The Maxx has been out for a little while now, but the Indie Spotlight line is picking up steam with the nearing release of Series 2, and some people might be interested in heading back and completing the line. Is this gigantic figure worth the purchase to complete the wave, or is has Shocker Toys created a big waste of time? Read on for a full length review!

Name: The Maxx
Line: Indie Spotlight Series 1
Manufacturer: Shocker Toys
Released: 2nd Quarter 2009
Price: Online: $24.00-$29.99
Scale: 6.00 in. (figure in 9.00 in. tall (as fully extended as I could get him))
Accessories: Extra head, black isz, white isz, and pink isz

     I'm at a loss as to where to go with this section for some reason, so here goes. The Maxx is an enormous toy that matches up with the poportions of his comic book and on-screen appearances, meaning he has bulbous muscles and a lot of rounded shapes in his build. The technical quality of the sculpting is mostly high, with crisp cuts in the muscles and with nice smooth-looking lines from most any angle. There are also small details in areas like his boots and hair, as well as deep wrinkles in his fisted hands. Since he is mostly smooth across his body, some of those finer details do stick out like a giant middle finger/hook, especially the shoes, which are textured and full of tiny intricacies. Unfortunately, all that detail work deos reveal a few ugly spots like the  very uncircular rings on his shoes and some soft edges between "layers" of his shoes. A little extra attention to detail and a sharper cuts would have clarified elements more effectively. His forearms could have been improved too, because they have have an odd overall shape with "muscles" bulging out irregularly. Unlike a human's face, The Maxx is missing a lower jaw (among other crazy attributes) and requires some extra focus from the sculptors, and thankfully that was accomplished, usually. The head looks like the character, from a variety of viewpoints, and details aren't left out, even the yellow stripe is sculpted on instead of just painted). His enormous teeth have a smooth outside edge, but for some reason (on both heads), the teeth run further back on his right side than the left, as if his grin is lopsided. I don't know if this was an intentional element or not, but either way, it's barely noticeable. All three of the included isz figures are ugly little fellows, but match their designs and have clean sculpts. 

Sculpt Score: 8 / 10

 

     Maxx's paint is a confusing affair, because despite a number of problems, he still looks good on the whole. His purple body is the right color, and made to look even better thanks to a dark airbrush added to various spots that brings out the details in his muscles. It could be more evenly applied, but it's still an improvement to the base color. His shoes are a good shade of light brown, equally heightened by darker colors within the cuts in the shoes. The silver elements aren't quite so attractive, lazily painted on with lots of overspray. Applications are otherwise clean, such as the black flames on his wrists and all the details on his heads. The isz have crisp paint apps as well, with great details brought out in their teeth and various clean color changes on the female figure. Maxx himself has problematic purple lines separating his teeth, coming from the plastic color underneath the thin white paint. I'm glad that there are sculpted lines there, but I wish the paint covered them, or a small black line for separation was used instead, the purple looks odd. I may not like it, although I do think it was an intentional choice, so listen to my claims cautiously. Another problem involves a few random splotches of light brown paint on his butt (it just had to be brown paint didn't it?). I don't know how they got there, but they're an eyesore, thankfully not on the front of the figure to ruin displays. And finally, the biggest issue with Maxx's coloring is the yellow paint on his forearms, which is terribly weak, revealing the purple underneath, and resulting in a greenish hue for the arms. It may not be too evident in the photos, but even in standard lighting, it's visible to the naked eye. That particular concern is the only major one I have, and yet with all the small negatives added together, it does negatively alter his score here.

Paint Score: 7 / 10

 

    Maxx has a lot of articulation (as you can see in the image above), and it works wonders for finding cool poses because of the prominent usage of ball and socket points. The legs in particular have every joint necessary, and although the swivel shoulders might seem like a hindrance, because of the ball biceps, the arms have a great range of motion too. It's not the number of points that's the big concern here though, it's that many of them are much too loose. Because he's such a large toy, the upper body is naturally heavy, and his torso and hip joints have trouble holding him up. With some balancing, it can be done, but it's not an easy task. The elbows have the same problem, and his arms often just fall straight down unless aligned with some magical set of stars. They're also extremely easy to pop out of their sockets, and with the slightest amount of pressure come right out. It's not a big problem once he's at home on his shelf, but posing him in the meantime can quickly become an annoyance because you have to keep reattching the arms. Nothing is "broken" or seems apt to break anytime soon, but you might need some patience to deal with it all. You'd think that this many ball joints would make the figure an ugly mess, but because he's so full of rounded shapes anyway, the joints aren't that apparent. His inner hips do look a little strange though, as the internal workings are visible from the front.  

Articulation Score: 7 / 10

     This is one monstrously large toy! That's a good thing, because I think he's technically in a 6 inch scale like the rest of the Indie Spotlight series, and he'll be able to pummel anyone in the line with his enormous fists. He'll fit right in with other giant comic book toys you might have (like Grundy below), because he's got the width and weight to stand right along with them. He won't look too out of place among shorter figures either, because he's designed to hunch, coming much closer to 6-7 inches depending on the pose. I guess I'm going on about his scale so much in this section, since a huge toy is always the most fun! He's also really well articulated for play sessions, so running him around punching and clawing in the field of battle on the carpet shouldn't be a problem. Posing can be frustrating thanks to the loose articulation, but at least it's there and allows for dynamic looking stuff. Maxx is obviously not the most recognizable comic book character of the 20th century, and yet he's an intriguing one with a neat design, so that doesn't hurt him in this category. I don't think you have to know the character to enjoy this toy (I don't, and I am). He also includes three little "Isz" guys (well, one is a girl I guess). Although they don't mean a lot to me, but they're a cool little addition for him to squash/talk to/hug/etc. The packaging has just enough information to make it worth a read and also stay in pretty good shape after it's been opened, meaning the card can be perfectly preserved and collected across the line, a fun little extra.

Fun Score: 9 / 10

 

     This is an $18 toy if you can manage to find him straight from Shocker Toys without shipping (such as at a convention), and at that price, I do think he's a great buy, mainly because of his size. There's a lot of plastic in Maxx, and he feels like it too, so he won't let you down by feeling cheap once he's in your hands. There was definitely some time spent designing this fellow (not a Shocker Toys joke), and it shows in all his various elements. He seems like he's going to hold up quite well to abuse (not that I'll abuse him), and I don't see anything susceptible to problems. With all those positives and the inclusion of three extra figures and an extra head, it's hard for me to complain at $18. On the other hand, there's little chance of finding this figure for $18 or less, and instead you're probably going to be stuck paying $24 to get him shipped straight from Shocker Toys. That is a significantly higher price that will definitely cut into his value. I'm going to split the middle with my score, meaning if you're a fan of the comic or love the look of this toy, then he's worth it. Otherwise, he's probably a few dollars out of being a reasonable purchase. 

Value Score: 8 / 10

8 / 10 - He looks good, but some soft sculpting and irregularities hold him back a little.

7 / 10 - Small application problems add up to become a bigger problem.

7 / 10 - Loose joints ruin an otherwise great and attractive articulation model.

9 / 10 - He's a huge and well articulated toy, what more could you want?

8 / 10 - Lots of figure to enjoy with a few extras at a slightly excessive price point.

80 / 100 - This is a Great Toy

While the Maxx is a great action figure, a little more attention to detail with his paint, and some tightening of his joints would have made this a really amazing toy for Shocker Toys in their first wave of 6 inch figures.

-The Articulated One

This could be the figure given away in this month's Review Commentator Contest. Join the discussion by leaving a comment for a chance to win!

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