Before The Force Awakens opened, the pre-orders went up for the Hot Toys Captain Phasma figure. I hear about Hot Toys all the time on the collecting podcasts I listen to and had just been waiting for the right one to come along. Like a lot of people, I got sucked up in the Phasma marketing pre-movie release and loved the look of the character.
Knowing Hot Toys often sell out during pre-orders I decided this was the one and put in my pre-order. I could not wait to get my hands on a Hot Toy finally! And then about a month and a half later, I made the choice to buy a new car. Despite hoping beyond hope that Phasma will come back with a vengeance in Episode VIII, I cancelled my pre-order.
Then I found the Kotobukiya Art FX+ statue up for pre-order. I
have a few of these already and think they're a great deal for the price and quality. So, no Hot Toy but something still very cool for a third the price? Sold!
I busted her out of the box to show her off. If you want to see really good photos of this statue, go ahead and Google it. Lighting shiny things properly is one of my weak areas.
As you can see, she comes with blaster, cape, and a total of four arms, two for each side. She has waist and chest articulation and a good range of head/neck movement when she isn't wearing the cape. All the pieces snap together to make a solid looking figure. Koto does a fantastic job at hiding the seams on these statues. Once they're put together, you can't tell by looking at it that it's a vinyl piece.
All their figures also come with a matte black square base. While it's nothing special visually, the figures have magnets in their feet to attach them to the base so you don't have to worry about them falling off a shelf. Plus, it allows you to put multiple figures close to one another.
She doesn't look that bad without the cape, but she does look like just another variation of a stormtrooper, albeit with a slightly longer neck. I didn't take a photo of her back but she does have the traditional 011 markings on the back of her armor and a grenade at the back of her belt. The figure is 1:10 scale and stands about 7 4/5 inches. She's about a half head taller than the Clone Troopers that I have.
And here's the cape giving her a decidedly more bad ass look. The right arm can be a bit troublesome to swap out while the cape is on but it's very easy to pop the head off, remove the cape, and swap out the arm.
I was going to use my chromakey app to put a Star Destroyer bridge or Jakku scene as the background but given how shiny the armor is, it didn't turn out that great.
One crazy detail I almost didn't notice is that the foregrip on the rifle is articulated and can be swung down for a two handed grip! This piece is also not attached, so if you get one of these and play with the grip, be careful not to drop it. Once you move it though, it does become a little loose and wants to swing down on its own. It's not a huge deal as I don't plan on having her not hold it with both hands. I gave it a squeeze where the hinge is to tighten it up a bit.
If you like the idea of high quality statues but not the price tag associated with them, Kotobukiya Art FX statues are the perfect middle ground. They never slack on the detail and the interchangeable parts give you a few display options to keep things interesting. They look just as good as more expensive pieces when on display.
You can order this awesome statue from
Entertainment Earth.
