Indiana Jones Action Figure: Raiders of the Lost Ark Order Now

Okay, so for starters, I'm a huge Indy fan. I have waited a long time for an Indiana Jones action figure line with decent quality and many characters, and since I've collected Star Wars figures forever, I actually wanted them to be this 3 3/4 size too (granted, I prefer my other collectible figures to be 6 inches or so, but I don't usually get accessories or playsets for those). Well, with the 4th Indy film, which is way underrated in my opinion (fellow longtime fans should give it a second viewing before deciding yea or nay; I had to warm up to it myself but love it now), that long dreamed of action figure line finally arrived from Hasbro... to mixed reactions. I'm sure many complaints were about the small size of the figures compared to the now more popular 6 inch or larger action figures out there for adult collectors these days. And, let's face it, most Indy fans are adults who grew up with the original films. However, I think what put most people off of this new line is that many, MANY figures were released to stores with awful paint jobs. I mean TERRIBLE paint jobs, specifically in terms of the eyes. This was most noticeable in the Raiders figures, and Indiana more than anyone.

Now, in my case, I wanted to wait and make sure they made more figures, and I wanted to see if the price wouldn't go down a bit too. Figures are way overpriced these days. But, once I saw Last Crusade figures on the shelves (along with a price drop of a couple of bucks), I dived in. A few of those first figures I bought I have previously reviewed, and let me tell ya, those ones I selected had excellent face sculpts! Of course, with huge, cartoony eyes painted on some of the figures, it would sure be difficult to notice the sculpting underneath. So, combine those first bad impressions with the fact that young kids just don't seem to "get" Indy (yeah, it was the second biggest film this past year, but the toys sat on shelves till the figures hit 3 bucks recently, and they're still moving slowly with a few character exceptions), and you end up with the problem I'm having now. I have wanted a Short Round figure to stand next to my Indy figure forever (a desire carried over from my original Kenner Indy figure), and it seems those Temple figures are only going to be available online now, for those of us in the states, at outrageous scalper prices since the first couple of rounds of figures sold so poorly. And to add insult to injury, the Elsa and Colonel Vogel figures have been in extremely short supply since day one. Man, I want an Elsa!

Anyways, as I searched fruitlessly for Elsa and the Temple figures this weekend at the big U.S. retailer who recently cut the price on these figures down to clearance levels, I did increase my total collection count to 14 (hope to add more before they're gone, too), and one of the main priority figures I did manage to find (though with a wee bit of difficulty) was the basic Raiders Indy figure. These were not hard to find at all before the figures went on clearance, and they even had playsets with very basic looking Indys out there. However, it was the holidays and money was tight. The other issue with this one is that big paint job issue. As I said, this is the one I saw most often with big ol' cartoon eyes, and poorly painted ones at that. However, if you check out enough of these figures, you're sure to find some that are actually painted correctly, and while the sculpt is nowhere near as good as the one for the Last Crusade and Crystal Skull Indy figures, it's more than passable considering all the detail that has gone into these figures. Seriously, these things are tight! From Indy's weathered leather jacket to his weapons and accessories, if you get one of these figures with a great paint job, you should be very pleased.

They're well articulated too! I count approximately 18 points of articulation on this particular figure, and he comes with 5 accessories and a special mysterious artifact surprise (at this point, I forget which figures came with which "mystery item", but suffice to say that each character comes with something different, and they're pretty cool relics but are sized for something larger, like maybe that new 6 inch or so Indy figure at Disney World). The accessories are Indy's trusty gun and whip, his MKVII gas mask bag, an action-posed alternate whip, and the golden idol he quested after in the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Notable features with this Indy figure are a working gun holster and the fact that his hat is not removable. Most of them don't have removable hats, but I point it out here because some do. Frankly, these are better. The ones with removable hats look silly if you put the hat on, because their hats look too big on them. They look cool holding their hats though.

To sum up, this figure is really pretty sweet with lots of cool attributes, IF you make sure to check out the paint jobs and pick one that you like. I've seen the big eyes problem with the Marion figure too, and probably others. A few figures, like Marion, don't really capture good likenesses, but even those are nice figures if you get ones with decent paint jobs, and some figures just look amazing (like the Grail Knight, Indy's dad, Young Indy, and the Crystal Skull and Last Crusade Indys). But, of course, this classic Raiders Indy figure is a MUST for your collection.
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