I am not a 1/18th scale collector. For the past million years or so, my collecting habits have been firmly rooted in 1/12th and 1/10th scale. Mainly 1/12th. That’s not because I have any weird notions of one scale being inherently better than another, it’s just where my preferences and what is being offered seem to synch up.
But sometimes in toy collecting a tiny fragment of ennui settles in, and you want to explore something new. Not because of boredom with what you’re collecting, but just to broaden your horizons.
It happens.
I’ve eyeballed Joytoy stuff for a while now. A lot of what they offer lines up with something I have a fondness for, aesthetic-wise, which is a sort of post-apocalyptic future-tech military thing. But since it’s not in “my scale” I’ve been content to look. But lately I’ve been buying a handful of those damned 3 ¾ inch retro Marvel figures, and the pint-sized nature of those toys has made me remember being a kid and playing with my first two loves, Star Wars and GI Joe.
I buy a lot of toys, so why not buy one of these smaller toys just to sample the product. I like having a representation of a wide variety of things, so why let the scale hold me up.
I have to say, having it in hand, I was kind of very impressed.
Granted these are expensive toys. This figure was right at 40 dollars, so it damn well better be a good toy at that price. Paying that much for a toy half the size of what I usually buy does make my groin bunch up a little, but I don’t intend on being a completist with a line like this. I just wanted a little taste of something different.
Steiner is part of the Dark Source sub-branding. I really don’t know what any of the story is behind this. Joytoy has several sub-lines, including Dark Source and Battle for the Stars. They also have the Warhammer license which look fantastic and is seriously testing my resolve, especially having handled one of their figures.
This is, in short, an extremely impressive action figure. It’s almost as articulated as your standard Marvel Legends (or equivalent) figure for the most part. There’s great range of motion in the ball jointed neck and torso (impeded a little by the vest overlay but still capable of better motion than some of the GI Joe Classified figures with Vests) and though the arms feature swivel-hinge and no biceps, you can get better than 90 degrees in the bend, quite sufficient for rifle-firing position.
The hips and knees are also well-articulated, allowing him to kneel convincingly. His ankles feature the same 45 degree peg into the foot allowing swivel for a flat stance regardless of leg position.
The best part is a ball-jointed wrist which allows both up and down and side to side depending on the rotation direction. This is the biggest factor in getting him to hold his rifle in whatever position is needed.
The sculpting is great across the board, with armored elements over fabric uniform, with all the requisite pouches, folds and sharp detailing.
The deciding factor for which Joytoy figure I was going to buy was the helmet. I loved the sleek black segmented look of it. Ever since M.A.S.K. I’ve had a fondness for working full-head helmets on action figure. There’s a nicely sculpted head underneath, with some actual paint-printing, although one eye on mine is slightly askew, more noticeable in blown-up pictures than in hand.
There’s some subtle paint weathering on some of his armored parts, giving them figure a more realistic, lived-in feel. Outside of a few small blips the paint is mostly excellent. The guns have some silvery drybrushing to suggest use.
Steiner comes with three pairs of hands: trigger/carry hands, fists and grip hands. They swap in and out fairly easily, but you have to hold the ball-joint so it doesn’t come out with the hand.
He comes with a rifle, pistol, two swords and a knife. The pistol snaps into a holster thing on his leg, the knife slides into a slot on his hip, and the swords slide into two ports on his back. Additionally, the sword can be connected at the hilt to make a dual-bladed staff.
For an experimental purchase in a scale I don’t regularly collect, this has turned out to be an extremely fun toy. I think I’m going to end up with some Warhammer toys as well, because this has exceeded my expectations. At these prices per figure I can’t afford to go too nuts, but a few won’t kill me.
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Source: Fwoosh
