World Box AT030 Body mini review

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

Seems fair, Ian. And I have to admit this probably my least favorite sculpt of all the World Box bodies. Im a huge fan of their work, and between this and the “fat” body they did several years ago, I can’t think of a reason to use this.

Thanks for reviewing this body. It might be great for a clothed Schwarzenegger-figure. Is it actually bulkier than the old muscular truetype figure from Hot Toys? The arms and legs seem really massive.

So you bought him, nice. Yeah, the round shoulders make him look cartoonish, agree. Interesting to see what clothing you will try on him.

Pity that on most jointed figures they 'have to' add a joint in the torso, breaking all the detail of the sculpt and the paint job in two parts. Would be better to sacrifice this one point of articulation. That's what was great about the Big body. With the Big body you can still pull off a seamless look with an open shirt or jacket and shorts for example. On the other hand the "Dad bod" body was a great idea, but weird execution because of the visible joint.

Stryker2011 wrote:Seems fair, Ian. And I have to admit this probably my least favorite sculpt of all the World Box bodies. Im a huge fan of their work, and between this and the “fat” body they did several years ago, I can’t think of a reason to use this.

Thank you. And I agree. The other bodies seemed a bit more... natural in various ways, including perhaps less obvious open joints.

Randam Hajile wrote:Thanks for reviewing this body. It might be great for a clothed Schwarzenegger-figure. Is it actually bulkier than the old muscular truetype figure from Hot Toys? The arms and legs seem really massive.

Thank you. I think it is a little bulkier than any other bodies intended to be realistically human. It might work great clothed, provided the clothing fits. I haven't tried yet, but I imagine plenty of clothing items would not work on this.

Ovy wrote:So you bought him, nice. Yeah,  the round shoulders make him look cartoonish, agree. Interesting to see what clothing you will try on him.

Pity that on most jointed figures they 'have to' add a joint in the torso, breaking all the detail of the sculpt and the paint job in two parts. Would be better to sacrifice this one point of articulation. That's what was great about the Big body. With the Big body you can still pull off a seamless look with an open shirt or jacket and shorts for example. On the other hand the "Dad bod" body was a great idea, but weird execution because of the visible joint.

Thanks. Yes, round shoulders, segmented limbs, functional but visually odd double-jointed knees and elbows, add up to an odd appearance that suggest cartoons... I will have to look into clothing him, at least as an experiment, as I imagine it would be a challenge. You make a good point about the torso articulation -- it is so minimal, that perhaps it could be sacrificed for the sake of appearance, with body like that. But the problem with the open joints on the limbs remains, and those are often more likely to be visible than the torso -- except in cases like the example you gave.

thanks a lot for the review, those pics do indeed help me out a ton. a while back i pre ordered two of them from my go to store, one to maybe replace my m34 seamless on my shao khan figure.
sure the m34 is great, and if i ever get around doing a terminator it'll come in handy right away. still shao khan is a lot bulkier/blockier in the game and this figure captures it perfectly in my eyes.

as for the second one i'm on the fence of either doing a buff raider or brotherhood of steel character for my fallout setting.

Interesting body, 10 years ago it would be a 'godsend' due to the lack of muscular bodies, their price and durability issues. That still may be the case, if you can get this for say $30 while seamless ones are going for close to $100 and are shorter this could well be the better choice for someone doing a custom build etc..

Tjolnir wrote:thanks a lot for the review, those pics do indeed help me out a ton. a while back i pre ordered two of them from my go to store, one to maybe replace my m34 seamless on my shao khan figure.
sure the m34 is great, and if i ever get around doing a terminator it'll come in handy right away. still shao khan is a lot bulkier/blockier in the game and this figure captures it perfectly in my eyes. as for the second one i'm on the fence of either doing a buff raider or brotherhood of steel character for my fallout setting.

You are very welcome, I'm glad you liked it and that it was informative. Looking forward to see what you do with it if you get one.

shovelchop81 wrote:Interesting body, 10 years ago it would be a 'godsend' due to the lack of muscular bodies, their price and durability issues. That still may be the case, if you can get this for say $30 while seamless ones are going for close to $100 and are shorter this could well be the better choice for someone doing a custom build etc..

