This Months evaluation piece is Time Wave Zero's Android 001 and is part of
their Real Humanoid Series. The figure has a very strong resemblance to
Rutger Hauer
in his role as Roy Batty in the movie Blade Runner. It is more than obvious that
this figure is supposed to be a Roy Batty action figure however, no where
on the box is the Movie Blade Runner or any of the characters mentioned.
What interested me in this particular figure was the fact that it looks like
Roy Batty, and it had a limited production run of 500. I must admit being a
Blade Runner fan I had high hopes for this figure. The figure originally
retailed for about $160 in 2002 and is currently it is selling between $60 and
$100 on EBay, our test figure was purchased through EBay in October of 2003 for
around $75 after shipping.
The
box has an 80’s sci-fi look to it with a depiction of Roy Batty’s face with a grid surrounding it
(oops Android 001).
The sides depict a drawing of the figure and the back shows the front and side
views of the head sculpt. There is also a some brief description of what the
Android 001 is and verbiage on how they will rise against their oppressor (I
think that’s what they are trying to say). The box is the book type that when opened
gives you a view of the figure and the plastic dove.
At
first glance this figure looks impressive the head sculpt has an uncanny
resemblance to Roy Batty and
I must admit the head sculpt is excellent. The detail given to the eyes
makes you believe the figure staring right at you.
The paint job on our test figure was nicely done and shows an attention to
detail. However, once you remove him from the box it all starts going down hill
from there.
The
body that was used for this figure is down out is trash and that's being kind. Don’t get me wrong it is very
articulate figure, but it is very flimsy. The feet spin like propellers on a
cheep tin boat, the knee joints are week and loose making it a challenge to get
this guy to stand up on his own. The hands are wire with rubber surrounding them,
making it possible to pose them in a number of positions. This is a really cool
feature. I don’t think it is very durable solution because eventually the wire will wear out
if the hand is bent to many times. The wrist feel like they are about to break
at any minute and the elbows and shoulders spin as bad as the feet. Over all I
have seen figures in the local dollar store with better quality in them.
The
figure’s costume is close to Roy Batty’s costume in Blade Runner. The getup
consist of a pleather trench coat, pants, grey t-shirt, black spandex shorts,
socks and shoes. The trench coat has some nice detail but the buttons used are
way too big and hurt the coats appearance. The pants look good but once again
the over sized buttons ruin the look by preventing them from laying flat. The
spandex shorts are cool, the grey t-shirt, socks and shoes are also pretty cool.
I
don’t know if it is because it is a limited run or I have become accustom to the
detail and quality offered by the mass production vendors but I feel my
original expectation for this figure were not met.
The head sculpt and costume are the only two really saving graces of this
figure. If you
are a die hard Blade Runner fan and just have to have your own Roy Batty it
would not be such a bad purchase. I would, however not recommend paying
much more than the $70 price range. I feel this figure is not worth the
original asking price of $160. As far as it going up in value, keep in
mind it is a knock off and not an official licensed Blade Runner merchandise
product. Also it initially sold for $160 but now in the secondary market it’s
selling between 60 and 100.
Time Wave Zero also offers an Android Hunter as part of the series. The Android
hunter is a figure of Harrison Ford playing Rick Deckard, I think I’m going to
take a pass on that figure and avoid Time Wave Zero
products in the future.
Score Card
