SooSoo Toys Frozen Man Review - Mon Oct 11, 2021 5:29 pm
More photos in Post 5 below.
SooSoo Toys fills a number of niches that other companies either have not addressed or have not gotten to, and it usually does a very good job. Its products vary in terms of fun and wow factor. For example, their recent Mr. Butcher was quite excellent (review HERE). Frozen Man is an interpretation of Iceman (Bobby Drake, played by Shawn Ashmore) from X-Men. I liked the X-Men movies well enough, and have the feeling that, apart from Wolverine (Logan, played by Hugh Jackman), on the whole they have not received a good coverage by any one sixth-scale company, although several different outfits have created some renditions of various characters. This appears to be the second release of this product by SooSoo Toys.
Packaging
The set comes in two separate boxes, one given the Hot Toys treatment with a fine image of the character on the cover and another full color "card" over the plastic lid inside the box (not shown); the other box is a separate container for the "ice board" base. The figure's box has a single transparent lidded plastic trey that holds the figure and all of its accessories. The "ice board" base box is plain cardboard with labels, inside it there is lidded styrofoam lining to protect the base. Everything is pretty safe and collector friendly.
Sculpting
As often the case with SooSoo Toys sets, there are two head sculpts; in this instance, one normal, and one frozen. The normal head sculpt looks excellent, and looks both realistic and accurate to me. The skin is textured, the hair is finely stranded (more so in hand than in macro photos). The slightly stern expression is perhaps not the most typical look for the actor, but not inappropriate for the character, and not over the top. The frozen head is a bit harder to evaluate, as its semi-translucent and (ice-)crystalized appearance naturally obscures the original detail. What I found a little odd (and I do not recall the film well enough to evaluate) is the greenish color of the frozen head (especially if you have light coming from behind it), which also does not match perfectly the more bluish color of the frozen gloved hands. The other sculpted/molded details, like the gloved hands, boots, and knee pads, are all very nicely sculpted. So is the "ice board" base.
Paint
The only really complex paintwork is on the normal head. It is clean and realistic, the eyes are glossy, the skin is matte and lightly spotted. The paint application on the other sculpted/molded elements is fairly clean and simple, but that is I think what the outfit called for, based on the film.
Articulation
In principle, the articulation of the underlying Coo (or Coo-like) body is very good. Several design choices, however, get in its way. While the elbows and knees are quite unrestricted, the fairly stiff jacket and somewhat tight pants can make some of the shoulder and hip articulation a little more difficult, although one can generally achieve reasonably good results anyway. It is the design of the gloved hands and the boots that effectively precludes any wrist or ankle articulation. In the company's defense, neither of these pairs of items really lends itself to being segmented, but it is a little disappointing. The one-piece head and neck also eliminates a point of articulation at the base of the head.
Accessories
Depending on one's definition of accessories, perhaps there are none. There is a total of four pairs of swappable gloved hands (regular fists, relaxed hands, and spread fingers hands, and translucent frozen spread fingers hands), the "ice board" base, and an adjustable goose-neck dynamic stand. In my book, those are alternative parts, a base, and a stand, and with the possible exception of the base not really accessories. Then again, the character did not really brandish much in the way of accessories in the film, I suppose. Still, it is disappointing that none of the hands can even hold anything -- whether it is necessary for recreating any scenes from the screen or not.
Outfit
Sculpted/molded elements aside, the outfit is fairly basic, consisting of pants, jersey, belt, and jacket. Considering the character's superpower, perhaps he is overdressed; then again, they are recreating what we saw on the cinema screen. The pants are very nice and only a little restrictive at the top. The belt buckle has an annoying tendency to ride up and sit above the top edge of the pants, but this is a minor annoyance. The long-sleeved jersey has a functional zipper at the neck, and features panels of various materials; it works well and does not restrict articulation. The jacket is pretty stiff, although it is perhaps meant to be. It has a functional zipper and different sections made (or covered) with different materials. I suppose removing the jacket gives us a second look, although at this point I forget to what extent that was featured in the film.
