|
INTRODUCTION
From the moment he walked into our lives on Cloud City,
fans never really knew if they could trust Lando Calrissian. I
remember not knowing what to think of the man who was supposed to
help Han and crew with repair to the Millennium Falcon. The
surprised look on the face of Captain Solo pretty much said it all,
and he really had me when he raised his arm up to throw a punch.
Afterwards, we were treated to the smoothness of Lando as Billy Dee
Williams did a magnificent job making this character come to life.
While he did sell Han out to the Empire, in the great story of redemption
that Star Wars is, we had the delight of seeing him redeem himself
and shine. I think it speaks greater volumes about his
character that they chose to dress him in a cape. The outfit is as
unique as the personality of the character. Sideshow Collectibles
has added Lando to the Heroes of the Rebellion series, and I think
for just about any Star Wars fan, a very welcome addition to the
1/6th scale line.
PACKAGING: 9.3
I've managed to collect a pretty good share of the 12-inch line, but
I don't think I enjoyed the frames used on the back as much as I did
Lando. You can recite a line on every picture. Who could forget when
he was probably an inch from his life when he was facing down Lord
Vader? It was as if he was almost challenging him on where Chewbacca
and Princess Leia would be held prisoner. I think that's when I knew
what kind of guts this guy had, but we are reminded even further as
there a couple of photos from outside the freezing chamber. We also
learned Lando had a heart when he was very concerned if he would
survive the carbon freezing process. Overall, they did a nice job of
the package flashback, right down to a good photo of the wrist
communicator.
SCULPT: 8.7
After comparing the figure to several still frames from the movie, I
think that they did a pretty good job matching up the likeness to
Billy Dee Williams. If anything, his face might be a little too fat,
but it's still pretty accurate. I also thought while the hair style
seemed to be pretty thick, maybe it was just on the sides perhaps. I
never said I was Floyd the barber either! Needless to say the sculpt
was a very good representation of Lando Calrissian.
PAINT: 8.5
The paintjob is pretty decent, but the more comparison work I do, I
almost want to say Billy Dee was a bit lighter. After staring at it
very closely I've come to the conclusion, like the rest of the
figure it might be just a hair off. I tried using a vintage Kenner
figure for reference, and when you see how much lighter and darker
the figure and the photo on the package are, you can get over the
Sideshow version really quick.
ARTICULATION: 9.2
The articulation is just as good on this figure as it is on any
other Sideshow figure. He moves around very well, but it's a great
thing they include the display stand. He will stand up on his own,
but for how long who knows? My biggest issue is learning where the
joints on the elbows and knees are, as I'm always afraid I'm going
to torque on it the wrong way and break it. I found nothing wrong at
all with the articulation.
ACCESSORIES: 8.9
I really do like the choices they made for the accessories. With a
choice of both Rebel and Imperial blasters, Lando can select the
appropriate blaster for whatever side of the force he happens to be
on at the moment. I also thought the wrist communicator was highly
detailed and stood out quite nicely. Even the exclusive accessory of
the Bespin communicator was a solid choice because if you didn't get
one of the seven hundred and fifty, you would probably be OK with
having the standard version, something Sideshow has always been
great at. However, I still think the exclusive could have been
alternate head, with teeth version. This way you could have
paid homage to the vintage line all at once!
OUTFIT: 9.9
It would be a little hard to not like the wardrobe of Lando on
Bespin. I can't think of one outfit that takes be back into the late
1970's or early 1980's like this one does. With the buttons open on
the chest, creases in the trousers, shiny boots, and a cape? I think
it's pretty safe to say if you didn't know Lando was in Star Wars,
you could think Billy Dee had a role in "Superfly" with an
outfit so smooth. The only thing missing might be a hat with a
feather in it! I thought Sideshow did a flawless job with
replicating the costume.
VALUE: 9.8
In terms of value I'm just not sure how you could say Lando is
anything but great. There are a few details that might be a tad off,
but not enough to warrant the ever-increasing prices that come with
this line. I think if you have more than a few of these in your
collections already, you could do far worse than to add Lando.
OVERALL: 9.2
It's safe to say I'm pretty satisfied with this purchase, and I
really hope they can generate some other Bespin figures to accompany
Lando in the future. I'd love to see Lobot, Ugnaughts, and maybe
even some of the Bounty Hunters since we are in the midst of the
celebration of the Empire Strikes Back. I think collectors would
welcome this. As we begged for Troopers for years, now they've
over-compensated in that department. It would be good to see them
get back to making the core characters we've all grown to love.
RATINGS RECAP
Packaging- 9.3
Sculpt- 8.7
Paint- 8.5
Articulation- 9.2
Accessories- 8.9
Outfit- 9.9
Value- 9.8
Overall- 9.2
SPECIFICATIONS
Edition Size of the Lando
Calrissian is 1500. Exclusive is 750. SOLD OUT!
PHOTOS
|
