T-800 – BATTLE DAMAGED
TERMINATOR 2 (HOT TOYS)
Look at that! 50 reviews! That’s pretty nifty! Since this is review number 50, I thought I’d do something a bit different. Today, I’ll be doing my first Hot Toys review.
For those of you that don’t know, Hot Toys is a toy company based in Hong Kong who are renowned for their almost life like 1/6 scale figures. They cater strictly to those with a large amount of money to spend on such things, as each figure costs anywhere from $200 to $300 on average. While many of their efforts are from more recent films, they’ve had a line of T2 figures running for a while. I missed out on the initial T-800, but I picked up Sarah and the T-1000, and patiently awaited the release of the inevitable battle damage variant. And now, here he is!
Given the higher level of detail present in this figure, I’ll be doing a slightly more in-depth review. Think of it as a “deluxe review”
THE FIGURE ITSELF
This is the Battle Damaged version of the T-800 from 1990’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day. It’s the look that Arnold Schwarzenegger sports for the last third or so of the film. The figure was released as part of the DX or Deluxe line, which is a subset of HT’s main Movie Masterpiece Series. The T-800 is designated DX13, noting that he’s the 13th figure in the DX line. He stands a little over 12 inches tall, and has a whole bunch of articulation. I don’t have an exact count, because the costume covers most of the joints.
THE HEAD IN QUESTION
I’ll be looking at the less damaged head that he’s wearing in the package here, and the more damage head over in the accessory section. This head depicts what Arnold looks like towards the beginning of the steel mill sequence. So he’s not completely unscathed, but most of his face is still there. The head is made from two distinctly separate pieces, one making up the front of his head, and the other is a large panel that makes up the back of his head, and allows access to the PERS feature. PERS stands for “Parallel Eye Rolling System,” and it allows the figures eyes to be positioned to look a variety of directions. It’s an okay feature, but it can be cumbersome, and its access panel leaves a seam where the two pieces of the head join. The likeness of the sculpt is really good, easily the best Schwarzenegger likeness that HT has produced. There’s lots of fine detail work that adds to the likeness. Paint tends to be one of HT’s strongest suits, and this figure falls in line with their other work, looking shockingly lifelike from some angles.
THE COSTUME IN QUESTION
This is a category I don’t have the most experience with, as I’m used to looking at figures with mostly sculpted parts, and that isn’t the case here. He’s got a handful of sculpted parts, but most of the costume is made from various cloth materials. As far as sculpted pieces, he’s got his hands, boots, and the exposed portion of his chest, showing the endoskeleton underneath. These pieces are all sharply sculpted, and topped off the usual HT quality paint.
The rest of the work is tailoring. Arnold’s got leather pants with a tear in the left knee to show the endo knee, a t-shirt with a tear showing the damaged torso, a belt, and it’s all topped off by Arnold’s trusty leather jacket, shown here with a plethora of tears and bullet holes that he acquires over the course of the film. The pants and jacket don’t look to be real leather, but real leather can be quite cumbersome at this scale, so I don’t feel it’s an issue. The shirt is cotton, and has been died to look as though it has bloodstains, which works very well.
THE ACCESSORIES IN QUESTION
The T-800 comes with a large selection of accessories. They are:
- Fully damaged Head
- Alternate left forearm to depict missing left arm
- Spare Jacket sans lower left arm
- 6 interchangeable hands
- Bandoiler
- Grenade Launcher
- 13 Grenades (This includes the one in the grenade launcher chamber)
- Machine Gun
- Pistol
- Steel Rod
- T-1000 statue with interchangeable heads
- Light-Up Display Stand
First up is the second head sculpt. It looks to be the same face as on the other head, only with additional damage to depict the T-800 from the end of the film after he’s taken a severe beating at the hands of the T-1000. Instead of two moving eyes like the other head, this one’s got one moving regular eye, and one light-up robotic eye. The light is quite bright, and looks pretty good, but I doubt it would be practical for long term display.
