Review: Times Square Teleport Hiro
Back when it was popular, a lot of people were surprised that I wasn't interested in Heroes. I saw an episode or two early in its first season, and it looked fine. But, frankly, I have very little interest in superhero stories that shy away from the trappings of the genre. Things like secret identities, costumes, and stopping crime - these elements are part of the mythology. Lose them, and, more often than not, you lose my interest.
Anyway, a while back Mezco picked up the license to produce figures based on the series. Some of these sold well. Some sold poorly. Others, it seems, never sold at all, which is why my wife and I came across Hiro here in a Toys R Us, where he was selling for three dollars. Well, three dollars and one cent, technically. After tax.
My wife had been looking at these for a while. She does some toy customizing, and she's always on the lookout for potential projects. She took one look at Hiro and right away... she couldn't think of anything to do with him.
This version is a Toys R Us exclusive, which means he comes with an exclusive cardboard insert of the outside of the Toys R Us store in Time Square. I'm not sure if the alternate "teleporting" head sculpt is also exclusive, but I doubt you'll want to use it regardless.
But, come on, his sword's worth three bucks, so we bought him anyway. If you decide you'd like a Hiro of your own, head down to your local Toys R Us and dig in the back of their clearance section to see if he's still there. If so, take him over to the price checkers: if he's more than two or three bucks, return him to the peg where you found him and come back next week.
Anyway, a while back Mezco picked up the license to produce figures based on the series. Some of these sold well. Some sold poorly. Others, it seems, never sold at all, which is why my wife and I came across Hiro here in a Toys R Us, where he was selling for three dollars. Well, three dollars and one cent, technically. After tax.
My wife had been looking at these for a while. She does some toy customizing, and she's always on the lookout for potential projects. She took one look at Hiro and right away... she couldn't think of anything to do with him.
This version is a Toys R Us exclusive, which means he comes with an exclusive cardboard insert of the outside of the Toys R Us store in Time Square. I'm not sure if the alternate "teleporting" head sculpt is also exclusive, but I doubt you'll want to use it regardless.
But, come on, his sword's worth three bucks, so we bought him anyway. If you decide you'd like a Hiro of your own, head down to your local Toys R Us and dig in the back of their clearance section to see if he's still there. If so, take him over to the price checkers: if he's more than two or three bucks, return him to the peg where you found him and come back next week.
Appearance and Construction: 6/10
Even though Hiro comes with two heads, I'm only going to consider the "normal" head here. Why? Because I believe a toy should never penalized for an accessory. I'll discuss the other head later, despite the fact that's the one the figure comes wearing.
And, ultimately, parts of the figure looks pretty good. Mezco has some good artists employed, and they've done some solid work here. Actually, a little too "solid", as we'll get to in a moment - but I'm jumping ahead here.
The best work here is in Hiro's head, which seems well made. I'm not familiar enough with the show to speak with any authority about the likeness, so I'll just give them the benefit of the doubt.
There are some issues with the paint ops, though, particularly in the hair, where the flesh tone comes through in spots. In addition, the glasses are oversized, but that's common with toys in this scale.
The body doesn't fare quite as well. The clothing looks more like carved stone than clothing (an issue NECA often runs into, as well, but it's much worse here). The real issue, though, is that is one I'll also be addressing in Play and Display: there's almost no articulation beneath the shoulders. In fact, beneath the waist, there are none, at all.
There are two reasons I'm talking about this here: first of all, the difference between the arms and the rest clashes a bit. If they were going for a NECA/McFarlane style statue, they should have made it that way. The highly articulated arms stuck on the side are really just confusing.
The other - and largest - reason I'm bringing this up is to discuss the construction. Hiro, in being made this way, has a somewhat cheapened feel to him. Oh, he's got heft, but no sense of design or engineering. Therefore, I'm going with a six.
And, ultimately, parts of the figure looks pretty good. Mezco has some good artists employed, and they've done some solid work here. Actually, a little too "solid", as we'll get to in a moment - but I'm jumping ahead here.
The best work here is in Hiro's head, which seems well made. I'm not familiar enough with the show to speak with any authority about the likeness, so I'll just give them the benefit of the doubt.
There are some issues with the paint ops, though, particularly in the hair, where the flesh tone comes through in spots. In addition, the glasses are oversized, but that's common with toys in this scale.
The body doesn't fare quite as well. The clothing looks more like carved stone than clothing (an issue NECA often runs into, as well, but it's much worse here). The real issue, though, is that is one I'll also be addressing in Play and Display: there's almost no articulation beneath the shoulders. In fact, beneath the waist, there are none, at all.
There are two reasons I'm talking about this here: first of all, the difference between the arms and the rest clashes a bit. If they were going for a NECA/McFarlane style statue, they should have made it that way. The highly articulated arms stuck on the side are really just confusing.
The other - and largest - reason I'm bringing this up is to discuss the construction. Hiro, in being made this way, has a somewhat cheapened feel to him. Oh, he's got heft, but no sense of design or engineering. Therefore, I'm going with a six.
Packaging and Extras: +1
The package, located beneath the "Only at Toys R Us" sticker below, does its job well enough, informing you who this is, what it's from, and what's included. It's also informative: for example, did you know this was ONLY available at Toys R Us?
