When Hot Toys made their announcement for a 1/6, 12-inch scale Groot action figure from the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, I knew that I had to have one. It’s not that I have this huge collection of Hot Toys action figures, in fact there are multiple times I preordered one to cancel that order. But Groot? I had to have him.
Guardians of the Galaxy was a great movie. It hit me on all cylinders and I can still go back and watch the movie over and over. It tapped into that nostalgia feeling I had when watching ’80s sci-fi and did it using some of my favorite obscure Marvel Comics characters. Groot is about as obscure as they get. Years ago Fwoosh covered the character of Groot and recently Robokillah covered Groot in his Guardians archive. Hot Toys Groot is something else.
I’ll admit that the price kills me, but it’s a great figure and well worth some expense, but there are times that I can’t help but think this is like an old school Marvel Legends Build-a-Figure. The reason I think that is because there are none of the associated clothes and accessories that you expect from a regular Hot Toys figure. Groot has no clothes, very few accessories, and not much else that makes you think “Wow! Bang for my buck.” That may sound strange but there isn’t much to Groot outside of some seriously sculpted plastic and paint.
The sculpt is killer, and when I said “seriously sculpted,” that’s where I start finding value for money. No Marvel Legends BAF ever had this amount of detail. There were a couple that came close, but Groot is seriously tricked out. He looks amazing, feels amazing, and there is so much detail that one could study him for hours. But even though this walking tree has a great sculpt, well, I’m still not certain it’s enough. Until I get to the face. This is by far one of the most amazing head sculpts. Hot Toys perfectly captured the soft face of Groot, that simple relaxed look that makes movie Groot, Groot. I spent the evening yesterday looking at that face and fell in love with this figure. I know the 2-pack Groot with Rocket comes with angry-face Groot, and I’d love to have that face for action poses. But for just standing on the shelf looking cool? This face rocks the house.
The paint also makes the figure, picking up all the fantastic sculpting that was put into the figure. Branches, moss, crooks and crannies, the pain — all make this figure pop. Especially the eyes. Groot’s eyes are so full of life that I have to catch myself as I think he might be alive, which would be totally cool, but I know that he isn’t. He’s just a plastic doll, but the eyes, they are amazing.
The figure sports some decent articulation and he can be put into a great many poses. I couldn’t get him into a kneeling position, but I could pretty much do anything else that I needed. The fingers are bendy; they are rubber/soft plastic over wires. I’m wary of these fingers as the wires can break over time or the plastic/rubber break, but it is a great idea for making Groot’s fingers. The articulation break down is:
Double ball-and-socket ankles
Hinged knee
Swivel knee
Swivel thigh
Ball hips
Ball chest
Ball shoulders
Swivel elbow
Hinged elbow
Ball-and-socket wrists
Ball neck
Double ball head
There are a few accessories, namely a base and an extra hand. The hand is the “firefly” hand where Groot lights up the room during the end battle, and the stand is pretty standard. While I knew what was coming in the set, I was hoping for more — it feels light on the accessories, even though this is a huge chunk of solid plastic. Yeah, nothing hollow on this guy, he’s solid plastic all the way through.
I recommend Groot. He’s a great figure and is, without a doubt, a quality collectible. He’ll fit with your Hot Toys collection, but most importantly he’s a great Marvel Legends piece. And once again, super big thank you to my oldest son for taking some great pics.
You can pick him up today at:
