Six Scale Sickness

Well its my second ever purchase of a SideShow toy and the first one that isn't supposed to resemble the undead, i got to say im pretty impressed with him. The thing i like about SideShow is they are trying to improve themselves and while i dont think they are at HT of Medi level yet neither is their price tag. This release seems to be heavily influenced by Hot Toys, its evident in the inclusion of a second head sculpt and obviously in the new body. I think emulating HT products is a step in the right direction for SS and they have done a good job.

Indy is listed on sideshow for 89.99 but if you factor in 10 bucks for shipping your looking at around $100. Both the exclusive and regular addition are wait listed. The exclusive which i picked up is a run of 1500 and the regular is a run of 7500, so sideshow is moving some serious sales numbers with this release. He is still available from BBTS and there are alot on ebay but your not going to pick him up much cheaper then $90 especially for the exclusive version.

Indy's box couldn't have been done better, its a flap style box that is held closed with magnets (i love this feature) Indy is held in his plastic trays in the fat flap and the skinny flap has his accessories. There is a picture of the figure on the front which is good although i dont think its the most flattering image. There is the classic Indy font and good box colors that fit well with the character we have come to know and love. What is really cool about the box is on the inside you get a whole lot of info about the figure. There is a small Raiders blurb/back story, an Indy bio, the accessory list and some cool movie poster art.

The accessory list is significant because this is where sideshow has greased us up! Indy comes with a crap load of stuff and i love it!!!
This is what you get (pasted from SST)

• Hat with fabric lining
• Revolver
• Hi-power pistol with removable magazine
• Coiled bullwhip with tie
• Articulated bullwhip
• Satchel
• Idol artifact
• Sandbag
• Two sets of interchangeable gloved hands
• Two sets of interchangeable bare hands
• Display base with Indiana Jones logo
• Sideshow Exclusive: Two bonus accessories - a torch and dart!

There is a lot there and most of it is quality stuff! The weapons look great and the revolver has a moving chamber. The bullwhips are fantastic especially the uncoiled one, there is a wire running through the middle that gives it great pose ability, importantly both whips look like leather. The satchel is really nice and the strap is the perfect size. The sandbag is not that great but the idol is excellent. (Exclusive) The torch looks over sized to me and im not that excited about it, the arrow/dart looks great but im leaving it in the box because its tiny and you will lose it if you even touch it. The hand sculpts are pretty good, they have put some dirt on the nails and bare hands which is a nice touch and i love the articulated ball joint wrists. The gloves are only ok, the weathering is not quite right, its almost like they are a little to dirty.

The first thing your going to notice when you pull him out of the trays is he feels kind of loose all over, the second thing is how bad the outfit looks but give it time. Indy takes alot of fussing to get the outfit looking good but it can be done.

The pants are way to baggy, they are high waisted and the crotch hangs to low making him look like a hip hop Steve Urkle . Once you lower the pants a bit and get some creasing and character in them they look a lot better. Interestingly they have used a press stud on the back of the pants for closure. This is a great idea because they get more detail on the fly and pockets at the front of the pants. This is a good move by SS, obviously we wont be displaying him from the back (360 rotating displays excluded) . Ive heard a lot of complaints about lose threads on the pants but mine where clean. The belt is simple and looks good as does the holster strap which you will have to get hanging right. The actual gun holster looks over sized but it fits the weapons in easily and once its off to the side you wont notice.

The Jacket does look quite good but not screen accurate, it is a very light fabric which means it doesn't hang well but they have lined the coat and the zip looks good even though you cant actually close the jacket. The sleeves are a bit long, the pockets are to big and its cut is very boxy but its got some good weathering on it and the color looks nice. The main problem with the jacket is that the Prometheus body they have used on Indy doesn't have the shoulders to fill it out. A quick swap to a True Type will fix this but why should you have to?

The shirt has a weird collar that i was confused about but it was just folded incorrectly. SS used a pretty large press stud button under the fake buttons to keep the shirt closed, the pockets are a good size and the fake buttons are well scaled. I like the color and the shirt does sit well. Even though you cant undo the buttons on the sleeves they have made them large enough to push up which i like. The more you work at the outfit the better it will look and im actually pretty happy with it after a lot of pulling and prodding.

As i said in the last section the first thing your going to notice when you pull him out of the box is how loose he feels, the body sagged in my hand as i picked it up. When you pull a TT or RAH out of the box it feels really stiff and takes some working in before you get the joints moving smoothly. On my Indy the neck is extremely saggy, it will hold a pose but if u breath on it his head sags to the chin down position. The other problem i have is the hip joints, the legs are very loose which is helpful if Indy wants to do the splits but not so much when he is running for his life. Thankfully the arms are fine and can easily hold the whips and weapons. Compared to the Buck the Prometheus is a revolation! Its a great body with excellent articulation that is let down by the lose joints. I think we can expect some good stuff from the Prometheus in future but they need to tighten him up in a big way.

Its always said that Harrison Ford is hard to capture as a sculpt and SS has done a great job here, it is Harrison no doubt. I switch between which sculpt i like better but i think the one with the hat attached may be slightly nicer. The hat free Indy looks a little to plump to me especially if based on Raiders. The big issue is the shine factor, the face is way to shiny because of the plastic they have used. Keep him in low light and your good but if there is a light source in your house at all Indy is sweating like hes eating hot dogs. The stubble is a bit off and the hair looks a bit flat but the paint apps are solid. It has a great likeness although the profile is a little off. SS really needs to kill the little white speck they put in the eye's, its small but it looks wack. Check the mediworld forum for some great pics of repaints if you really want to see what can be done with the sculpt.

I think what is impressive here is the amount and quality of the accessories, you have to respect sideshow for all the stuff they have included for only $90! Compare that to a medi marvel release at $100 where you dont get jack and your onto a good thing.

The new body still needs work but its going to be great, is it good on this release? No. So i have a lot of mixed feelings about the figure. I see so much potential but it just isn't quite up to scratch. If we had seen this figure released in a years time i think he would be a 10. But sideshow seem to have rushed out the Prometheus and definitely have some problems with the facial shine.

Ive been pretty harsh on him but if you want to run with the big boys your going to be compared to them.
For $90 your getting your moneys worth but not without problems. I think he is the best 1/6 Indy on the market so well worth checking out.

The Raider of the lost ark gets a 7/10