A chief complaint amongst Expendables fans has been the lack of characters beyond Barney Ross. How far they'll go remains to be seen, but Diamond Select has taken on the Expendables 2 license for 7" scale figures. The initial offering consists of two versions of Barney Ross, one without beret, the other with, I'll be reviewing the beret version, Gunner Jensen and Hale Caeser.
The only difference between Barney Ross figures is the portrait.
Packaging - ***
The artwork of the package is really nice, the presentation of the figure inside is very clear, but there's a number of twist ties to undo to get the figure out and the blister seems way bigger than it needs to be.
Sculpt - *** 1/2
I'm very happy with the sculpt work, a lot of detail and realism to the clothing and body, veins, muscles, the small chain and his pistol rig. The Stallone portriat is a bit soft but it's a solid depiction of old Sly and the beret looks really welly done too. So why not a perfect score? The hands, with only one set included, it's key for them to be practical for the figure, and they aren't. Like Hot Toys with their Barney Ross, Diamond dropped the ball with sculpting the hands for holding the pistols, all his fingers are sculpted together, which means you can slip his finger into the trigger to properly hold the pistols. I took a knife to mine to separate his fingers to achieve this, but unless you're willing to do so, it'll look strange, and the hands are too open to get a solid grip on the pistols. I find it puzzling to do so many things so well on this figure and drop the ball on such a key feature.
Paint - *** 1/2
This is a fairly monotone figure, but what areas are painted have been handled very well. The details on the portrait are well done with the exception of the eyes, which are clean, but up close, a bit light and lacking the intensity of Sly's stare, and the presence of the doll dot doesn't help. All the small details are done very cleanly, especially for figures of this scale.
Articulation - ** 1/2
My experience with Diamond figures is limited to a few Star Trek figures and a couple Marvel figures. The Marvel Avengers Hulk and Mark VI Iron man feature a very impressive range of articulation for this scale, however, Barney is more limited the likes of the Star Trek line. The shoulders have an ok range but limited enough to prevent some cool aiming poses with the guns. The ball jointed head works really well, the hips are basic swivel joints, there's a cut in the thighs and a swivel joint at the knee and that's about it for the legs. There's a cut at the bicep and swivel at the elbow with only a swivel at the wrists. The wrists are a let down, with his coverings, a ball joint could have been done without being visible.
Accessories - **
This is the weakest part of the figure. With the only difference between Barney figures being the portrait, why they opted to release 2 separate figures instead of just making swappable heads is beyond me, and I have a feeling most collectors will ultimately just pick one only as I have.
Another lacking accessory would be his larger rifle and knife. While he did not posess his knife at all while wearing this costume until the very end, it would add to this figure and also offer the ability to have it be an Expendables 1-2 figure if you wish, plus adds value to the package. The missing rifle is also a bummer as it could look really cool if they finish off the team or even take on Willis and Schwarzenegger, giving collectors a chance to depict that big moment with the 3 actions icons blasting the bad guys away.
So really, all this figure comes with are 3 pistols and his watch is a loose piece on the arm, not sculpted to it. I also take points for the pistols. They gave him 3 modern pistols that all look alike, instead of 2 pistols and a revolver. That's a shame to me, as having a revolver amongst so much other more modern tech makes Barney's choices of weapons more interesting and figures look cooler.
Value - ***
This figure will run around $15-$20 depending where you go, and that's not finding deals anywhere. For that price, Barney is about an average figure, nothing special, but you could get a lot worse. If you can't afford the Hot Toys figures, this line is a nice alternative, especially if they make the whole team, as Hot Toys is unlikely to do so.
The only difference between Barney Ross figures is the portrait.
Packaging - ***
The artwork of the package is really nice, the presentation of the figure inside is very clear, but there's a number of twist ties to undo to get the figure out and the blister seems way bigger than it needs to be.
Sculpt - *** 1/2
I'm very happy with the sculpt work, a lot of detail and realism to the clothing and body, veins, muscles, the small chain and his pistol rig. The Stallone portriat is a bit soft but it's a solid depiction of old Sly and the beret looks really welly done too. So why not a perfect score? The hands, with only one set included, it's key for them to be practical for the figure, and they aren't. Like Hot Toys with their Barney Ross, Diamond dropped the ball with sculpting the hands for holding the pistols, all his fingers are sculpted together, which means you can slip his finger into the trigger to properly hold the pistols. I took a knife to mine to separate his fingers to achieve this, but unless you're willing to do so, it'll look strange, and the hands are too open to get a solid grip on the pistols. I find it puzzling to do so many things so well on this figure and drop the ball on such a key feature.
Paint - *** 1/2
This is a fairly monotone figure, but what areas are painted have been handled very well. The details on the portrait are well done with the exception of the eyes, which are clean, but up close, a bit light and lacking the intensity of Sly's stare, and the presence of the doll dot doesn't help. All the small details are done very cleanly, especially for figures of this scale.
Articulation - ** 1/2
My experience with Diamond figures is limited to a few Star Trek figures and a couple Marvel figures. The Marvel Avengers Hulk and Mark VI Iron man feature a very impressive range of articulation for this scale, however, Barney is more limited the likes of the Star Trek line. The shoulders have an ok range but limited enough to prevent some cool aiming poses with the guns. The ball jointed head works really well, the hips are basic swivel joints, there's a cut in the thighs and a swivel joint at the knee and that's about it for the legs. There's a cut at the bicep and swivel at the elbow with only a swivel at the wrists. The wrists are a let down, with his coverings, a ball joint could have been done without being visible.
Accessories - **
This is the weakest part of the figure. With the only difference between Barney figures being the portrait, why they opted to release 2 separate figures instead of just making swappable heads is beyond me, and I have a feeling most collectors will ultimately just pick one only as I have.
Another lacking accessory would be his larger rifle and knife. While he did not posess his knife at all while wearing this costume until the very end, it would add to this figure and also offer the ability to have it be an Expendables 1-2 figure if you wish, plus adds value to the package. The missing rifle is also a bummer as it could look really cool if they finish off the team or even take on Willis and Schwarzenegger, giving collectors a chance to depict that big moment with the 3 actions icons blasting the bad guys away.
So really, all this figure comes with are 3 pistols and his watch is a loose piece on the arm, not sculpted to it. I also take points for the pistols. They gave him 3 modern pistols that all look alike, instead of 2 pistols and a revolver. That's a shame to me, as having a revolver amongst so much other more modern tech makes Barney's choices of weapons more interesting and figures look cooler.
Value - ***
This figure will run around $15-$20 depending where you go, and that's not finding deals anywhere. For that price, Barney is about an average figure, nothing special, but you could get a lot worse. If you can't afford the Hot Toys figures, this line is a nice alternative, especially if they make the whole team, as Hot Toys is unlikely to do so.
