Sunday, November 30, 2008

Indiana Jones and the attack of the clones

Now that all the Indiana Jones have been released, let's line them up and shoot them

Indiana Jones by Kenner, released in 1983

Toys McCoy Indiana Jones, released 1999 (that's almost ten years ago!) but with accessories from Relic Hunter (including the saber he acquired in "Temple of Doom", a sequel so dark and scary a PG-13 rating was created) and fedora hat from Hasbro's Talking Indy

Relic Hunter - not an official Indiana Jones figure but who else can he be? You don't have to be a Professor in Archeology to know the answer :) The Relic Hunter's hat was really really bad so he's wearing Talking Indy's hat instead.

Hasbro's whipping Indy

Medicom Indy - I like Medicom's Indy except for his scrawny body which makes the head look big but with the jacket on, he looks much better. Also, I love the accessories, especially all the artifacts and most of all, you have to get Junior if you are already also eyeing Henry Jones Sr. They look GREAT together :)

Sideshow Indy - value for money. Sideshow's Indy is good enough if you can only spend on one.



I give you the South American Idols, from left to right: Kubrick Golden Idol, Medicom's, Sideshow's and lastly, Hasbro's

Kubrick Indy



Kubrick and Lego Indy

Lego Indy and Henry Jones Sr

That's all folks :)

Indiana Jones by Sideshow, 2008

Finally we have Sideshow 1/6 scale 12" Indiana Jones from "Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)" - the film that started it all. Set in 1936, Dr Henry Jones Jr a.k.a. Indiana Jones, renowned archeologist and adventurer is hired by the US government to find the sacred Ark of the Covenant before Hitler's Nazis get their filthy hands on it.

Box cover
Indy's stuff includes: one sandbag, coiled bullwhip, the Golden Idol artifact (a golden representation of the Chachapoyan goddess of fertility and childbirth, located inside the Temple of the Warriors in Peru, South America which is the setting of the opening scene), Indy's famous high-crowned wide-brimmed fedora, British Mark VII gas mask bag with leather strap (listed as satchel by Sideshow but was actually a respirator haversack), one Smith & Wesson M1917 .45 caliber pistol/revolver and one Browning Hi-power pistol

The spare hat even has an inner cloth lining but will not fit his head because it's too small and meant just as a prop. Both pistols have removable magazines and cocking mechanisms

The other head sans hat plus three pairs of extra hands

Basic Indy out of the box, wearing his fedora (this one's sculpted together with his head sculpt - Sideshow felt that this was the only way to get the most accurate look), A-2 bomber jacket (faux-leather of course - has zip but no zipper, don't need it since we never see Indy zip up his jacket), trademark khaki shirt (a long-sleeve cotton poplin shirt with shoulder epaulets sporting two distinctive pleats that run from the shoulders through the pockets to the end of the shirt-tail), battledress trousers made of traditional cavalry twill held by a buckle belt, his secondary belt for his Webley pistol holster and quick release catch for his bullwhip, and his preferred footwear, a pair of weathered brown Alden ankle boots.

Close-up of Indiana Jones with fedora hat sculpted on - likeness not quite there IMHO


Another look at Indy's hat from a different angle, along with his gloves, which he wore in the bar shoot out in Nepal and during the truck chase in Egypt.

Indy's very used bullwhip (coiled)

Close-up of his Alden ankle boots

Indiana Jones with pistol drawn


Side profile of Indy


Close-up of Indy's bag slung across his right shoulder (the bag has magnets that ensures that it closes neatly - same goes for the quick release catch on his holster belt for his coiled whip - a very nice touch by Sideshow)

Close-up of Indy's Smith & Wesson


The man with the hat and whip is BACK!!



What's Indiana Jones without his bullwhip? Sideshow gives us an articulated bullwhip (it has a wire running inside, allowing you to pose it in different angles)




Now my collection is COMPLETE :) ...... until new Indys surface

Other Indiana Jones: Medicom Indiana JonesToys McCoy Indy, Whipping Indy, Talking Indy and Kenner's and Kubrick Indy

Henry Jones Sr by Medicom

Harrison Ford, the actor who defined Indiana Jones also played Han Solo in Star Wars, US President James Marshall in "Air Force One (1997)" and Captain Alexei Vostrikov in "K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)", among the many roles he did.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Obi-Wan vs Obi-Wan - comparison

Now a comparison of two Obi-Wans, Clone War Obi-Wan Kenobi and Episode III Obi-Wan Kenobi since they are supposed to be one and the same person/actor. Old Ben Kenobi is too far in the future, perhaps a comparison of Sideshow old Ben and Hasbro's old Ben another time.

