I
haven’t had the time to see Dawn
of the Planet of the Apes
yet. I was going to see it Tuesday night, but the family was still
out of town and I had to leave Mister Otis at home all day. I would
have felt bad being home for an hour and then going right back out
again.
But we
all know these wacky apes from the prior movie, Rise
of the Planet of the Apes!
It took me a long time to see this one. I just didn’t believe that
it could be good. I can’t remember my specific complaints, but I
know I was not interested. Then it came out and everybody loved it.
Rise seemed
to meet with almost universal acclaim. I was curious, but now the
damn thing had been built up too much. My expectations were too high.
Watching
that movie was the same kind of transcendent experience as watching
District 9.
It was hard sci-fi, but there was a beauty and humanity to it that
made it something more than a genre flick.
I’ve
got more to say, but I can’t use it all here. There are two more
apes from this line to review and I need intros.
Today’s
subject is Maurice, the orangutan who befriends Caesar and
ever-so-subtly begins to display the wisdom that the Lawgivers of the
classic Apes movies are known for. While Caesar was the runaway star
of the movie, Maurice was my favorite supporting ape. The first time
I saw these figures in a store I walked around with this one for
several minutes before deciding I really couldn’t start collecting
a new line. But Mrs. Troublemaker solved the problem by getting me
this guy for Father’s Day.
FIRST
GLANCE
What
a thick, bulky, hairy figure! I love it. As Hasbro – long-time
holder of the Star Wars license and creator of innumerable Chewbacca
figures – can tell you, covering a plastic action figure with long
hair can be tricky. Giving that figure a decent range of articulation
is even trickier. It appears that NECA might have hit a great
balance.
And
look at that face!
PACKAGING
The
graphics and design look fantastic. I really dig the post-apocalyptic
look and the primitive simplicity of the designs. I don’t dig the
clamshell, but NECA just seems to have a thing for those.
NECA
also has a thing for crediting its artists, which I truly appreciate:
LOOKS
Maurice’s
face is incredible. NECA has this trick that for some odd reason
nobody else has picked up on – they use a super glossy paint on the
eyeballs of many of their figures. It gives them this lifelike
glisten that’s almost eerie.
Btu
it’s more than just the gloss of the eyes – this head sculpt is
just incredible. I think we all know what orangutans look like, and
this is that. All of the wrinkles and texture add so much to what
could have been a fairly generic sculpt. While I’m not going to
claim that I could pick Maurice out of a lineup of orangs, there’s
so much more to this face than just being a good representation of
this species of simian.
I’m
not necessarily familiar with the correct terms for the various
portions of orangutan anatomy, but Maurice’s neck wattle is worth
noting. The thick portion of flesh on his chest is a separate sculpt
that is attached to the thin wattle under his chin. This piece is
very soft and flexible and moves with the head. It’s a neat little
piece of engineering.
The
torso is two separate pieces with long sculpted hair that conceals
the joints at the abdomen and hips. Oddly, the abdominal joint seems
to have the same issue as my NECA Quarter Scale Batman.
It sits slightly crooked and off-center. I don’t know why this
happens, but it’s monumentally annoying to not be able to get the
figure into a true neutral pose.
That
aside, the sculpt looks fantastic. The hair has a weight and texture
that gives it as realistic as look as I think you could get at this
scale. The portions that are hanging over the legs blends nicely and
looks natural. I was surprised that the bottom portion of the torso
is a solid piece rather than a sort of hair skirt over articulated
hips like the Predators and some other NECA figures use. Instead
Maurice features a sort of standard ball joint connection point where
the joint is recessed into the sculpt. I’ll talk more about this
later.
The
shoulder joints are a little more obvious, but there’s no avoiding
that. NECA’s sculptors did a great job handling the long, dangling
hair of an orangutan’s arms. It looks good in any pose, which is a
major accomplishment in my opinion. The legs didn’t require quite
the same degree of problem solving but have very good proportions.
The
hands and feet look great. The texture and paint match the face. The
hands are posed in a sort of neutral way that could be hanging at the
ape’s sides, supporting weight in a four-legged stance, or grasping
the included book.
The
feet are creeping me the heck out. I know apes have hand-feet, but
the way that these are posed for grasping is slightly unsettling. But
also neat because you can hang Maurice upside-down from stuff:
For
the most part NECA nails paint as long as they don’t have to deal
with human features. Maurice looks fantastic. There are several
colors both in his fur and his skin. I particularly like the
highlights on his cheeks(?) and neck wattle. This guy has a beautiful
paint job.
Unlike the other two figures in the series – Caesar and
Koba – I can’t detect any differences between the paint jobs on
multiple Maurice figures at the store.
ACCESSORIES
Maurice
comes with a little red book that I assume will have major
significance in the new movie. I’m guessing it’s the beginning of
the record of Ape law and history.
The
book looks great for just being a little, red book. The cover has
lots of wear and texture. The pages are distinct and not uniform.
There’s even a nice wash to give them some age.
The
book can fit in either of Maurice’s open hands but seems to sit
better in the right one.
FUN
I
have to admit to being disappointed in Maurice’s articulation.
Overall it is not bad, but he can’t sit down. My fondest memories
of Maurice involve him sitting at that first council of the Apes and
this figure can’t do that. It’s because of the design of the hips
that I mentioned above. If he had a more standard lower abdomen with
a flexible hair skirt over it his hip joints would be more useful.
But NECA has to walk that line between aesthetics and functionality.
This time I think they erred a bit.
Otherwise
the figure has an okay range of motion. Because of the long hair none
of the joints bend quite as much as I’d like them to – the elbows
and knees don’t have very deep pivots and the head is surprisingly
limited.
The
hands and feet have just enough range to be okay, but I’m not a fan
of NECA’s peg joints. I wish they would move to swivels and pivots,
but I also appreciate the company’s efforts to keep it’s
incredibly nice figures under the twenty dollar price point. I’m
still amazed that this cost me $18.01 to obtain:
And
that this cost me $35.29:
OVERALL
Maurice
isn’t a super-articulated ape that’s going to bring you hours of
posing fun and play, but he is a great looking orangutan and a good
value. I feel like NECA’s first priority is to make figures that
look great and that they work the articulation in from there. It’s
a formula that works for the most part. I just wish this guy could
sit down.
4
out of 5
Go
buy an Ape and help out Needless Things!:
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