As one of the most identifiable races in The Fifth Element, a non-specific Mangalore ReAction figure just makes sense. It's not explicitly Aknot, but it's cool and it looks like it fell out of the 1980s. The paint is a little weak, as it should be - they nailed it here.
The sculpt is good with soem decent textures and a flight suit that looks like it could have been any of a number of classic sci-fi flicks. He has painted-toed shoes, weird bands on his legs, painted armor rivets on his frontside, and couldn't feel more like a "plays with" alien toy from the 1980s. They nailed it. I'm sure my sample is just, uh, "lucky" but one of the leg joints on mine is kind of floppy. That's a genuine flea market find feature of most toys.
As with some of the others, the cuts in the hips are weird. The return of the hard-corner butt cheeks are here, which isn't a problem when standing and probably won't bother most people, but it bugs me. It doesn't feel like the parts fit quite right and it wouldn't surprise me if this figure (and a few others) were done by someone who hasn't quite mastered this form fit just yet. It's very rarely - perhaps never - a problem on most Kenner and Hasbro toys, so I find it unusual and worthy of poking with a stick.
The rifle is great - glossy black, and it fits right into his three-fingered hand. It's painted, so that's weird, but it looks nice. Meanwhile the pistol seems molded in black, and fits just fine in his other hand. Given the figure's army-buildability, the inclusion of two weapons certainly raises the reasons to get more than one and set up a nice little display. (I can't afford to keep doing that.) The figure is almost completely matte other than the gun, which means you have something that's mostly - but not entirely convincingly - retro.
As the line's sole army builder, it's a good one. His nasty grimace, pointed ears, and white teeth are presented nicely without looking too modern. The sculpting is smooth, the detail is light. Were it a tad lighter it would feel even more legit, and as it is works just fine. This is one of those figures where I can say "if you only buy one The Fifth Element toy, this would be a good choice." The aliens just work better, and this one is particularly nice.
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