Fun Factor
Perhaps this would have been much greater if I had more of the X-Men characters. I have some versions of Wolverine, a reconstituted Cyclops (somewhere), an incomplete rehaired Phoenix kitbash, and I suppose I could borrow Patrick Steward's QMX Picard, but that's about it. This figure has more fun potential than fun factor for me at present. The inhibited wrist and ankle articulation are annoying, as is the absence of hands that can hold anything, which limits the scope of creative posing with items and characters outside the very specific parameters of the source material. Or perhaps I'm not feeling very creative these days.
Value
These days $190 (USD) with free shipping feels like a reasonably good deal for any high end sixth scale products, and this is no exception. I am not as amused by this set as I was by the Mr. Butcher one, which had many more accessories and at least one or two "friends" to play with in the works. On the other hand, this comes with things that Butcher did not -- a hefty "ice board" base and a dynamic action figure stand (Butcher had no bases or stands). Even in terms of mere weight, this makes a difference. But is it worthwhile? That probably depends on a collector's taste and priorities, as usual.
Things to watch out for -
Careful with the gloved hands. With enough swapping, the gauntlet part could possibly damage and fray the lower edge of the jersey's sleeves. The gauntlet parts are also so thin that they might crack if handled carelessly. The hefty "ice board" is not glass, but it is still fragile, and it would not take much to break it, or some of its crystals. I found it very difficult to screw in the bendy neck onto the base part of the stand -- in part because I expected it to have prefabricated fitting grooves; turns out one is essentially creating the grooves as one screws it in. This might provide a better and more secure fit in the end, but requires a lot of effort, and worry that one would break something.
Overall
I like the set, but the combination of imperfections (the limited articulation in places) and lack of accessories (although I knew that upfront) dull my enthusiasm -- I was much more excited with the Butcher set. On the other hand, the likeness and quality of the normal head sculpt is excellent, and this is bound to be a must have for anyone trying to put together a team of X-Men characters.
Where to Buy?
GianToy had it for $190 with free shipping, but has sold out. You can still find it at greater cost at ToyOrigin or search eBay.
As always, what do you think?
More photos in Post 5 below.
#soosoo #xmen #scifi #superhero #iceman #frozenman #male
SooSoo Toys fills a number of niches that other companies either have not addressed or have not gotten to, and it usually does a very good job. Its products vary in terms of fun and wow factor. For example, their recent Mr. Butcher was quite excellent (review HERE). Frozen Man is an interpretation of Iceman (Bobby Drake, played by Shawn Ashmore) from X-Men. I liked the X-Men movies well enough, and have the feeling that, apart from Wolverine (Logan, played by Hugh Jackman), on the whole they have not received a good coverage by any one sixth-scale company, although several different outfits have created some renditions of various characters. This appears to be the second release of this product by SooSoo Toys.
Packaging
The set comes in two separate boxes, one given the Hot Toys treatment with a fine image of the character on the cover and another full color "card" over the plastic lid inside the box (not shown); the other box is a separate container for the "ice board" base. The figure's box has a single transparent lidded plastic trey that holds the figure and all of its accessories. The "ice board" base box is plain cardboard with labels, inside it there is lidded styrofoam lining to protect the base. Everything is pretty safe and collector friendly.
Sculpting
As often the case with SooSoo Toys sets, there are two head sculpts; in this instance, one normal, and one frozen. The normal head sculpt looks excellent, and looks both realistic and accurate to me. The skin is textured, the hair is finely stranded (more so in hand than in macro photos). The slightly stern expression is perhaps not the most typical look for the actor, but not inappropriate for the character, and not over the top. The frozen head is a bit harder to evaluate, as its semi-translucent and (ice-)crystalized appearance naturally obscures the original detail. What I found a little odd (and I do not recall the film well enough to evaluate) is the greenish color of the frozen head (especially if you have light coming from behind it), which also does not match perfectly the more bluish color of the frozen gloved hands. The other sculpted/molded details, like the gloved hands, boots, and knee pads, are all very nicely sculpted. So is the "ice board" base.
Paint
The only really complex paintwork is on the normal head. It is clean and realistic, the eyes are glossy, the skin is matte and lightly spotted. The paint application on the other sculpted/molded elements is fairly clean and simple, but that is I think what the outfit called for, based on the film.
