Hot Toys 1/6 The Suicide Squad King Shark

[Turtle882]

The listing says 7 poa, and specifically says arms, wrists, and waist. But that only accounts for 5 poa, and the ankle seams are clearly visible. Long wait for the final answer

 

[skizzoid]

From the Hot Toys site listing:
- 7 points of articulations including arms, wrists, ankles and waist

 

[Turtle882]

Ah. Cool. Sideshow doesn't mention ankles in the description: "7 points of articulations including arms, wrists, and waist"

 

[yacobschlomo]

All 7 points of articulation on this seem to be very limited swivel joints (which I don't really consider articulation) and are basically there just so it's easier to mold. Hulk has 3 times as many points of articulation with mix of ball, hinge, and swivel joints, each of which allows for much more range of movement.

 

[ZE_501]

This release bugs me. I'm really impressed they're producing it, given how conservative and boring their offerings seem to be as of late. If not boring, at least relatively narrow.

But the execution looks like an attempt at getting the collector market to once again pay for less. They made Hulk, they could have made this the same way. I don't pretend to know how that would have worked out for them cost-wise, but this seems fishy.

(See what I did there?)

 

[greygoose]

I don't pretend to know how that would have worked out for them cost-wise, but this seems fishy.

(See what I did there?)

 

[chrisstbh]

This release bugs me. I'm really impressed they're producing it, given how conservative and boring their offerings seem to be as of late. If not boring, at least relatively narrow.

But the execution looks like an attempt at getting the collector market to once again pay for less. They made Hulk, they could have made this the same way. I don't pretend to know how that would have worked out for them cost-wise, but this seems fishy.

(See what I did there?)

We’d be paying more for more articulation and engineering though, this seems priced pretty fair for what it is considering his size and that it’s all new and probably a one off.

If this wasn’t a PP figure it’d probably be prices around the same as Venom.

 

[ZE_501]

We’d be paying more for more articulation and engineering though, this seems priced pretty fair for what it is considering his size and that it’s all new and probably a one off.

If this wasn’t a PP figure it’d probably be prices around the same as Venom.

I get where you're coming from, but it still feels like a bit of a letdown. I guess I'm used to HT producing action figures, although admittedly, some of their fully articulated releases remain statues, practically speaking, due to materials restrictions on the costumes.

It's not like I personally use action poses on my shelves 90% of the time, but there's an out-of-left-field unpredictability to what people can do with a fully articulated figure that would seem to be missing in a release like this.

 

[jal76]

PERFECT release for me! With the exception of one figure in my collection, Prisoner Harley Quinn sitting cross legged on her pillow, all of my figures have remained in museum poses for as long as I’ve had each and every one of them.
They could charge the full MMS price for this and I’d preorder it just the same.
I have zero use for any more articulation than this figure offers and wouldn’t care even if it didn’t affect the price.
Saving all of that money is the ultimate bonus!
Hot Toys gets it right again!

 

[Buttmunch]

I think we’ll find this will be articulated enough to do what most of us would have him do outside of maybe activity eating someone. I think it was a great choice for a PP figure. Being $30 less than an average, barebones figure is a steal for a figure his size. The McFarlane figure is already a pretty decent size figure for the 7” line. This guy will be nearly 14” tall so he’ll have a great shelf presence. I can’t say I’ve done much with Hulk’s articulation so I would have preferred PP pricing on him too.

 

[jespernicolaj]

Hot Toys have been cutting down on articulation in favour of realism. Fans wants the latter. A figure like Nebula has more points or articulation but you can probably pose King Shark better than her. I sold most of my Hot toys to but Mafex instead. Less realism, more articulation.
Boys just wanna have fun.
Still, a huge shark on the shelf is going to be fun. and the price is not ridicoulous. Would I want him to pose like crazy? Yes. Would I pay 400 for him? No.

 

[Asta]

This release bugs me. I'm really impressed they're producing it, given how conservative and boring their offerings seem to be as of late. If not boring, at least relatively narrow.

But the execution looks like an attempt at getting the collector market to once again pay for less. They made Hulk, they could have made this the same way. I don't pretend to know how that would have worked out for them cost-wise, but this seems fishy.

(See what I did there?)

Someone responded to a King Shark post on Facebook the other day with, "seems fishy".

