Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City's Vector Action Figure Review

First Impressions:

(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:

(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?

(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.

(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).

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.

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.

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. 

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:

"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.

"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.**

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.

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:

"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:

(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:

Score: (3 out of 5)

Jonah Hex (film): Lilah Figure Review

Flavor Text:

"LILAH:

Lilah's piercing eyes, cascade of dark hair, and hourglass shape that's almost impossible to believe belie her underlying keen wit and unflinching bravado.  She lives her life balanced on the thin line between good and evil, and only cares for a single one of the many men who drift in and out of her life.  The only one who can possibly see to the heart of who she really is.  Jonah Hex.  They are star-crossed, and when that star falls into the brutal hands of Quentin Turnbull, Jonah will have to rely on her more than he ever has before to help save the country."




Sculpt:

I admit that I haven't watched Jonah Hex.  But hearing that Megan Fox would be in the film somewhat piqued my interest mainly because she just looks so damn good (if you disagree, please watch Transformers and look me in the eyes and tell me she's anything but).  As I browsed through photos from Toy Fair 2010, I immediately "fell in love" with the prototype of Megan Fox (I mean, Lilah).  One glance, and I already knew who this figure was (the actress).

I did some image browsing (thank you Google Images!) to see whether NECA's sculptors captured the accuracy of the on-screen Megan, and (not surprisingly), almost everything from the film has been entirely painstakingly sculpted into 7-inch figure form.

The facial sculpt is "dead-on" accurate.  A tiny portion of Lilah's teeth can be seen between her lips, but after a while, I learned to ignore it because it's Megan Fox in action figure form!

 
I really love the detailing (folds and flow) of Lilah's skanky dress.  Lilah's sculpted wavy hair is just sexy and well-done.  I could go on and on about how much I love this and that, so I'll just stop here.  Let's just say this figure is totally better than the movie itself (I formed this opinion after reading a few scathing reviews of Jonah Hex).

Even Fabio is jealous

I really like NECA for not placing the "NECA 2010 Made in China" stamp anywhere that's visible (that stamp is placed less noticeably on the inner left-side of Lilah's skirt.  Because Lilah's feet are tiny (and peg holes), the soles of Lilah's boots have no detailing.




Articulation:

Lilah in all her glory

Lilah has 10 points of articulation: ball-jointed neck, swivel-hinged shoulders, swivel-hinged elbows, swivel wrists, ball-jointed waist, and swivel boots.

See: Ball-jointed waist... and obligatory panty shot

Normally, I'd complain that this or that figure didn't have the necessary amount of articulation, but Lilah has just enough articulation to get by.  I would've loved to see some leg articulation (whoops!) but this type of articulation has been "standardized" in NECA's offerings for some time.

NOTE: I had some trouble with Lilah standing up.  She'd have the tendency to lean precariously forward.  By adjusting her upper body (via ball-jointed waist), Lilah now stands straight ready for whatever comes her way.




Paint Application:

Although NECA's products have been plagued with paint application problems in the past, Lilah has almost none of those problems.  In order to accentuate the "sheerness" of Lilah's outfit, NECA's team went about it in two ways: (1) They managed to apply "flesh-colored" paint on certain parts of Lilah's "prostitute uniform" (e.g. look underneath her armpits/chest area/forearms/stockings); and (2) utilized partially "see-through" plastic for her skirt, which adds an undeniable "sexiness" to the whole outfit (right?).

The ONLY thing that bothered me was extremely pale "flesh-colored" paint application right above Lilah's right knee (where there's a large hole in her stocking). 




Accessories:

Say hello to my little friend

I haven't seen the movie, but I've seen image stills of Lilah: firing two guns, carrying a tomahawk, and holding a tiny pistol (okay, that last one was from the movie poster).  Care to guess what comes with Lilah?  Yes, that's right, the tiny pistol.

The first time I placed the pistol into her preposed grip (right-hand), the pistol immediately fell out after adjusting Lilah's right arm.  Now, for some reason, the pistol is staying perfectly still in her hand, even while I continually adjust her right arm.

And when I refer to the pistol accessory as "tiny," I really mean it's tiny.  When it fell out of Lilah's hand the first time, I had one hell of a time looking for the darned thing.  Let this be your one and only warning.




Packaging:

Lilah comes in the typical NECA clamshell packaging.  The backdrop of the packaging features some dilapidated "Old Western" style buildings.  In the foreground, Josh Brolin posing as Jonah Hex covers the left corner of the packaging.

Interestingly, Lilah's pistol accessory is hidden behind Jonah Hex's cowboy hat (upper left-hand corner).

NOTE: Lilah's "flavor text" is actually printed on the left-hand side of the packaging.  The back has some pointless (my opinion) jibba-jabba about getting a "special sneak peek" of Jonah Hex motion comics.




