Icon Collectibles’ Fire and Ice series continues with Teegra, another protagonist from the movie. The first character, “Darkwolf,” launched earlier this year and is still one of my favorite characters of the year so far, so I’m really looking forward to this one. How does Teegra perform? Let’s take a look!
The front of the box features the film’s iconic Frazetta poster, with some lovely photos on the inside flap and side panels. It’s a good quality piece, but I feel a little bad about recycling it.
Figure comes with spear, knife, three heads (smiling, neutral and gnashing), three sets of hands (clasped, loosened and open), a black panther (Shaitan), two Shaitan heads, a cape, a belt and two wigs.
Sartan is primarily a slug figure, with a ball-jointed head and very few joints in the tail. The head doesn’t move much, but the tail does rotate. One head has a calmer face with relaxed ears and pupils, while the other head has fixed ears, no pupils and a hinged jaw. The sculpting is fantastic and you can clearly see the muscles and tendons underneath his fur. The head swap was a bit scary because the ball joints are so tight. I would definitely prefer a Black Panther with more articulation, but I already have Guenhwyvar in the Hasbro Drizzt figure.
The hands are easily replaceable and fit securely, look appropriate for the character, and work well with the included weapons.
The knife has some gorgeous detailing on the grip and some battle damage on the blade, highlighted with metallic paint and a dark wash.
The stick looks like a stick with a bit of bark texture. I honestly don’t remember this movie, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen it.
The spear has a fairly thin shaft with a bit of wood grain texture and some string wrapped around it for gripping and securing the tip. The carving is sharp and feels a bit delicate and lifelike.
The shawl and loincloth are cast from very thin translucent plastic. I think it probably should have been a little more transparent to match the movie, but it looks great and sits very naturally. The loincloth is held in place by elastic cords. My memory of the movie is that the skirt didn’t have a separate string compared to the bikini bottoms, so when I put the loincloth on I lined up the elastic with the sculpted lines of her panties.
The head can have some nice variations and I like that they include more windblown hair and neutral hair.
The carving is quite amazing. Teegra’s design may seem simple, but they did an amazing job of executing the design and rendering the 2D artwork into three dimensions. The portraits are all very beautiful, and are among the most well-proportioned figures of their proportions that I have ever seen. Frazetta women tend to have special physiques, and the sculpture captures this very well. She is approximately 6 1/4 inches tall, making her perfect for Black Wolf and Mythical Legion sized figures. I feel like she’s a little too big for the character or legend of Mesko Conan, but that’s not intentional on her part.
This joint meets the minimum fundamental points to still be considered a super joint. I feel like the continuity of the look is more important for this line than the continuity of the look, but she still moves pretty well. The elbows, knees, and hips are bent at about 90 degrees, and I did notice that if I pressed the action too hard, something inside the hip assembly would leave an indentation in the thigh. Luckily, a little heat made that dent disappear. Tigra has:
- Ball head and mid-torso
- Rotate/articulate shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles
- Rotate biceps and thighs (hide)
The hair does restrict the movement of the neck, so there isn’t a lot of range in raising the head, but the tilt is impressive. The mid-torso crunch somewhat limits forward crunch movement, but the lean and backward arch are both excellent. The rotating parts of the biceps and thighs are hidden within the arms and legs and have a little movement, with the thighs moving more than the biceps.
The paint works well, providing a solid base for Tigra’s skin, with some rosy overspray to bring the skin to life. The details on her face and the lines on her bikini are very sharp and clean.
Overall, I’d say this is another very good release in the Fire and Ice series. I think I’d prefer a little more clearance between the biceps and back thighs so the elbows and knees have better range of motion, but there’s a nice balance between clean sculpted lines and articulation. The dropped hips might have helped the legs move forward, and I would have liked a waist swivel, but can see there’s no real room for that in this costume design. My main concern is that the price is pretty rough. The product costs about $100 after shipping and tax, which is not bad, but I expected something more innovative and effective for the price. I’d still be waiting for Larn or Nekron if they get there. While I also like caveman bad guys, at this price, I have to think carefully.