The author of the thread asked them what they meant, and the fishy poster replied that their joke had backfired because they just realised that "sharks are mammals" (!)

Mammals?

A while later they deleted their fishy comment, and the whole exchange disappeared.

Nanaue ought to pay them a visit and teach them something about sharks.

 

[jespernicolaj]

Saw the film last night. Thought it was "meh". Idris was good, but with so many characters it got very shallow. I really like Guardians, it is my favorite Marvel movie, but this was like a cheap, unintelligent Deadpool imitation. This was better than the first one, but only just by a very slim margin.

 

[Turtle882]

Amanda Waller puts together a messy team of supervillains as disparate as they are desperate. Things go wrong when Task Force X is assigned to clean up another of the government's messes and an escaped monster starts taking control of the local population. Harley rejoins the team after a failed romantic bid. Stay tuned after the credits to see which side villain survived.

The team features a strong water-based mutant, a black man who never misses except when it comes to his relationship with his daughter, a douchey white dude, an energy-projecting villain with a traumatizing past, a woman trying to reconnect with a lost loved one, and Rick Flag and Harley Quinn.

I enjoyed it, but I think there are a number of very fair criticisms. The plot had as many holes as the first act Squad. It's crass, vulgar, and low-brow. I expected something smarter, but I still enjoyed it. It was fun and energetic with a charismatic and engaging cast.

 

[Alatar]

I watched TSS last night (was on vacation last week and even though I brought a fire stick HBO Max isn’t available in Mexico) and it did nothing for me. I’m a little surprised since I really like Robbie’s Harley and loved GotG. With TSS I really didn’t care about the characters at all, or what happened to them. GotG felt like discovering a rare gem, but this felt like empty calories to me. It just didn’t engage me. It’s well made for what it is but I didn’t care. I had a similar reaction to BoP although I liked BoP much more because I cared about the characters more.

If others enjoyed TSS that’s great. Films can either strike a chord with us personally, or rub us the wrong way, for what are ultimately a variety of very personal and idiosyncratic reasons. But as for myself, I have no interest in any figures that might emerge from this film. It just didn’t appeal to me.

I may be in a minority on this: but I actually enjoyed Black Widow so much more that TSS. As MCU-formulaic as BW is (and mind you, I’m a MCU fan, I do enjoy it for what it is) I still preferred how BW works those tropes so much more than whatever it is that TSS was aiming for. I have BW as upper mid tier MCU for my personal taste. In contrast I place TSS way towards the bottom of my DCEU faves list.

It’s interesting how Shazam, BoP, and now TSS have gotten rave critical reviews but it hasn’t translated into any sort of great fan enthusiasm the likes of which we see with SW, MCU, or the Snyderverse. Shazam made a very modest profit but nothing even close to the magnitude of so many more successful superhero films. (Note that for DC around roughly the same time Aquaman and Joker both made $1B.) BoP barely broke even. And while I do agree that the industry is in the midst of a changing landscape for measuring the success of a film with streaming in ascendancy and the theater in decline, Tenet which released in Aug. 2020 as a sort of test of the box office during Covid, with no vaccine available, etc., still made $360M. Pretty sure that TSS won’t come close to that. Anyway, Grace Randolph has an interesting breakdown of the numbers for TSS and what she thinks it all means, although with her as always take with a grain of salt. She reflects the more traditional way of measuring success primarily via box office. But by the same token, I think that probably also reflects the attitudes of the Hollywood traditional establishment.

Anyway, as controversial and polarizing as MoS and BvS were, what Snyder did created hardcore enthusiasm within the fan base and robust ticket sales. And it seems that with ZSJL’s reconstruction creating greater (or clearer) context for the deconstruction of MoS and BvS, my guess is that a good number of critics that bashed MoS and BvS might change their tune now if asked. But anyway hopefully WB Discovery when it takes the reigns next year for the DC IPs can begin to accept that RT scores are not necessarily an accurate indicator at all. In fact I can recall reading in 2017 a good study that showed zero correlation between RT score and financial success.

 

[ZE_501]

Anyway, as controversial and polarizing as MoS and BvS were, what Snyder did created hardcore enthusiasm within the fan base and robust ticket sales.

