Review: Indiana Jones Adventure Heroes 2-Packs

I honestly wasn't going to collect these. Sure, they're adorable, based on one of my - and everyone else's - favorite properties, and part of the same meta-series that includes two of my favorite lines, Galactic Heroes and Superhero Squad. But times are tough, and I've got enough trouble trying to find space for the two-inch figures I already have.
So. There was no way I was going to collect these. That was final.
And then I stopped into a comic store which had these marked down to $3 a pack.
Come on: I'm only human. I grabbed two packs from Raiders of the Lost Ark and couldn't tear them open fast enough. Both packs contained a variant of Indy; the other figures were Marion and a Cairo Swordsman.
These were made by Hasbro and released last year around the time that Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull disappointed audiences everywhere (if you're interested, here's my review of the movie they made and another review of the movie they should have made). There are several other sets available, some of which, like the two I'm looking at today, tie in to the original films, and some that are based on Crystal Skull.
Appearance: 8

These vary a bit in quality, but, to my eye, both packs average out to an eight here. Lets begin with the Marion pack. The Indy figure here is a little less interesting than the one in the next pack, but he's still nice. This is, of course, Indy from the map room, where he discovered the location of the ark. I'm less than thrilled with the "stubble" effect here - I'll be seconding this complaint again below. In addition, the white robes don't make for the most interesting look, though I do want to stress that the sculpting work here was good. They've also done a commendable job with Indy's staff and medallion - I'll be coming back to this in a moment, but first lets discuss Marion.
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And this leads us back to Indy's staff. The biggest gripe I have with the Star Wars Galactic Heroes line is that just about all of them are armed, whether it makes sense or not. Well, in this case, both figures come without weapons. Why? Because they're from points in the movie when they weren't fighting. And I, for one, couldn't be happier.
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First of all, they've used the same painted stubble that troubled the other figure. In addition, the shoulder joints leave a gap, the gun's a little larger than I'd like, and the whip just doesn't look right. But, like I said before, these are MINOR issues. Together, they barely dent the overall impression. Lets talk about what they did right. The hat and satchel are absolutely perfect. My favorite detail, though, is his shirt, which is untucked on one side.
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Packaging Extras:
Marion pack: +1
Swordsman pack: ----
If you've been buying any of these, you probably know what to expect: a plastic case housing a pair of figures:
I'm not a huge fan of the color scheme on the pack, but that doesn't matter much to me, since packaging is synonymous with trash so far as I'm concerned.
It's more or less expected that toys like these don't come with any accessories. I'm not sure what the reasoning is behind this, and, apparently someone at Hasbro isn't either: the Marion pack comes with an cobra.
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Play and Display: +1

Like Hasbro's similar lines, the amount of articulation varies quite a bit from figure to figure, but I found something to like on every one of these.
My favorite articulation is, paradoxically enough, on the figure with the least: Marion. You get only one joint here, and that's at her waist. But this is a surprisingly useful point of articulation which lets you fine tune her pose. If she had articulated arms or a neck, I think it would damage the sculpt work. Whatever sculptor made this call knows what they're doing.
The Indy with the staff has three joints: one at each shoulder and another on the wrist holding the staff. What this means is that Indy is capable of holding the staff up vertically, so the light can shine through it, revealing the location of the Grail. That's all the articulation he really needs.
The Cairo Swordsman has the same basic articulation as the Indy figure above: both shoulders and one wrist. In both cases, I'd have loved having the other wrist articulated, but it isn't really needed. Here, the articulation lets you decide how you want the sword held: again, exactly what you need it for.
The other Indy has the most articulation of the four. You get an articulated neck, shoulders, and a waist. The untucked shirt interferes with the waist a little, but no where near as much as you'd think. Wrist joints would really have knocked this out of the park, but no such luck. Still, even with the gaps at the shoulder joints, this is pretty impressive at this scale. |
Price Tag and Final Analysis:
Marion pack: 10/10
Swordsman pack: 9/10

Continuing in the tradition of Hasbro's highly collector-friendly kids toys, these are an absolute joy to have. To be honest, I'm kind of kicking myself now for not picking up another pack or two: I wasn't expecting these to be quite this good.
I don't like these quite as much as the Galactic Heroes or Superhero Squad figures: it isn't that these are worse, I just don't think the property is as suited to this form. Still, these are an excellent addition to the shelf, and I'm happy to have them.
They started out around seven dollars, though I've seen their prices vary. I still think seven bucks is a little steep for these, but it's not completely unreasonable. If you can get them closer to five, you're getting a great deal.
I got these for three bucks a pack, so I've got nothing to complain about.
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