Tag Archives: movie masterpiece

Feb 15 2023

Back to the Future: Marty McFly (and Einstein) Sixth-Scale Figure by Hot Toys

I’m not one for New Years Resolutions, but I am going to try to up my efforts when it comes to Hot Toys and other Sixth-Scale reviews this year. It seems like I’m always behind on these, some of which have been waiting years to get their turn in the spotlight here. Marty hasn’t been sitting around for years, but it has been a while, and now that Doc Brown has come in, I have new incentive to have a look!

Marty comes in a standard shoebox, which I like a lot more than the crappy window box with sleeve that Hot Toys has used in the past, particularly for their Marvel MCU figures. Sure, the box could be a little more durable, but it gets the job done. The artwork on the box is very nice and features the iconic logo at the top of the front and again on the spine. The OUTATIME TOUR 85 on the side panel is kind of cheesy, but that’s fine. This one was an unusual release, as it comes only about seven years after Hot Toys’ last release of Marty in this outfit and yet almost everything appears to be brand new. He doesn’t require any set up and comes out of the box all ready for display.

Here’s Marty McFly out of the box and relieved of his plastic wrap, and I’ll tell ya, since most of my Hot Toys are space people or super heroes, it’s fun to get one wearing regular clothes now and again. Or at least regular clothes from almost 40 years ago. Marty is sporting a lot of denim, with both blue jeans and a jean jacket. He’s got a checkered, button down shirt over a red undershirt, suspenders, and his life preserver! Everything about the figure’s costume is beautifully tailored, from the stitching on the jacket, to the pattern on the inside liner. The fit is also quite good, and I’m really impressed at that, considering Marty is wearing so many layers. Making clothing in this scale not look overly puffy is hard enough without doing four layers of it. And if the jacket does look a little bulky on his right side, it’s because his Walkman is tucked into the inside pocket of his jacket. If I had one nitpick about the outfit, it’s the way the suspenders pull up the sides of the pants and make the middle dip. You can adjust it, but it’ll always return to the dip in the middle. Eh, but that’s not a dealbreaker.

Of course, you can take the vest off to appreciate more of what they did with the jacket, and doing so makes it easier to sling his backpack over his shoulder. They recreated the pins on the left side of his chest and he even comes with his calculator watch, which we all wore in the 80’s, unless you were posh enough to wear a Swatch. Yeah, it’s kind of a shame to cover up those pins with the vest, but I’ll still likely be displaying with the vest all the time.

The head sculpt is pretty amazing to me. I passed on the 2015 release because of the portrait, which I thought at best looked like a much older Michael J. Fox, or maybe Alex Keaton on drugs from that one episode of Family Ties. The solicitation photos for this one looked much better and I’m happy to see the production head came out pretty damn close to what we were originally shown. As with many of these portraits, there are a few angles where the likeness loses something and others where it excels, but overall I’m extremely pleased. And comparing the old and the new is like night and day. As usual, the paint is absolutely exquisite, recreating all the little nuances of the skin tone, the lips, and the lifelike eyes. The hair sculpt is also fantastic. Well done, Hot Toys!

Running through the accessories… I’ve already shown off the backpack, which looks bang on for one that I carried in High School, only mine was green. Other than some more beautiful tailoring, the only thing worth noting here is that the straps are positioned on top of each other to make it easier to have it slung over the shoulder or carried in the hand, and they cannot be separated and worn on each shoulder like an actual backpack.

The detail on the Walkman is out of this world for such a tiny accessory. At some point, I’ll have to bust out my Hot Toys Star Lord’s Walkman for a direct comparison. I never had a Sony Walkman as a teenager, but had to make due with an Aiwa, but this looks pretty damn good. Sadly, you cannot pop it open and put in a tiny Huey Lewis tape. Also, the headphones aren’t adjustable, so they’re best suited to hang around his neck. Best I could do to get them on his ears is to have the band across the back of his head. Naturally, they’re also very delicate so I wasn’t about to force the issue.