He definitely has fans, but the ticket sales ... in terms of the general public EVERYONE knows who Superman is. Batman and Wonder Woman are massive names too. I can't help but wonder if you slapped them on anything, people would watch.

 

[CrankbaitJon]

This release bugs me. I'm really impressed they're producing it, given how conservative and boring their offerings seem to be as of late. If not boring, at least relatively narrow.

But the execution looks like an attempt at getting the collector market to once again pay for less. They made Hulk, they could have made this the same way. I don't pretend to know how that would have worked out for them cost-wise, but this seems fishy.

(See what I did there?)

I'm not expert, but I think it's the skin texture along with the price point. If they sell this as a Hulk priced figure, less people will bite.

 

[Alatar]

He definitely has fans, but the ticket sales ... in terms of the general public EVERYONE knows who Superman is. Batman and Wonder Woman are massive names too. I can't help but wonder if you slapped them on anything, people would watch.

People forget that MoS‘s box office was more than MCU films of that era which were the introductory solo films for the MCU. E.g., Iron Man, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger. Also made more than Iron Man 2. And that is all adjusted for inflation. (Here are the tools required if anyone doubts it: The Numbers - Where Data and the Movie Business Meet and Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value from 1913-2021.)

BvS is a Watchmen-like deconstruction which freaked a lot of people out at the time, and still does. A lot of critics and fans alike really have no idea what deconstruction even is, i.e., the tremendous impact that Alan Moore’s and Dave Gibbons Watchmen and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns had on the comics in 1986. And what Snyder was doing with that.

BvS is a serious auteur film through and through. It’s amazing that it ever even got greenlit. It still pulled in $875M which is frankly amazing. If 1) at least some critics out there had understood it (and so many of them absolutely did not, they really did not) and it had some explanation of what it was doing, and, 2) if the so-called “UE” 3:01 runtime version (which was as originally intended but WB changed to 2:31 at the eleventh hour only a few weeks prior to opening weekend) had been released, I believe it would have cleared $1B.

When you look at what a masterful job Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix did with their junket educating critics and entertainment media journalists about what the film is doing, imho that made all the difference for the critical acceptance of Joker. Those two were very good at explaining it. On the other hand, Zack Snyder is unfortunately learning disabled (IRRC he has shared that… ADHD? anyway…) and it is at times very challenging to listen to him try to explain what he’s doing. He can be painfully inarticulate to be perfectly honest. His wife Debby is better at it, but as an professional executive producer she uses all the corporate-speak and it comes off as pretty canned.

In hindsight WB should have in advance pre-screened BvS to a panel of auteur directors such as Nolan, Tarantino, Villanueve, Del Toro, Fincher, Rodriguez, Cameron, and without giving away too much released a short documentary on why the film is so damn good—again, given what it is. It’d be smart for David Zaslav (CEO of Warner Brothers Discovery which finalizes next year) to get something like that into production even now. Because it absolutely is not too late to resume Snyder’s JL 2 and 3 within the DC multiverse next year. They could market it as a sort of Snyder-sance, if you will. Educate the masses that MoS and BvS truly were ahead of their time, etc. And be open about the fact that WB’s establishment (Emmerich, Tsujihara, Johns) reacted out of fear versus embracing and promoting a bold auteur vision.

 

[jal76]

I think some of the depressed enthusiasm for TSS comes from the fact that it’s between a rock and a hard place.

Die hard MCU obsessives want every DC film to fail because they mistakenly feel that this is the only way to secure Marvel’s dominance, instead of recognizing that the success of ANY super hero movie just helps others get made regardless of the company. Next MCU movie does well financially, it helps the next DC movie get greenlit.

Zack Snyder and Snyder-verse obsessives want the movie to fail to punish WB for punishing Snyder and are under the mistaken impression that the failure of non-Snyder DC films will force WB to “#restorethesnyderverse.”
That’s just foolish, if their superhero movies fail they will run in the opposite direction of Zack Snyder and stop making super hero movies all together. If they do well, they may be inclined to invest in more content, possibly even bringing back Zack Snyder, who knows?

Then there are people like me who love the MCU, love DC, love Zack Snyder’s filmmaking, and loved The Suicide Squad and just want to see more great super hero movies get made. Sadly there are not enough of us to cut through the noise.