Price:

Girls night out

I pre-ordered Lilah through CornerStoreComics.com for $14.99 (not including tax and shipping and handling charges) during March 2010.  I'm pretty sure you can find her for cheaper online.




The Good:

* Looks exactly Megan Fox!  (Transformers custom figure anyone?)
* Highly gorgeous and highly detailed figure!
* Movie accurate sculpt.


The Bad:

* Minor paint application problem.
* Megan Fox (I mean, Lilah) needs to keep her mouth closed.
* Super tiny pistol accessory (very easy to lose... or swallow).



The Ugly:

* None whatsoever!



Score: 

Score: 4 (out of 5)

Gears of War 3 (Series 1): Anya Stroud Figure Review

Flavor Text:

"Anya Stroud:

Former "Control" Dispatcher for Delta Squad, Anya is now a frontline fighting Gear herself.  Defending the remnant of humanity has forged her into a tough and capable warrior ready to tackle anything that comes her way."



Sculpt:

Kinda looks like Cameron Diaz... weird, huh?

For those who haven't played any of the Gears of War video games or read any of the novels, the storyline mainly revolves around the COGs (Coalition of Ordered Governments) and their fight for survival against the vicious subterranean Locust Horde.  I haven't played the Gears of War 3 (video game) mainly because I don't own an XBOX 360  (I love my PS3 dearly, thank you very much).  However, with the pictures of Anya plastered on all three sides of the clamshell packaging, I have a pretty good idea what she's supposed to look like in-game.

The textures and detailing of Anya's armor is just amazing.  The colors of the outfit and sculpt of various accessories (that are permanently sculpted onto her body) look accurate.  The sculpt of the weapon accessory (bloodied Lancer) is also a really nice touch.  I just noticed that there is a folded-up "handle bar" on the left-side of the Lancer which you can unfold (a nice surprise addition to the overall design of the Lancer weapon accessory) allowing yo to recreate their [secondary] bloody "chainsaw" attack.

I really like how NECA is no longer placing the "NECA 2011 Made in China" stamp (that stamp is now placed less noticeably on the back of Anya's weapons pouch on her right hip) on the soles of the figure's feet.  Just like they did with their recent Isaac Clarke figure (from the Dead Space 2 video game), the soles of Anya's feet are detailed.

I love how Anya's right-hand is sculpted to actually grip the Lancer weapon accessory tightly enough and that her right finger fits in the trigger "area" perfectly.  Before I forget, I just love how NECA handled the overall sculpt of Anya's body.  Even with the heavy armor surrounding her, you can still see the outlines of her feminine charm.  I hope this much articulation and level of sculpt continues down the line for the rest of their female action figures (Lara Croft anyone?).

While Anya's facial sculpt is somewhat similar to the video game version, there are two things that could've improved the overall look.  The biggest problem is that Anya is cock-eyed (this may be due to the paint application).  The only other problem is that this Anya looks like she forgot to apply some makeup.  The in-game pictures of Anya shows her at least having some "eye-shadow" or the like which improves her overall look (now I know why women apply eye-shadow). 



Articulation:

Stretching after a long battle or posing for a magazine?

According to the packaging, Anya has "30+ points of articulation".  Let's see if I can count them all: ball-jointed neck, 3 separately articulated moving parts (for each side) that make up the ball-jointed shoulders, hinged elbows, swivel-hinged wrists, ab-crunch joint, swivel waist, swivel-hinged hips, double-jointed knees, swivel calves, hinged ankles, and hinged toes.

The only problem with this figure is that some of the joints are a bit too loose for comfort.  After a while, the arms will fall down due to the [weapon] accessory's weight.  The ab-crunch joint is too loose to a point that Anya just ends up slouching due to gravity.  Also the swivel waist joint couldn't move most likely due to the paint application, so that took some time before I could get it to move (at all).

Paint Application:

Props to the individual or groups of people involved in the this department.  This is a great example of NECA's ability to get things done right the first time.  A little eye-shadow or a little jab of makeup or whatnot on Anya's face would make this the perfect female figure ever created by these talented group of guys (and gals).  The "blood splatter" paint application of the chainsaw-part of the Lancer weapon accessory is just great.



Accessories:

While this figure only comes with one Lancer weapon accessory, you won't hear any complaints from me in this department.  With all the detailing and articulation that is present in this figure, and the price, you can't get nor find a quality figure that packs this much of a punch anywhere else in this market.

I also think it's a very nice addition to include a peg on the Lancer [weapon] accessory so that it could be plugged into the back of Anya's armor without much difficulty.

The handle (grip) of the Lancer is thick enough to fit into Anya's pre-posed right-hand.  Her hand is pliable enough so that the stiff handle of the Lancer can slide in without (too much of) a hitch.



