Hasbro brought Indiana Jones back to the toy aisles with the aim of producing figures from all the Indy films. But let’s face it, love it or hate it, the release of Kindom of the Crystal Skull was the only reason any of these figures were produced at all. In recognition of that fact, I thought I’d devote at least one day to looking at some toys exclusively from that film: The Russians! There were three single carded Russians released in the line. We got Colonel Dovchenko; creepy psychic chick, Irina Spalko; And a standard Russian Solider. Unfortunately, I never once saw the Russian Soldier on the pegs, so we’re going to have to leave him out for now, but let’s check out the rest of the Russian forces. I don’t have any of these carded, but just go back and look at the carded Indy’s from a few days back and you’ll know what to expect.
“Russians… I hate these guys.” Oh, wait, that was the Nazis. It’s kind of hard to hate on the Russians. I’ve devoted a great deal of my academic studies specializing in US and Russian relations and studying Russian history in general, and it’s tough not to be sympathetic toward them as a people. Bottom line, they don’t make great evil demons like the Nazis do. Nonetheless, considering the context in whichKingdom of the Crystal Skull took place, I think the Russians were a natural choice for the new baddies of the film, even if they couldn’t possibly manage to fill the Nazi’s jackboots. But enough about that, let’s look at the figures…
Ok, so Dovchenko wasn’t all that memorable a villain. He was certainly no Belloq and no Mola Ram. I guess he was at least on par with Vogel from Last Crusade, who was pretty forgettable himself. I’m guessing most people probably just came away remembering Dovchenko as the guy that got eaten alive by ants. Still, all in all I think Igor Jijikine (Russian character actor and sometimes video game voice contributor) did a fine job playing him. And honestly, I thought his “oh, for love of god, shut up!” line was probably the best in the movie. Although that might be saying more about the movie than the actual line.
Like a number of the Indy figures, Dovchenko’s sculpt is excellent from the neck down, but has some issues with his head. The head itself is pretty well done, and a fairly good likeness, but his sculpted officer’s cap is just way too big. It looks like Jiffy Pop is about to burst up through his head. Ok, maybe it’s not that bad, and in fairness it only looks really bad when staring at it from directly in front. The uniform is nicely recreated here and overall, I’m pretty fond of this figure even with his big hat. I would note that the sculpting on the sleeves does unfortunately inhibit the elbow joints quite a bit. Dovchenko came with an automatic pistol and an AK-47 with a collapsed stock. The AK-47 is a particularly nice accessory, complete with a detailed sculpt and paint apps for the wood.
Next up is Irina Spalko. I don’t really care for Cate Blanchett as an actress, and I really didn’t like this character in the film at all. Her Russian accent bothered me a lot more than Harrison Ford’s did in K-19, and that’s saying something considering all the flack poor Ford caught about that performance. Anyway, I couldn’t figure out whether Lucas and Spielberg were trying to make Spalko into some kind of sexy femme fatale, but with that bizarre Romulan haircut, I was having none of it.
Nonetheless, Hasbro did a very good job bringing her to 3 3/4″ figure form. Considering Hasbro’s past issues with female head sculpts, Irina made out pretty good here. The likeness is passable and the paint apps are fairly neat. Her uniform is also really well done right down to the fine detail on her buttons and belt buckle. I really like the scabbard too, even if it doesn’t actually hold her rapier. Spalko comes with an automatic pistol and her rapier. The rapier is pretty close to the one that came with one of the Mutt Williams. Whatever I think of the character, I’ve got zero complaints about this figure.
I had originally planned on looking at the Jungle Cutter vehicle today as well, but I didn’t have time to photograph it, so there’s a good chance I’ll be doing that one tomorrow to end out Indy Week. There’s always a possibility I’ll get really motivated and even toss it in as an extra bonus feature, but to be fair, Friday I hit the corner pub pretty hard after work, so chances are I’m only going to get one more entry in before turning things over to the weekend.
FigureFan Zero 