Bandai, GET ON IT!

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While the price has been set at a whopping $45 per figure, I think I’ll somehow be able to make room in my budget to purchase them (I hope).  In the meantime check out some of the new pictures in the gallery below!

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First things first, King Kong’s head-sculpts are absolutely amazing.  They each show a ton of emotion (even though the open-lipped one looks a little like deer in headlights), and while the articulation in the head and neck is unfortunately lacking, the wonderfully crafted faces do an excellent job of showing off Kong’s personality.  While there is plenty of room to move the head back and forth, you really can’t swivel the head side to side at all, which is a pretty big bummer.

Kong’s arms are another beautifully crafted part of the figure (I really can’t get over just how impressive a job Bandai did with the sculpting and detail all around the figure), and provide for some great articulation.  The shoulders plug into a ball-joint and allow for some all-around movement including swivel rotation, as well as a lateral hinge movement, although there is no dedicated hinge-joint.

 King Kong also has a bicep swivel and double-jointed elbows.  Kong’s arms definitely give off an S.H. MonsterArts vibe with the way they’re constructed in the sense that the sections of the arms are clearly segmented and layered.  The swivel and elbows work great, and the wrists also plug into the arms via a ball-joint.

Kong’s torso and abdomen is split into a few different areas, each with provide their own method of articulation.  I loved that King Kong’s upper chest is able to be swiveled, as well as moved forwards and backwards, simply so that you can “puff” his chest out like a big-ass gorilla.

While King Kong doesn’t have bad articulation in the hips and legs per se, it’s not the greatest.  The hips are ball-jointed and although they do a good job living up to the MonsterArts standard, I think for a more humanoid type beast King Kong deserved a little more articulation.  The knees are double-jointed much akin to the elbows, and while the ankles to feature some swivel movement, the real surprise in this section is the feet.  Of course primates have opposable toes, so it’s only fitting King Kong has some articulation in the feet, including two points at the base of the foot and at the balls of the feet.

We all know S.H. MonsterArts figures can be hit and miss with accessories.  Thankfully King Kong comes with plenty of accessories to keep you interested in the figure.  Kong comes with one of the newer, circular Tamashii Stages (a clear version of the ones that came with D-Arts Charizard and Mewtwo) that also includes a pair of bigger arms to support the bigger King Kong.

Along with the stand, S.H. MonsterArts King Kong comes with 3 separate faces, 4 pairs of hands, a tree brach weapon, and a Naomi Watts clasping hand.  No arguments here, as I’ve found everything included to work perfectly and look amazing.

Something I was worried about (for some weird reason) was that SHM King Kong might not be as sturdy or heavy as some of the previous S.H. MonsterArts releases.  While he’s not as dense as say, SpaceGodzilla, he’s definitely deserving of the MonsterArts tag and the overall quality it brings with it.  I hope Bandai keeps the ball rolling with some more obscure monsters not originating from Japan.  Pacific Rim, anyone?

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As mentioned before, Car Crash’s aesthetic is akin to Breakdown’s, and the robot mode perfectly purveys that.  Car Crash’s head sculpt really does the toy and character wonders, and is also articulated on a ball-joint.  His shoulders are ball-jointed as well, and the elbows are hinged along with the wrists having swivels.

Car Crash also has a waist swivel that works very well, which is good to see for a ‘bot this small.  The hips are ball-jointed and allow for a full range of movement, and the thigh swivel also supplements the articulation in the upper leg/hip area.  Kudos to Fansproject for adding a point of articulation that isn’t often seen on Transformers.

The knees are hinged which gives Car Crash plenty of movement in the lower body, while the feet/ankles supplement that even more by being on a ball-joint.  Again, kudos to Fansproject for giving such a small toy so much articulation.

Car Crash’s alt mode is a very attractive and sleek futuristic looking sports car, and it typical Fansproject fashion, everything feels extremely high quality.  From the plastic to the way everything snaps in.  Quality.  I also thought it was pretty cool that Car Crash’s included gun is able to split into 2 pieces and peg into his underside for storage, as well as becoming two exhaust pipes.

