New Body Review: Maha 1/6 scale modular body (updated with comparison photos) - Fri Mar 01, 2024 5:44 pm
Over the last months, I've accumulated a queue of things to review, including new or newish bodies. After a slow start, my last review got quite a good feedback, so I'm encouraged to review again. So, do share your thoughts.
We've been encountering these listings for a while, but it was only relatively recently that I saw one in stock for a version I was willing to try out. I got it at Big Bad Toy Store for $35. It is Version C.
The disassembled (or unassembled) body comes very compactly packed inside a square metal box about 11.5 x 5.5 cm in size.
I'm not sure why, but that strikes me as very neat. Although, it can look like a lot of severed body parts in a cooler...
The larger pieces are bagged individually, smaller ones are grouped.
Here is everything that comes in the box, unbagged. Note that the stand has a magnet on the base, which allows it to attach pretty securely to most metal surfaces, including the box inside which the product arrived. There are four interchangeable pairs of hands (fist, knife grip, gun grip, and relaxed), two interchangeble neck pegs, a pair of ankle extenders, an alternative lower neck adapter, and things that I cannot identify. Everything is a single color, not too shiny, and the match between the different plastic materials is excellent. I imagine one is meant to paint in any desired features, like the eyes, brows, lips, etc.
Note that it is possible to take things apart even more -- for example to separate the lower from the upper arm, as I discovered when pulling it off the body during a costume change. There are no instructions, but putting it all together is quite intuitive and not difficult. Remember to press the larger pegs on the upper legs and arms into the corresponding parts of the torso until they pop. I would say it was a fun experience to assemble the body, perhaps bringing back fond memories of Bandai models and Lego sets.
The body is slim and perhaps intended as average, and looks pretty good to me overall, for a harder-plastic body with visible joints. The upper torso is a softer plastic shell, and the hands are relatively soft too, allowing for easier placement of items in them. I'm not sure it comes across in the photos, but despite the relatively simple and somewhat stylized design (only the lower arms have a significant attempt at greater realistic detail like the veins), the production quality is flawless throughout.
As a very basic test, the assembled body has no problem sitting even on the high ledge of the upright box.
Here is a minimal dress up, with one of those DAM Russian striped wifebeaters, shorts that would never fit on a seamless body, and some strange Chinese sandals that matched in color -- the feet have separate big toes, allowing them to fit without modification. An outfit like this allows a relatively unimpeded range of motion, but of course allows us to see far too many joints.
The double-jointed elbows and knees work very well, the ankle articulation is virtually unrestricted, the wrists allow a decent amount of movement. Because of the design of the waist, one is restricted to raising the upper leg forward and up to 90 degrees to the torso. Despite two articulation points for it, the torso's crunch is somewhat limited.
That said, the movement is reasonably smooth, while the body holds its poses and achieves balance pretty easily. Which is as it should be. It is not as flexible as TBLeague (and some Jiaou) seamless bodies, but it would make do for most things.
As a visible-jointed body, this is of course best covered up as much as possible. I tried it with a recent partly reconstituted outfit from DiD's WWII US Air Force Pilot Rafe set. While some of the items are a bit oversized (especially the cap, which was intended for a head with molded hair), the body works reasonably well in it. Of course, tighter clothes would work even better on this relatively slender and not overly tall body. The feet might be too wide for some of the footwear intended to accommodate a sixth-scale foot and might need to be swapped with alternatives (here I used shoes from somewhere else instead of the DiD boots).
Some comparison photos added below. I'm no longer positive there are multiple neck pegs, as the longer pieces have ball joints that won't fit the provided neck. Perhaps they can be used with a different product's neck, if they are neck pegs at all. The figure's height (29 cm as I assembled it) can be increased by interposing the ankle extenders between the lower leg and the feet (which would add 1 cm, producing a height of 30 cm).
The Maha modular body is fun to put together and use, and compares reasonably well to other bodies of this type. At $35, it is not particularly expensive, and the quality of what you get -- even if you have to (or get to) put it together yourself -- seems very high, I would say probably superior to most. Then again, it is not aiming at visual realism, unless covered up by clothing and equipment. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. I won't be army building with it, necessarily, but I already ordered one more, in a different color.
As always, what do you think?
Previous reviews on this site include:
White Men Can Jump! (Enterbay's Luka Dončić)
Hot Toys Star Wars Cobb Vanth Review
Hot Toys Star Wars Luke Skywalker Bespin Review and Fun
Hot Toys Star Wars Return of the Jedi Scout Trooper and Speeder Bike
Hot Toys Star Wars Rogue One Assault Tank Commander
Hot Toys Star Wars Rogue One Director Krennic
Hasbro Star Wars Jabba's Court
Homelander on a Budget (review of Toys Works' The Republican and comparisons to the others)
TBLeague Female Seamles Bodies S24A-S27B
Jiaou Doll Male Bodies
Kamisoul MAF Extreme Seamless Body with Jiaou and TBleague comparison
World Box AT030 Body
Six New-ish Bodies comparison
HH Model & Haoyu Toys Dragon Banner Bearer
Premier Toys PT0001 Wasteland Gladiator
Toys Headquarters Vol 003 Fighter
TBLeague Ramesses the Great
Figure Masters Vamp Lou
LDDoll Seamless Figure Body
John Constantine (Thunder Toys Hell Detective)
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
#review #maha #body #male
We've been encountering these listings for a while, but it was only relatively recently that I saw one in stock for a version I was willing to try out. I got it at Big Bad Toy Store for $35. It is Version C.
