ThreeA WWR Frank & Snippy

 

When the first sniper grunt was offered through BBICN, I was kinda intrigued but I held out with its purchase because I'd taken a gamble that a similar figure will probably be offered in a different colourway later. Jungler was never really my thing, but the winter camouflage has always been something closer to heart. On 05 April 2013, Frank and Snippy were dropped on Bambaland and stayed on for a couple of days. This time I didn't hesitate with the purchase, even when the fully painted sample of Snippy was not revealed until the sale was over.

 

A couple of days before the sale, a sketch and short story of Frank and Snippy was posted on the blog, possibly as a form of publicity. It did generate more interest for me even though my mind was already set on getting this duo. I like to read stories about A.Wood characters and I do hope that he would do it more often.

As with the Jungler Punter Bot Sniper, Frank came equipped with a jungle hat, a ghillie suit (I admit I don't know the official term for this piece of camouflage fashion wear until I had to write this review) and a vest under some ammo pouches strapped on his harness and belt. For weaponry, Frank like Punter comes with a huge ass sniper rifle (35cm long), which also came with its own camouflage in the form of a long camou-patterned cloth that wraps itself across the length of the gun in a systematic fashion. He also carries a pistol holstered to his right thigh. I didn't really care for the ghillie suit as it obscures a lot of the figure when donned (and rightly so since a sniper should blend in with his environment) but I really do prefer to see the silhouette of a human figure.

 

What is different this time is that Frank sports a new headsculpt (not another clone of the Grunts), and goggles. There is a little irony in the fact that Frank is camouflaged for the winter environment, but not dressed to withstand the cold climate that he ought to. I wouldn't have mind if 3A threw in some winter jackets for ol' Frank here, and lost the jungle hat for the hood of the parka. Alas, we got a pair of goggles instead, and might I add, a pair of goggles that is rather poorly constructed. The lens are not see through (painted opaque) for a start, and they are misaligned when Frank puts them on, giving him a rather comical look (not sure if it is intentional). I am rather inclined to get this set to bash Frank up into a proper winter sniper if it is priced economically... Oh well... character designers sometimes love to defy logic, and since the last sniper that shoots in cold weather I know of is also skimpily dressed, I'll cut Frank some slack. Another thing I would've preferred is real faux leather boots with laces instead of plastic boots. Once you've had a taste of what 3A's capable of, I guess it is rather difficult to fall back on the oldies...

I think it is a genuine concern of folks regarding the balance of the figure since he is carrying such a big gun. I must say though that the gun is designed to be light weight and fairly manageable by Frank. The joints on his arms are pretty well constructed and Frank should be able to carry it without toppling over, possibly a lesson 3A learnt from the disaster that was called the WWR Heavy Bramble. Having said so, I doubt you will be able to get any good shooting poses out of Frank if he is standing upright. The best way to pose him in a position ready to fire is probably with him proning down and with the legs of the rifle near the trigger fully extended.

Snippy is Frank's companion, fully equipped with a smoke stack (with an articulated cap might I add) that blows up thick clouds of black smoke aimed at giving away Frank's position (again, the irony!). As a figure, Snippy preserves the adorable look of his Square predecessors, but with a battle damaged eye. Something different about him is that he has longer legs compared to the Square Mk1s, and they end with feet that resembles snow skis. The construct of Snippy is really well executed too, with joints that are nice and tight.

Frank and Snippy are quite fun to play around with, and I'm glad to add them to my collection. The Sniper figure does have its shortcomings, but nothing too severe. I like the new headsculpt, and I like the weathering that was applied on Frank. It reminds me of what has been done on Flakey Frost, which has white spots that are coarse and grainy to touch (sharks, I just said I like feeling dried paint). IMO, Snippy is an interesting upgrade of the Mk1 Square design, and its presence as a sidekick to Frank helps add a lot of character to both of them.

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ThreeA Popbot Dark Cowboy Superset

 

So the Dark Cowboy Superset was dropped on Bambaland on 30 April 2013, and was shipped way ahead of schedule for a change. If Oroshi, Frank & Snippy (both shipped on time) and this Dark Cowboy Superset serves as an indication of 3A's continued effort to up their game at toy production efficiency, I think delays might become a rarity in the future. Keep it up 3A!

