Witchery and magiks are often illustrated with beautiful women. No, wait, we only do that today thanks to shows like Charmed, Beastmaster, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Witches used to be illustrated with pimple-faced green old ladies. She'd cook something awful in a giant cauldron and occasionally an eyeball or toenail would bubble to the surface. Awful? Awfully delicious! Yum. And just so I don't go off on some wild tangent later on in this review, I'll say this now: Red Sonja. Red Sonja, Red Sonja, Red Sonja! RED SONJAAAAA! Whew. [This is what happens when TAO doesn't write the intros! -Nightmare]
Name: Paige
Line: Charmed, Series 2
Manufacturer: SOTA
Released: 2005
Price: Retail: $12.50-$14.99, Online: $13.00-$19.99
Scale: 6.00 in. (figure in 6.00 in. tall)
Accessories: 2 Pairs of Hands
Diorama Pieces: Stone Wall, Floor Piece, Chair, Cushion
Sponsor Listings: Amazon-$9.99
Though I remember a curvier McGowan on the Charmed TV show, this more slender version of her is far from unappreciated. And I say "Rose McGowan" instead of "Paige figure" because that's what we have here, an almost nude McG fig. There's almost no costume to speak of to say, "Hey, that's that one character from that one show", lol. The likeness is remarkable, it's as if the sculptor poured all his skill and love into the face-sculpt. The body ain't bad but it's a bit generic because of how smooth the muscles are; they have no toning, only some attention to the abs for the ribcage. The sculpt hides most of the articulation effecively, but the elbows and knees are distracting, the pegs for them look large and the inner-elbow area is ugly. These areas look bad because it's bare skin, it if was clothing then you wouldn't notice the artic.
The animal-skins look like real leather, though the paint ruins the illusion a little on the bra because it doesn't cover the whole thing in some places. The bra is sculpted while the skirt is flexible to let the legs move freely. Mold-lines are usually highly-visible on such bare figures like this but these aren't bad, almost invisible in good lighting. Breaks in the sculpt are noticeable on the bracelets no matter what though.
Love this face, LOVE it! It is dead-on McGowan, there's none of that face-gets-ugly-when-you-shrink-it non-sense going on here. The hair looks a little "thick", but I blame the paint for that.
Sculpt Score: 9 / 10
After seeing the horrendous paint-jobs on the other figures in this set, I was fully prepared to cry when I saw Rose's pretty mug marred by off-centered stencils. But there is no reason to fear gazing into ther eyes for they are not crooked like Piper's, nor large and frightening like Phoebe's, they are neatly penciled-in to give Paige her trademark cute and exotic look. The skin-tone is on the pale side to more accurately reflect McGowan's milky-smooth skin, but even so, it looks just a shade too pink still, heh. The clothing matches the on-screen colors well, though the dry-brushing on the boots makes them look more like velvet that's been rubbed the wrong way than leather. The darker leathers have a lighter bry-brushing on top to add more dimension to the pieces. The hair was supposed to be a MUCH lighter shade, almost blond, but it's black with brown highlights instead. I like it more this way, so I'm not complaining! The fingernails are white (or super-pale flesh), and are actually a little odd-looking because of that. Same deal with the eyes, you can't make-out the whites, probably because of the paler skin, so they look a little weird. There's also a dark-flesh-colored outline along the bottom of each which sort-of makes it seem like she has flash-burns or she's been crying for a while. I wouldn't mind if they weren't there at all.
The paint is smooth and matte-soft for the most part, there's only a small patch near the stomach where it gets a little wavy and a little bumpiness on one of the shin-guards. The other figure I have in-package doesn't have this problem, so obviously it's a case-by-case thing. And those giant accessories, WOW! The stone display looks real and the chair looks like bronzed wood. The cushion doesn't look very comfortable since it looks like it's made of concrete, lol. The bamboo-crate-thing is dry-brushed so it looks less plasticky.
Paint Score: 8 / 10
No, seriously, this is an ACTION figure! There is tons of articulation to be found in this figure. It's only most notable at the elbows and knees, the rest of it is neatly hidden by the sculpted elements. The articulation model is similar to one of SOTA's other lines, Street Fighter, but missing a few joints. There is a waist-swivel but no mid-section hinge or pivot, I think it could have been added seamlessly, using the bra's lower strap to hide the upper-torso's edge. The wrists are simple swivels, no hinges. The head has a great range-of-motion, the flexible hair has a lot to do with it.
All joints are tight and solid, wow! Watch-out for the wrists though, they have a very narrow peg as a connection because they're interchangeable with another set of included hands. Also, the boot-tips/mid-foot swivel may be stuck. There are all sorts of slick poses you can achieve with this figure, thanks to the very flexible skirt. I wish the fingers were more flexible so I wouldn't feel like I'm going to break her fingers just moving a hand. I'd like a set of hands to let her hold stuff, but these open hands are good for displaying her "healing touch" ability.
Articulation Score: 8 / 10
Hah, you'll have to use more imagination than usual to have some fun. On the TV show, the actresses were supposed to be a trio of witches, and to use their power, they usually motioned at something and the special effects guys would make something cool happen. Now you can be the special effects guy! Among Paige's powers were the ability to create illusions and summon objects telekinetically, so tie a string to the figure and the other end to your cat, make a funny noise, then yank the cat towards the figure for real "Summoning Action!".
These toys are more fun for fans of the series, if you buy this figure randomly for a friend they'll either like it or give you weird looks for buying them a half-naked barbie. There is an extra set of swappable fisted hands included with the figure, they don't switch easy! They take some force to pop-out and the connecting-peg is very thin and rigid, a perfect set-up for something to snap-off. So, point is, heat them up before you switch 'em.
The diorama pieces are awesome! a huge stone wall with a torch, a floor-piece, a chair, and a cushion for it are included in the package, which is why it's so damn big! We'll take a look at the completed dio once I've opened up all the figures.
Fun Score: 7 / 10
Anyone remember what retail price was for these figures? Something like 10 bucks, right? Damn those were the good old days. Tons of plastic in this package, you'd almost think this was a Marvel Select figure! Build-a-Figure concepts amuse only so many people (fans of the BAF character), but Build-a-Diorama concepts ROCK! You can use the assembled pieces with almost any of your other figures to augment their displays. If you can snag this pack for anything under $12, go for it, you won't be disappointed. Judging by the multiple Charmed figures I got though, paint-quality is a wild-card. For that reason, I don't suggest paying the inflated $20+ prices out there, you may get a melted face.
Value Score: 8 / 10
9 / 10 - Clean work, wish there was more muscle-tone.
8 / 10 - Mostly smooth, needs a little more coverage on a few edges.
8 / 10 - Delightfully abundant!
7 / 10 - Rose McGowan in a skimpy outfit, awesome.
8 / 10 - If you get these for $4 a pop like I did, then you'll be grinning all day!
84 / 100 - This is a Great Toy
Wooo, all that text and no more mention of Red Sonja! Paige is a better toy than I give it credit for, I wouldn't trade it away for anything, except maybe a Red Sonja figure...D'OH!
-DrNightmare
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