not sure exactly where the sheath is
supposed to attach to the figure, but you can jam it in there
somewhere.
Bag
– Pretty much just a messenger bag. It looks fine and fits with the
figure. You can stick a few things inside.
Duke
Head –
This was only available with the Sideshow Exclusive version. It’s
Duke, but with a Zartan sneer. It’s an awesome extra. Both heads
are easily interchangeable.
Packaging:
The Sideshow multi-fold window box. I love this packaging, as it
fully displays the figure and the multitude of accessories. In
addition to some nice pics of the figure and some old-school
graphics, there is also a file card on the back.
Overall:
Zartan is easily my favorite of the GI Joe figures that Sideshow has
produced so far. He feels very much like somebody hat could be in the
real world, yet looks almost exactly like the old figure. I love the
accessories and how they all tie in not only with the character but
with the related lore.
4
out of 5
It’s
hard for me to give this guy anything but a prefect rating as much as
I love him, but the arrows and backpack are definitely issues. Not
quality problems, at least, but things that should have been done
better on a figure this costly.
Check
out BigBadToyStore and Sideshow Collectibles if you want one; and you
should. I recommend Big Bad, as they’re cheaper and Sideshow has
devalued the points of their Rewards Programs so much as to render
them near-worthless.
Take a look at my Photobucket gallery for a TON more pictures.
Take a look at my Photobucket gallery for a TON more pictures.
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