SPECS
Name / Series: Lucky / Honey Trap
Character: Lucky aka Jenny Vicious
Scale: 1/4
Edition Size: 280
Box Size [H / W / D] (inches): 16.25 x 14 x 8.5
Max. Dimensions [H / W / D] (inches): 11.5 x 13.25 (tip of launcher) x 9 (diameter of base)
Producer: Gentle Giant, Ltd.
Original MSRP (USD): $599
Designed and Sculpted By: Will Harbottle
REVIEW
Design: 9
Sucker Punch, er... I mean Honey Trap. What can I say about the design work on the Honey Trap line of statues. Well, Lucky was probably the second most buzzed about during the SDCC primer of this line. She's also, like Whisper, look less of a mash-up and more of a stylized character. Where on Whisper we got the sexy, diver, Lucky is the sexy soldier, decked out in military-style atire and aviator sunglasses. What separates Lucky from most premium large scale statues is her crouching pose, probably only equaled by Spider-man statues. So while this deviates from the "my statue is taller" approach that we saw in the short-lived Sideshow pedestal bases (Vader, Fett, Vampirella), it give Lucky a semi-dynamic, read-for-action pose. As an original character, there is no interpretation to assess, just the originality. On her cap is a "time flies" symbol with an hourglass with wings, such I guess that means she's having fun? And not notable is the standard Gentle Giant nondescript clear, round, acrylic base. Includes certificate of authenticity card. I appreciate the stylization here without looking camp or like Halloween costume. Plus a hot chic with a bad@$$ grenade launch is pretty awesome.
Sculpt: 9
Harbottle digital sculpt. What else should I say, the man's a professional. I'm curious as to who the face is modeled after. The figure is properly proportioned with anatomy of athletic model. Details are abundant as demonstrated by the lacy bra. the weave pattern on the shotgun holsters, and the drape of the fabric. Care was taken in sculpt from the soles of her boots to her butt-crack cleavage. I know there has been some comments on the knees, but they look anatomically correct to me. My only complaint is the "loose" strands of hair. because they cannot be done as separately molded pieces (or could they?), they look like her hair dye dripped down her face, especially from looking at her face front on.
Paint & Mixed Media: 9
The paint work is pretty much perfect. No sloppy lines or uneven shading (just look at the blue accents and bow on her bra). A penalty point is earned in eyes as she is slightly cross eyed. This will bug me enough for me to redo them eventually. The decal eyebrows work for me as I rather have these than a bodged paint job. But the can easily be disguised behind the sunglasses. There is some amount of mixed media on this figure which added to the production costs. The gun strap, waist belt and lace bows are made from a flexible plastic material which help avoided breakage. Great skin tones and pretty accurate color replication from the prototype are also a plus on this premium figure. Great weathering paint job on the clothing, boots and weapon. I must also bring to attention her golden blonde hair. To all Chinese, factories, this is how blonde should be done. They used an old garage kit technique of using a yellowish gold as the base color and a medium brown wash. They could have put some yellowish highlights, but I think what they did is far superior to the green gold or dull tan blonde often turns out from China.
Production & Build Quality: 9
Packaging design was well done with low risk to statue damage. Another penalty point due to missing dogtags and charm advertised on the box and the insufficient or missing glue holding the gun belt halves together (easily fixed so I didn't deduct a point job for that. There is also some miss alignment to the upper/lower halves of the plastic muzzle flash suppressor. No glue marks. No air bubbles. I am also impressed how well they cleaned up the seamline above her right ear. You can still see it, but the factory did a decent job blending it. Having done garage kits, I know that seamlines across the hair are the hardest and this is impressive for a "mass produced" statue. I had no problem lining up the two screws for the base, which has been a problem for GG in the past where the screw points where on separate legs. Manufacturing various can change the distance between the two points which has caused me to enlarge one of the holes on my Whisper statue base.
Final Comments:
It took years to final get this statue. Was it 2012 when the Honey Trap line was announced. Lucky may just be the last of this line as Fireball has not gone up for pre-order at the this time and low edition size of 280 shows diminished interest in this line. No one knows why this line has struggled. SDCC exclusives of Whisper were on-hand in 2013, plus the previous Sucker Punch line showed that this level of quality could be done. It's unfortunate to see Gentle Giant continue to stumble as I am a proud owner of number of there products. But alas, Lucky may be the last GG product for me. Plus GG better respond to our requests about the missing dogtags and charm.
Overall Score: 9