A continuation from the previous posting regarding the "base" figure of Hot Toys' Movie Masterpiece 1/6 Alice from "Resident Evil: Afterlife": after the close examination on the figure's overall look and detailing, her articulation design is next. ^^
Besides the ball-type neck joint that's providing a wide all-range movement for the head, another hinge-type (I guess ^^) joint inside the neck helps to increase the articulation range.
I particularly like the neck area's soft rubber "coating". It's very natural-looking, and doesn't obstruct the neck joint at all. ^^
Since it's being covered up by the sleeve of Alice's shirt, the shoulder joint is not visible in normal view, which is a good thing. ^^
Since the joint cannot be seen easily, I'm guessing that the restricted range for the arm to be lifted from the side of the body is caused by the protruding edge of the upper arm hitting the shoulder area on the figure's body.
Like many other smaller-scaled action figure, with the upper arm swivelled around so that the protruding base faces downward, the arm can now be bent upward for a much wider range. ^^
Swinging the arms forward/backward is very easy.
Rather limited 90-degree-only elbow bend. ^^;
Normal combination of swivel and hinge joints for the wrists.
All the hand units are designed with soft plastic that allows the fingers to be bent easily.
Without the arm warmer, the elbow and wrist joints are exposed.
As you can see, they are of very normal-looking swivel-hinge combinational joint.
Restricted by her body suit and MOLLE vest, bending the waist from side to side and backward/forward can be quite difficult. ^^;
Very impressive 180-degree sideways expansion for the hip joints. ^^
The elastic property of the pants in allowing such wide degree of bending is remarkable as well. ^^
Somewhat normal forward/backward bend for the hips, even though it's still very impressive to see. ^^
Standard slightly-over-90-degree bending range for the knees.
Even though it's easy to tell that the ankle is of ball-type when it's bent, the soft plastic nature of Alice's boots is still too rigid to allow the ankle to be posed properly. ^^;
I already highlighted this weakness in the previous posting before introducing the display base.
The boots themselves can be detached from the figure's legs for the ball-type ankle joint to be seen.
With the boot removed, the leg warmer can be seen in its entirety. ^^
The left boot.
The boots are compatible with other 1/6 scale action figure with the same ankle joint design and size as Alice's.
Despite being in 1/6 scale, Alice moves very much like an average action figure, which is very interesting in my opinion. ^^ As highlighted earlier on, even though parts like her MOLLE vest and boots are indeed causing some trouble to her waist and ankle articulation respectively, other major joints are not facing much restriction in their movement even though they are being covered by the figure's costume. ^^ On that matter, as mentioned above, the costume is helpful in hiding the joints, add that to the figure's own special treatment for the neck area that combine flexible neck movement and natural look, a very realistic overall look is achieved with Alice. ^^ The impressive point of that is, since the costume doesn't hinder the articulation range, the figure's posability is going to be high, and in a natural-looking fashion as well. ^^
Of the many articulation points on this figure, the hip joints are definitely the highlight in my opinion. ^^ They are unusually flexible for a 1/6 scale figure, almost unnecessary so in my opinion. ^^ In the context of the movie and character, I have no idea why the figure would need such flexible articulation range for her hip joints, but they are definitely amazing to see. ^^
Comparing the three, I think Alice has accomplishes what Video Game Masterpiece 1/6 Jill Valentine BSAA Ver. and ZCGirl's 1/6 Sniper Muriel Black Ver. lack in the articulation department. Jill Valentine BSAA Ver. has her own intricate costume design that is realized with great details using real fabric just like Alice, but the costume is overly restrictive and greatly hinders the figure's articulation - realistic look, poor articulation. With ZCGirl's Sniper Muriel, her military gear is loose enough to pose very little obstruction to her joints, and it covers them up for the most part as well, but the figure itself is of a generic 1/6 figure type (ZCGirl "EVE" body design), which lacks the natural and realistic look as seen on Alice and Jill Valentine BSAA Ver. - good articulation, not-so-good look. ^^;
Alice's realistic looks puts her above ZCGirl's Sniper Muriel and on par with Jill Valentine BSAA Ver.; in terms of articulation, slightly less flexible than the former but is definitely above the latter. ^^
In short, while it's definitely not perfect, it's easy to see that her articulation design is more than enough to allow Alice to show off plenty of action with her arsenal. ^^
Speaking of which, now that the look and articulation aspects of the base figure have been covered, the review series now moves on to the plentiful option parts and accessories included for Alice in this Hot Toys set. ^^
Alice with all of her weapons, accessories and option parts.