 

[FattyMoBookyButt]

People forget that MoS‘s box office was more than MCU films of that era which were the introductory solo films for the MCU. E.g., Iron Man, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger. Also made more than Iron Man 2. And that is all adjusted for inflation. (Here are the tools required if anyone doubts it: The Numbers - Where Data and the Movie Business Meet and Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value from 1913-2021.)

BvS is a Watchmen-like deconstruction which freaked a lot of people out at the time, and still does. A lot of critics and fans alike really have no idea what deconstruction even is, i.e., the tremendous impact that Alan Moore’s and Dave Gibbons Watchmen and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns had on the comics in 1986. And what Snyder was doing with that.

BvS is a serious auteur film through and through. It’s amazing that it ever got greenlit. It still pulled in $875M which is frankly amazing. If 1) at least some critics out there had understood it—and so many of them absolutely did not, they really did not—and it has some explanation of what it was doing, and, 2) if the 3:01 runtime cut (which was as originally intended but WB changed to 2:31 at the eleventh hour only a few weeks prior to opening weekend) had been released, I believe it would have cleared $1B.

When you look at what a masterful job Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix did with their junket educating critics and entertainment media journalists about what the film is doing, imho that made all the difference for the critical acceptance of Joker. Those two were very good at explaining it. On the other hand, Zack Snyder is unfortunately learning disabled (IRRC he has shared that… ADHD? anyway…) and it is at times very challenging to listen to him try to explain what he’s doing. He can be painfully inarticulate to be perfectly honest. His wife Debby is better at it, but as an professional executive producer she uses all the corporate-speak and it comes off as pretty canned.

In hindsight WB should have in advance pre-screened BvS to a panel of auteur directors such as Nolan, Tarantino, Villanueve, Del Toro, Fincher, Rodriguez, Cameron, and without giving away too much released a short documentary on why the film is so damn good—again, given what it is. It’d be smart for David Zaslav (CEO of Warner Brothers Discovery which finalizes next year) to get something like that into production even now. Because it absolutely is not too late to resume Snyder’s JL 2 and 3 within the DC multiverse next year. They could market it as a sort of Snyder-sance, if you will. Educate the masses that MoS and BvS truly were ahead of their time, etc. And be open about the fact that WB’s establishment (Emmerich, Tsujihara, Johns) reacted out of fear versus embracing and promoting a bold auteur vision.

I disagree with you on so many levels. I feel Snyder is a hack. He doesn't understand or comprehend his source materials on the heightened level he attempts so he fills in the cracks with either MTV visuals or gothic "it's so dark and brooding" feels or a fancy word ("deconstruction") that someone else used to great effect.

His only movie that was wholly entertaining was 300, because it stuck to the source material, which played to his strengths. And it had Frank Miller standing right next to Snyder guiding his hand. I would think it's the least "Snyder" version of a film he is attached to. I'm thankful Watchmen was finally made so that I could view it in cinematic form, but it missed so many beats from the source material that it was like a game of telephone 27 steps down the communication chain.

You could prescreen BvS to 100 Rhodes scholars, it isn't going to make the film any smarter. The truth is the movie is a baffling slog to watch. It's a visual essay that failed to deliver its main theme. That's why it doesn't get the reaction from the masses that you may feel when you watch it.

I personally feel Snyder's legacy will ultimately be that he "tries" to do things...make a modern Watchmen movie, deconstruct the trinity of DC, make fetch happen with 1.33:1 aspect ratio.

I never read Phillip's junket for Joker, I never knew it existed. But I can tell you that Joker delivered on so many levels because I felt it when I watched it. That's what movies need to do. And they need to do this on their own, not with a PR blitzkrieg or social media meddling or someone explaining the why or intentions of things. It needs to happen when a viewer is planted in their seat in the theater or watching on a tablet in bed. Cinema is about the end result. We may enjoy the craft and learning more about how ideas and theories became something tangible in film form. But the movie itself needs to be good for people to care about it. That's what Snyder fails to do when he attempts to be an intellectual. This isn't little league t-ball, you shouldn't receive accolades for trying.

Being an auteur doesn't mean that his movies are good. It only means that he made them his way.

(I'm using "good" as a catch-all above. It can mean many things, enjoyable, thought-provoking, disturbing, important.)