The entire figure, besides the boots, looks like it was made in 2008.
The boots look like they were made in 2003. The only push/pull here is that MacReady is the kind of figure subject matter where parts sourcing would be pretty hard if you tried to customize this guy.
For a figure potentially over the 250 dollar mark, this is just unacceptable IMHO. It shouldn't take this much work by some here ( and much credit to them to try to upgrade this set with their skill and passion) to try to rebalance a figure that should have come already at a prestige level.
And I'm not usually this critical of figures period. I'm mostly pretty easy going on most figures. Does anyone see me running a microscope over figures all over this board? If I am going to gripe about something, I just want more weapons in every set. Even the accessories in this set are mediocre. How do you accomplish that at this stage of the current hobby? I took a gander at the artist list for this set, and yeah, not a surprise why the accessories are middling.
If the quality takes a generational loss of 15 plus years ago, that should IMHO put it squarely at about 5th gen in our "Golden Age of 1/6th" evolution. This is like going for a ride in a time machine, but not to go back to bang the cute girl in high school you should have taken a shot with, but instead you wake up being cornered in a prison shower.
To be fair, there are other Mondo sets that are pretty great. But this one is asking you to hold Vern Schillinger's pocket in the yard.
I was thinking while driving this morning about the good and bad elements of the figure itself.
1) For me it's essential to at least slim the body down so that it can function properly. That'll get you so far, but leaves you limited to posing his legs in a specific manner.
Ideally the body needs swapping for a slimmer one, which should preferably be shortened if you're bugged by actor height accuracy.
2) I haven't been happy with the sculpts since I first saw them in the box. It's a toss up whether the culprit is mostly paint or sculpting/expression. The hair colour being so dark may have been throwing it off more, because since lightening it I think I can seem more of Kurt coming out to play.
I think it's more the "did I leave the oven on or not?" expression. There's no fire or determination, or anything at all in the face, apart from the daydreamer.
Pinpointing the cause, I think it's the eyes. I tried the broken glasses on him and there may have been an improvement. Hard to tell as the glasses won't fit properly due to the strand of hair over his left eye.
3) The flight suit is passable, but the legs are too tight to blouse them over the boots so you don't get the correct silhouette. Ideally it would need changing for a roomier one.
4) The Shirt/T-shirt combo is fine.
5) I can live with the boots. I don't mind sculpted as long as they're sculpted with wrinkles and such.
6) The jacket, ironically, turned out to be a high point in the set. It was the one thing many of us assumed we'd be changing, but transferred to a slimmer body it revealed its potential. It has greater accuracy than the DID alternative and a nice fur collar. Weathering also brought it more to life.
7) The gun belt isn't accurate at all as they omitted the cartridge loops. The plastic holster looks cheap due to the paintwork.
8) The M2A1-7 flamethrower is a high point in that it's probably a rarity in 1/6. It's a pity that it looks so plasticky. It gives me the impression that parts of it aren't painted, but moulded in the final colour. i.e., they used green plastic and only painted the parts that weren't meant to be left green, then added simple weathering with a silver pen.
9) The shotgun and revolver are acceptable.
It gives you a base to work on, but not much of a base if you want screen accuracy.
) is pretty amazing. Mondo does seem to be more presentation and style over substance, and that shows here. I am posting on my computer but will post some pics from my phone in a minute, including some examples of how he scales with obvious companion pieces.
