You know how sometimes you crave fine dining, but other times you're wanting Taco Bell even though you know it's utter and complete trash? Well, that concept works for figures as well, and I'm not talking trashy subject matter, because tiddy toys can actually be very well made. I'm talking figures that are just so bad, it's impossible to believe that they ever were released to the masses.
Such is the case for the S.H. Figuarts: The Avengers - Loki figure. I got it off a fellow collector for $60 CAD, and you know it's irredeemable when even NMC Toys tried to clearance price it. This is gonna be a short write up, with the only redeeming qualities of this figure being the usual good Build Quality and the nicely painted body. Otherwise it's a complete trainwreck.
So you know you're off to a rough start when the prototype on the box art looks more like Ben Stiller than Tom Hiddleston. Accessories are decent enough, which include three faces, helmeted head, shackles, Tesseract, Short/Long Scepter, and of course alternate hands.
Out of the package, you'll immediately notice that Loki's cape has zero chill. The sad part is that there aren't even any wires or anything holding it's shape. The cape is actually just a single piece of stiff fabric with the edges folded over and sewed. I have at last two other figures from this era (Dr. Strange, Thor) who have significantly better capes.
The overall body silhouette isn't terrible.
The faces... well, the faces are terrible. None of them even look like Tom Hiddleston, though at least the "only" thing wrong with the neutral and gagged faces is the brow line but the laughing face is all sorts of wrong. There's pretty much nothing right about it, to the point where even the digital painting on the teeth is so bad that he looks likes he's got tooth decay on the molars.
Truly a magnificent dumpster fire of a face sculpt, and my pick of the litter. The detailing of the hair isn't bad either.
The Battle Helmet is nicely done, and can accommodate any of the faces. It also comes with a dedicated hair piece for the back such that articulation is not hampered. Having said that, even this magnificent head dress cannot make the faces any better.
The below average articulation really seals the deal. Part of it you can understand, as the general bulk and size of the outfit doesn't help matters. The hips do pull down, but you're not gonna get much out of them due to the skirt. Waist articulation is limited by the coat and the strap going across the chest. Shoulders are blocked by the shoulder guards. Head articulation is interfered with by the collar. Perhaps the most amusing tidbit of all is that Loki features no ankle articulation whatsoever.
So yeah, the thing sucks. Here's hoping they do a 2.0 some day so poor Loki can have some sense of self esteem again.
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