You can't have the Lone Ranger without his faithful companion Tonto, and here he is as played by Johnny Depp in the 2013 movie. NECA have had prior experience in sculpting Depp, having worked on the Pirates of the Carribean likeness and therefore this figure already had lots going for it. Tonto comes in the same yellow clamshell as the Lone Ranger and again sparsley decorated with just a picture of the figure adorning the rear. Once unpacked he comes with a tomahawk and a knife, and for variant hunters, there is also a version with a bird cage accessory that fits over his head (watch the film) Sculpt is brilliant and even if you knew nothing of the film, I am pretty sure you would stick pick out that this is Johnny Depp from even a cursory glance. From the bird headdress comes a variety of individually sculpted feathers and locks of Tonto's hair. These are sculpted in a softer plastic and therefore do move and flow as naturally as possible if you move Tonto's head. Where the face sculpt is particularly clever is that it captures Depp's likeness whilst under a sculpted textured war paint. Around his neck and extending down his chest are some more soft plastic detailed dressings. The belt is very ornately decorated and then lead into a number of layers around the waist with a variety of bags, pouches and tassles. Down the legs are further tassles leading to some nicely sculpted leather wrap boots. Where as the Lone Ranger was pretty plain in terms of outfit detail, Tonto has layer after layer and the amount of details the NECA team have captured and included is pretty spectacular. The paint is top notch also, and goes on to another level vs the Lone Ranger with so much detail to bring out on Tonto. From the cracked white face paint, to the shading in the hair and feathers - everything is picked out with zero paint bleed. Articulation is identical to the Lone Ranger, with articulated head that despite all the headdress can still revolve a full 360 degrees. Arms are jointed at the shoulder, elebow and wrist and can achieve a wide range of movement, perhaps more so than the Lone Ranger due to the lack of upper torso clothing. There is a waist joint, and this time (again due to lack of upper torso clothing) there is a decent range of movement so that Tonto can twist side to side, but also lean back and forward a few mm at the waist. Legs are jointed at hips, knee and ankle, but you wont do much with this other than get him planted safely on the shelf - which he does much better than his counterpart and is really stable. The tomahawk and knife fit snugly into either hand, and with the arm movement and the wrist swivel can then be posed in an offensive stance. As I get to the end I haven't particularly found any flaws with this figure, but that doesn't mean he gets an automatic 5 out of 5. Tonto does come close, but when you think that he is from an action film a bit more articulation would have been nice to get him into some more dynamic poses. 4 out of 5 from me... and another short but welcome series from NECA who continue to bring us some nice compact ranges of figures from movies the bigger toy companies wont touch.
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