OK....Here it is.
Daron Woodward's Review of BIG CHIEF STUDIO's 1:6 Scale Limited Edition Amy Pond Figure
That Head Sculpt.
On opening up the boxes (double boxed, nice start BCS) and lifting the figure out, the first thing that happened was that the left foot fell straight off. Luckily I popped it back in place (It is ball jointed). Then I began to examine things to see 'what was what'.
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The hair comes partially wrapped in a cellophane wrap (like the Avengers Black Widow figure), and partially with some of it tucked under the front of the jacket, to hold it in place. Whilst I have taken off the band around the face, I am not yet confident enough to tackle the rest of her hair...but soon. Sadly and as can be seen, the face is that same pale and vacant face that sent the fans into melt down in the first place. It seems to be the exact same head. Whilst it is not an unpleasant facial sculpt, it does not really look like Amy Pond or Karen Gillan very much at all. The expression is far too empty to be really good. Whilst it is a perfectly acceptable 'generic female' sculpt, it is nowhere near the lovely Ms Gillan.
The flip-side of this is that this...
...is how
not only the BBC,
not only her agent, but also
Karen herself wanted it to look. There lays the blame for such a bland and pale face.
The Body.
The body is, well, the body is the body. It is no better or worse than any other female - or male for that matter - sixth scale body I have see or used. Amy's right leg does seem to be a fraction longer than her left leg on mine, but that may just be on mine. She has pretty good articulation and movement is quite free for the poses you'd want to put her into.
One weird thing though, for those that thought Matt SMith's hands were soft and pliable on the #11 figure, these are just downright freaky soft. Softer than a pencil eraser soft. It's a very strange feeling, what with the normal human hands and they being so pliable and bendy. Still, they do change easily for it.
The Costume.
The one thing I did find disturbing in the lack of execution (I would say planning but I am sure the guys at BCS would have dealt with this, had it been obvious at the time of their visit to the factory) was in the design and construction of Amy's skirt and tights. On my figure the tights seem to be attached to the skirt and sadly the the tights sit too low whilst the skirt sits up way too high for decency. The nett result is that Amy appears to be on the lookout for a quick date. No joking, this is how it came out of the box, this and one foot off...
I tried to futz this into a better position and almost got there, but it was made next to impossible by the fit of the tights. Amy appears to be literally sown into her undergarments, they are very tight and the seams at the back are a hideous mess,
The tightness of them works against a collector successfully futzing them into some kind of decent positioning, even with both boots off and some careful but thorough manipulation.
The jacket...well, what can I say about that jacket? I am not sure if it is brilliant or just insane, but there is something that is just not right about that jacket. Sadly, the blouse underneath is velcroed shut, and obviously so too. You can see it clearly in my photo.
Extras.
Rather thin on the ground, just a small collection of small object, a photo, a letter from the Doctor, some other bits and pieces. My favourite of which is the 'Raggedy Doctor' dolly from the series. I recall it was some kind of additional extra, though It's been so long I don't recall what you had to do to get it!
General Photos...
Final Thoughts and Reflections....
Well, I finally got my Amy Pond figure in hand and have spent some time with it. BCS tried their hardest to make this work and finally got this to market. For this, they deserve a commendation. It must have been a hair tugging, nail biting, time stealing marathon of disappointments for them. Has all of this transferred, what's more, transformed itself into a brilliant and successful figure?
Sadly, not really guys. As much as I wanted to love it, as much as I have it and will put it with my #11, as much as I will continue to support the crew at BCS with my future #4 and #1 Pre-Orders (I already have the #10 PO'ed), this figure is guilty of the worst fate that can befall any figure, regardless of scale...it's
ordinary. It's not quite bad enough to be terrible, and it is just not good enough to be great. And at this price point, and after all the delays, it really should have been better. It needed to be better.
To BCS, I know that this has cost you, I suspect that this one will have a hard time breaking even, and so I applaud you for your determination to the cause, for listening to fans through the most open communication I have ever experienced, and for openly admitting the fact of 'lessons learned'
