Garlador
Super Freak
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2022
- Messages
- 1,885
- Reaction score
- 2,918
My figures arrived yesterday. I haven't had a lot of time to spend with them yet - especially with their accessories and alternate hand options - but I've got a pretty good feeling for them to formulate some opinions.
These are my first Storm Collectibles figures. Ever. I was never really a fan of the proportions on their 1/12 figures (or the fact their "1/12" MK figures were closer to 1/10th...), but the proportions here were pretty solid. So, initial thoughts:
Pros:
- The material usage here is great. Almost everything here is cloth goods sans the hoods, feet, and hand guards. The sculpting is great on the faces (even if they're both seemingly the same face). There's a very slight "weathering" on the cloth and armor pieces that give it a lived-in feel that works well. Since nearly everything is removable, those looking to do a body swap shouldn't have too many issues.
- While they've had their looks change and evolve over the years, this is very much the classic versions filtered through the MK11 lens and it works incredibly well as a near perfect hybrid for me of all the styles they've had over the years.
- I have so many Hot Toys that are just so rigid they almost might as well feel like statues. These guys are highly poseable and the cloth goods ensure they're not going to deteriorate and fall apart if I have the audacity to put these ninjas in actual ninja-like poses. That's legit great.
- They have a decent selection of accessories to boot. I got the "Special Editions" from Bandai so they all came with a bonus set of bloody weapons and accessories that have a very authentic Mortal Kombat feel. I'd recommend going that route.
Cons:
- There's no getting around it for me; the joints aren't very aesthetically pleasing. They're MUCH improved over the promo shots, so kudos to the team for making them blend better. But they still don't look great. You can kind of hide the shoulder joints if you push the armbands up higher, and certain angles can hide the elbow bends, but it still feels like they missed the mark. The figures have double-jointed elbows, but get just barely past a 90 degree bend regardless.
- Some might not care either, but I'm a stickler for these kind of things, especially at this scale and at this price, but they are undersized. Officially, I know both characters are about 6'2" but proportionally they're closer to 5'8" in scale. Some ankle extenders might eleviate the problem, but it's still a bummer that Storm made their 1/12 figures too big and their 1/6 figures too small.
- Joint strength is surprisingly weak on my copies. They can still hold a pose, but their legs feel very loose - Sub-Zero more than Scorpion - and they're prone to doing the splits if they aren't balanced right or have too much weight on a pose. I expected a stronger core body here. Sub-Zero has fallen over twice now.
- I've heard so much about the nightmare that is changing out the hands. It's true. These things are a royal pain. Boiling water, hairdryer, pliers... you'll need it. It makes me not want to change them out ever again.
- They both do come with stands. That said, they remind me of Gundam kit stands, and feel very impersonal and generic. Why they don't have proper custom bases is beyond me; they're screaming for it. Give me a Sub-Zero with an icy snow base and Scorpion with a burning Netherrealm base. What we get feels undersized and generic to the point they take away from what the figures display so well. They're presented like premium figures, but the stands don't fit that.
- I'll be blunt that there's a feeling that something is "missing" on them to really feel like they justify the asking price. It's hard to honestly say there's a lot of value here. They're asking for Hot Toys-tier pricing, and you get a lot of bare essentials. 5 sets of hands for both. Subby gets some nifty ice effects, an iced over skull and spine, an ice axe, and some kunai daggers he never uses in the game, while Scorpion has his trademark spear, two katanas, and a chain and a fire uppercut effect. The Bandai store doubles up on the weapons with bloody variants, which does feel like a better value. But it's still not hard to see some glaringly obvious missing options here. Scorpion lacking a skull head is a no-brainer. Both have unmasked head options in the game proper. Outside of Bandai-exclusive weapons, there's no real gore effects like I've seen Storm do so well with their 1/12 line or the previous 1/6 Worldbox figures. I could come up with a half-dozen alternate accessories to better replicate moves and shots from the games that are just lacking in these releases, and at the asking price it feels like we just should have gotten more.
Conclusion:
- I may have come across as pretty critical, and a lot of that is because I have a lot of high expectations and an insane love for these characters. I grew up with these characters - of my younger brother and I as kids duking it out on the Sega Genesis (he was Scorpion, and I was Sub-Zero). We watched the movie on repeat so many times. We had the soundtrack on cassette. I was a moderator on the Mortal Kombat online forums for over a decade. I'm still into the series. I've had the pleasure of speaking with the Mortal Kombat creators a few times for interviews and retrospectives. So a lot of my critiques come from wanting them to just have a homerun release with this 1/6 line of MK figures, for it to succeed, and for more to be made.
So despite a lot of shortcomings, I'm still extremely happy with them. They're not homeruns, but they didn't strikeout either. They pose better than half my collection, the materials used feel premium, and what accessories we do get fit them well and have a lot of display possibilities. I think a lot of issues could be fixed with a Phicen body swap with a stronger metal frame (the hand openings are larger than a typical Phicen port, FYI), but they're still solid enough - just enough - for me to be happy to have them, and they'll have a prominent position in my display. I'm always going to look at them and think of those times I fought my brother in the original games and smile. That counts for a hell of a lot.
