In this review, we take on the new Hot Toys T-800 Terminator figure. This is a great figure and I think it’s well worth the money. I’m a huge Hot Toys fan and I’ve been wanting something Terminator to add to my collection. This of course allows me to scratch both itches. Instead of giving you a long intro, let’s get to the review!



Well.. This is Arnold alright. One of the first things I noticed when picking him up out of the box was his weight. He’s quite a bit heavier than the Indiana Jones figure and the standard Hot Toys body. His thighs are thick and the figure has an overall solid feel. It really feels like they sculpted a new body to match Arnold’s physique in the movie.



And here’s a full body shot in greater detail.



A nice closeup of the face. I love that you can see his wrinkles and skin pores. Also, I didn’t notice this until I looked at the pictures, but you can see the retinas in full detail. It’s pretty outstanding.



They did a great job with the clothing and zippers. Everything seems to be movie accurate. In this side shot, you get a great profile and you can just see where the hair separates behind the ear to allow the PERS eye movement.



In 1991 I traded Andy Jones an Ibanez Classic Metal Pedal for one of these Jackets and I thought it was awesome. It was an incredible deal for me because I got a sweet leather jacket for the cost of a $39 pedal. They did a great job in the jacket detail. Everything is where it’s supposed to be. From the eyelets, the zippers, and the belt - it all looks great. Not to mention that the leather jacket texture is FANTASTIC! It looks and feels like real leather. The booklet that comes with the figure says that it’s real leather.




One of the things that I really like about Hot Toys is their attention to extreme detail. Now I’ve never noticed the bottom of the Terminator’s boots in the movie but they decided to add traction and stitching to the bottom of the figure. Very nice touch.



Here’s a closeup of the mini gun. In predator, they used a 50 caliber cobra helicopter gun for the same effect. I guess Arnold had a little gun envy and got one of his own in this movie.



After seeing the promotional shots of the hairpiece removal, I was wondering how noticeable the spacing in the hairline for the removable scalp would be. As you can see, it looks great. You can still see it when you know what you’re looking for but it’s much harder when you don’t know that the removable piece is there.




Here’s the back of the head in detail. You can clearly see the hair separation for PERS but it still looks great.



Again with the details. Notice that they sculpted holes for ventilation in the gloves. Awesome! Also, you can’t tell in this shot, but there is a pink overtone around the edges of the flesh colored hands. It adds a very realistic skin effect.



An awesome arsenal! I love the mini gun! You can cock the shotgun and there’s even a shell chambered inside. You can break the grenade launcher and insert a grenade in the chamber. The 45 cocks and the hammer is cocked when you pull the slide. Amazing.



Here’s a shot of the 45 after it has been cocked. I pulled the clip out and in true Hot Toys fashion, there’s a 45 bullet waiting to be chambered.



Here he is all geared up! Dang that mini gun looks awesome!



Of course, he looks even more awesome when you put the shades on!


The packaging looks very nice. Nice embossed lettering. The usual Hot Toys quality;


I’m personally not a fan of packaging reviews. That being said, they’re growing on me. I’ve appreciated Plaid Stallions reviews on rack toys and packaging. And to be completely honest, I loved the Star Wars and GI Joe packaging of the 70’s and 80’s. Let me be straight forward when I say that It’s not the packaging that actually gets me to purchase the figure. Heck, I ate 16 boxes of Froot Loops in college to get 4 Han Solos in the Stormtrooper outfit when the figure was released in 1995. All it came in was a white paper box inside a plastic baggie. And I loved that figure! Still do! I guess if I were 8 years old and the packaging look really awesome on a new action figure line, it might draw my attention to the shelf. Let’s be honest - Rarely do you see Hot Toys figures on shelves. This black box is obviously designed for the collector - not a child. It’s not exactly blasted with the color swatches needed to attract a child in an overstocked toy store. It’s not there to jump out of the shelves and say “buy me”. No, there are plenty of more colorful options out there on the market. This one is for people who already know what they want. I do appreciate the button snaps added to the box and the “collar” like flap. It really ties in well to the figure’s jacket. It’s almost like opening up the outer jacket to see the machine inside. Very well played Hot Toys! Well played indeed!

Although I don’t like reading packaging reviews, I do appreciate good packaging. I save all of my Apple products packaging because they’re just too nice to throw away. That’s how all of my Hot Toys figures are as well. I save all of them. The graphic designer side of me also appreciates good blister package art as well as great branding with packaging tie-ins. Heck, I’m working on a package design right now for a Pladd Dot themed action figure. It’s a lot of work to get it just right but it can make the difference on whether a toy looks cheap or not….


For those of you that collect the outer box (Mr. Marino) - this is for you. I’ve been watching Toy Hunter for a while now and it’s clear that some of you guys like to pay more money for the outer box. Anyway, this is what it looks like.


Interesting things of note with this figure:

1. He comes with a chip, removable scalp, and a chip container that all fit nicely in his noggin’
2. He also comes with pliers for removing the chip (like in the movie).
3. The pliers are made out of metal and are to scale with the figure.
4. The pliers work.
5. I used the pliers to pull the grenade bandolier strap through the adjustment buckle.
6. Again - the pliers are real working metal teeny tiny pliers…. Wow!