Review : Kyra The Chronicles of Riddick, SOTA Wave/Series : Series 1 (one series only) Released : 2004
Price : N/A
12 years ago Riddick, as played by Vin Diesel, got a follow up to his debut in Pitch Black. The Chronicles of Riddick picked up Riddick's story after his escape in Pitch Black. And like any good Action Movie, a range of figures were released to support the movie.
The figures were about 7 inch in scale, and released by SOTA (State of the Art) Toys. SOTA had been making figures for about 4 years at this point, and would go on to be most famous for their Street Fighter and other Capcom licences.
The Chronicles of Riddick figures were released as a single wave containing 5 figures. There was also a special exclusive release of Riddick in Necro armour with Hellhound.
It has obviously been 12 years since these figures hit shelves, so buying them now is secondary market only and the majority of these now fetch at least double the £20 you would pay for a 7" figure. There are cheaper loose options, which is the route I have gone down, but watch out for missing accessories and some other "issues" which I will discuss over this course of reviews.
In this 3rd review of the Riddick figures we take a look at Kyra.
All the Riddick figures were presented on a plain trapezoid card back, with blister front containing the figure. The front of the card depicts a monolith of the Necromonger on an orange, fiery sky background. The SOTA Toys logo sits in the top left aside the peg cut out. The blister, also Trapezoid in shape, contains the figure - surrounded by the associated accessories. An insert is placed into the front of each blister containing a head shot of the character on top of the Chronicles of Riddick log. Under this is the character name.
Round the back, and all the card backs are identical. The card background continues the Necromonger theme on a fiery orange finish. The films logo sits on top, under which is the statement "Action Figures with 16+ Points of Articulation". Under this is a couple of paragraphs that sets up the plot of the film.
Arranged in a V shape under this are the five key figures, with Riddick himself on the point of the V. The special Hellhound set then sits to one side in the bottom right corner as you look.
Out of the box, and it is evidently clear that Kyra is going to be suffer from the same sticky issue as the other figures we have reviewed to date. She is actually tacky tot the touch, and was leaving paint smudges on our light tent floor as we were taking the images. Whether or not she will "dry out" remains to be seen.
Let's press on though past this issue. Kyra stands 6 3/4 inches tall, so is shorter than the other male figures which does match the actual heights of the actors. The likeness to Alexa Davalos is not bad although it isn't helped by quite a flat paint job. That being said the eyes, eye brows and lips are all painted neatly. The hair is sculpted to hang down at one side and is tied into a pony tail at the back. The hair does benefit from some variation in colouring, with some auburn highlights against the dark brown.
Kyra is wearing a relatively plain outfit which starts with a green vest. This is sculpted and includes some ruffles and folds to mimic the behaviour of real cloth. It is spoiled unfortunately with a waist joint that sits around her naval and not at the natural joint of her trousers - an odd choice? Arms are bare skin tone and finish in some nicely detailed arm bracers which are complete with straps and buckles. Bizarrely the joints at the shoulders are not painted leaving two big clear plastic strips very visible. Hands are both sculpted to hold her handguns. These handguns are a nice design and cast in black, silver drybrush has then been added to weather them up.
The trousers have loads of detail with a crushed/wet look as though the material has crumpled. There is sculpted stitching front and back, and a number of pockets and pouches. This is all painted brown, but with a darker wash to maximise the depth of the sculpt. Even the zipper is painted a thin line of gold. The boots continue the detail and are a darker tone - but are the stickiest of the painted areas.
Articulation is "of the era" and starts with a ball jointed head which can move quite a range. The shoulders, including the odd unpainted part, move out to the side and rotate above the head. There is then a very ugly bicep swivel, which adds very little, and a single jointed elbow. The hands then rotate.
I mentioned the odd waist joint in terms of being very high, and it also doesn't really work all that well as it throws off the lines of the body when turned so Kyra starts to look as though she is being chopped in half.
Legs are on that T-joint type hip and can move out fully to a splits position and out in front to a sitting pose. Like the arms, the decision has been made to add another swivel on the legs at mid thigh. Knees are single jointed and the ankles are rockers but don't move all to well - maybe due to the sticky paint?
It is really sad that Kyra, considering her age, isn't a bad figure in terms of looks. Despite being 12 years old she still holds up with facial sculpt and the detail they have built into her clothes. The thigh and bicep joints are unnecessary, and more so is the waist joint. The big issue remains the sticky plastic/paint which is going to destroy this figure unless you keep her in the packaging or in an air tight display. I give Kyra a 2 out of 5.
Kommentare