SrichNET

I recently got my first of hopefully many wallet-busting Terminator collectibles in the form of a life size T-800 (or 101, depending on who you talk to) endoskeleton bust, and he is a beauty. This is the Combat (Battle Damaged) version of the bust, which is identical to the chromed version except it has been painted up a little. Full review after the jump.

Intro

I’ve wanted one of these badboys for a very long time now, ever since i saw one sitting in a glass case at The Crown in Melbourne. For a long time i looked around various places that managed to get the Terminator license and produce them. I looked, and stared, and i walked away after seeing the price. But last month i committed the cash and went shopping. I’ll tell you one thing right now – The guys at Sideshow Toys make top notch stuff. Everything I’ve heard of them has been positive (and i did a lot of research). But above all that, the Terminator skull just looked correct. There are quite a few brands and versions of this bust out there, and many just look plain bad.

Its a funny thing about faces. There are so many features and facets in a face. So many subtle things that if not correct, can completely ruin the design and look. And although the Terminator endoskeleton is less of a face and more of a skull, it is no different. Stan Winston’s (RIP) design was perfection. I won’t try to explain it, as i don’t think words can really do it justice. But you should be a little freaked out by it, a little scared, and know that you wouldn’t ever want one walking at you. If you feel that, then its Stan Winston’s Terminator. But enough of that, lets talk about the model.

Sideshow currently ships two versions of the life size bust – A chrome version and a combat version. The chrome version is obviously just that, chrome. It looks fantastic in the pictures and I’ve seen user reviews of it in a normal environment. People have complained that in some light conditions the chrome gives off a bit of a rainbow effect on the dome of the skull (like you see in oil on the road). The chrome can also drown out model detail if its reflecting a detailed environment. Either way, i was forced to buy the Combat version instead as the chrome one was sold out indefinitely at the time (and still is). Over all i think this was the better choice in the end as the battle damaged look does bring out more of the skulls features in my opinion, and hell, if i have a change of heart i can apparently wipe the paint off with alcohol (Though i am not recommending that!). The combat version is quite simply the chrome skull with some paintwork applied to it to give it a look that it has been on the battle field. There are no physical dents or scratches on the model that i could see.

Packaging

In short, the model came very well packaged. And it was transported from wherever they are in America all the way down to here in Australia, so if damage could have been done it would have happened on this trip.

Starting from the inside – The skull was completely wrapped in gladwarp which i presume was to stop movement scuffing off the paintwork. Which was then wrapped in several pieces of flexi-cushion stuff and put inside a hollowed out block of polystyrene. From there it was snugly inserted into a custom cardboard box and put into a simple thicker transport cardboard box. All of which was covered in tape. I really can’t see how you could wrap this thing up any safer. Oh and the copious amounts of layers made for a bit of extra excitement when opening for the first time hah.

The Model

It should be said straight up that this replica is exceptional. I believe there isn’t a better one available anywhere in the world (For sale). The geometry of the model, is perfect. It is a Stan Winston replica through and through. The angle, or position the head is in is great. The base of the model is one that stays well out of the way of the skull, so as to not steal any of the limelight. And it has a couple of really cool hidden features you might not expect from a replica statue.

First up is the eyes, they of course turn on with the flick of a little metal switch at the back. And the effect is immediate. The red eye lens’s are not just some uniform flat color like you see on most models. These eyes have that grid like texture like right out of the movie. And to top it off, when you flick the eyes off (Terminate him, as i would say) they slowly fade out over a period of several seconds. Just like when he’s crushed at the end of T1. That’s attention to detail for ya. While I’m on the subject of the eyes, they require power to run of course. The model comes with 3 AA battery’s you insert on the underside of the base. I’m glad they went for AA’s instead of one of those hard to get flat watch battery’s.
One odd thing I’ve noticed is that the eyes seem to dim quite a bit after being on for some time.  I left them on for a good 4 or so days straight when i first got him and i could of sworn that by the 4th day they were noticeably dimmer. Turning the eyes off and on again 10 minutes later seemed to help, but it looks like the eyes drain battery power quite a bit faster than i would have thought.
Update: 2 weeks in and the batteries are dead. I didn’t have him turned on the entire time either. I suspect some highly quality batteries will last longer, but it looks like you can’t just leave him on for months (or 120 years, for that matter).

Second feature is the ability to pull the CPU out of the skull just like Sarah Conner did in T2, minus the drilling. It comes in three parts. The top ‘lid’ you pull off. Then there’s the serrated insert and finally the CPU embedded in its slot. The model comes with a little magnetic rod you use to easily pull out and replace the insert and CPU. Here is where you start to see some sub-par modeling. The insert is a bit too small for the hole and doesn’t fit snugly. It also feels a bit light and plastic like. I’m hoping they did that so it wouldn’t get stuck or so the magnetized rod could easily pull it out. But i think I’d still rather be given a small pair of pliers to pull it out like Sarah did in the movie, it’d be so much more satisfying.
The CPU chip is even worse. It is a very simple piece of plastic consisting of the 3 primary colors, there is no detail and it feels cheap. The hole itself is also uncared for and suffers the loss of metal from about half way down to the bottom (The rest is a black plastic). I would have happily paid a little more to see this part of the skull polished up like the rest of it, for at the moment it feels unfinished.
On the whole, i am pretty thoroughly disappointed with this feature. It simply does not match the quality on the outside.

The Paintwork

The is paintwork is good. But not great. From afar it looks great. But up close inspection will reveal a more sub-par job. Closest comparison i can give it is as if someone took the spraycan from MSPAINT and painted black dirt spots all over it. That is an exaggeration of course, but the effect is still there. There is an obvious difference in paintwork quality between the SideShow pictures and the real world model, as shown here:

Click to enlarge

Excusing for a moment the amateur photography and different lighting environments, it should be pretty apparent the guys at Sideshow Toys put significantly less work into the paintwork of my model than their window model. For starters the teeth are completely unpainted. My model has been obviously painted with a monotone black airbrush, as opposed to the Sideshow Toys model that has had several ‘dirty’ colored paints applied with considerably more effort and care.

The insert above the CPU is, oddly enough, painted dirty. From a realistic point of view, how it got dirty i don’t know. I would have much rathered a shiny metal insert with a delicate looking CPU. But you get neither.

On the whole I’m disappointed by the paint job. Its clearly not what was advertised and not up to my fanboy standards. I’ll let you be the judge though. More pictures at the bottom.

The Conclusion

Despite the bad things I’ve mentioned the model is still by far the best Terminator bust replica I’ve ever seen and I’d recommend any and all fanboys buy one in a heartbeat. The model isn’t perfect, and I’m not surprised. I believe it would take Stan Winston himself to rebuild the perfect model, or an inordinate amount of time spent by a professional artist perfecting one. AUD $600 (AUD $500 + $100 P’n'H) just won’t get you that. But the model is a work of art and i don’t regret the money spent buying it in the slightest.

Ultimately i want to one day own a fully articulate and 100% metal bust. I’m actually seriously considering building my own. Right now I’m trying to see if i can get a hold of a model (CAD/Maya/Max model) that i can modify and send to a professional metal fabricator workshop and put together my self. That might have to be a blog for another time. But if anyone has any info on doing such a thing I’d love to hear it.

The Pictures