This "Dark Cowboy in Service of Him Superset" is the full name for the Bambaland exclusive set comprising of the Dark Cowboy 1/6 figure and his Dead Equine (or horse). Unlike the "Dead Equine Superset", which is used to describe the retail version of this set, the online exclusive comes with an additional shotgun. And, to spice things up, a red sock devil and two posters have also been thrown in exclusively for the Bambaland version. Personally, I won't be able to understand why anyone will purchase this set from a retailer, since the 3AA discount applies for Bambaland purchases, and it comes with more accessories and stuff. It appears to have shipped earlier as well! Speaking of which, 3A did give US purchasers a good week's headstart with the shipping (literally by ship across oceans) but they still landed in Asia first.

I don't read any Popbot comics so what I know about this character is really anything that can be found online. Here is a summary of what I gathered:

The Dark Cowboy is the dead version of the original Blind Cowboy, whose real name is Emit Brown. Emit has only 1 friend: his horse named Ghost. It appears he only has 1 enemy too: Kitty. His family was murdered by robots, and the red poncho that the original Blind Cowboy dons is supposed to have wiped the bloody brow of another Popbot character called JFK, who was assassinated. Hmmm... there might not be any reference drawn to the ex-American President here... cause when it comes to A.Wood stories, anything that sounds cool goes. JFK could mean Jittery Finger King or some made up character for all we know... Jane fucked Kim? Just friggin' kidding...

After the Blind Cowboy died, he was revived by a red Sock Devil as the Dark Cowboy (read about it here and here) to run some errands for him. This comic strip was only uploaded on to 3A's blog on the eve of the Dark Cowboy sale... I think a little background story on any characters goes a long way in helping a collector appreciate the figure (and boost sales). In this case, I thought the story was pretty cool and I enjoyed reading it and admiring the art work.

So in reality, the Dark Cowboy Superset is just a grayscaled repaint of the original Blind Cowboy, which was offered on 15 August 2011, nearly a couple of years ago. When it was announced that there shall be no price hike for the reissued Dark Cowboy, I must say I was fairly impressed by 3A's commitment to keep prices affordable for fans. I was expecting some 0.000001 to 5% hike, owing to the increase in shipping prices and the additional stuff that they are throwing into the set (which isn't much but still...). It was a nice gesture I appreciated and I'm sure many collectors feel the same. This was a great chance for folks like myself who'd missed the chance to buy the OG Blind Cowboy years back... a chance not to be missed...!

To be honest, I remembered myself staring at the screen of my computer, wondering whether or not to click the "Add to Cart" button on the night of 15 August 2011... but... I wasn't really full steam into 3A at that time and the OG Cowboy did have a Ken doll vibe to it that made me hesitate and eventually didn't pull the trigger. Personally, now that the Dark Cowboy set is released, I'm kinda glad I didn't buy the OG since I do prefer the grayscale colour scheme... what's wrong with owning both you say? Well, space constraints aside, as the Chinese saying goes, "一山不能藏二虎" (literally means a mountain cannot house two tigers).

And now... the moment we've all been waiting for... the review of the new Dark Cowboy Superset.

If you've watched unboxing videos of the original set, I guess you won't be too surprised by the size of the box and the quality of the packaging for the Superset. I am very pleased to see that 3A kept to the original design of the packaging, except for the updating of A.Wood's artwork on the front of the box. The box is huge and heavy, mainly because the contents within is equally so. The Dead Equine is fully made out of polystone, which adds significantly to the weight of the entire package. I think its size is only superceded by 2 other 3A products that I've purchased before (the Yo Super Set and Rex), but the quality remains unprecedented.

The Dark Cowboy figure is more or less the same as the original, except that this time, the velcro that was used to hold the shirt together has been replaced with snap on buttons. Apart from that, it is just a colour change. The Cowboy comes equipped with 7 guns (excluding 2 mounted on his steed) like in the past, a poncho (now dyed grey) and a brown cowboy hat with wire inserts in the rim. I must say that the hand is sculpted to hold the pistols really nice and firm, but not so much the new shotgun... BTW, I have a theory on why he has so many guns: if you are equipped with more loaded guns, then you can save some time on loading your guns, just expend, toss away, draw another, and keep firing...! More importantly, if you can't aim cause you are blind... ... ... ... ... ... then you... ... ... ... ... ... yup.

Overall, the figure represents a typical cowboy really well, and all the grays compliment each other nicely, with sufficient white highlights through the prints on the poncho and the skin tone. I was a little taken aback by the fact that the poncho was just a tattered piece of felt with no tailoring at all. I felt that it was a little fragile and can be prone to tears especially when cuts were deliberately introduced at some points along its edges to give it a weathered look. A little trimming to reinforce the edges might not've been such a bad thing. Another thing I felt uncomfortable with was the thin faux leather belts and holsters that were used. Compared to the gun, which is a chunky piece of plastic painted to look like metal, the holsters appear rather thin and I will take great care in pushing the guns in or taking 'em out. The belts also feel very brittle and prone to breakage, especially the pair that straps the holsters to the left knee / sheen area.

