Distributed By: Diamond Select Toys
The Figure
It’s no secret that I love toys. One of the benefits to being a father now is that I don’t look like a complete loser searching around the toy aisle for those hard to find figures that will complete my collection. But in all the toy lines I have and still do collect Diamond Select Toys’ Marvel Select figures are by far some of the best looking figures I own. They are also some of the pricier figures I have bought off the shelf. I’m not complaining because they are a premium format and like I said, they are gorgeous…usually.
With the release of Thor: The Dark World in November Diamond and Marvel have teamed up to bring us a movie accurate Jane Foster figure based on Natalie Portman’s portrayal of the character. Right off the bat I knew this was going to be a polarizing review because quite frankly I did not care for Portman’s portrayal of Jane Foster in either of the Thor movies. Nor do I really care for the forced relationship between the two characters in the films. That being said, this is a toy review not a review of the movies.
First off I do like the fact that this figure includes a removable head and comes with an alternate head with dark blue eyes to represent Foster’s possession by The Ether. One thing this line of toys is known for is its plethora of extra accessories included with the figures. But this isn’t one of those figures. Yes we get the extra head and a Dark Elf weapon of some sort as well as a dioramic base but there really isn’t any “wow” to this piece. The base I mentioned does combine with the base included with the Thor figure to form one larger rock but that’s not exciting at all. It seems a bit cheap to be honest.
The sculpt of the figure is something else. Gentle Giant did an admirable job of capturing Natalie Portman’s likeness and the sixteen points of articulation are more than enough. Too often manufacturers try to articulate every single joint on the figure which causes problems displaying the figures, kudos for not over articulating. But I am a bit perplexed as to why the knees are jointed when they cannot be bent due to the stiff nature of her dress. And stiff seems to be the buzz word for this figure. The joints are a bit hard to move and this could just be this particular figure and not the overall line.
But my biggest complaint are the feet; namely the shoes. The sculpted high heel shoes make this figure almost impossible to stand on its own. I did finally get the figure to stand but it was on an uneven surface with one foot slightly ahead of the other. Not ideal for displaying in a collection and not what I expected from Diamond Select or Gentle Giant.
6/10
The Packaging
Diamond Select Toys likes big packages. Granted they usually pack them with lots of stuff but even with the large base, Dark Elf weapon and alternate head there seems to be a lot of empty space. I know that these are standard bubble packs for this line but c’mon. The costs that would be saved from using a smaller package could be passed along to the consumers and everyone would be happier for it.
5/10