A pretty long list it is, so I figure it would be better to split the introduction into two postings. ^^
Option hair part.
With the plastic wrapper and mini sponge removed.
A fairly large square magnet beneath the part is the connector of the hair part to Alice's head.
The default hair part can be slid off, revealing the corresponding magnet piece on top the head.
The uncanny look of Alice without her hair stopped me from taking more photos of the exposed section. ^^;
Alice with the option hair part.
This option part showed the hair being pushed back almost pass the ears, which gives Alice a slightly more dynamic look, perhaps for her running pose.
Then again, the difference is so subtle I almost feel that this option hair part's inclusion is redundant. ^^;
Comparison between the two hair parts.
Can you tell the difference in look and design? ^^
Two sets of option hand units included for Alice.
A pair of trigger-type open hands to hold the submachine guns, shotguns and revolvers.
Interestingly, the index finger of the left hand is intentionally designed to be completely straight it seems. ^^ The highlighted part's section on the plastic tray is designed with that extra space to hold the straight finger. ^^
(Left) Like the default spread palms, the hand units are made of soft plastic.
(Right) Simple part-swapping to change between the hand units.
A pair of open hands to hold the kukri knives, sword and baton.
The default pair of spread palms.
Comparison between the three pairs of hand units.
The fingernails and wrinkles on all the hand units are realized. ^^
Oddly enough, the two right open hands to hold the weapons feature very scarce palm details as compared to the other four four hand units for some unknown reasons. ^^;
A pair of extra wrist joints.
A pair of Heckler & Koch MP5K submachine guns (weapon details on Internet Movie Firearms Database (IMFDB)).
Heckler & Koch MP5K submachine guns are Alice's main weapon I guess, since her dual wielding pose featuring this submachine gun is the main movie poster. ^^
Image is from IMDB.
Closeups on the details.
The magazine can be removed and the clip inside it is painted. ^^
The trigger group levers on both sides of the machine gun are movable.
The levers' adjustment is independent of one another on opposite side of the weapon.
As tiny as it may be, the sling swivel hook behind the stock is movable as well. ^^
With the submachine guns attached to the trigger-type open hands.
A pair of Smith & Wesson Model 460V with 5" Barrel revolver (weapon details on IMFDB).
Closeups on the details.
The hammer can be cocked back; the cylinder can be spinned (manually). The cylinder release levers is fixed though.
The cylinder can be hinged out from the body. The chambers are just molded details on the cylinder thus no bullet can be removed.
Alice has somehow customized her S&W revolver to hold seven rounds instead of five it seems. ^^
The cylinder can also slide on the middle peg, but this is an unintentional function I believe. The loose connection between the parts is intended for the cylinder to spin freely on the peg.
With the revolvers attached to the trigger-type open hands.
A pair of sawed off 12 gauge double barrelled shotgun (weapon details on IMFDB).
Closeups on the details.
The barrel can be hinged open to reveal the "shells".
The "shells", which are actually rolls of coins as seen in the movie can be removed from the breech.
Comparison of the shells with a 10-cent coin.
Due to the imbalanced positioning of the hinge on the body, the weight in front causes the barrel to break open even with the slightest touch. ^^;
I'm planning to apply a bit of of cement for model kits to the hinge joint to tighten it up.
With the shotguns attached to the trigger-type open hands.
The remaining bunch of weapons, as well as equipping them to the figure will be covered in the next posting. ^^
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