As long as we’re talking AV equipment, Marty also comes with the JVC Camcorder he used to document Doc Brown’s DeLorean experiment. And oh boy is this an impressive little bit of kit! I’ve never owned one of these babies, so I can’t vouch for its accuracy off-hand, but the detail is outstanding. It has a strap on the side for him to hold it while filming and a carry bar on the top. It does omit the JVC branding, which is surprising because I didn’t know they were still in business.

Next up is Marty’s skateboard, and like the camcorder, I don’t know anything about these things, but it looks pretty good to me. My friend gave me one of his old ones once to try out once and let’s just say that didn’t go well. This little board rolls well and I was even able to get Marty to balance on it fairly well with little cursing involved at all! I really like how they gave him a left hand with splayed fingers that perfectly conveys, “I’m balancing on a skateboard!” There’s some realistic weathering on the wheels and some colorful graphics on the top and bottom. Also like the camcorder, this piece omits some of the lettering, presumably for copyright issues, which surprised me because I believe NECA’s retains them.

Getting down to the nitty gritty, we have the ephemera, (that’s paper goods for you non book collectors!) Yes, Marty comes with the Clock Tower pamphlet! Flip it over and it has Jennifer’s love note along with her Grandmother’s phone number! I don’t know why I think getting paper accessories like this is so cool, especially in light of the other highly detailed goodies, but I think it’s a hoot. The printing on the front is great, so long as you don’t want to read the actual article, and the sheet of paper is folded into four quarters.

Is Einstein an accessory or a figure? Well, I’d say he’s an accessory because he’s small and only has one point of articulation at his neck. I remember seeing a lot of criticism of this piece when the figure was first teased, and I never really understood it. No, you don’t get the same level of realism in the sculpt as you do in the figure’s likeness, but it’s kind of apples and oranges. I’m not sure if they were expecting a fully flocked Einstein with rooted hair, but I’m actually pretty pleased with how he came out.

As usual, our last stop on the Hot Toys review train is the figure stand. This is a standard black oval base and post, but we do get the BTTF logo printed on it, and I love it! What I don’t love is that Hot Toys went with the wire waist ring as opposed to the usual wire crotch cradle, and I can’t really understand why, as they hardly ever go with this style of support. It still does a fine job of securing the figure, and with the jacket it isn’t that visible, but it’s a pain in the ass to get it off the figure, whereas the crotch cradle allows you to just pick the figure up off the stand and place him back without any problems. And just before wrapping up, I wanted to point out two omissions in the accessories department. First off, Marty doesn’t come with his sunglasses, and I think that’s pretty outrageous. All Hot Toys had to do was look at the front of their own box and realize, “whoops, we goofed.” It doesn’t seem like tossing some shades in there would have broken the bank, and it’s a pretty important piece to completing a very iconic pose for the character. Secondly, he doesn’t come with a guitar. This one is easily forgivable. It’s a much more elaborate and expensive accessory to create, and it’s not like Marty walked around the whole movie with one.

As it happens, I was able to pick up a really nice looking sixth-scale guitar off of Amazon for $12. It’s not the one he had in the movie, but he looks good holding it, so why not!

Back to the Future is on a very short list of what I consider to be a perfect film. I don’t say that lightly, and I will die on that hill. The sequels are fun and all, but I really regard the original as damn near flawless. It hits all the beats that it’s shooting for, with wonderful performances and a magical soundtrack. It’s a stone cold classic. There was never any doubt that I wanted Marty McFly and Doc Brown in my Sixth-Scale figure collection. I’m just glad Hot Toys took a second shot at this one. Unlike the movie, this figure isn’t quite perfect, but it’s amazingly good and I’m thrilled to have it up on my shelf. Now, so long as I can make the time, I hope to be checking out Doc Brown in the next week or so!