Articulation
In principle, the articulation of the underlying Coo (or Coo-like) body is very good. Several design choices, however, get in its way. While the elbows and knees are quite unrestricted, the fairly stiff jacket and somewhat tight pants can make some of the shoulder and hip articulation a little more difficult, although one can generally achieve reasonably good results anyway. It is the design of the gloved hands and the boots that effectively precludes any wrist or ankle articulation. In the company's defense, neither of these pairs of items really lends itself to being segmented, but it is a little disappointing. The one-piece head and neck also eliminates a point of articulation at the base of the head.
Accessories
Depending on one's definition of accessories, perhaps there are none. There is a total of four pairs of swappable gloved hands (regular fists, relaxed hands, and spread fingers hands, and translucent frozen spread fingers hands), the "ice board" base, and an adjustable goose-neck dynamic stand. In my book, those are alternative parts, a base, and a stand, and with the possible exception of the base not really accessories. Then again, the character did not really brandish much in the way of accessories in the film, I suppose. Still, it is disappointing that none of the hands can even hold anything -- whether it is necessary for recreating any scenes from the screen or not.
Outfit
Sculpted/molded elements aside, the outfit is fairly basic, consisting of pants, jersey, belt, and jacket. Considering the character's superpower, perhaps he is overdressed; then again, they are recreating what we saw on the cinema screen. The pants are very nice and only a little restrictive at the top. The belt buckle has an annoying tendency to ride up and sit above the top edge of the pants, but this is a minor annoyance. The long-sleeved jersey has a functional zipper at the neck, and features panels of various materials; it works well and does not restrict articulation. The jacket is pretty stiff, although it is perhaps meant to be. It has a functional zipper and different sections made (or covered) with different materials. I suppose removing the jacket gives us a second look, although at this point I forget to what extent that was featured in the film.
Fun Factor
Perhaps this would have been much greater if I had more of the X-Men characters. I have some versions of Wolverine, a reconstituted Cyclops (somewhere), an incomplete rehaired Phoenix kitbash, and I suppose I could borrow Patrick Steward's QMX Picard, but that's about it. This figure has more fun potential than fun factor for me at present. The inhibited wrist and ankle articulation are annoying, as is the absence of hands that can hold anything, which limits the scope of creative posing with items and characters outside the very specific parameters of the source material. Or perhaps I'm not feeling very creative these days.
Value
These days $190 (USD) with free shipping feels like a reasonably good deal for any high end sixth scale products, and this is no exception. I am not as amused by this set as I was by the Mr. Butcher one, which had many more accessories and at least one or two "friends" to play with in the works. On the other hand, this comes with things that Butcher did not -- a hefty "ice board" base and a dynamic action figure stand (Butcher had no bases or stands). Even in terms of mere weight, this makes a difference. But is it worthwhile? That probably depends on a collector's taste and priorities, as usual.
Things to watch out for -
Careful with the gloved hands. With enough swapping, the gauntlet part could possibly damage and fray the lower edge of the jersey's sleeves. The gauntlet parts are also so thin that they might crack if handled carelessly. The hefty "ice board" is not glass, but it is still fragile, and it would not take much to break it, or some of its crystals. I found it very difficult to screw in the bendy neck onto the base part of the stand -- in part because I expected it to have prefabricated fitting grooves; turns out one is essentially creating the grooves as one screws it in. This might provide a better and more secure fit in the end, but requires a lot of effort, and worry that one would break something.
Overall
I like the set, but the combination of imperfections (the limited articulation in places) and lack of accessories (although I knew that upfront) dull my enthusiasm -- I was much more excited with the Butcher set. On the other hand, the likeness and quality of the normal head sculpt is excellent, and this is bound to be a must have for anyone trying to put together a team of X-Men characters.
Where to Buy?
GianToy had it for $190 with free shipping, but has sold out. You can still find it at greater cost at ToyOrigin or search eBay.
As always, what do you think?
More photos in Post 5 below.
#soosoo #xmen #scifi #superhero #iceman #frozenman #male