And for some fun, a comparison with the first MK figure I ever bought.
These are my first Storm Collectibles figures. Ever. I was never really a fan of the proportions on their 1/12 figures (or the fact their "1/12" MK figures were closer to 1/10th...), but the proportions here were pretty solid. So, initial thoughts:
Pros:
- The material usage here is great. Almost everything here is cloth goods sans the hoods, feet, and hand guards. The sculpting is great on the faces (even if they're both seemingly the same face). There's a very slight "weathering" on the cloth and armor pieces that give it a lived-in feel that works well. Since nearly everything is removable, those looking to do a body swap shouldn't have too many issues.
- While they've had their looks change and evolve over the years, this is very much the classic versions filtered through the MK11 lens and it works incredibly well as a near perfect hybrid for me of all the styles they've had over the years.
- I have so many Hot Toys that are just so rigid they almost might as well feel like statues. These guys are highly poseable and the cloth goods ensure they're not going to deteriorate and fall apart if I have the audacity to put these ninjas in actual ninja-like poses. That's legit great.
- They have a decent selection of accessories to boot. I got the "Special Editions" from Bandai so they all came with a bonus set of bloody weapons and accessories that have a very authentic Mortal Kombat feel. I'd recommend going that route.
Cons:
- There's no getting around it for me; the joints aren't very aesthetically pleasing. They're MUCH improved over the promo shots, so kudos to the team for making them blend better. But they still don't look great. You can kind of hide the shoulder joints if you push the armbands up higher, and certain angles can hide the elbow bends, but it still feels like they missed the mark. The figures have double-jointed elbows, but get just barely past a 90 degree bend regardless.
- Some might not care either, but I'm a stickler for these kind of things, especially at this scale and at this price, but they are undersized. Officially, I know both characters are about 6'2" but proportionally they're closer to 5'8" in scale. Some ankle extenders might eleviate the problem, but it's still a bummer that Storm made their 1/12 figures too big and their 1/6 figures too small.
- Joint strength is surprisingly weak on my copies. They can still hold a pose, but their legs feel very loose - Sub-Zero more than Scorpion - and they're prone to doing the splits if they aren't balanced right or have too much weight on a pose. I expected a stronger core body here. Sub-Zero has fallen over twice now.
- I've heard so much about the nightmare that is changing out the hands. It's true. These things are a royal pain. Boiling water, hairdryer, pliers... you'll need it. It makes me not want to change them out ever again.
- They both do come with stands. That said, they remind me of Gundam kit stands, and feel very impersonal and generic. Why they don't have proper custom bases is beyond me; they're screaming for it. Give me a Sub-Zero with an icy snow base and Scorpion with a burning Netherrealm base. What we get feels undersized and generic to the point they take away from what the figures display so well. They're presented like premium figures, but the stands don't fit that.
- I'll be blunt that there's a feeling that something is "missing" on them to really feel like they justify the asking price. It's hard to honestly say there's a lot of value here. They're asking for Hot Toys-tier pricing, and you get a lot of bare essentials. 5 sets of hands for both. Subby gets some nifty ice effects, an iced over skull and spine, an ice axe, and some kunai daggers he never uses in the game, while Scorpion has his trademark spear, two katanas, and a chain and a fire uppercut effect. The Bandai store doubles up on the weapons with bloody variants, which does feel like a better value. But it's still not hard to see some glaringly obvious missing options here. Scorpion lacking a skull head is a no-brainer. Both have unmasked head options in the game proper. Outside of Bandai-exclusive weapons, there's no real gore effects like I've seen Storm do so well with their 1/12 line or the previous 1/6 Worldbox figures. I could come up with a half-dozen alternate accessories to better replicate moves and shots from the games that are just lacking in these releases, and at the asking price it feels like we just should have gotten more.
Conclusion:
- I may have come across as pretty critical, and a lot of that is because I have a lot of high expectations and an insane love for these characters. I grew up with these characters - of my younger brother and I as kids duking it out on the Sega Genesis (he was Scorpion, and I was Sub-Zero). We watched the movie on repeat so many times. We had the soundtrack on cassette. I was a moderator on the Mortal Kombat online forums for over a decade. I'm still into the series. I've had the pleasure of speaking with the Mortal Kombat creators a few times for interviews and retrospectives. So a lot of my critiques come from wanting them to just have a homerun release with this 1/6 line of MK figures, for it to succeed, and for more to be made.
So despite a lot of shortcomings, I'm still extremely happy with them. They're not homeruns, but they didn't strikeout either. They pose better than half my collection, the materials used feel premium, and what accessories we do get fit them well and have a lot of display possibilities. I think a lot of issues could be fixed with a Phicen body swap with a stronger metal frame (the hand openings are larger than a typical Phicen port, FYI), but they're still solid enough - just enough - for me to be happy to have them, and they'll have a prominent position in my display. I'm always going to look at them and think of those times I fought my brother in the original games and smile. That counts for a hell of a lot.
And for some fun, a comparison with the first MK figure I ever bought.
Last edited:
. Posted a quick pick of Subzero and Scorpion with the M33 bodies.
