It kind of drives me crazy that we're getting so many figures in the 6-inch Adventure Series that we didn't get in the 2008 line while there are so many major characters in the 2008 line who don't seem to be in the works for the Adventure Series. The subject of today's review, Indiana Jones in his snazzy white tuxedo from the Club Obi Wan, didn't make it into the 2008 line. Neither did Wu Han, Lao Che, nor Willie Scott in her red and gold performance dress. Think those will show up in this line? I'm not getting my hopes up! This line seems largely like it's meant to help promote
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (which I enjoyed, but I'd put it in last place out of the Indy moves) but, with the movie underperforming, I can't imagine Hasbro really extending this line much beyond whatever they might be contractually obligated to produce by Disney and Lucasfilm. This is a great, unique look for Indy, though, and I imagine it'll be the base for many James Bond customs. This is a Target exclusive and has been out for at least a month. Let's check out Indiana Jones (Club Obi Wan) after the break...
The Facts: Indiana Jones (Club Obi Wan)
Height: 6 1/8ths inches
Articulation: Double swivel/hinge ankles, swivel/ hinge knees, swivel thighs, balljointed hips, balljointed waist, swivel/hinge shoulders w/ lateral "butterfly" hinges, swivel/hinge elbows, balljointed wrists, balljointed neck, and a barbell jointed head.
Accessories: Vial of antidote, flaming skewer, Nurhachi's urn, Eye of the Peacock, and sword.
Non-Scalper Price: $25 dollars
The Facts: Nurhachi
Height: 5/8ths of an inch ("This Nurhachi's a real small guy.")
Comparison:
* Indiana Jones (Club Obi Wan) is on the left while
Indiana Jones (Professor) is on the right. These guys actually share mod of their bodies with just unique jackets and vests. I'm still not completely convinced they don't have the same headsculpts, either. They look really similar, though slightly different, but I can't tell if it's actually a sculpt difference or just a difference in the paint/ face printing.
The Positives:
* Indy looks super slick in his James Bond-ish tuxedo. It's more of a cream color rather than straight up white, but that does seem to be correct and it makes the shirt underneath stand out. The jacket "shell" could come off, but why bother? There are some decent details like the decorative buttons on the shirt, the red boutonnière, and the shirt sleeves sticking out from the jacket sleeves. There's not a lot of painted detail but what is here is neat and clean.
* The likeness is so close to the Professor variant that I'll repeat what I said there: It's not perfect by any means, but it's pretty solid. I've seen more realistic headsculpts from Hasbro for sure, but this is clearly Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in the mid-late 1980s. They captured a lot of Ford's facial features quite well, here.
* For a 1/12th scaled figure with a vest (a separate, but non-removable piece) and a jacket (you can remove it, but what's the point?), this version of Indy also looks pretty svelte, and not at all bulky. That's very welcome here and it's definitely sign of some solid design and engineering.
* Like on the other Indy figures in the line, the articulation scheme is quite solid and very similar to Star Wars: The Black Series. Indy is a sturdy figure and can interact with all of his accessories to create lots of fun action poses. Everything has a really nice range of motion and it's easy to come up with great poses for even the smallest accessories.
* The scene at the Club Obi-Wan is an extremely fun action sequence and Indy uses lots of different items to escape from Lao Che. The largest item in the set is a large sword. These are decorative items at the Club Obi Wan and Indy uses one to cut loose one of the chains on the giant gong so he can hide behind it to escape the gunfire of Lao Che's gangsters. It's a simple sword molded in silver-grey, but it gets the job done.
* One of the improvised weapons Indy uses is a skewer of flaming small game birds. He picks it up and hurls it through of of Lao Che's men. Yikes! The skewer is silver while the little... quails? Cornish game hens? Whatever they are, they're painted to look like meat with translucent flames coming off of them. That's a pretty nice little touch.
* Nurhachi's urn is also included as an accessory. It's a fairly small piece but seems in scale with the figures and just looks really neat. It's thinner than I expected, but that does seem to be accurate to the movie prop.
* The antidote is a teeny, tiny little cylinder molded in transparent blue plastic. Better grab it quick!
* The final accessory is really, really small! It's the Eye of the Peacock, the diamond that Lao Che is supposed to be giving to Indiana Jones in exchange for Nurhachi's ashes. It's pretty cool looking for such a small diamond accessory. Just don't lose it!
The Negatives:
* The Eye of the Peacock is a cool little accessory, but be careful not to lose it. It does fit nicely in Indy's left hand if you don't put any other accessories in there that will stretch it out. Honestly, molding the diamond as part of an additional swappable hand would have been greatly appreciated.
With five accessories, ranging from a decently sized skewer and sword to the extremely tiny diamond and antidote vial, Indiana Jones (Club Obi Wan) comes with most of the stuff he interacts with there. He's a fun figure and I can't think of too many other figures I own sporting a white tuxedo, so he definitely stands out. He might have to stand by himself, sure, but he stands out. He's a Great figure, though, and you have lots of fun ways to display him. He looks pretty darn nice with just a standard pistol, too, if you want some spy action.
Looking for more of Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Jr., better known as Indiana Jones? Then check out my reviews of the Adventure Series
Indiana Jones (Professor) and
Indiana Jones (Temple Escape),
Indiana Jones with Ark and the two Indys from the SDCC "Lost Wave" set:
Indiana Jones and
Indiana Jones in German Uniform, all from Hasbro's 2008 Indiana Jones toyline, the Retro Collection
Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark), and the Indiana Jones: Worlds of Adventure
Indiana Jones with Adventure Backpack.
For more Indiana Jones: Adventure Series reviews check out the following:
I do wish the revolver was involved cos it gets a fair bit of use but with this many accessories I can't argue too much
ReplyDeleteI want Wu-Han with the pistol and serving tray! "Good service here."
DeleteIt's completely apropos of nothing but the guy Indy kills with the skewer was Lao Che's oldest son, Chen.
ReplyDeleteYou're right! I couldn't remember if it was one of his sons or just a random thug.
DeleteOh, and I've discovered that the skewer is a skewer of pigeons!
DeleteIt's so small, though. I think most folks would be OK with something that small as an extra hand. It's better than to risk losing it or to just put it in a storage bag.
ReplyDelete