Sunday, April 18, 2010

Hot Toys King Leonidas collectible figure REVIEW 1

This is the Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece Series MMS114 1/6 scale 12" King Leonidas collectible figure from the movie "300" which is a 2007 action film adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller, a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. Needless to say, Frank Miller's retelling of the Spartans' courageous last stand was a visual treat and won three Eisner Awards in 1999. The film was able to replicate the imagery of the original comic book and was a shot-for-shot adaptation of the comic book.

IMHO No other movie merchandise has really done the film justice until now. Hot Toys has done it again. They have raised the bar up another level. The box packaging is pretty big and pretty impressive. It consist of two parts. The first is a outer cover slip case.

Great product shot on the back of the slipcase cover

"Prepare for glory!" The second part of the packaging lies within the outer slip case

You pull the inner box out and this is what you see on the back - a close-up of the Hot Toys King Leonidas headsculpt with helmet

The front of the box reveals its contents - King Leonidas and all his accessories

Hot Toys 1/6 scale King Leonidas cames with faux-leather harness, faux-leather belt, vambraces and greaves, helmet with real-like horsehair crest, Real-like wolf’s tooth necklace, Sword and faux-leather scabbard, Battle damaged Spartan shield with faux-leather hand hold and removable broken arrows, Spear, Two pairs of Interchangeable hands, Two Head sculpts with authentic Gerard Butler likeness as King Leonidas and customary Figure stand with 300 movie logo and King Leonidas nameplate

King Leonidas' fabric cape is placed under the main tray

Inside the plastic holding the cape is also an instruction manual detailing the use of the muscular body, its 'DOs' and 'DON'Ts'

as well as a Parts Assembly Guide on equipping your own Spartan for battle

Here's the basic figure out of the box, without any of the accessories added, just his harness, vambraces and greaves. This is an all-new muscular type body by Hot Toys and has been specially sculpted with scars and veins that belong to King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) in the film, not to mention the incredibly well toned body that has driven many of the girls wild with glee. There doesn't seem to be any joint lines at all and the entire body looks like the real thing.





A close-up of the FANTASTIC life-like 1:6 scale head sculpt of Gerard Butler as King Leonidas by Hot Toys, including the beard and braided hair.





Hot Toys 1/6 scale 12-inch King Leonidas collectible figure's upper body from the neck down to the waist including the the arms to the wrist, torso and groin looks to be all one seamless piece.




Hot Toys King Leonidas' shorts is plastic molded and not real leather or pleather which I'm thankful for as I don't think you can get this kind of detail around this area without compromising on the realism.



Check out the perky butt King Leonidas comes with :D another plus factor for the ladies

The greaves are also very well realized. The sandals are molded with his feet and painted in with the straps rather than trying for the real thing which would have made it look oversized. It shows that Hot Toys really considered all options and came up with what they felt was the best solution and ideal for collectors.



Hot Toys MMS King Leonidas' 1:6 scale accessories all laid out: Battle damaged Spartan shield, faux-leather belt with scabbard, helmet with real-like horsehair crest, Sword, Spear, one complete Persian arrow and two arrows without the arrow head.

Here you can see the Battle damaged Spartan shield with faux-leather hand hold as well as the Sword and Spear with the ends removed for inserting into Leonidas' hands.

This is the other 1:6 King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) headsculpt provided. This would be considered an angry or rallying cry Leonidas with some battle damage (slight scratch on the left side of his face). You can also make out the wolf’s tooth necklace, extra pair of hands, fabric cape and figure stand.

More pictures of Hot Toys MMS King Leonidas collectible figurine HERE in my post "This is Sparta!"

6 comments:

James Lau said...

Hey Man , may i know is the sheild make by metal ?

desmond said...

Bro, I heard there are no more stock available at US market. All latest orders are on waiting list. This piece is popular. Great score anyway!!

Lucien said...

Wow. I wasn't interested in this figure until I saw these pics. How have they managed a seamless outer skin? Is it a rubber compound over an articulated skeleton?

Love your work by the way, I'm new to this wonderful world of action figures, and your blog is like a bible!

alex teo said...

Hi James, the shield is plastic painted to look like metal. Very good paint job too. I doubt this 1/6 scale Hot Toys King Leonidas could lift up the shield if it was metal ;)

yeah desmond, that's the problem. Nobody wants to pre-order and adopts a wait-and-see attitude then decides that they want the figure only after it has been released (based on pre-ordered numbers) so obviously there's going to be a shortage since demand now way exceeds the supply. I'm glad I got this figure - really quite awesome!

hi there Lucien, thanks for the kind words. Glad you liked the blog and I'm just as happy to be able to share my passion. The skin is rubber and looks like it is used to encase the articulated skeleton underneath. It cannot hold as many poses as the standard figure but because the Spartans in the movie were barely clothed, this approach by Hot Toys works best and is able to achieve the realism and movie-accuracy almost to perfection. Keep watching for more pictures :) CHEERS

Gerald said...

Hi! Loved your review and pics. I plan to collect Hot Toys figures and Leonidas is actually my first. I'd like to ask how do you change the heads and what are the two extra plastic thingies that were included in the cape packing? Thanks in advance for you help!

alex teo said...

Hi Gerald, CONGRATS on your purchase :) the heads of mine pop out and in rather easily BUT it is recommended that you use a hair dryer to blow on the connecting portion to soften the rubber so that it is easier to switch heads since the rubber will become soft and expand due to the heat. Once cooled, the rubber will revert to its original state. I believe the two extra plastic thingies are extra connecting posts for the hands, one side goes into the wrist and the other into the hand. They are spares just in case you break the ones that come with the figure. CHEERS & ENJOY