The transformation went smoothly and I was pleased to see Fansproject used a better style of instructions instead of the ones they’ve used in the past with extremely small pictures.  The ones included with Car Crash were full color and very easy to read and digest.

Fansproject couldn’t have started off better with their not-Menasor gestalt than with Car Crash.  A small toy with a ton of articulation and a solid alt mode makes the $60 price tag seem a little more reasonable.  I’m excited to get my hands on the rest of the crew (most notably Motormaster) and expect a review of T-Bone to come shortly!

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Now that the initial shock and awe has worn off and the first ThreeA x Valve product up for preorder soon, I’ve decided to compile a small list for my most wanted steam powered ThreeA products.

5. Team Fortress 2′s Heavy (Machine version)

If you’ve played anyone of Team Fortress 2′s semi-new mode, Mann vs. Machine, you’ll surely know how good the robot versions of the classes could look.  Combining ThreeA’s superb work with making plastic look metal with some cool light up features, and I think you’ve got a pretty menacing 1/6 scale figure.

4. Portal 2′s Wheatley

My personal favorite tour guide, Wheatley would make a great companion to the upcoming Portal 2 ‘bots or your replica portal guns from NECA.  Sure, he wouldn’t have much in the way of articulation, but include a well designed stand and some LED lights and you’ve got a pretty cool piece.

3. Half-Life 2′s Metro Cops

The Metro Cops from Half-Life are probably one of the most significant things responsible for my overall love for the franchise.  I always considered them to be eerie and culpable for kickstarting the big-brother atmosphere that the Half-Life series oozes.  Not to mention ThreeA’s affinity for gasmasks.

2. Portal’s GLaDOS

Since ThreeA’s Atlas and P-body look absolutely stunning, it’s only fitting that they release everyone’s favorite mother-figure, GLaDOS.  Although she’s got a fickle personality and a bit of an obscure shape for an action figure, I think ThreeA could pull it off.  How about some suction cups so GLaDOS can cling to your ceiling to put your collection to the test?

1. Half Life 2′s D0g

Please do this, ThreeA.  PLEASE!  Dog was one of my favorite parts of Half-life 2 and I think ThreeA could really knock this one out of the park.  D0g’s design is already tattered and torn, so the masterminds at ThreeA would feel right at home.

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I’m also loving that MMC seems to be countering Unique Toys’ bot-Predaking reveals by one-upping them with some teasers of their own.  Unique Toys War Panther? MMC FERAL REX!

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While it seemed like a no-brainer for Bandai to release the 3 Generation I starters under the D-Arts line, I’m curious which of the final-form starters from the other 5 Generations you’d be interested in seeing as D-Arts figures.

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Disclaimer:  This is an advanced copy provided by ThreeA for early review and evaluation, so things with the figure may change by the final release.  All opinions are those of my own and are not influenced or fabricated to improve the quality of the review.

Carter’s helmet looks stunning, and ThreeA really knocked the paint and weathering out of the park across the entire figure.  The range of articulation in the head is fairly well done seeing as how the Spartan’s bulky armor isn’t exactly form-fitting.  The “exosuit” in the neck area is rubber (and this is true across the whole figure) and while I’ve heard nightmare stories about rubber on figures degrading over time, I don’t particularly see that happening with Carter, mainly because the exosuit is very thick around the entire figure; it’s not trying to simulate skin as such on most figures by being thin and tight.

The shoulders are ball-jointed with a hinge for articulation.  Some of Carter’s armor in the shoulder area is rubber to prevent it from hindering the articulation, so kudos to ThreeA for that.  Everything still looks natural and solid, but it gives Carter enough fluidity to still move like a human, albeit a 7-foot tall, augmented one.  Carter also has some pretty cool swappable magnetic armor plates that can attach to the shoulders.  Simply touch the magnets together and you get some pretty cool interchangeable customization!  (Check the video section below for a better look at all the features.)

