My Indiana Jones Haul

Today marked the beginning of the Indiana Jones toy deluge at stores in the US. While a few of the toys had slipped out prior to today, they were in full force at the stores. I stopped by Target first, but decided to go to Wal-Mart and save a few bucks. I passed on the 12" figures, because after seeing what is coming from Sideshow later this year, those figures aren't going to cut it. Instead I basked in Hasbro's 3 3/4" goodness. They have done a really great job with these figures.

Packaging ****

The packaging for these is pretty awesome. They have a potrait of Indy on the front and some nice titles and character specific info on the back. Plus on the front they have that cool whip that goes around the figure.

Sculpting *** 1/2

Other than a few of the faces looking sort of generic, the sculpting on these is top notch. There are a lot of little details in the clothing, the jackets are a seperate piece, the articulation doesn't get in the way of the sculpt, plus Indy's hat is permanent, which gives it a nicer look. Also they sculpted Indy with a working holster, though it is about impossible to get closed again.

Articulation *** 1/2 =

They all have neck, shoulder, elbows, waist, and hips. Plus quite a few have wrists, knees and ankles. Plus the joints give a nice range of motion for great possibility. Where they are missing some articulation, it really doesn't take away based on how they are sculpted. The only point of articulation that feels like it is missing is Marion's knees.

Paint ***

The paint on these figures is really nice. While there is a little slop, it is pretty minimal, especially for figures this small. Plus there are some nice effects like weathering on Indy's jacket. It would have been nice if they could have given Indy a five o'clock shadow though.

Accessories ***

First off in this category, Indy is a definite ****, with a gun, closed whip, flying whip, idol and artifact. That is pretty amazing for a $7 figure. On the other end is the soldiers, who both only have 1 gun. But each basic figure comes with an artifact, plus one or two other accessories. Overall they did a nice job on the choice and number of accessories.

Overall *** 1/2

These figures have exceeded my expectations. They started with a great assorment of characters. They packed two soldiers in one of the two packs which is great for army builders. They have the cool artifact accessories with each of the figures. The little Top Secret boxes are a nice little touch. For the most part the sculpting is good or great. While the articulation on a few is a little limited overall they have some great articulation. Hasbro has really done everything right with the launch of this line. Plus it is just awesome to see Indy figures on the shelves. Plus the basic figures include a mail away for an exclusive crystal skull skeleton figure.