The disassembled (or unassembled) body comes very compactly packed inside a square metal box about 11.5 x 5.5 cm in size.
I'm not sure why, but that strikes me as very neat. Although, it can look like a lot of severed body parts in a cooler...
The larger pieces are bagged individually, smaller ones are grouped.
Here is everything that comes in the box, unbagged. Note that the stand has a magnet on the base, which allows it to attach pretty securely to most metal surfaces, including the box inside which the product arrived. There are four interchangeable pairs of hands (fist, knife grip, gun grip, and relaxed), two interchangeble neck pegs, a pair of ankle extenders, an alternative lower neck adapter, and things that I cannot identify. Everything is a single color, not too shiny, and the match between the different plastic materials is excellent. I imagine one is meant to paint in any desired features, like the eyes, brows, lips, etc.
Note that it is possible to take things apart even more -- for example to separate the lower from the upper arm, as I discovered when pulling it off the body during a costume change. There are no instructions, but putting it all together is quite intuitive and not difficult. Remember to press the larger pegs on the upper legs and arms into the corresponding parts of the torso until they pop. I would say it was a fun experience to assemble the body, perhaps bringing back fond memories of Bandai models and Lego sets.
The body is slim and perhaps intended as average, and looks pretty good to me overall, for a harder-plastic body with visible joints. The upper torso is a softer plastic shell, and the hands are relatively soft too, allowing for easier placement of items in them. I'm not sure it comes across in the photos, but despite the relatively simple and somewhat stylized design (only the lower arms have a significant attempt at greater realistic detail like the veins), the production quality is flawless throughout.
As a very basic test, the assembled body has no problem sitting even on the high ledge of the upright box.
Here is a minimal dress up, with one of those DAM Russian striped wifebeaters, shorts that would never fit on a seamless body, and some strange Chinese sandals that matched in color -- the feet have separate big toes, allowing them to fit without modification. An outfit like this allows a relatively unimpeded range of motion, but of course allows us to see far too many joints.
The double-jointed elbows and knees work very well, the ankle articulation is virtually unrestricted, the wrists allow a decent amount of movement. Because of the design of the waist, one is restricted to raising the upper leg forward and up to 90 degrees to the torso. Despite two articulation points for it, the torso's crunch is somewhat limited.
That said, the movement is reasonably smooth, while the body holds its poses and achieves balance pretty easily. Which is as it should be. It is not as flexible as TBLeague (and some Jiaou) seamless bodies, but it would make do for most things.
As a visible-jointed body, this is of course best covered up as much as possible. I tried it with a recent partly reconstituted outfit from DiD's WWII US Air Force Pilot Rafe set. While some of the items are a bit oversized (especially the cap, which was intended for a head with molded hair), the body works reasonably well in it. Of course, tighter clothes would work even better on this relatively slender and not overly tall body. The feet might be too wide for some of the footwear intended to accommodate a sixth-scale foot and might need to be swapped with alternatives (here I used shoes from somewhere else instead of the DiD boots).
Some comparison photos added below. I'm no longer positive there are multiple neck pegs, as the longer pieces have ball joints that won't fit the provided neck. Perhaps they can be used with a different product's neck, if they are neck pegs at all. The figure's height (29 cm as I assembled it) can be increased by interposing the ankle extenders between the lower leg and the feet (which would add 1 cm, producing a height of 30 cm).
The Maha modular body is fun to put together and use, and compares reasonably well to other bodies of this type. At $35, it is not particularly expensive, and the quality of what you get -- even if you have to (or get to) put it together yourself -- seems very high, I would say probably superior to most. Then again, it is not aiming at visual realism, unless covered up by clothing and equipment. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. I won't be army building with it, necessarily, but I already ordered one more, in a different color.
As always, what do you think?
Previous reviews on this site include:
White Men Can Jump! (Enterbay's Luka Dončić)
Hot Toys Star Wars Cobb Vanth Review
Hot Toys Star Wars Luke Skywalker Bespin Review and Fun
Hot Toys Star Wars Return of the Jedi Scout Trooper and Speeder Bike
Hot Toys Star Wars Rogue One Assault Tank Commander
Hot Toys Star Wars Rogue One Director Krennic
Hasbro Star Wars Jabba's Court
Homelander on a Budget (review of Toys Works' The Republican and comparisons to the others)
TBLeague Female Seamles Bodies S24A-S27B
Jiaou Doll Male Bodies
Kamisoul MAF Extreme Seamless Body with Jiaou and TBleague comparison
World Box AT030 Body
Six New-ish Bodies comparison
HH Model & Haoyu Toys Dragon Banner Bearer
Premier Toys PT0001 Wasteland Gladiator
Toys Headquarters Vol 003 Fighter
TBLeague Ramesses the Great
Figure Masters Vamp Lou
LDDoll Seamless Figure Body
John Constantine (Thunder Toys Hell Detective)
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
#review #maha #body #male
