World Box AT030 Body mini review - Tue Mar 22, 2022 5:58 am
It seems like forever since I've reviewed a base body, but my World Box AT030 arrived, and here is a short review.
AT030 is marketed as one of World Box's trademark "crazy durable" bodies. It is more muscular than its predecessors. Like them, it is made of mostly hard plastic, with open joints. Unlike some releases, there are no swappable seamless arms. Because of this, and because of the extremely muscular body type, there is slightly more restriction on the articulation, and the appearance is a bit cartoonish. Of course, if one is going to show as much skin as needed for a body review like this, one might as well invest in a seamless body, which would largely avoid these limitations.
The body comes without a head or any clothing (the ones I used here were borrowed from the HH & HY Imperial Army Hunting Ground Gaul Warrior set) in the usual cardboard box, packed within a layer of black plastic foam material. Nothing fancy, but perfectly practical and utilitarian; the back of the box reminds us to soften joints with a hair dryer if necessary.
With the added head, the body stands about 32 cm (almost 12.5 in) tall. The head would articulate only at the top of the neck, as the latter is part of the molded hard plastic upper torso. Like other World Box base bodies, this one is a boy, with non-removable indication to that effect; hence, the added briefs, however minimal. There is a subtle variation in paint, enhancing the musculature and adding bit of extra realism, alongside the textured surface of the body; all of this is drastically offset, of course, by the pretty obvious open joints.
The body comes with a small number of accessories or rather spare parts: an alternative neck peg, and three extra pairs of hands, for a total of four pairs: relaxed, fists, knife grip, and gun grip (with the index finger extended in such way that it also looks like a pointing hand). As usual for World Box, the hands and feet are given fine sculpts and finishes, on a par with the treatment of the body itself.
As has been the case sometimes in the past, right out of the box, the body's joints are very stiff. In a couple of places I used a hair dryer before forcing them -- I don't want anything to break, "crazy durable body" or not (I remember ACI bodies were experts at doing exactly that, if you so much as looked at them the wrong way). Given the attempted compromise between a hard plastic body with open joints and an effort to have a reasonably realistic and aesthetic sculpt, some aspects of the articulation are severely limited. For example, the body can sit, but just barely, and not very convincingly.
The intended articulation of the torso is more visible than functional.
Strange that a guy this buff would fail some basic gym class exercises.
But he is still willing to try and demonstrate what he can do.
Although they require some considered posing, the ankle pegs work well, and can be used to support a range of stances; similarly, the wrist pegs. In both instances, they can pivot and swivel. The elbows and knees are double-jointed, and work well, apart from the limitation imposed by the bulkiness of the hard plastic upper and lower limbs, and of course the resulting unrealistic appearance.
With some careful posing, one can even balance the figure on one leg, as in the photos above and below; although this is perhaps not clear from the image, here the figure is not supported in any additional manner. I do not know how long it can be relied upon to hold this position, and it would be easily thrown off balance.
That was pretty impressive to me, especially after the frustration of having to work with these joints -- TBLeague has spoiled me with their smooth articulation.
Nevertheless, the limitations are pretty palpable. No chance of turning our AT030 bodybuilder into a thinker, I suppose.
But he feels his bulging muscles more than make up for it, and that he's a hit with the ladies. It seems cruel and rude to disabuse him of that notion.
To be honest, I got this body mostly out of curiosity, although for the most part I was not surprised in my expectation (balancing act apart). If I use it, it would be almost completely covered up, and there even a less muscular body with some padding could do. The sculpt and durability are nice, but the appearance and limitations on the articulation remain significant drawbacks -- from my point of view.
I hope this has been useful. As always, what do you think?