Packaging:

Anya comes in the typical clamshell packaging NECA's figures are known for.  It shows off most of the figure with the weapon accessory visibly placed on the top-right side of the packaging.  The background design of the packaging is nice and colorful, undoubtedly taken from the video game cover of Gears of War 3.  The front window packaging (at the bottom) shows a portrait of a serious-looking Anya posing with her Lancer (?) with her name in bright-blue color on the left-hand side.  The surrounding sides of the packaging show more pictures of the sexy Anya as well.





Price:

I pre-ordered Anya through Toysrus.com for a total of $15.99 (not including tax and shipping and handling charges).  I've got to tell you though how I noticed Toysrus.com jack up the prices of the Gears of War figures almost a few weeks before Christmas (what a real nasty business practice).



Additional Information:

There's a "chase variant" of this figure that comes packaged with a "pink-colored" Lancer.  If you're lucky enough to find one in the stores without having to resort to eBay or any other online store, good for you.  Otherwise, expect to pay premium prices for essentially the same figure with a different paint scheme on the Lancer [weapon] accessory.  However, I think it's cool that NECA throws in something extra like these "chase" figures.  It makes collecting a bit more exciting (and challenging).

--------------------------

Product Development
Randy Falk


Sculpt
Neobauhaus Studios


Fabrication
Jeff Richard


Paint
Jon Wardell
Geoffrey Trapp


Prototypes
Adam Smith 

Photography
Stephen Mazurek


Packaging
Chris Longo

--------------------------

Epic Games, Inc.

Character Concept and Game Art
Epic Games development team

Figure Art Direction
Chris Perna

Product Development
Cliff Bleszinski
Mike Capps
Rod Fergusson
Chris Mielke

Additional Feedback
Pete Hayes
Kevin Lanning



The Good:

* The highly anticipated Anya Stroud figure is finally here!
* Extremely articulated and highly detailed figure!
* Video game accurate sculpt.


The Bad:

* Very loose joints.
* Needs some additional paint application on Anya's face.
* Please fix the cock-eyed look!



The Ugly:

* The long wait it took to finally get this figure in my grubby hands!
* Retailers "upping" the price for last-minute shoppers.



Score:

(Reminiscing) Resident Evil 4 Series 1: Leon S. Kennedy (without coat) Action Figure

Flavor Text:

"Oh shit...."

None.  Just one main picture of the actual figure (in this case, Leon) that takes up more than half of the back of the package.  The remaining bottom space is used to show [four] pictures of the other Resident Evil figures from "Series 1" which include: Ada Wong, Chainsaw Ganado, Verdugo, and Leon S. Kennedy.



Sculpt:

"Damn paparazzi!"

I remember people complaining about how strange Leon's face looked when he was first released.  His hair sculpt does make him look like a lead singer of a boy band.  But is it really that bad?  It depends on the angle.  You could place a scaled guitar accessory in Leon's hands and he will definitely look like he's rocking the joint.

One of the things that used to bother me was Leon's "hunched over" look coupled with his pre-posed arms.  This really limited the number of poses Leon could do.  That said, Leon is in that pose most of the time in Resident Evil 4 (video game).  Not to mention that most figures during that time had a limited amount of articulation as well (for a 7-inch collector figure line).  Leon looks great when posing with his handgun, but otherwise looks extremely awkward without it.

My biggest problem lies with Leon's inability to hold most of his accessories.  His pre-posed hands need to be "tightened" a bit more, at least just enough so that his weapons won't wobble around (especially the sub-machine gun) when placed in his right hand.  Either that or have the grip of Leon's weapons be thicker. However, I believe NECA designed him with a "looser" grip so that Leon can actually grasp the shotgun accessory.  Also, what's up with that "opened palm" left hand?  Is Leon gonna have to smack a bitch?  Or perhaps do the "talk to the hand" bit?

Without a doubt, NECA is well known for their attention to detail, and this figure is no different from the rest of their offerings (at the time).  The "leather" straps around Leon's upper body is extremely well sculpted.  I especially love the sculpt of the sidearm holster which is under Leon's left arm.  Unfortunately, his handgun accessory doesn't stay for long and eventually falls out.  The other holster strapped around Leon's right leg is a little "squished" for some reason, but it can hold the handgun pretty well.  The only thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is Leon's right hand where one of his fingers has some sort of cyst growing out of control.



Articulation:

Leon S. Kennedy is articulated with: ball-jointed neck, ball-jointed shoulders, swivel biceps, swivel wrists, swivel waist, and swivel ankles. 

The amount of articulation on Leon is pretty standard back then as it is even now with the exception of a few ball-joints here and there.  However, an "ab-crunch" joint would've definitely improved this figure a lot.  Since this was NECA's first foray into the Resident Evil world (and probably because they were given a limited budget), collectors like myself should consider themselves lucky to even have a Resident Evil figure in their hands.