Feb 15 2019

Wonder Woman (Training Armor) Sixth-Scale Figure by Hot Toys

It’s no secret that I’m woefully behind on my Sixth-Scale figure reviews. Hell, the last Hot Toys figure I reviewed was Yondu all the way back in the Summer of last year. I have some Hot Toys and TB League figures that have been waiting for their turn in the spotlight for the better part of a year, and I really want to turn that around in 2019. And to that end, I’m rolling out a Hot Toys review today and going with one of my newest arrivals just so I can prime the pump and get back into a regular routine. Yes, I got the Justice League version of Diana before this one, but it just seemed appropriate to go with the one from her own movie first.

Hot Toys hasn’t been wowing me with a lot of their packaging lately and this release kind of follows in that trend. The deco is actually beautiful and the art really captures the feel of the film. It also gets by without any pictures of the figure itself. On the other hand, when you get down to it, this is just a flimsy window box with a sleeve around it, which feels wanting for such an expensive item. I will, however, give kudos to Sideshow as this one arrived at my door in a proper shipping box with packing material inside. I’m not sure if that’s something new they’re doing, but if so I approve! Inside the box, the figure comes in the usual molded plastic tray with all her accessories and extras surrounding her. She comes out of the box more or less ready for display. I just had to slip her bicep band on. So let’s check her out!

This is the outfit that Diana wore on Themyscira, basically for the first act of the film. The term training armor might be a little excessive, but I obviously liked the look of the outfit enough to warrant double-dipping on the character, and that’s something I rarely do when it comes to Hot Toys. The armor part comes into play with the bronze cuirass, which is sculpted in plastic and includes a strap that hugs the left side of the figure’s neck. The cuirass includes some really nice texturing and layering, as well as details right down to the tiny sculpted rivets on the straps. The rest of the outfit includes a pleated skirt made out of a slightly stiff cloth, her wrist bracers, sculpted wraps on her hands, and a pair of high sandals, which are separate from the legs, and sculpted as part of the feet.

Hot Toys seems content to reluctantly mingle with the idea of a seamless body, and that continues to be the case here. The shoulders, elbows, and knees are all covered with rubber skin, which makes a huge difference on a figure like this where jointing in those areas would be exposed and, as a result, most definitely spoil the realism. And to that end, the sculpted musculature in the knees and and shoulders looks fantastic. The ankles, on the other hand feature regular joints, which can be seen through the sandals, and the legs themselves are connected under the skirt with ball joints. In this case, I think Hot Toys did everything necessary to keep the realism going, but despite these areas being bare, the range of motion in these joints is still fairly limited, as if she were still wearing a restrictive suit. This is probably not a big surprise for Hot Toys collectors, but mixing realistic bodies with articulation is an area where Phicen continues to have Hot Toys beat.

With all the Wonder Woman action figures the movie has spawned, we’ve seen some hits and a lot of misses with Gal Gadot’s likeness. Some would argue that even Hot Toys didn’t land a direct hit with their Batman VS Superman version. I think this one is pretty spot on. It may not be as perfect as some of their best likenesses, but I can’t find a whole lot to pick at here either. She’s certainly beautiful, and easily recognizable to me, and the paintwork conveys that sense of uncanny realism that Hot Toys is known for. The hair is sculpted, and that was definitely the way to go with this figure, as it’s drawn back very tightly, and braided into a long pony tail down her back. I’m especially impressed by the fine sculpting in the individual strands, and the incredible paintwork along the hairline. It’s great stuff!

Obviously, the figure comes with a bevy of extra hands, from the usual relaxed hands and fists, to ones intended to work with the accessories. The most notable of these accessories are her her sword and shield. The “Godkiller” is a beautiful piece of work. The ornate hilt features a crazy level of detail in the sculpt, and a beautiful gold finish. It has an elongated grip, allowing it to be wielded by one or both of her hands. The blade is straight with a textured finish and an inscription running through the central channel. I’d dare say that this is as fine a recreation of this sword as is possible in this scale.

