Xensation collectibles "Lady Commander" review

I was watching snooker the other day, when one of the players made what was called a blind shot.  That’s a shot where you can see the ball, but not the pocket, which is obscured by other snooker balls.  A shot of faith so to speak.  You might ask what this has to do with action figures?  Well, this is a figure of faith.  I’ve never seen the movie, don’t know who the character is and the photos didn’t look THAT good.  But, in a similar way to some folks with beards on television, many of whom ask for my time and money, I had faith.

First of all the box.  It’s a box.  Its colourful, bright and pretty enough if you like boxes, and it does the job nicely, the figure sitting nestled in her single foam tray, the only extras being a pair of alternate hands and a knife thing that fastens into a holster strapped to her side.  And the obligatory packet of silica balls. 

Onto the figure.  From what I’ve seen of the movies and stills, it looks like Faora (or rather actress Antje Traue).  Hair of course is sculpted, which I think works better with hair this relatively short length.  The eyes are evenly painted and have intricate iris details.  It’s a fine job of paint on the face too - lashes are there, as well as a realistic skin tone that won’t come out with my sloppy photographs.  Better quality than many of the Hot Toys unofficial copies out there

Now this is where normally I’d start to talk about the problems.  And this time is no different.  The problem is the gap between head and neck.  It’s pretty big.  In fact, I could probably park a 1:6 scale bicycle wheel in there.  It’s almost like the head was sculpted without thought of which body it would be mounted on (which is probably what happened).  Of course, as you can see from the photos, it can be hidden for picture-taking, but like a Ferrari 458 that’s been fitted with a roof rack and luggage, even though you’re inside the car, you still know the damn thing is still there reducing your cool factor to the level of someone who thinks sandals with socks are cool.  As I said at the start, I have no investment in the character, so I just tied a bandana round there, but for movie accurate collectors, you might need to be careful with the posing a little.

 

 

The body is fine, and better than I was expecting.  The soft neck has a joint inside for posing, and unlike some recent releases, body and head match in colour, and the joints are tight enough, while not over tight.  I managed to get good movement from all joints and it was only the ankles that felt slightly loose at times.  Wrist joints felt firm enough too (take heed phicen).  Some may feel the need to change out the body, but I’d be more than happy to leave her be and save the money.

Armor is plastic, and glued on in parts.  Faora is laced into the chest piece. It all seems nice and tight, and doesn’t have the “full battle rattle” that a lot equipped figures seem to have.  People who had the Flirty Girl armor set will know what I mean here.  But here, everything is sturdy and, in a world first, nothing fell off when I removed her from the box.

As has already been commented on, the suit is baggy in places, mainly at the crotch.  I took solace in the fact that, when examining stills of lovely Antje’s crotch (reviewing is a tough job sometimes), there was bunching and bagging here too.  It’s not the finest and thinnest of material, though if it was we’d be paying MUCH more, and no doubt be complaining of it ripping.  It’s a good compromise.  Some issues exist in the centre of her back, and there are creases and bags in the suit, but this is covered by a cape.

And onto the cape.  It’s packed thoughtfully in a plastic wrap, but sadly, after folding it nicely in the wrap, some clown has stuffed it, while packing her in her box, into the section designed for her right leg.  And so it came more creased than Humphrey Bogart’s face after a night on the town with some Hollywood lovelies.  I’d have preferred the cape to be packaged separately, and perhaps be made of a slightly better quality material.   There’s certainly room in the box for it.  I’m a fan of swishing capes.  It’s a shame swishing capes haven’t made a fashion comeback in fact.  I may make a leap of faith and attempt to bring them back into style for 2017.  And, in a neat and completely non-contrived way, that’s where we came in. 

Conclusion

Not without minor niggles, this is still a fine figure, and no doubt the only figure of Faora we’re going to see.  Worth a purchase the stand with Zod, or for customizers that want a nice head and body to work with.