Sideshow Collectible's Mr. White: Trying Out Action Figures, Part II

Meet Mr. White, urm...Harv

I've really been enjoying taking Mr. White, also known as the actor Mr. Keitel or Harv as I like to call him, out for a spin. Since I've never owned an action figure, I really didn't know what to expect. Oh, I've read about the figures and I've seen promo photos of them before, but would real life mimic the articles and photos? Yes and no.

In case you missed my first post, I've provided a close up of Harv's face.  There is definitely a lot more detail that goes into sculpting an action figure's face. At first I thought the detail was due to the fact that Harve is a licensed likeness; but that can't be it because fashion doll companies have also gained licenses to create likenesses of celebrities. Maybe in the fashion doll world it's more about the essence of the person as opposed to an actual representation. Suffice it to say, Harv definitely looks like Harvey Keitel.



The next thing I wanted to check was Harv's poseability. The literature on him informed me that he has 30+ points of articulation. After removing his clothing, I could see that he had jointing everywhere. Neck, torso, waist, upper arms, forearms, upper legs, lower legs, wrists, elbows, knees, ankles...I don't think there is a part of his body that is untouched by articulation. So did all of these joints help to make him more poseable? Once again, yes and no.

With clothes on, Harv fires his gun the cool way

Without his clothes on, Harv poses like a champ. With his clothes on, the fabric tends to get in the way. For example, when Harv is fully dressed, he has a very hard time holding his arm straight out in front of him at anything higher than waist level. And if he's going to hold anything in his hand? Then definitely, waist level is about all I'm getting. Although, I will have to say that the more I play with him, the more I'm discovering how to work with the posing. Maybe in time I will have more success.

Without clothes, Harv can actually aim his gun

Lastly, I wanted to check out all the accessories that were packaged with Harv. My dream is to have all sorts of vignettes displaying my fashion dolls and Harv. In order to have vignettes, you need realistic looking props in 1:6 scale. Since action figures are intended for setting up realistic scenes, of course they would include realistic looking props. I am not disappointed with Harv's selection.

Harv's accessories

Harv's accessories include a package of cigarettes, a lighter, a wrist watch, sunglasses, a gun holster, two automatic pistols and, an extra hand. Additionally, since my Harv is a Sideshow Exclusive he came packaged with an address book. The quality on the items vary, but all in all they're as good as or better than many of the accessories provided by fashion doll companies.

The amazing detail

Take for example the automatic pistols. Each one comes with a moving part and a removeable part. The moving part is the slide where the spent casing would exit the gun and the removeable part is the ammo cartridge.  A bullet is even visible at the top of the cartridge.  Talk about detail!

* I just want to interject here, that I'm not advocating smoking or violence. The point here is that these are the accessories with which Harv was packaged and they deserve to be discussed. Plus since Harv represents a character from a particular movie, these accessories are in keeping with his movie character.

So, the bottom line is that I'm having a good time figuring out all of Harv's abilities and limitations. He has definitely been a positive addtion to my little 1:6 scale universe. It's quite possible that the limitations I'm discovering would not be an issue if I had decided to purchase a more expensive action figure. I'm in no hurry to change that now. There's still a lot to be done with Harv. The next thing I'd like to do is compare him to one of my articulated male fashion dolls.  Stay tuned for part three.