The sword also comes with a recreation of the stand that held it in the beginning of the film. It’s a simple stand, sculpted from two pieces of plastic with a notch in the top to insert the swords tip. It holds it well and the accessory certainly looks great displayed this way. I’ll likely be displaying the figure holding the sword most of the time, but this is a damn fine option to have.

The shield is also impressive, and possibly my favorite accessory in the box. It’s a large concave disc with a rich, deep brown color and a gold starburst in the center. The edge features a series of triangular designs opening out toward the edge, all of which are neatly painted in gold. All in all, it makes for an absolutely beautiful piece and I love how natural it looks on Diana’s arm.

On the inside, the shield features a concentric circlet of sculpted to look like hammered bronze and you can see the reinforced edges, raised over the rest of the shield surface. There are two straps fixed to the interior with sculpted fixtures, each painted gold. One strap secures the shield near the elbow and the other is used for her hand to grab. It isn’t terribly difficult to get it on and off the figure, although I found it was best to put the hand around the grab strap first and then attach the hand to the figure. Indeed, I’d probably just leave the hand attached to the shield even when it’s off. Then again, I can’t imagine ever displaying the figure without the shield. It really does look that good.

The set also includes a bow and three arrows. These are fine additions to the accessory count, but at the same time, they aren’t going to spend a lot of time displayed with my figure. The bow itself is very thin and elegant with gold and brown paintwork and a real string, which allows for a lot of give to be pulled back. Diana comes with a special hand for the bow and another designed to knock the arrows. The three arrows are identical, and while I’m not going to complain about extra accessories, I’m not really sure why they included three. There’s nowhere to store them, so the only real way to display them with the figure is to have her clutching them in one hand. And since she has a hand specifically designed to hold one, that will likely be the preferred way to go.

Because of the limitations to the articulation, she can’t really be posed drawing to fire, but rather preparing to fire. Obviously, this should come as a surprise to long time collectors of Hot Toys. It’s also a much bigger issue for someone who wanted to display the figure using her archery skills, and that’s not me. And besides, she can still pull off some cool poses while holding the bow and arrow.

Finally, the figure comes with a second pair of her Bracelets of Submission, which are colored to look like they’re glowing. The bracers themselves are made of a translucent orange plastic and the panel lining is traced in yellow. These are a pretty cool idea, but I’m not all that sold on the effect. Fortunately, they are super easy to swap in and out to give them a try or just to mix up the display every now and then.

As always, Hot Toys includes a stand. This one is pretty simple but is styled to convey the feeling of the film’s art direction. It’s a simple rectangular base with a sculpted WW logo to the left and some golden stars to the right. The post is the usual “crotch cradle” which does a fine job holding the figure without messing with the outfit.

There’s also an illustrated cardboard backdrop that can be placed behind the stand. I’m not sure how Hot Toys decides which figures get this treatment. I’ve encountered it with a few before, like the Netflix Punisher and Daredevil figures. I don’t tend to use them, but it’s a pretty cool bonus nonetheless.

At $240, Wonder Woman falls at the higher end of Hot Toys’ Non-Deluxe pricing spectrum. She definitely comes with enough goodies to fill out the box, and there’s nothing essential that I can think of that she’s missing. Granted, the giant column that I have her displayed on in one of the above pictures came with a Sixth-Scale figure from another company that sold for under $200, but by now I’m used to Hot Toys charging a premium.

And between the high price points, and display space needed, I very rarely double-dip on characters when it comes to my Sixth-Scale figures. Indeed, I’ve only done it once before, and that was Captain America. And yet here I am picking up this version of Wonder Woman just a few months after getting the Justice League version. It would be safe to say a lot of it has to do with how great Gal Gadot looks in the costumes. It only took me an offer of a small discount and free shipping to get me to jump on this one, and I’m glad I didn’t hesitate because she sold out pretty quickly. And now that I’ve had some serious time with her, there’s certainly no buyer’s remorse here!