Art-Figures: SAVES "Punisher: War Zone" Figure REVIEW II

continued from the previous post...

Punisher: War Zone (2008) - Waging his one-man war on the world of organized crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) sets his sights on overeager mob boss Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the "Punisher Task Force" hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished.

This is the Art-Figures: SAVES AF-003 1:6 scale 12-inch action figure, which is basically Ray Stevenson as Frank Castle / The Punisher from the 2008 film "Punisher: War Zone", the third film on the Marvel character. This Punisher wears Black Tactical Sweater, Black Tactical Pants with Belt, Black Tactical Boots and Black Fingerless Gloves.

He also has a stainless Beretta 92FS Inox pistol in right leg drop-down holster, black Ka-Bar combat knife in sheath strapped to his right lower leg, and a SIG Sauer P228 pistol in left leg drop-down holster with M16 magazine in pouch. In the film, Frank Castle uses a Heckler & Koch USP Compact Tactical as a backup for his full-auto Beretta Inoxes.

He wears the Black PALS Padded Belt and two (x2) General Purpose Pouches.

Close-up views of the kitting out process

Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) uses twin stainless Beretta 92FS Inox pistols with extended mags and converted to full-auto (in the comics, the M1911 is Castle's pistol of choice, but it appears only briefly in the movie and is never used).

AND here's the fully kitted Art-Figures: SAVES "Punisher: War Zone" 1:6 scale 12-inch action figure, wearing his Black Body Armor (with death's head skull) and Neck Protector. His other stainless Beretta 92FS Inox pistol is holstered in the PALS holster attached to his armor assault vest together with two spare pistol magazines in the double-magazine pouch

The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence and torture in his war on crime. Driven by the deaths of his family, who were killed by the mob when they witnessed a gangland execution in New York City's Central Park, the Punisher wages a one-man war on the mob and all criminals in general by using all manner of conventional war weaponry.

A war veteran (a former U.S. Marine), Castle is a master of martial arts, stealth tactics, guerrilla warfare and a wide variety of weapons.

There were some 1:6 scale 12-inch Punisher figures released before but none of them can be compared to this IMHO. ToyBiz released a 12-inch Punisher figure some time ago and Medicom Toys had released a Marvel comic version Punisher and a Venom Punisher recently but they just didn't appeal to me. This is the closest to how the Punisher should look like and the best interpretation of the vigilante for me.

In the film "Punisher: War Zone (2008)", during the final assault, Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) takes a custom M4A1-type carbine with KAC Quad-rails, a C-More red dot optic, an M4-2000 by Advanced Armament Corp suppressor, and a short version of the AG36 grenade launcher. The M4 released by Art-Figures is different from the one seen in the film.

It is more of a basic M4 Carbine Rifle (with Sling) with Aimpoint red dot sight and two 30-round magazines.

That's okay because we know the Punisher has a full arsenal of weapons at his disposal

What I would have loved to see would have been a 1:6 scale Smith & Wesson 500 Magnum Revolver. Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) carried the Performance Center version of the Smith & Wesson Model 500 as one of his sidearms. He has at least two, one in stainless steel with extended ejector shroud, and a second with a supressed black barrel and a Knight's Armament RIS setup, flashlight, and laser. Now that would have been the icing on the cake :)

Still, you cannot fault Art-Figures: SAVES "Punisher: War Zone" 1:6 scale 12-inch Figure as this has to be their best release by far. Art-Figures had released two figures prior to this. One is the AF-002 Art Figures Bagheria (Al Pacino in The Godfather) and the other was Tim Robbins from Shawshank Redemption. Both figures did not appeal to me.

Close-up of Frank Castle with his M4, ready to deal some "justice" the Punisher way

The Black Body Armor (with death's head skull) and Neck Protector really is a nice touch and I like it!

Close-up pictures of the 1/6 scale head sculpt of Art-Figures: SAVES "Punisher: War Zone" Figure i.e. English actor Ray Stevenson as Frank Castle "The Punisher". He is the third actor to play the Punisher. IMHO I think the head sculpt is pretty good and really captures the likness of Ray Stevenson quite well.

Ray Stevenson as Frank Castle / The Punisher: Prior to filming, English actor Ray Stevenson read every possible issue of the Punisher MAX series, underwent endurance, martial arts, and weapons training with former Force Recon Marines and film fight choreographer Pat Johnson.

And finally, shots of the Punisher on the very nice diorama display base he comes with