HEY!!! It's another Retro Review from Dan's ToyBox and today we're looking at the amazing Sideshow Collectibles Indiana Jones. Now, I have to be honest, it took me FIVE years to buy this figure! There was a store at one of the malls in Buffalo NY that my wife and I liked to visit whenever we were up there. This figure was priced at $189.99 and each time we went I kept telling myself..."If it's still there, I'm getting it today." and each time, it was there, but I left without it. Finally, on one trip up, I was shocked to see the price had been reduced and the awesome Mrs. ToyBox said to me..."You've been looking at this for five years, just go on and get it already!" History was made and Indy came home. I'll share the final retail price toward the end of the review.
Indiana Jones: Adventurer, Archaeologist, Professor... are but a few of the titles he goes by. At a young age, Henry Jones, Jr was fascinated with history and historical artifacts. In 1936, after finding and then losing the Fertility Goddess idol to his nemesis, Rene Belloq, Indiana is approached by the Federal Government to go on a quest to find the lost Ark of the Covenant. It's a race against time as the Nazi government, under orders from Hitler himself, has dispatched Belloq to find and retrieve the Ark first. Armed with his trusty whip and revolver, clad in his trademark leather jacket and beat up fedora, Indy sets out on the adventure of a lifetime! Can he find the Lost Ark of the Covenant, or will he end up buried in history, lost in the sands of time himself?
Before we dive into the review, let's take a moment to discuss our categories and criteria for ratings: Accessories, Appearance, Articulation, and Affordability. These categories will help us determine our overall rating on a scale of zero to five toyboxes, with five being a "must have" for any collection. Let's kick things off with Accessories.
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ACCESSORIES
I do not, actually, own that many 1/6 scale figures. However, from what I have seen, these companies tend to put quite a bit with their figures, hence driving the prices pretty high. Indiana Jones comes packed with quite a few goodies, which was great to see! He has two head sculpts, one with and one without a hat. He has two ungloved fists, a pair of ungloved weapon and item holding hands, and then a pair of gloved fists and a pair of gloved weapon and item holding hands. He has a coiled whip that can be stored on his belt, a longer whip with a bendy wire inside for posing, his revolver and an automatic pistol, a bag of sand/dirt to recreate the opening scene to Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Fertility Goddess idol and an extra hat (which doesn't actually fit on the alternate head sculpt) and finally his satchel. His jacket is removable and his belt with holster (with strap for closure) and whip strap (magnetic) is also removable. He also has a display base, which is good because there are some issues with his legs, which we'll discuss shortly. While I do like all of the accessories, I've noticed that the gloved weapon holding hand seems to fit both of his guns better, but the whip tends to move around too easily in either gloved or ungloved grasping hands. Even the packaging is really nice. The box swings open with storage on both sides and is held closed magnetically. The product shots and artwork on the box are very well done and do credit to the product within. Overall, though, there is a lot of great stuff to help re-enact any of the amazing scenes from the film, so Sideshow gets an A for Accessories with Indiana Jones!
Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022
APPEARANCE
This is where the Sideshow Collectibles Indiana Jones really shines! The costume details, facial features, sculpt and design elements are all highly accurate to the movie and character. When I first opened this figure, I was honestly blown away at how well this resembled such an iconic movie hero. From the five o'clock shadow to the stains on his hat and the detail on his gloves to the painted fingernails, there is very little detail missed on this figure. The shirt design is right out of the movie and all of the accessories are incredible in their own detail. Honestly, words fail to describe what a nice-looking figure this really is. I am impressed with the likeness to Harrison Ford, right down to his little crooked smirk. I think, what else really shows through, is the level of craftsmanship. I've owned this figure for... almost 12 years, I believe, and the stitching has held together incredibly well. Granted, this is really more of a display/showpiece for me, but there has been no degradation in any of the materials on this figure and that is impressive. The only real issue I had was the glue drying on the back of one of the two magnets for his whip strap. Thankfully, a dab of super glue fixed that issue quickly. In areas where paint is necessary; gloves, facial details, his hat, etc... the apps are super clean and even. This is, by far, one of the most prized figures in my collection! Superior attention to detail and high accuracy help earn a solid A for Appearance.
Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022
ARTICULATION
Well, if accessories and appearance were the strong suit, articulation is where we're going to run into some issues. Not that this figure is limited, it actually moves very well, in fact... too well. I have multiple very, very loose joints which kind of scares me about posing him too much without the display stand. Starting up top, his head is on a double ball peg as the next itself is functionally movable. He can look up and down to tremendous degrees, has some solid head tilt and easily turns side to side. Unfortunately, the loose neck makes his head flop forward and back easily. Point of transparency... I've NEVER swapped the two heads on this figure, for fear of breaking something. His arms will raise nicely, even more so without the leather jacket on, and they can bend well at the elbows, but the cloth goods do limit movement. All of the hands rotate and hinge and are very easy to interchange which is nice. Indy does have a great abdominal crunch, but like all the other joints on mine, it can flop easily, which can be frustrating. Amazingly, the jacket actually helps stabilize the upper body much better. There is a swivel as well, but I've not used it as often. The worst points though, on mine, are the legs. His legs will kick forward very nice, and he can do splits, which are restricted by the pants. However, the hip joints are very loose, which causes him to do splits when I don't want him to. The knee joints are firm and bend to about 90 degrees and the ankles have a nice hinge and pivot but are also very loose. My assumption is most of this is problematic, due to the age of the figure. BUT... they were like this when I first took him out of the box, so unfortunately, Indy doesn't get to do many cool poses on my display shelf. Sadly, because of the loose articulation, I just cannot give this figure a good grade, in fact, there is NO grade for articulation.
AFFORDABILITY
As I mentioned earlier, when I first found this figure, he was priced at $189.99, and I ultimately bought him for $159.99. As of today, on the secondary market, Indiana Jones, complete in package, is selling upwards of $300 to $400. If the loose joints are a common problem for this figure, I certainly wouldn't recommend spending that kind of cash. However, given the fact that 12 years ago, I paid roughly half of the low-end value and still retain the packaging, I'm pleased with the overall return on investment. If you are a die-hard fan of Indiana Jones and feel that this is a display piece worth having on your shelf, the pricing isn't terribly out of line. Hopefully, you can find one with tighter joints! Based on what I paid, the figure earns an A for Affordability. Truthfully, even on the secondary market, this is an affordable figure compared with other 1/6 scale offerings out there.
Overall, I really like this figure and I'm very happy that my wife finally gave me the push to go ahead and get it when I did. The loose joints do scare me though, which is a bummer because I'd like to be able to display him in better poses, without fear of him falling over or even tipping with the display stand. With all of these factors considered, I'll still give the Sideshow Collectibles 1/6 Scale Indiana Jones a solid:
3.75 TOYBOXES OUT OF 5
Indiana Jones is really a nice-looking figure to have on the display shelf, especially at this scale. If the joints were better, he'd have easily jumped higher in the ratings. Thank you so much for taking time to visit Dan's ToyBox for our latest Retro Review. Until next time... GEEK OUT!!!!