First, let's compare head sculpts  - pretty close (what do you think?)


This picture should be captioned, "Save the cheerleader, save the world" - ha! ha!

"Back to the Future" anyone?

Watch your back. Trust no one

May the Force be with you!

Friday, November 28, 2008

General Obi-Wan Kenobi by Sideshow

From the Emmy Award-winning and critically acclaimed "Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003)" micro-series comes General Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Master and the Republic's champion in the Outer Rim campaigns. "Star Wars: Clone Wars" was directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (who first gave us Samurai Jack, a 4-time Emmy Award-winning animated television series that aired on Cartoon Network and was noted for its highly detailed, outline-free, masking-based animation, as well as for its cinematic style and pacing. The distinctive style of Samurai Jack is what drew Lucasfilm to recruit Tartakovsky for the "Star Wars: Clone Wars" animated series. Much of the signature cinematic style of Samurai Jack lives on in Clone Wars, such as lightning-fast combat, extended sequences without dialogue, explosions, epic vistas, etc.) Source: Wiki

The Clone Wars series was a fresh, stylized take on Star Wars that remains true to the spirit of the saga (not to be confused with the recently released 3D CGI "Star Wars: Clone Wars" which was panned by many many people, including faithful Star Wars fans). They chronicle some of the epic battles that occur between Episodes II and III as the Clone Wars rage across the galaxy.

In "Star Wars: Clone Wars", General Obi-Wan Kenobi fights an alien bounty hunter, Durge on the planet Muunilinst with his Republic clone troopers mounted on swoop bikes and using lancers against the IG lancer droids led by Durge. This was the first time we see General Obi-Wan Kenobi wearing clone trooper armor riding his swoop bike and wielding his light saber.

This 1/6 scale 12" General Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Master from The Battle of Muunilinst (first previewed here) was released by Sideshow recently. This is the first look at Sideshow's attempt to make Star Wars armored troopers since Obi-Wan is wearing the full suit under his Jedi tunic and cape.

Since Ewan McGregor did not star in the animated Clone Wars or provide the voice, I think Sideshow was trying to make General Obi-Wan resemble a much younger Ewan McGregor as Sideshow already captured Ewan's likeness from their earlier release of Episode III Obi-Wan Kenobi. I'm glad Sideshow didn't go all animated on this and produce a 12" animated Obi-Wan Kenobi.

General Obi-Wan Kenobi comes with four hands (two pairs) including posed gloved hands for grasping a blaster although no blaster is included and the usual light saber hilt (lit and unlit)

The clone trooper armor's okay, would have preferred it if it was more snug and not so loose at some points


Obi-Wan's Jedi cape moved aside to reveal the clone trooper's utility belt and thermal detonator underneath. You can make out the backplate of his clone trooper armor where the power pack and pressurized gas system is housed. For extended exposure to open space or extreme environments, troopers wear extended backpacks connected to the backplate, like the Sandtroopers and Snowtroopers.




Sideshow 12" General Obi-Wan Kenobi in clone trooper armor with his light saber and Force gesture

Nice details of his lightweight plastoid-alloy composite armor, which was based in part on the battle gear of the Mandalorian Shocktrooper supercommandos, of which Jango Fett is a survivor and whose DNA was used to create the clone troopers.

More details of his leg armor, knee plate and boots with high traction soles


General Obi-Wan Kenobi with the DC-15 Blaster (NOT included)


While Sideshow's clone trooper body glove and armor is up to standard, the main problem is the Sideshow body which SUCKS big time! The design may have been good but the quality of production is sorely lacking, resulting in a very loosely jointed figure which cannot hold most poses. You can probably switch bodies for the other figures (which is ridiculous since we already paid the price for the Sideshow body as well) but you cannot change the bodies for these armor troopers because that would mean ripping apart the body glove - bah hambug!


Comparison of two Kenobis
There's also Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Obi-Wan Kenobi or old Ben