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Series: Planet
of the Apes
Craftsmanship: 9.0
/ 10
- Great head sculpt
- The most quietly
menacing simian that I've ever come across
- Thirty points of
articulation
- Stability without the
stand is lacking
Playability: 8.5
/ 10
- Great compatibility
with other 12" figures
- Excellent accessories
but be wary of the M-16 strap
- Under very rough play
the fabric jumpsuit it likely to fray
Related Action Figure Reviews:
- Gorilla Soldier (Planet of the Apes)
- The Invisible Man (Universal Monsters)
- Tidus (Final Fantasy)
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Caesar (Planet of the Apes)
by Sideshow
Collectibles
Not many action figures can convey a sense of quiet
menace. Normally it's overt menace -- the figure is wild-eyed and covered gore
-- that's displayed by an action figure. Caesar, with his glaring eyes falls in
the first category.
The "danger" oozed b the figure can be attributed to a number of factors. First,
he's a big ape with a human characteristics -- it's a trait that creates a sense
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unease
in my consciousness -- and wears "boots" that look like rubber gloves. Then
there are the dual meat cleavers. When installed in his hands... it's damn
creepy. Third, he totes around an M-16 assault rifle, which can be slung over
his shoulder or put in hid hands. All this combined with a head sculpt that
barely hides a suppressed rage worked together to create on of the most, if not
the most, quietly |
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menacing figures ever.
The head sculpt by Matt Falls is easily on par with the rest of the Planet of
the Apes series. (And for good reason, he's done most of the sculpting of the
Planet of the Apes series.) Admittedly, it's possible that the fur could have
used more dithering to look even more realistic but on the whole it's a very
good sculpt.
The green fabric jumpsuit is solidly stitched and assembled. It may be because
most of the other 12" figures by Sideshow have featured multiple layers of
clothing (like the Invisible Man or any of the Bond Figures) which presents an
illusion of being easily ripped or torn that makes it seem like a one-piece is
automatically more able to withstand wear and tear. This assumption actually
holds up -- after playing around with Caesar the clothing has yet to fray or
tear (though my son has yet to get hold of it).
Like the other 12" features from Sideshow, Caesar features a body with a ton of
articulation points (around 30). To really find all the articulation points you
just need to experiment a bit.
While there's a ton of articulation the stability of the figure isn't great.
It's possible to have him "free stand" but it's in an unexciting pose. I've
always liked the display stands that Sideshow packs with their 12" figures and
it comes in very handy with Caesar. When it comes right down to it, Caesar is
really all about display anyway so maybe the instability isn't such a loss.
The box Caesar comes packed in is along the lines of Sideshow's other 12"
figures -- it's a solidly constructed box complete with movie stills and a
complete recap of Caesar's early origins in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
(for those of you that may not have followed the Planet of the Apes storyline).
And like all the other boxes for 12" figures, I can't bring myself to turf the
box -- it's just too nice! For serious collectors Caesar will never see the
outside of his box. (Turn your back long enough and he may hack his way out.)
If you don't liberate Caesar from his packaging you'll never get to appreciate
all he has to offer in terms of playability. With a couple other Planet of the
Apes figures, Caesar has very obvious potential for play and diorama setups,
however, he's the right scale to combat your other 12" figures. (With two meat
cleavers and a M-16 Caesar doing anything but combat would seem out of place.)
Sci-fi action figure cross-overs have always been a favorite way to waste time
and Caesar gives my yet another reason to dig my 12" Star Wars figures out of
storage (or even better, go melee on Final Fantasy X's Tidus). Some caution
should be exercised with the accessories. They're larger than average so it's
more difficult to lose them, however, the strap on the M-16 could be snapped
under rough play. Caesar also comes packed with a "Armando's Old-Time Circus"
leaflet but other than helping the figure (overall) remain true to the source
material it's no good for play.
In the immortal, but lesser-known words, of Caesar himself and apropos of
nothing, "Lousy human bastard!" It's the exact opposite emotion that snagging
Caesar will illicit. Worth the dough for collectors and fans.
- Omni
(March 13, 2006) |
