Live Magazine February Issue February 2014 | Page 76

FIGURE that awesome steel rod that the T-1000 drives through him in their epic battle. Depending on which part of the movie you want the figure to represent on your display, it’ll have the accessories to go with it! Last but not least, the other key accessory is the T-1000 statue itself. It comes standard with the “silver surfer” type head, and the overall chrome paint app is fantastic. They even include a small lint free cloth for you to buff it up and remove any finger prints! I would’ve preferred a more static pose, as the one they have chosen is a very specific battle scene from the movie where the T-1000 holds and twists the T-800’s arm. That is the intent, where the arm of the DX13 figure is inserted through the hole, and the fist attached on the other end, giving the illusion of the hold/twist. It’s a nice touch, but I’m not sure a lot of collectors will use it. Onto the figure itself, and this new body is amazing to say the least. The gaping wound in the chest is beautifully painted, with all the requisite gore surrounding the exposed endoskeleton. It’s incredible that the t-shirt is cut to perfectly fit, and has blood seepage and bullet holes to add that incredible realism. As an initial comparison against the previous DX10 clean version, both straight out of the box look pretty amazing. But the DX13 is just a huge improvement in the likeness to Arnold Schwarzenegger. The DX10 still just has that younger, less wrinkled, less defined look to it. That could perhaps be a fault of the somewhat soft and less-detailed paint app on the head, where the skin tone is very flat. But with the DX13, even the smallest details are present in the facial paint app and sculpting, with wrinkles, skin texture, and overall sculpt improvements all showcasing how far Hot Toys can improve within a short space of time. The articulation is also top-notch, with barely anything that is missing from figures of this sort. The arms have double jointed elbows so that it can achieve those weapon holding poses in a natural manner, and the biceps and wrists all articulate nicely. The exposed left knee is also beautifully done, and articulates via a single knee joint that is very strong and stable. Again the paint app with the exposed flesh and skeleton, and the torn leather pants is also incredibly done. The lower leg can also swivel to point the feet, and overall the legs articulate as they would with any other 1/6th scale figure. The only real limitation in the legs is the tightness of the pants, which restrict the extent to which the legs can be moved forward or to the sides. But that’s a minor problem in the scheme of things. Pick any iconic scene, pose, or gesture from the movie, and DX13 can pretty much replicate it without too much of an issue. I have to say that I haven’t had this much fun playing around posing a figure since perhaps the DX07 Luke Skywalker or DX11 Joker figures.