I know what you mean. The quality and durability are usually very good, and clothing and gear would obscure the distracting joints. These sell for $75 or so, so not much cheaper than TBLeague seamless bodies (some of which are, in fact, less costly, depending on the seller; perhaps that is true here too).

I think I saw this guy some weeks ago, I've been thinking of getting one of those buff bodies for a bash, might end up getting it soon-ish. I also get what you say about it looking cartoonish, it's those shoulders which I also feel like make him look much smaller than the 12.5 he is.

I like your reviews Ian , it`s going to be a challenge to get anything to fit this body though isn`t it ? I agree it looks a bit cartoonish , but with the right sculpt and cloths and imagination , I think he could look quite awesome .

Theboo-bomb wrote:I think I saw this  guy some weeks ago, I've been thinking of getting one of those buff bodies for a bash, might end up getting it soon-ish. I also get what you say about it looking cartoonish, it's those shoulders which I also feel like make him look much smaller than the 12.5 he is.

Hope the bash goes well and that we get to see it. I also hope this helped inform your decision.

Chip wrote:I like your reviews Ian , it`s going to be a challenge to get anything to fit this body though isn`t it ? I agree it looks a bit cartoonish , but with the right sculpt and cloths and imagination , I think he could look quite awesome .

Thank you very much, I appreciate this. Yes, it could be a challenge, although on the other hand clothing slides on easier over hard plastic than TPE. I agree, he definitely has plenty of potential.

Finding clothing that fits will be an absolute pain for this fella.

Allotropos wrote:Finding clothing that fits will be an absolute pain for this fella.

I think it is for people this buff in the real world too!

Allotropos wrote:Finding clothing that fits will be an absolute pain for this fella.

shovelchop81 wrote:I think it is for people this buff in the real world too!

How true!

Got mine in the mail on wednesday. Gonna swap the m35 for it on my shao kahn figure for i want to keep my figures displayed posed and am sceptical how the silicon will hold up 6 or 12 months down the road with bend ankles.
As for the other thing, i'd guess with the amount of money you'd have to spend to even get this buff both in roids and food, a proper tailor won't strain the budget much

Looks like very intersting. Thanks for showing. Every new body in 1:6 is a gift to the Nerds. . It´s hard to modyfie all the picen rubber bodys, this one has potential for to build a special character.

Tjolnir wrote:Got mine in the mail on wednesday. Gonna swap the m35 for it on my shao kahn figure for i want to keep my figures displayed posed and am sceptical how the silicon will hold up 6 or 12 months down the road with bend ankles.
As for the other thing, i'd guess with the amount of money you'd have to spend to even get this buff both in roids and food, a proper tailor won't strain the budget much

Sounds like a good idea. Funny, I came across a new Shao Kahn being released (or for pre-order) somewhere, just the other day, but I'm not sure which scale. I imagine budgets are a tight fit even for body builders.

Ephiane wrote:Looks like very intersting. Thanks for showing. Every new body in 1:6 is a gift to the Nerds. . It´s hard to modyfie all the picen rubber bodys, this one has potential for to build a special character.

Thank you very much, glad you liked it. I agree, it has potential, but like we've been discussing, it might necessitate some tayloring to get whatever one needs on this body.

Here's some inspiration for anyone who's planning a bash with this body.
Doesn't look too bad actually and apt for Bane..and maybe a comic book version of Crossbones.
CCTO these are not my pictures.

That is a heavyweight looking body! Could be useful for building a Nintendo Street Fighter collection. Which I might try one day    

Thanks for the review and pics!  Also thanks anyone with tips and inspirations in this thread

Allotropos wrote:Here's some inspiration for anyone who's planning a bash with this body.
Doesn't look too bad actually and apt for Bane..and maybe a comic book version of Crossbones.

I agree, it doesn't look bad at all, and the outfit conceals and distracts from the joints very well.

Valiarde wrote:That is a heavyweight looking body! Could be useful for building a Nintendo Street Fighter collection. Which I might try one day    

Thanks for the review and pics!  Also thanks anyone with tips and inspirations in this thread

You are very welcome. Definitely has potential.

Hi Ian , how tall is this figure please ?

Chip wrote:Hi Ian , how tall is this figure please ?

Hi Chip,

"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."

That`s great , many thanks Ian .

Just saw this thread, thanks for the review, GFan!
@Allotropos, that Bane is INSANE! Do you know who did that?

You're very welcome, guys.