Hiro comes with a nice assortment of extras, accessories, alternate head, and a base. In fact, if I was scoring on quantity, he'd easily get a plus two.
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Where to begin? The best of the accessories is easily the katana, which looks really nice both drawn and sheathed. The strap is stiff, which isn't a choice I love, but it works well enough.
Next up, there's the messenger bag, which is also nice, though not particularly exciting. Again, the strap is made from stiff material, so that's how it's going to look. The base is relatively simple, other than the cardboard insert. This does create some problems, because the sole peg on the stand is located in the back. If Hiro's wearing either his sword or his satchel, it runs into the back and creates problems. I guess they didn't think that all the way through. Even so, I actually like the insert quite a bit, but that's because I run a toy review website. Expect to see that backdrop many, many times in future photos and gags. Hey! Now Batman can visit Toys R Us, too! |
Finally, we come to the alternate head sculpt, something I wish more toy companies included. Alternate head sculpts can add a great deal of value to a toy. The key word there is "can."
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As in, they CAN add a great deal of value, but this one doesn't. This is, quite possibly, one of the worst head sculpts I've ever seen. To be fair, I haven't really seen the show much, and I'm making some assumptions about what this is supposed to be. From the limited clips I have seen, I believe this is supposed to be the face Hiro makes when trying to teleport. |
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I'll let you decide if they succeeded. In my opinion, the alternate head sculpt effectively adds nothing to this set. The satchel, while nice, comes off as a minor addition at best. The other two accessories, the sword and base, are really what bump the score up.
Play and Display: -2
Really, I had to ask myself an important question here: just how many points could I reasonably deduct for not having articulation beneath the waist? If this were one of NECA's statues, I'd probably be a lot more lenient.
But it isn't. While there's some good work here, this really isn't on the same level. This doesn't come off as a low end statue: it's a toy where two thirds of the figure is unarticulated.
So. Lets take a minute to talk about what they did provide. The shoulders are ball jointed, which is a plus, and there are cut wrists and biceps. The elbows are pin joints, and the head is ball jointed. There's also a turning waist joint.
With the exception of the head and waist, these joints all work pretty well. The head, on the other hand, falls off at the drop of a hat. I guess that's better than not being able to remove it, but there's a sense in which the head never feels like it's really "on". The waist can turn a little - a fact I almost missed entirely. You can only get a small range of motion - I mean REALLY small - due to the character's shape, but it is better than nothing.
The other issue this figure has is balance. The feet aren't really level, which means Hiro is always wobbly when he's not on his base. Normally, I would only deduct for something like this if the base hadn't been included, but this is a special case. Because they've made this a solid unit, I expect him to be able to stand. On top of that, there's the issue with the peg on his base being too far back.
So, mostly for the lack of joints, but also for balance and a poorly fitting head, I'm deducting two points.
But it isn't. While there's some good work here, this really isn't on the same level. This doesn't come off as a low end statue: it's a toy where two thirds of the figure is unarticulated.
So. Lets take a minute to talk about what they did provide. The shoulders are ball jointed, which is a plus, and there are cut wrists and biceps. The elbows are pin joints, and the head is ball jointed. There's also a turning waist joint.
With the exception of the head and waist, these joints all work pretty well. The head, on the other hand, falls off at the drop of a hat. I guess that's better than not being able to remove it, but there's a sense in which the head never feels like it's really "on". The waist can turn a little - a fact I almost missed entirely. You can only get a small range of motion - I mean REALLY small - due to the character's shape, but it is better than nothing.
The other issue this figure has is balance. The feet aren't really level, which means Hiro is always wobbly when he's not on his base. Normally, I would only deduct for something like this if the base hadn't been included, but this is a special case. Because they've made this a solid unit, I expect him to be able to stand. On top of that, there's the issue with the peg on his base being too far back.
So, mostly for the lack of joints, but also for balance and a poorly fitting head, I'm deducting two points.
Price Tag and Final Analysis: 5/10
I have to say, if I actually cared about this character, I'd be a little disappointed here, particularly because this figure is made by Mezco. I now have a sizable collection of their Hellboy figures, and those are definitely at a far different level.
Of course, because of the clear window, I had a pretty good idea what I was getting into here. My wife and I really bought Hiro for his "normal" head sculpt, his sword, and his base. The satchel doesn't hurt, either. The rest of this is pretty much useless, but we kind of knew that going in.
In addition, if you're looking for a statuesque figure from the show, this isn't awful. Just be aware that it's a long way from good.
I don't really remember what these were going for last year, but, if I had to guess, I'd go with twelve to fourteen bucks. Needless to say, I don't think this is worth that or anything near it. If you want the figure, it might be worth six to eight.
Three bucks seems like a good price for the parts.
Of course, because of the clear window, I had a pretty good idea what I was getting into here. My wife and I really bought Hiro for his "normal" head sculpt, his sword, and his base. The satchel doesn't hurt, either. The rest of this is pretty much useless, but we kind of knew that going in.
In addition, if you're looking for a statuesque figure from the show, this isn't awful. Just be aware that it's a long way from good.
I don't really remember what these were going for last year, but, if I had to guess, I'd go with twelve to fourteen bucks. Needless to say, I don't think this is worth that or anything near it. If you want the figure, it might be worth six to eight.
Three bucks seems like a good price for the parts.
