My Hot Toys collecting days are pretty much numbered. My goal was always just to keep up with the Black Widow figures, specifically that of Natasha Romanoff. With the character dead, and no Nat related merch announced for probably close to a year now, if not more, I think it's safe to say that the figures from the solo movie are going to be it. Of course being here in Canada, we tend to get our figures months after even most of the Sideshow customers in the United States.
Even with all that delay though, she's made her way here.
Slightly classier packaging for the Black Widow movie lineup. So you've still got your slip cover, though in this case it features a transparent plastic window, cut into the shape of the Black Widow emblem. This showcases the portrait art on the main box cover, which instead of shoe box, is actually one of those windowed boxes. I don't think this is a cost savings thing, nor is it a design change (my first new Hot Toys in years) so I'm calling it a presentation thing.
I bought the Standard version because I wasn't that big of a Taskmaster fan, and quite honestly it's pretty lame for a Deluxe accessory to be the same accessory as with another figure. Besides, one day I might have the entire Taskmaster figure, so why get just a shield right now?
- 1 x Main Figure
- 10 x Posing/Gripping Hands
- 2 x Pistols
- 1 x Pistol with Sight
- 2 x Baton Handles
- 2 x Batons
- 2 x Articulated Batons
- 2 x Baton Tips
- 1 x Base/Stand
The two Baton handles are the ones that fit into her backpack. Like with previous Widows, there is a pair of hands dedicated to her "reaching for Batons behind head" pose. There's also new gripping hands, which I'll get to a bit later.
The tips on the Batons are interchangable, depending if you want blunt tips, taser tip, or bladed. The articulated Baton works well enough, I suppose, though it's not quite there as an accessory to add whipping actions to poses.
The overall figure looks alright. I mean, it doesn't blow my mind, but it doesn't overly disappoint either. It's still the same body as the Endgame Widow, but with slightly more flattering tailoring - at the end of the day, no 1/6 scale body actually captures that combination of curves and stature that is Scarlett Johansson.
The actual suit looks nice, and I suspect the Endgame suit would have look better hand they also used this combination of nylon and plastic rather than the straight up rubber suit that we got. It adds to the overall visual accuracy without compromising articulation. I will say that I'm glad that the suit turned out this nice - I was worried it would be one of those cheap third party body suits you buy for your TBLeague, the ones where any detail is just a fabric print.
It's interesting how Marvel/Disney itself missed a few details between this movie and her Infinity War costume, but that's on them, not Hot Toys.
With regards to the sculpt, let me say first and foremost I hate sculpted hair. Having said that, I recognize that's not what the market wants. The end product here is actually quite impressively detailed, and while not accurate, I do like the way the bangs turned out. Small details like the rings in her ears have been captured nicely. The face though... I will agree that Hot Toys did attempt to improve upon their Endgame sculpt, and they did at least get the vast majority of her facial structure right, including her nose. I don't even mind that expression. But those eyes... they're off. They're always off, and it really doesn't help here. Her lips are also a bit too dark red.
Let's talk articulation. So as mentioned, the underlying body remains the same as previous Black Widow figures. So basically, it isn't so much what additional articulation she has, but rather what can she finally do now that she has better duds.
Lets quickly talk about the new part. Hot Toys finally gave Black Widow some segmented boots, which means she finally has some sort of ankle articulation. This means that when she's in a wide legged stance or walking, the figure will look more natural. GREAT!
Except for the part where the ankles are so loose and weak that I don't think the figure can maintain a standing pose without supports anymore. As I'm typing this out, she's fallen over at least a dozen times in the past few hours. I'm also thinking that her shoes might be a tad undersized.
The actual suit itself improves articulation, though it's only in the shoulders. This is probably the only suit I can think of where you can actually use the entire range of shoulder motion the body allows, and the shoulder armour pieces are designed to allow for that, which is great. The nylon allows the torso to move and more importantly, hold poses that are a bit more dynamic compared to the Endgame suit. As for the legs - well, they're exactly the same. There is no appreciable difference in range of motion for the legs, which is unfortunate as it means you're not really going to getting the most out of those new ankles.
Paint, as always, remains at the typical high quality for Hot Toys product, even at the smallest detail. There's also no actual blemishes to report, leaving the sole winner of that award my Mark 7 die cast. On a more interesting note, if you ever wondered what colour Black Widow's fingernails were, this is the figure for you.
Build Quality wise, for the most part, top notch. Joints hold, and nothing has broken on me thus far. I did mention the ankle, which is unfortunate, but one could argue that's why they included stands. OK, great.
Then there's the gripping hands. Unlike previous figures, the gripping hands for this figure are a bit more relaxed, and not a death grip of a fist. Admittedly, this does look better and more natural, but I suspect Hot Toys didn't quite work out all the bugs because now she won't actually grip the Baton handles in her hand.
A bit unfortunate for a part whose sole purpose is to hold stuff.
I think it's safe to say that at this point, I'm not so much disappointed as opposed to relieved to finally have this figure in hand, because now it's pretty much just down to Snowsuit Widow, and I can call it quits on most of my Hot Toy FOMO. Having said that I must admit that the suit is pretty neat - if I do get the Snowsuit, it will be pretty much the same outfit, but white. The head is a different story for a different time.
What is the kicker here, however, is that nothing could prepare me for the less than stellar heels, and the worst of it, the hands for holding weapons that don't actually hold anything, which is a letdown to say the least.
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