Another problem that I had with the figure was the loose shoulder swivels. The 3A body features a swivel on which the usual shoulder ball joint is mounted. This allows a wider range of movement, as the entire arm can now be 'folded' forwards or backwards. While it is a good articulation to have (see 3rd Cowboy pic above, where the right arm is 'folded' forward), mine is particularly loose and somewhat irritating... It is a ratchet joint that goes click click click click as it moves, which it will whether intentionally or unintentionally when you move / accidentally shake the figure.

The boots imitates leather pretty well, but it is actually a rubbery material that impedes the movement of the ankle joint quite a bit. I won't say that it affects the figure if you are posing him in any typical Cowboy poses though. Like the improvement on the shirt button / velcro, I would've thought 3A did some improvements to this known shortcoming of the original boot by changing its material to a softer one... Now let's bring out the horse...!

Online reviews and videos can prepare you for the size of the Dead Equine, but it can never prepare you for the wholesome weight of the polystone statue. I guess it is a fair question to ask which would one prefer: a polystone horse with no articulation or a plastic one with joints. I think I will choose the former any day. I owned the new MOTUC He-man and Battle-cat for a short period of time and while I enjoyed being able to pose the Battle-cat, it was plagued by loose joints at the neck hinge and I found that I didn't really pose them after they have been placed on the shelf for display. I did miss the simplicity of the vintage cat which was essentially a brick with no articulation... True story.

One obvious difference between the OG Ghost Horse and this Dead Equine is that the timber planks that were wrapped around the legs with bandages are now fully concealed. They are still present though, I can feel them through the bandages. I'm sure there are some brave souls out there who are going to try unwrapping the bandages to reveal them just like in the original statue. Personally, I'm not too bothered by this change... a decaying horse does need some bandages no...?

Bandages also find their way around the head and neck portions of the horse. The head is the nicest part of the statue, and I really like the skeletal look that it has. I must applaud the 3D modeller / sculptor that managed to translate A.Wood's art into this masterpiece. He / she must be some unsung hero slogging it out in a sweat shop known as the Hatchery that should be given due credit. Equipment-wise, everything that is supposed to be on the horse saddle is there: the horse bit in his jaw that connects to the reins, the crown / front / nose band, the collar that holds the seat and the stirrups, etc... and on top of all these? Pouches! 3-4 of them on each side, and also a rolled up blanket at the back for those harsh winter nights. This piece is not short of details I'm telling ya!

I think it is worth mentioning that the horse does come with an additional cloak (top in pic above), which is a piece of black felt that is meant to cover the head of the horse, probably to make it look a little more mysterious or spooky. Thing is, for someone who thinks that the horse head is the best part of the entire sculpt, I'm not to sure if I'm keen to open the packaging for a cloth to cover it up.

I haven't taken out the red sock puppet either, probably because it is just an unimpressive and forgettable red repaint (and inferior version) of the white sock puppet that came with Red Devil Sham... It comes in a packet with a relaxed left hand, something good to have I suppose. Below are some shots of Dark Cowboy, Dead Equine and the usual suspects...

I have the Dark Cowboy sitting on his the Dead Equine, standing on the television console in the living room. It definitely has a strong presence, towering over my 18" Toybiz Spider-man that is standing on the opposite side of the television. My wife is not one who gives much praise to my toy collection, but even she said to me that the horse "looks nice" (yea, not going to get any much more outta her, but trust me when I say it is a higher compliment than winning 10 consecutive years of Designer Toy Award). This brings me to the thought of whether the Dark Cowboy is actually a worthy figure by himself without his companion. Honestly, I think that one cannot do without the other; as much as they complete each other, they also compliment each other very well. I haven't tried putting a Shogun or any other Popbot figure on the horse, but I doubt they will go very well, and surely not as matching as the Dark Cowboy...

This brings us to another pressing question: will the Ascended Blind Cowboy that was surprise-dropped during the Dark Superset sale be able to hold the fort on its own without his trusty steed? I will be able to review it as I was lucky enough to score it when the final batch was up. Even if it does disappoint in hand (hopefully not of course), I'm pretty sure the devil bot head accessory that it comes with will still make his purchase worthwhile... We shall see.

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