My only question is this: why bother adding articulation for the ankles?  More specifically what's the point of having articulation in his left ankle when the sculpt of his jeans limits any movement?  The right ankles swivels quite nicely, but the left ankle slightly budges.  I would've kept that money and put it towards another area.

That said, I would love to see NECA redo some of the their previously released Resident Evil figures and give them even more articulation (and improve some of their sculpts), like they've done with their Gears of War line.



Paint Application:

Most of the paint application on this figure is pretty spot on.  A few stray marks here and there, spots here and there don't detract from the overall value of the figure.  However, as others have mentioned, when you look underneath Leon's nose, you'll notice that NECA actually painted Leon's nostrils!  It really looks... distracting, but it's not noticeable when you place him on the table.  Just try not to look underneath Leon.  You've been warned.

The main thing that bothers me about this figure is the color of Leon's pants.  I do recall Leon wearing dark blue jeans, not black.  So why has NECA given Leon a pair of black jeans?  Strange, isn't it?  So much for video game accuracy...  (Actually depending on what light you're using, you will be able to notice that Leon's jeans are dark blue or at least they're not absolutely black).

Either because the sculpt of the right hand or (most likely) due to the plastic material of his handgun, the "flesh" paint inside of Leon's right hand is easily scraped off revealing the black underneath.  Maybe NECA should rely on using softer rubber-like material for their weapon accessories (like they did with Resident Evil 5's Sheva Alomar's handgun).



Accessories:

Couldn't find all the accessories for the photo shoot

Leon comes with: a knife, handgun with laser pointer, shotgun, sub-machine gun, 3x grenades (2x regular and 1x incendiary grenade), and a health spray.  Of the eight, Leon can only (barely) hold two, which are [thankfully] guns.

"What... what is this?"

The sub-machine gun (SMG) accessory is a joke because there's no way Leon can hold onto it.  Even the slightest movement will cause the [useless] SMG accessory to fall right out of his "kung-fu" grip.  Leon can't grasp any of his grenade accessories, unless you lay them on the "open palmed" left hand flat, which looks ridiculous.  As you can see in the above photo, I managed to shove in the health spray accessory into his "handgun" grip.  Because most of the accessories are relatively small, they're also easily lost (grenades and health spray).  It would've been really nice to have a place to hook or insert the grenade accessories on Leon's belt.

You know what they say about people who carry really small knives...

Probably the most shameful is that Leon can't hold onto his trusty knife!  If you've ever played Resident Evil 4 (video game) you'd know that Leon can use his knife to either conserve ammo or show off his awesome knifing skills.  His deadly skills with the knife also plays a pivotal role during his first encounter with Krauser later on.  The problem with the knife accessory is the handle is way too small and Leon's pre-posed right hand grip is too loose.  The blade could also be a bit longer and bigger.  At least the knife accessory fits nicely in its leather holster!



Packaging:

This figure comes in a really bulky clamshell, which you'd think protects the figure and the package itself really well, but it doesn't.  Due to the sheer size, I think NECA decided to use really thin plastic because it really doesn't do a good job of staying together and is easily dented and scratched.  The backdrop of the packaging is of the church surrounded by a graveyard with strange Ganado symbols.



Price:

It's been quite some time since I purchased this figure, so I no longer remember how much I paid for this bad boy.  However, you can look online now and see how inflated the prices are.  For some reason though, Leon (with jacket) costs way more than Leon (without jacket).  Strange, huh?  Maybe that rocket launcher accessory is really something...



Additional Information:

Product Development
Randy Falk

Art Direction/Paint
Ed Repka

Sculpt
Kyle Windrix

Accessories
Oliver Brig

Asst. Paint
Karin Simeone

Prototypes
Adam Smith

Photography
Nicolle M. Puzzo

Packaging/Composites
Brian Roll

Licensing for Capcom
Marc Mostman

The Good:

* Finally a Resident Evil figure from the popular "Resident Evil 4" video game (thank you, NECA)!

* Pretty amazing detailing job done by the NECA crew.

* Facial sculpt of Leon S. Kennedy is pretty "video game" accurate!

* Figure made from very durable material (dropped this sucker a few times, not on purpose, I swear)!

* Love the inclusion of the ball-jointed articulation.



The Bad:

* Mostly useless accessories.

* Limited articulation (but that was pretty standard back in the day).

* Strange articulation in certain places.



The Ugly:

* Most of the accessories don't fit in either hand.

* Retailers trying to milk Resident Evil enthusiasts by creating artificial "demand" by hiking prices between the Leon S. Kennedy (without coat) and Leon S. Kennedy (with coat) even though these were available 50/50 per case!



Score: