Part Two of our Mattel’s Avatar Gallery Spotlight continues, this time with our feature on the 1:18 scale toys. While the larger Movie Masters figures are meant to have a dedication to articulation and sculpt, these smaller figures go all out with accessories, beasts and vehicles. In this look we have figures of Jake Sully, Avatar Jake Sully and Neytiri along with the Direhorse and Leonopteryx beasts and finally the Amp Suit and RDA Gunship vehicles. Read on for the lowdown and tons of pictures!
Before we get to the pictures, I wanted to share some facts and thoughts with you about the toys being released in the 3 3/4 inch scale.
- Both scales will feature exclusive i-Tag accessories that, with the help of downloadable software and a webcam, lets you interact with 3D models of the characters and vehicles online. You can read all about the technology here.
- The smaller figures can interact with the beasts and vehicles to create key scenes from the upcoming movie.
- Most of the vehicles and beasts come unassembled.
- The figures are articulated in very close fashion to their 6-inch counterparts.
That is scoop, now here are my thoughts on this line. In short, I am very pleasantly surprised by everything that I had the chance to photograph. This feels like a cohesive line and everything fits together very well – the figure can all hold their accessories, the figures can ride the beasts and fit in to the vehicles and the level of detail and articulation is a new standard for Mattel at this scale.
The figures themselves are actually very well done. They have nearly the same number of points of articulation their larger counterparts, which is very nice to see. If you compare them to the DC Infinite Heroes line, these Avatar figures really win at every turn. I really hope that Mattel starts applying the formula of these figure to all of their future 3 3/4 lines. This is the pace they need to keep to stay even with other figures at this scale. Sure, they are not perfect (but no figures are) but they are certainly some of the best offerings from Mattel to date.
All that being said, I think the real winners of the line are the beasts and even more so, the vehicles. The Direhorse and Leonopteryx are both nice in terms of scale (especially the Leonopteryx, he is HUGE) and detail, but I am a sucker for the vehicles, especially the Amp Suit. I have to admit, I have been keeping up with the news on the movie only very casually, however, the Amp Suit is just really cool. I like the concept of a big machine being controlled like a big person (it even has a knife) and I see this baby being used for Luthor troops, Apokoliptian war machines, Cobra vehicles and on and on. I think the 1:18 fans are going to eat these up for use in all of their current lines. Good stuff.
The RDA Gunship is also quite neat and, again, I see a lot of cross pollination into other lines, even if Avatar does not strike your fancy. It has moving propellers and firing missiles to boot and looks very near future tech, it could be just around the corner in terms of military technology so, again, I think that will spur a lot of use across a lot of various lines.
In short, I hope that Mattel models their future 1:18 figures after this line. The figures seem to be a step in the right direction in terms of sculpt detail, and especially articulation. The big winners though are the vehicles, they are really cool no matter what lines you collect. I would kill for a Gunship or Amp Suit in 1:12, but that would break me!
All of these figures are starting to hit now so keep your eyes peeled for them at your local big box store. Thanks for looking!
*Again, a huge thanks to the good guys at Mattel for sending these along for a Spotlight!
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