Carter’s elbows are also covered by the rubber exosuit and they not only feature standard hinge articulation, but also a swivel.  The articulation isn’t great here as the armor plates on Carter’s bicep and forearm do conflict, but it’s nothing really deal-breaking.  If you’re confident with modding and plastic shaving you may be able to increase the articulation here.  Carter also has individually articulated fingers (3 points on the fingers, 2 on the thumbs) and for the most part they do work well.  If there’s one company with experience in articulating fingers, it’s ThreeA, and they did a hell of a job with the design.  The grenades, Sabre, and DMR all seem to hold pretty well within Carter’s grip.  The wrists are also ball-jointed.

Lights!  Yes, Carter has plenty of great light-up components all across his body, on both the front and back.  To control the lights on Carter’s torso and legs you need 2 watch batteries (not included) that insert into a pop-off compartment on his back.  While the lights do look stunning, I do wish that the switch was on the outside of Carter’s body.  Unfortunately in order to toggle the lights, you need to pop off the back battery hatch each time, and in turn flip the switch inside.  Sure, this method hides a visible switch that could take away from detail, but I think a more practical method could’ve been implemented.  Carter’s arm lights work via a different switch and set of batteries that go in the back of each of the upper arms.  Let me tell you though, I’ve never been more frustrated putting batteries in anything in my life.  Seriously.  It took me about an hour total to get the batteries in the arms.  Massive pain!

Carter also has some more attachable packs on the chest that peg into a couple slots on the lower part of the breastplate.  These two aren’t magnetized, but they function more or less the same way.

The true heroes of the whole magnet hoopla are the DMR and Sabre (knife).  The Sabre comes with a pretty cool removable sheath, which also happens to be the magnetizing point along with Carter’s upper left shoulder section of the breastplate.  Carter’s DMR also is able to be magnetically attached to the back of Carter’s armor.  Nothing short of flawless design and ingenuity by ThreeA in my opinion.  Not to mention the DMR seems to be a near perfect replica of the one in-game.

Unfortunately, Carter doesn’t have much in the realm of articulation in the waist.  I’m pretty certain it’s due to the rubber exosuit (twisting and turning could tear it I’m sure), but there’s hardly any movement here.  Again, since 1/6 figures are really more for display than playability, it isn’t a huge deal to me.  You’ll tend to forget about this minor issue once you get playing around with the rest of the awesomeness of the figure. 

Again with the hips, Carter doesn’t have a whole lot of movement here due to the rubber exosuit.  While there’s plenty more than the waist, it’s still difficult to get Carter in any sort of dynamic pose that uses the hips or upper legs.  Once again, not a deal breaker for me by any means as I tend to display my 1/6 scale figures in static poses anyway, but you may think a bit differently.  The two included grenades are also able to magnetically attach on either side of Carter’s upper thighs.

Carter’s knees are ratcheted, and thankfully this is one area where articulation isn’t really hindered by the rubber exosuit.  It doesn’t do a whole lot of good since the hips aren’t there to aid them, but it’s still nice to have nonetheless.  Thankfully the ankles and feet are a high point on the figure.  First off, the feet are typical Spartan feet in the fact that they’re overly huge, so stability isn’t a problem for Carter at all.  Secondly, the ankles have plenty of articulation, including a good range for side-to-side rocking, something that’s not seen very often in 1/6 scale figures.

Overall, ThreeA’s rendition of Commander Carter is officially my favorite 1/6 scale figure I’ve got.  Sure he’s got some shortcomings with the articulation, but who really buys 1/6 for that?  The detail ThreeA put into the sculpt, lights, accessories, and magnetic features really shines with the huge amount of quality Carter oozes.  Sure he’s not Master Chief, but I think we could easily see one in the future if Carter sells well, and he’s definitely worth your money.

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But now it seems that  whatever problem was in the past has been remedied, and BigBadToyStore has re-listed Figma Samus and Link for $50!  Get your preorder in quick!

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