The extra head is complimented by the spare left forearm and jacket, which complete the T-800’s final look from the film. The Jacket is pretty much the same as the regular one, just with the lower portion of the left sleeve removed. The forearm depicts the T-800’s damaged left arm, after it gets stuck in a gear at the steel mill. The endo bits are well sculpted, and the paint makes them look appropriately bloody. The piece swaps out, but it can take a bit of force.
The T-800 comes packaged wearing a pair of relaxed hands, but he also includes 6 additional poses. The hands include: Fists (R and L), Thumbs up (R), Gripping (R), and trigger finger (R and L). The work well with the various accessories, but I really think the thumbs up in particular is cool. It comes from a key scene, but could have easily been over looked.
The T-800 comes with his bandolier, which features slots for 12 of the 13 grenades (the last one goes in the grenade launcher). The grenades are well sculpted and look to be proper scale. The bandolier looks right, and has a nice amount of battle damage to match the rest of the figure.
The T-800 is armed with a grenade launcher, a pistol, a machine gun, and a steel rod. The grenade launcher is the main attraction here, and it lives up to expectations. It features a damaged stock, which is accurate to the movie, and can be opened and loaded with a grenade, which is a really nice touch. The pistol has a sliding stock , a hinged lever, and a removable clip. The machine gun should have a removable magazine, but mine was missing from the box. I’m hoping to get a replacement. The steel rod is … well, a steel rod, only made of plastic. So, yeah…
The biggest accessory is the statue of the T-1000 in his liquid metal state. It’s a rather basic sculpt, which fits, and it’s sculpted to be posed holding the T-800’s fist. It has two different heads, one smooth and mostly featureless, the other depicting the likeness of Robert Patrick. The Robert Patrick head is an exclusive piece to those that were able to get the exclusive version from the Sideshow website. The whole thing is vac-metalized* to properly depict the T-1000’s chrome like finish.
Lastly, the T-800 includes a light up display stand. It’s sculpted to look like grating from the steel mill, and has a nice metal name plate that features the film and figure name.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
This guy was a gift from my parents for my 21st birthday, in July. He arrived yesterday. Yeah, not my parents’ fault in the slightest, as Hot Toys is notorious for announcing a release date for an item, and then not releasing said item for 4-5 months after the fact. But, it doesn’t matter, because this guy’s worth the wait, especially now that my T2 collection is pretty much complete (aside from John Connor, and Kyle Reese, and Miles Dyson and….yeah, I have a problem).
*Vac-Metalizing is short for Vacuum Metalizing and refers to a process commonly used on toys to give them the appearance of being made of shiny metal. The process is performed in a chamber from which the air is vacuumed out. Metal vapor, typically made from aluminum is added and bonds which whatever is in the chamber. And yes, it is much more important for me to know that than it is for me to know stupid math.
The T800 Endoskeleton was released as part of The Terminator ReAction Figures line, under Funko’s wider ReAction Figures umbrella. The Endoskeleton is 4 inches in height and features the line’s standard 5 points of articulation. The figure is of course based on the design of the T800, specifically from the first Terminator movie. However, this is the Chrome version of the figure, which more accurately coveys the sheen of the T800 in Terminator 2. That being said, the vac metalized look is probably more accurate to the Kenner style. Fortunately, Funko has given fans the choice between two different sheens. Anyway, the sculpt is all new to this figure, and it’s pretty great. It manages to capture the complex design of the T800, which at the same time maintaining the more simplistic aesthetic of the rest of the ReAction line. The head is a little on the large side, but it’s not too bad, and it maintains the same quality as the rest of the sculpt. Obviously, the Endoskeleton isn’t a design that requires much paint, especially in the case of a chromed version, but Funko hasn’t cheeped out. The head features properly painted eyes and teeth, both of which are very well done, with no slop or bleed over. The Endoskeleton includes no accessories. It would have been nice to get a plasma rifle or something, but the Endo isn’t actually seen wielding any weaponry until T2, so I guess the lack of accessories is accurate.
The Figure In Question 