Soooo, Gordon arrived today and here are my initial impressions:
IMG_2397 by kraggy2011, on Flickr
Cons:
Not as refined as most current 1:6 brands
Pose-ability limited by outfit
Use of softer PVC for lower torso armour
Unrealistic paint job on head/face
Doesn't tightly grip the crowbar
Batteries in gravity gun are pre-installed (risk of corrosion over time)
LED in the gravity gun is a bit dim
Bullet in pistol magazine not painted
Sloppy weathering/drybrushing on items like the shotgun
Some seam-lines
Headcrab is a little small
Pros:
Looks like Gordon Freeman in the game/game art
Includes a figure stand
Patterned fabric suit on a base body with armour parts on top (as opposed to solid plastic or rubberised figure)
Lots of accessories (Stand, glasses, 3 grenades, shotgun, pistol with magazine, Pheropod, gravity gun, 5 pairs hands total if exclusive or 4 pairs for standard IIRC, crowbar and if exclusive edition, an articulated headcrab)
Some nice colouring on the armour
Glasses fit on easily and stay put
All hands have dedicated wrist pegs (I wish more companies would include enough pegs as they are most likely thing to break on most figures)
Light up button on gravity gun is very well hidden
Hands swap easily, no fear of breakage
Nothing really feels flimsy (aside from the glasses for obvious reasons)
Headcrab has articulated legs
Stands fine without figure stand
I may have missed a few things with that summary but that is the gist of it.
The packaing is nothing to write home about but is on par with most brands (similar to 3A in construction and quality).
Overall I think it is over priced for what it is. It is nice enough and I do not regret buying it plus I am willing to cut Mondo some slack as they are new to the high end 1:6 figure market and normally make cartoon/comic styled figures so they certainly may improve over time as they learn and they may have higher costs than many Asia based brands that contribute to the price but as said they definitely have a lot of room to improve and will need to do so over subsequent releases if they want to compete and justify the price they charge.
Solid 3/5 maybe 3.5/5. It is the only 1:6 Half Life figure on the market and one of the very few figures (in any scale) of Gordon Freeman so has little competition and for now is the best 1:6 Gordon Freeman you can get. Worth it for fans of Half Life but if not a fan either wait for a better version in the future or buy it only when on sale. So long as your expectations are set correctly you won't be disappointed and I can honestly say I have had worse figures from more established brands in the past.
Hope Mondo improve by the time they make the Doomslayer as the pre-views looked great. Then again that character has a helmet on so will prob look better just thanks to that. Fingers crossed.
Now, for pics of it in my roughly set up video game character display (because I am a show off and yes I do intend to get proper lighting put in the cabinets one day..)
IMG_2399 by kraggy2011, on Flickr
IMG_2398 by kraggy2011, on Flickr
IMG_2396 by kraggy2011, on Flickr
IMG_2397 by kraggy2011, on FlickrCons:
Not as refined as most current 1:6 brands
Pose-ability limited by outfit
Use of softer PVC for lower torso armour
Unrealistic paint job on head/face
Doesn't tightly grip the crowbar
Batteries in gravity gun are pre-installed (risk of corrosion over time)
LED in the gravity gun is a bit dim
Bullet in pistol magazine not painted
Sloppy weathering/drybrushing on items like the shotgun
Some seam-lines
Headcrab is a little small
Pros:
Looks like Gordon Freeman in the game/game art
Includes a figure stand
Patterned fabric suit on a base body with armour parts on top (as opposed to solid plastic or rubberised figure)
Lots of accessories (Stand, glasses, 3 grenades, shotgun, pistol with magazine, Pheropod, gravity gun, 5 pairs hands total if exclusive or 4 pairs for standard IIRC, crowbar and if exclusive edition, an articulated headcrab)
Some nice colouring on the armour
Glasses fit on easily and stay put
All hands have dedicated wrist pegs (I wish more companies would include enough pegs as they are most likely thing to break on most figures)
Light up button on gravity gun is very well hidden
Hands swap easily, no fear of breakage
Nothing really feels flimsy (aside from the glasses for obvious reasons)
Headcrab has articulated legs
Stands fine without figure stand
I may have missed a few things with that summary but that is the gist of it.
The packaing is nothing to write home about but is on par with most brands (similar to 3A in construction and quality).
Overall I think it is over priced for what it is. It is nice enough and I do not regret buying it plus I am willing to cut Mondo some slack as they are new to the high end 1:6 figure market and normally make cartoon/comic styled figures so they certainly may improve over time as they learn and they may have higher costs than many Asia based brands that contribute to the price but as said they definitely have a lot of room to improve and will need to do so over subsequent releases if they want to compete and justify the price they charge.
Solid 3/5 maybe 3.5/5. It is the only 1:6 Half Life figure on the market and one of the very few figures (in any scale) of Gordon Freeman so has little competition and for now is the best 1:6 Gordon Freeman you can get. Worth it for fans of Half Life but if not a fan either wait for a better version in the future or buy it only when on sale. So long as your expectations are set correctly you won't be disappointed and I can honestly say I have had worse figures from more established brands in the past.
Hope Mondo improve by the time they make the Doomslayer as the pre-views looked great. Then again that character has a helmet on so will prob look better just thanks to that. Fingers crossed.
Now, for pics of it in my roughly set up video game character display (because I am a show off and yes I do intend to get proper lighting put in the cabinets one day..)
IMG_2399 by kraggy2011, on FlickrIMG_2398 by kraggy2011, on FlickrIMG_2396 by kraggy2011, on Flickr