Previous reviews:
Hot Toys Star Wars Rogue One Assault Tank Commander
Hot Toys Star Wars Rogue One Director Krennic
Premier Toys PT0001 Wasteland Gladiator
Toys Headquarters Vol 003 Fighter
TBLeague Ramesses the Great
Figure Masters Vamp Lou
LDDoll Seamless Figure Body
SooSoo Toys Frozen Man
SooSoo Toys Mr Butcher
Sideshow and Hot Toys Star Wars Scout Troopers (comparison)
Thunder Toys Hell Detective
Hot Toys Star Wars Emperor Palpatine
TBLeague Barbarian Soul
Hot Toys Star Wars Return of the Jedi Stormtrooper
ADD Toys War Wolves Back (muscle version)
World Box AT027 body
Hot Toys Star Wars Solo Mudtrooper
Sideshow Star Wars TIE Fighter Pilot
Woo Toys WO-004 Fat Thor
HH HY Rome Infantry
HH HY Rome Centurion
Mr Toys Barbarian Set B (He-Man)
Mr Toys Barbarian Set B (Conan the Barbarian)
Dragon and TBLeague Alexander the Great (comparison)
Kautic Plastik Roman Infantry 2019
JX Toys Peggy Carter
TBLeague 1:12 seamless male bodies
Hasbro Star Wars Rogue One Imperial Combat Assault Tank
Hasbro Star Wars imperials 2019
Hasbro Star Wars Jabba's Tatooine Skiff
CC Toys Unexplored Nate (summer version)
Jiaou Doll Boss Chair
Hot Toys Star Wars Solo Patrol Trooper
China Toys Teutonic Knight
Star Ace 300 Queen Gorgo
Black Box Toys Spectre Girl (Madeleine Swann)
Hot Toys Star Wars Royal Guard
VS Toys Bathroom
Coomodel Vikings Vanquisher Viking Ship
Coomodel Vikings Vanquisher Valhalla (double set)
TBLeague M36 body
Chinese wooden chairs and table sets A and B
HY Toys Armchair
TBLeague M35 body
Sideshow Jack Burton
Disney Star Wars Director Orson Krennic
TBLeague Spartan Goddess of War
AR Toys Hellman
Dragon Men in Black 3 Agent K 1969
#worldbox #male #body #muscular #at030
AT030 is marketed as one of World Box's trademark "crazy durable" bodies. It is more muscular than its predecessors. Like them, it is made of mostly hard plastic, with open joints. Unlike some releases, there are no swappable seamless arms. Because of this, and because of the extremely muscular body type, there is slightly more restriction on the articulation, and the appearance is a bit cartoonish. Of course, if one is going to show as much skin as needed for a body review like this, one might as well invest in a seamless body, which would largely avoid these limitations.
The body comes without a head or any clothing (the ones I used here were borrowed from the HH & HY Imperial Army Hunting Ground Gaul Warrior set) in the usual cardboard box, packed within a layer of black plastic foam material. Nothing fancy, but perfectly practical and utilitarian; the back of the box reminds us to soften joints with a hair dryer if necessary.
With the added head, the body stands about 32 cm (almost 12.5 in) tall. The head would articulate only at the top of the neck, as the latter is part of the molded hard plastic upper torso. Like other World Box base bodies, this one is a boy, with non-removable indication to that effect; hence, the added briefs, however minimal. There is a subtle variation in paint, enhancing the musculature and adding bit of extra realism, alongside the textured surface of the body; all of this is drastically offset, of course, by the pretty obvious open joints.
The body comes with a small number of accessories or rather spare parts: an alternative neck peg, and three extra pairs of hands, for a total of four pairs: relaxed, fists, knife grip, and gun grip (with the index finger extended in such way that it also looks like a pointing hand). As usual for World Box, the hands and feet are given fine sculpts and finishes, on a par with the treatment of the body itself.
As has been the case sometimes in the past, right out of the box, the body's joints are very stiff. In a couple of places I used a hair dryer before forcing them -- I don't want anything to break, "crazy durable body" or not (I remember ACI bodies were experts at doing exactly that, if you so much as looked at them the wrong way). Given the attempted compromise between a hard plastic body with open joints and an effort to have a reasonably realistic and aesthetic sculpt, some aspects of the articulation are severely limited. For example, the body can sit, but just barely, and not very convincingly.
