First Impressions:
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| (Nice package.) |
Vector looks pretty good inside the clamshell packaging, especially with the bright red-orange colors in the background with an imposing trench-coat-wearing Tyrant walking towards the unsuspecting Vector. The background is from the RE: ORC video game cover without the rest of Wolfpack (his teammates). While the clamshell packaging looks slim compared to NECA's other releases, the plastic is actually tougher (and thicker) than the standard fare we've seen recently. The weapon accessories are arranged in neat fashion so you know what you're getting.
Sculpt:
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| (A face only a mother could love.) |
It goes without saying that Vector is "game-accurate" in terms of sculpt. I'm really impressed with the hexagonal patterns sculpted all over Vector's body. However, there's something wrong with his hood. While the hood looks great from both sides and back of Vector's head, something just looks "off" when viewed from the front. It could be because the hood was sculpted too tightly around his head or maybe his head is a little big?
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| (Something like this.) |
Whatever the case may be, it might've been better if Vector's hood was "open-ended" (is that the correct word?) like their previously released Ezio from AC: Brotherhood collection.
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| (Doesn't look Japanese to me. How about you?) |
Out of curiosity, I [forcibly] removed Vector's hood to see the sculpt underneath of Vector's head and received quite a revelation. I was surprised to see Vector's ears sculpted on his head, which leads me to believe that Vector was wearing the hood to cover his bald head! And yes, there's a sizeable hole in the back of his head (that's where the hood "inserts" itself with an extra helping of glue).
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| Tight and secure, just the way I like... nevermind. |
Vector's sidearm holster is designed to keep his sidearm secure (which it does successfully), however, removing it can be quite the pain.
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| Barely holding on. |
The same old problems have resurfaced in regards to the sculpt of the hands. It's clear that Vector's right-hand is posed to grasp the rifle and yet it has trouble holding onto it securely. It fits fine, but the rifle is too wobbly.
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| Looks like someone forgot how to handle a sidearm. |
Interestingly, the sidearm fits his right-hand quite well, however, Vector's "trigger finger" is way out of range. Vector's left-hand is sculpted to only hold his melee weapon, which looks like my barber's shaving knife (either that or my barber is more than he claims to be). While the knife accessory fits somewhat perfectly, it eventually becomes wobbly in Vector's grasp. However, once placed in Vector's grasp, the knife is nearly impossible to pull out.
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| Never leave home without it. |
I want to point out how cool the "radio" or "scanner" type of equipment is which can be found on Vector's back. It's clearly sculpted as a separate piece, however, it's glued securely onto Vector's armored back. It's also interesting to note that Vector's armor is a separate piece enclosing the entire upper body area.
Accessories:
Vector comes with a total of three accessories: (1x) rifle, (1x) side-arm/pistol, and blood-stained knife. It seems the handle/grip-portion of the weapons have been sculpted slightly thicker than the usual standard fare.
Articulation:
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| "Talk to the knife." |
NECA claims Vector has "over 20 points of articulation" but some of them aren't useful. The insert-molded ball-hinged elbows are partially restricted by the elbow pads that have been glued on (which fell-off as I'm writing this review). Even with the elbow pads off, Vector has trouble bending his elbow to a 90 degree angle. While it's nice to have a swivel waist, I would've preferred an ab-crunch joint for our slippery friend, Vector.
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| "Nice ab-crunch joint..." |
**Out of curiosity, I took out my trusty x-acto blade and removed Vector's armor to discover... the ab-crunch joint! Now that I think about it, even with the ab-crunch joint, there was no way I could use it due to the sturdy (separate) armor Vector had on him.**
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| Nasty. |
What really irks me about the articulation department is the ball -jointed hips. I found it really hard to pose Vector in anything resembling an "action" stance due to the design of the ball-jointed hips. If I wanted Vector to crouch, I'd have to peek under his "man-skirt" to see where the joint was facing in order to avoid tearing him apart into two pieces. It would've been much easier (and better) to have hinged hips as seen in their previously [awesome] releases of Isaac Clarke from Dead Space and Chris Redfield from Resident Evil 5.
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| Turtle necks: For those cold winter nights. |
Despite the ball-jointed neck articulation, Vector can't look downward due to his bulky "turtle neck" neck. Out of curiosity (again), I removed Vector's head and discovered that his "turtle neck" neck can swivel!
Paint:
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| "You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?" |
A figure that's in black and the occasional silver paint (not including the eyes-portion). It's not perfect, but I'm over it.
Overall:
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| (Gotta love those double-jointed knees!) |
Although I was initially disappointed with this figure, I eventually got over it. That said, this figure is better left in its clamshell packaging, so I can continue to imagine what this figure could've been. Besides, the packaging itself is very attractive (not to mention quite sturdy).
Score:
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| Score: (3 out of 5) |
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