In this toy review, we’re going to take a look at the two Indys. At least two of the most recent (and popular) Indiana Jones collectible figures. We’re going to take a fair look at both the Sideshow Indiana Jones figure and the recently released Hot Toys Indiana Jones Deluxe figure. I tried to get the images as large as I could (while maintaining space for text) so if you’re on dial-up…. well…. you just shouldn’t be on dial-up.

Let’s start with the Sideshow Collectibles Indiana Jones: (the reviews will be under the pictures)



In most aspects, it’s a pretty good figure. I know… I know… I already jaded you a little bit by showing you both Indys side by side but upon initial look at this figure, it’s actually not bad. Think if you will what a Hasbro 12” Indy may look like and I assure you, it wouldn’t be this good. One thing you can tell right off of the bat is that his head is too large for the body. The shoulders slump quite a bit when looking at the size of that noggin!

Setup: This figure was so loose and wobbly (and I bought it new) that it was hard to set him up properly. I was lucky to get him to stand on his own in the light tent so this is what you get. Unfortunately, this is about the only pose I could get him in before he took a dive.



Above is a great example of how disproportionate his head is to the rest of his body. It looks as if he’s got wimpy shoulders. This is also a good shot to get a look at his shirt stitching. As you can tell, the stitching is wide so it really makes it look like a small guy in a big shirt. The jacket isn’t horrible, but it’s made out of that watertight rain coat material. Not the plastic type, but the type they use in ranch coats. It looks okay but more like cloth and less like leather.



(above) Here’s another shot to give you scale with this jacket. Again, it just looks like it’s about 3 sizes too big for him.



Here’s a shot of Indy’s pants. Good enough but they have that “pants on a doll” look. After comparing both figures, you can see why. The other Indy’s pants are pleated. It just adds that much more realism to the figure and it’s not something you even notice. You just notice it when it’s not there.



These Indy shoes are pretty good looking. They’ve got the scuffs on the front and nice detail when it comes to this scale. I especially like the creases where Indy’s foot bends. A very nice touch.



Now on to the Hot Toys Indiana Jones! Okay… I have to admit…. I am biased on this figure for good reason. I’ve been an Arnie Kim fan for several years now and he’s the sculptor behind this figure for Hot Toys. Arnie’s work is second to none and there are only a few toy sculptors in the industry that match his quality. Even fewer capture the emotion that he does in a character. Knowing that I’m biased, I deliberately didn’t pose this figure in the coolest possible poses. Although it can… it’s based off of the Real Action Hero body. It can do pretty much what it wants. Still, I didn’t want to catch your eye off guard. Instead, I wanted to take a truly objective look at the figure itself.



Since the Sideshow Indy doesn’t come with a removable hat, I can only show shots of it with his hat on. This is not the case with the Hot Toys Indy. They did a great job of solving the hair issue of not fitting under a hat. They gave him “hat hair”–simple and brilliant. With Indy’s hat hair, his head fits in his hat exactly like it should. Indy comes with this hair and a styled haircut (when his hat hasn’t been on). Both are very easy to put on and take off.



Indy’s hat can be posed in a lot of different poses but I left it on in a generic one so that you could get an idea about his shoulders and reference it to the Sideshow Indiana Jones. Notice that his eyes are glossy while his face retains a realistic matte finish. This is due to the PERS (Parallel Eyeball Rolling System). The eyes are mounted separately in the head and they can not only be glossy, but they are also recessed in the face (like human eyes are). They also don’t maintain a single look or stare as they can be positioned for whatever look you’re going for. Now that I’ve seen this on my high end figures, I don’t want painted on eyes ever again!



Here’s a great shot of Indy’s eyes. It’s almost as he hears the boulder moving behind him. Again, this really allows the collector to create any expression they want. It’s amazing what eyes will tell! Also, notice the stitching on the shirt and how it’s much tighter than the Sideshow Indiana Jones. And look at that leather detail on the jacket. I don’t know what type of faux leather that Hot Toys found, but it’s amazing that the pattern isn’t too large for the figure. It’s scaled enough to be believable. Notice also how the ear is separate from the head. It actually stands out on it’s own.



Here’s a great shot of the PERS just under the hairline. It’s also a great shot for seeing how the ears are separate from the head. Notice the skin spots on the back of the neck.



Here’s the Hot Toys Indy shirt and pants detail. The whip is actually braided leather.



Take a look at the zipper. This is a functioning zipper but most 1/6 scale figures have a zipper that in no way compliments the scale. I don’t know where they get their zipper supply from, but normally the zipper only has about 12 teeth and is very distracting from the piece. Hot Toys has managed to keep this zipper size so small that it doesn’t detract from the piece. Reality is what it is and you can only make mechanical things so small before they stop working. I’d say that this one is as good as it gets when it comes to zippers.



Finally on to the feet. This Indy also has great shoes with one really big difference–those are real laces and those are real stitches. Very nice touch! He also has socks that come off but I didn’t get around to taking that shot. It may be hard to tell in some shots, but the Hot Toys Indiana Jones also has “dirty” spots on his clothes like he’d been on an adventure or something… The Sideshow Indiana Jones doesn’t have color variations on the clothing to show wear or dirt. This Indiana also has a nice break in his pants leg whereas the Sideshow Toys Indiana Jones has on Khaki parachute pants.



I know… This photo looks like Harrison Ford standing next to a wax figure of Harrison Ford (or a stunt double). One thing I did to keep it fair was not to adjust the hues to balance out color between the figures. The Sideshow Indy is actually that red in tone. When you put them side by side like this, the flaws of the Sideshow figure really show. I’m glad I got my Sideshow Indy first. I’m also glad that I only paid $39 for him through Amazon. One of our customers, Carl, wrote me and said his Hot Toys Indiana Jones figure came in this week and he was ecstatic. He said that he didn’t quite get as good a deal on his Indy as I did but agrees with my final assertion of the figure.

All in all, the Sideshow figure isn’t horrible. It’s just that when compared to Arnie Kim’s work (and the other fine folks at Hot Toys), it’s second rate (and it shows).

If I had to do a star rating, I’d do it like this:

Sideshow Indiana Jones Star Rating (out of 10):

★★★★★★ - 6 Stars - Okay

Hot Toys Indiana Jones Star Rating (out of 10):

★★★★★★★★★★ - 10 Stars - AWESOME!

If I had more time to go break down all the detail, I would’ve talked about the accessories because the Hot Toys Indiana Jones comes with a truckload of accessories. I also didn’t shoot it from every angle because of time. Since this is my first actual comparison review, I’ll take in some of your feedback to give me ideas for next time. Let me know what you think!

-Chris