Back in June I checked out Captain Mal and Zoe from Funko’s Firefly Legacy Collection and while I wasn’t blown away by them, I found them to be solid enough to keep going. I was planning on waiting to get the last three figures and knock them out in one fell swoop, but I haven’t found Wash yet, so we’ll worry about him another day. Today we’re looking at Kaylee, Firefly’s spunky young mechanic, and Jayne, the resident gun-toting psychopath.
The packaging is uniform to what we saw last time. The figures come in window boxes with a deco that matches the show and side panels that identify the figures inside. I like these a lot and so far I’ve been keeping the boxes to all my Legacy Collection figures. The figures in the wave are numbered, with these two being 2 and 3, although I haven’t been going in any order so it doesn’t really matter. Let’s talk about Kaylee first…
Kaylee is sculpted in her green, sleeveless mechanic’s overalls with her purple floral patterned shirt sleeves showing through. I really like the detail they put into the outfit, both from a sculpt and paint standpoint. There’s scattered bits of Chinese writing and the teddy bear patch on the left leg is actually part of the sculpt, which is great. The paint wash on her overalls is a little heavy handed, as was the case with Mal’s jacket, but in this case it can be passed off as grease, so I’m alright with it.
The portrait is kind of an enigma. There are angles where it looks good, there are angles where it looks not so good. I know, that’s not a ringing endorsement, but I get the feeling Jewel Staite is one of those people with rather distinctive features which defy all but the most talented sculptors. Still, Gentle Giant is still credited on this line and they aren’t exactly amateurs. The look they went with has Kaylee offering a sly smirk and I’d have to say that I could probably identify her even if someone just handed me the head and asked me to guess. Bottom line, I expected this likeness to be a train wreck and what we got is passable under certain circumstances.
Kaylee features a good amount of articulation with rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, and ankles. She has ball joints in the hips and double hinged knees. There are swivels in the thighs and lateral rockers in the ankles. There’s no waist swivel, but you do get a ball joint just under her chest and again in the neck. Alas, Funko is still using the super shitty clear plastic for the joints and I did have one stuck knee joint. I have no patience for boiling these things, so I rolled the dice and was ultimately able to coax it into working without snapping anything.
Kaylee comes with one accessory, and that’s a wrench that she can hold in her right hand. Seems like they could have thrown some more in there, but then Jayne makes up for it with some extra bits. And speaking of Jayne…
Now here’s a sculpt that is just spot-on perfect, or at least as close as we’re likely to see in a 6-inch scale mass release figure. Granted, the outfit is simple, with just a green t-shirt and khaki pants, fingerless gloves, combat boots and a gun belt, but everything about it is solid. You even get a functional holster and knife sheath.
The portrait is a dead on likeness for Adam Baldwin. I mean, there’s really nothing else to say, except the paint is nice and clean. This one is a slam dunk.
The articulation, on the other hand, is a little wonky and wanting. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, and these really, really weird variations of the same in the elbows. These were on the Mal figure too, but they look a lot stranger on Jayne’s bare arms. The legs feature ball jointed hips, double-hinged knees, and swivels in the thighs. The ankles have hinges and lateral rockers. The torso features a ball joint in the torso and another in the neck. This one has a few more stuck joints than Kaylee did. The left thigh swivel won’t budge, nor will the rocker in the left ankle. Guess I’ll be boiling some water after all.
Jayne comes with three accessories and, surprise! They’re all weapons! First, you get a pistol and a combat knife that he can wear on his belt. Both are very nice pieces and while his left hand is clearly sculpted to hold a gun, I appreciate the fact that it will still hold the knife without it falling out.
You also get Vera, Jayne’s favorite gun and Funko definitely invested a lot of work into this piece. The sculpt is wonderfully detailed and you get some pretty solid paintwork for an accessory. The stock even has the individually sculpted and painted bullets on it. I can see why Jayne is so fond of Vera, it’s a great little piece.
While it’s sad to see that Funko is holding on to the use of the clear plastic jointing and Jayne’s elbows are really odd, I’m still going to chalk this pair up as a win for this series. If Mal and Zoe left me a little on the fence, Jayne and Kaylee have elevated the line a little in my eyes. Funko is still making some strange and curious choices in the production of the Legacy Collection, but I’m still overall satisfied with what we’re getting. Indeed, I like Jayne well enough that I may go ahead and pick up the exclusive version with his infamous hat. I’m also still on the lookout for Wash. Are we getting any more of these? Who knows. So far, Funko has dropped the Magic the Gathering Line after just one wave and rumor is Game of Thrones is done too. I’d still very much like to see Reverend Book and the Tams see releases, but I’m not holding my breath.
FigureFan Zero 