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REVIEW: Tonner's AVATAR Collection - Jake
Fan Favorite Na'vi Hero At Long Last...
- Jeff Saylor
Years in the making, James Cameron's AVATAR revolutionized filmmaking in 2009 with its cutting edge motion capture and stereoscopic, 3D technology. AVATAR's sci-fi story, while not quite as complex as the tools used to create it, endeared viewers with it's futuristic theme of man vs. nature. In the movie, "man" is portrayed by a military run mining colony called the Resources Development Administration (RDA). Their greed and need for expansion threatens a peaceful native tribe of humanoids known as the Na'vi; tall, blue cat-like creatures which immediately became fan favorites.
Like the hit film, Tonner's long-awaited AVATAR Collection has been a labor of love years in the making. Starting from the ground up, Tonner had to design an all-new figure body to capture the slim, agile appearance of AVATAR's Na'vi heroes: Neytiri and Jake. The end result are two beautiful 22-inch tall collectibles, each constructed of high quality resin, completely ball-jointed for countless posing options and painstakingly hand-painted so each is perfectly unique. The Avatar Collection - Neytiri and Jake - are available now through www.tonnerdoll.com, each priced at $799.99, or $1500 for the pair. Each figure is limited to ONLY 150 PIECES. Figures.com's publisher, Jim Dolan, got the rare opportunity to experience Tonner's AVATAR Jake up close and in person. Scroll on to read his first impressions...
- Jim Dolan
I am a big fan of the movie, and wanted to review Tonner’s Jake. (Full disclosure – I publish figures.com and Tonner is an advertiser as well as a newsmaker.)
I think it is an astonishing piece of work. First of all, it has all the elegance that Tonner is known for. A beautiful and simple closed black box, with a simple typeface front, is the only announcement of the sculpture inside. Jake is very carefully packed in what looks like white satin.
He has a display stand, but he stands on his own just as well. The stand is magnetized, as is his tail, which really helps to hold it in place. You can’t tell it’s not part all of one piece.
The sculpt could not be more perfect. Nor could it, I believe, have more verisimilitude to the movie character. It has his quizzical, confident and knowing expression, an almost spiritual quality. This 21” character figure is fully articulated, at the neck, chest or torso, shoulders, elbows, hands, hips, knees and ankles.
The paint is nigh perfect. That same ethereal blue that jumps off the screen jumps off this figure. The hair looks real to me, adroitly and tightly braided. The knife looks appropriately aged (but packers watch out – ours had a little glue on it coming out of the package, but that came off very easily), and fits snugly into its cross-shoulder case.
This is first-rate work. It needs to be at the $799 price, and it is.
Intro and Photos by Jeff Saylor
Review and Photos by Jim Dolan
Review Sample Courtesy of Tonner
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