"If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones!" When Raiders of the Lost Ark hit theaters, I couldn't wait to go see it. Harrison Ford had already made me a fan with his portrayal of the cocky smuggler Han Solo and now, he was making another adventure movie! I got my tickets, sat down and settled in for a wild ride! What a ride it was. From the jungles of South America to the mountains of Nepal, to the deserts of Egypt and finally to a small island in the ocean, I watched in breathless wonder as Indy fought native warriors, Nazis, and his own fear of snakes as he searched for the fabled lost Ark of the Covenant. Armed with his pistol and trusty bullwhip, with fedora and leather jacket in place, Indy blazed a trail of adventure and excitement!
Welcome back to Dan's ToyBox. It's been a minute or two since we've dropped a review, but finally, I'm over pneumonia and have picked up some new pieces for the collection. Thank you for continuing to visit Dan's ToyBox and supporting us with your time! Today we get to take a look at a figure that I was surprised to have arrive. The new Hasbro Indiana Jones series... Indiana Jones himself, as he appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
As regular readers know, we will look at four categories: Accessories, Appearance, Articulation, and Affordability. Each will receive a rating and at the end, we'll give the figure an overall score of Zero to Ten ToyBoxes, with Ten being a "must add" to your collection! So, grab your hat and whip and let's take a look at Indiana Jones in six inch form!
ACCESSORIES
Indy actually comes with quite a bit of stuff, which is a great surprise. Of course, he is armed with his pistol, one coiled whip, one extended whip, one trigger hand, one relaxed, open hand, one pair of fists, and one pair of gripping hands. His satchel is already slung over his shoulder, but is shown as a separate accessory on the box art. He also has the Idol of Fertility and two pieces of the Build an Artifact Ark of the Covenant. I haven't decided if I want to finish this series to get the full Ark, but if I do, you'll all know about it! For a new line to have a figure come with 3 pairs of hands, multiple weapons, and other pieces, is pretty good for Hasbro. I am disappointed that the belt strap for the coiled whip won't plug in to keep the whip in place. The holster will shut, which is good. The extended whip actually comes somewhat coiled and I had to give it a quick dip in hot water to get it straightened out. I was then able to flex it into the position you see in the pictures above. Once that was done, I stuck it in the freezer for a few seconds and am quite pleased with the results. I am seriously thinking of giving both whips a dark brown wash, just to give them a little bit more realistic appearance. That all being said, I'm quite pleased with what I found when I opened this package and maybe the only other accessories that I'd have added would have been a bag of sand and maybe gloved hands. With that in mind, I'll still give this a pretty solid 7 out of 10 for Accessories.
APPEARANCE
When I first saw the packaging and the figure pictured, I was floored. I thought... this is one of the most accurate movie figures I've seen, to date! Then, I opened the box. At first glance, the figure definitely held up, until I got a closer look at the face. The photo realistic technique did a good job, but the paint rendering was not so great. The biggest issue is his eyes. The irises are very tiny, so there is a LOT of white showing, which looks very unnerving, especially on mine, since it looks as though his eyes are looking upward. The other issue is that the face is very shiny. There is too much gloss and it gives some really weird reflection of light. Those are my two biggest gripes about the figure appearance. I really am considering adding just a bit of paint to make the irises a bit bigger and reduce that excessive white eye. Now, those aside, the paint for his stubble and the slightly different flesh tone for his lips is done really well and the application is clean. Looking at the rest of the figure, now I'm going to say... WOW! starting at the top... his hat looks awesome. The band is darker than the hat, as in the movie and looks great, but what blows my mind is that they've weathered the hat. The brim has scratches and faded areas and they didn't stop there. Looking at his beat-up leather jacket, there is an amazing amount of weathering, giving the leather a well-used, scuffed look and the applications are in areas where you'd expect to see a jacket show wear and tear. They also did this with his pants and shoes, as the cuffs of his pants show wear and discoloration and even the toes of his shoes are scuffed and worn. I'm really impressed with the paint applications on his belt and gunbelt. The buckles are painted, but as we look closer at the details, even his belt loops are painted to match his pants! Even his satchel is detailed with gold on the strap buckle and small points of gold for the buttons on the flap. Looking at this figure, it's easy to imagine that he just came running out of an old temple in the middle of the jungle! His pistol is a solid black plastic and both whips are a medium brown. As I said in the accessories, I may give them a wash, just to make them look a bit more worn and have more depth. The Ark pieces and the Idol are all a gold plastic and the sculpting on each is very intricately done. The more I look at the Ark pieces, the more I think I want to get the rest of this wave to build that particular artifact. Hasbro has done an excellent job previously with movie based figures, but this Indiana Jones is really something special, minus the facial issues of course. I am going to give him 8.75 out of 10 for Appearance.
ARTICULATION
There are some good things and some not so good things with the articulation on this figure. Starting at the top, his head will turn side to side and can look up and down to a small degree. I am not sure if the neck is on it's on pivot point because it's oddly off-centered but I can't get it to move. I thought about heating it up, but decided against it at this point. Perhaps another time. The shoulders rotate a full 360 degrees and will raise out to a decent T pose, but the jacket does offer a small bit of hindrance. The elbows are single jointed and bend to just about 90 degrees, which is disappointing. There is no bicep swivel, as it is incorporated at the elbow. Wrists are on a peg and will swivel, but because of the design of the sleeves, I didn't get much hinging. The diaphragm is on a joint at the waist and will swivel and tilt, but there really isn't a lot of crunch incorporated. The legs will split out fairly well and can kick forward nicely. There is an upper thigh cut which works fine. The knees are single jointed and have limited range, which is disappointing. I'm not a huge fan of the cut and design, but it works to maintain a cohesive design, which is a good thing. The ankles do hinge and pivot, but the design of the pants cuffs are limiting. Overall, I'm actually kind of disappointed with the limitations of the design and though it's a good looking figure, I just don't feel that the action piece is as good as it could be. Indy gets a 6 out of 10 for Articulation.
AFFORDABILITY
I ordered this directly from Hasbro Pulse and paid $24.99, which is the going retail value for this wave of figures. It's right on par with Marvel Legends and many of their other 6" scale figures, and it does come with a fair amount of accessories. I don't think this is too terribly high, but when you consider the fact that other offerings have better engineering, what is the tradeoff? Do the details and accessories make up for the articulation in terms of pricing? Maybe, that's a question that you'll have to answer for yourself. As far as pricing and affordability is concerned. I'll give Indy a 7 out of 10.
Overall, as a fan of the character, I'm excited to have this figure. As a collector though, I'm a bit disappointed in the design limitations. I'm frustrated that I can't properly hang the whip from his belt and I'm bummed at the paint issues on his face. Still and all though, he's a nice addition to my collection and I'd say he's easily worth a decent:
7.5 out of 10 ToyBoxes
I actually do like this figure more than the score would indicate, but trying to be as objective as possible for your benefit. As always, I thank you for taking some time out of your day to visit Dan's ToyBox and until next time... GEEK OUT!!!