The intended articulation of the torso is more visible than functional.
Strange that a guy this buff would fail some basic gym class exercises.
But he is still willing to try and demonstrate what he can do.
Although they require some considered posing, the ankle pegs work well, and can be used to support a range of stances; similarly, the wrist pegs. In both instances, they can pivot and swivel. The elbows and knees are double-jointed, and work well, apart from the limitation imposed by the bulkiness of the hard plastic upper and lower limbs, and of course the resulting unrealistic appearance.
With some careful posing, one can even balance the figure on one leg, as in the photos above and below; although this is perhaps not clear from the image, here the figure is not supported in any additional manner. I do not know how long it can be relied upon to hold this position, and it would be easily thrown off balance.
That was pretty impressive to me, especially after the frustration of having to work with these joints -- TBLeague has spoiled me with their smooth articulation.
Nevertheless, the limitations are pretty palpable. No chance of turning our AT030 bodybuilder into a thinker, I suppose.
But he feels his bulging muscles more than make up for it, and that he's a hit with the ladies. It seems cruel and rude to disabuse him of that notion.
To be honest, I got this body mostly out of curiosity, although for the most part I was not surprised in my expectation (balancing act apart). If I use it, it would be almost completely covered up, and there even a less muscular body with some padding could do. The sculpt and durability are nice, but the appearance and limitations on the articulation remain significant drawbacks -- from my point of view.
I hope this has been useful. As always, what do you think?
Previous reviews:
Hot Toys Star Wars Rogue One Assault Tank Commander
Hot Toys Star Wars Rogue One Director Krennic
Premier Toys PT0001 Wasteland Gladiator
Toys Headquarters Vol 003 Fighter
TBLeague Ramesses the Great
Figure Masters Vamp Lou
LDDoll Seamless Figure Body
SooSoo Toys Frozen Man
SooSoo Toys Mr Butcher
Sideshow and Hot Toys Star Wars Scout Troopers (comparison)
Thunder Toys Hell Detective
Hot Toys Star Wars Emperor Palpatine
TBLeague Barbarian Soul
Hot Toys Star Wars Return of the Jedi Stormtrooper
ADD Toys War Wolves Back (muscle version)
World Box AT027 body
Hot Toys Star Wars Solo Mudtrooper
Sideshow Star Wars TIE Fighter Pilot
Woo Toys WO-004 Fat Thor
HH HY Rome Infantry
HH HY Rome Centurion
Mr Toys Barbarian Set B (He-Man)
Mr Toys Barbarian Set B (Conan the Barbarian)
Dragon and TBLeague Alexander the Great (comparison)
Kautic Plastik Roman Infantry 2019
JX Toys Peggy Carter
TBLeague 1:12 seamless male bodies
Hasbro Star Wars Rogue One Imperial Combat Assault Tank
Hasbro Star Wars imperials 2019
Hasbro Star Wars Jabba's Tatooine Skiff
CC Toys Unexplored Nate (summer version)
Jiaou Doll Boss Chair
Hot Toys Star Wars Solo Patrol Trooper
China Toys Teutonic Knight
Star Ace 300 Queen Gorgo
Black Box Toys Spectre Girl (Madeleine Swann)
Hot Toys Star Wars Royal Guard
VS Toys Bathroom
Coomodel Vikings Vanquisher Viking Ship
Coomodel Vikings Vanquisher Valhalla (double set)
TBLeague M36 body
Chinese wooden chairs and table sets A and B
HY Toys Armchair
TBLeague M35 body
Sideshow Jack Burton
Disney Star Wars Director Orson Krennic
TBLeague Spartan Goddess of War
AR Toys Hellman
Dragon Men in Black 3 Agent K 1969
#worldbox #male #body #muscular #at030
