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MI6 Review: Zao - Sideshow Collectibles
Die Another Day saw 007
turn 40 on the silver screen with the addition of the 20th
film to the canon. The actor Rick Yune was cast along side
Toby Stephens as henchman Zao. To evade capture Bond sets
off a bomb in the opening sequence of Die Another Day, which
results in the villain Zao becoming diamond encrusted.
Sideshow
Collectibles, founded in 1994, has been exclusively
licensed to create a line of 12" collectible figures
in the likeness of all five Bond actors, key villains and
some of the famous women. MI6 reviews the Sideshow Collectibles
figures...
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Zao - Rick Yune
Item No: 7716
Size: 12 inch (304mm)
Weight: 3.00 lbs (1.30 Kg)
Units: 3000
Artist: Mat Falls
Order
Online - Sideshow Collectibles
Official Description
As Bond tries to escape from crazed General Lee in the demilitarized
zone between North and South Korea, he sets off a series
of explosions as diversions. One of these explosions turns
a handful of Conflict Diamonds into shrapnel, imbedding
into the face of Zao, Lee's henchman. In a later attempt
to change his appearance, Zao undergoes radical facial reconstruction
but Bond's meddling leaves the process incomplete causing
Zao's diamond studded appearance to take on an albino like
quality. It seems in Zao's case, diamonds are a man's best
friend.
Accessories
This 12 inch Zao figure is fully articulated and features
a film-accurate portrait, costume and accessories.
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Above: The front flap box art |
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Included in the full-color package:
• Stetchkin pistol
• Icarus glove
• 12" figure stand with Die Another Day logo
Packaging
The rear face of the box looks at Rick Yune’s career
so far and is split by half a dozen stills from the film.
Rounding up the rear cover are three paragraphs, ‘The
Villian Gadgets’ a look at the Jaguar XKR and Icarus,
Brosnan four time ‘James Bond’, and ‘Bond
Girl’ a Halle Berry. The rear is finished with an
image of Sideshow's Jinx figure, posed with a gun.
The inner flap gives a brief mission overview and cast
list, which is the same as the on the box for the Jinx figure.
A US character poster of Zao is used on the front, and the
sides of the box show Zao posed through the eye of the gun
barrel logo, with the film title and character name above.
Three wires and a plastic band around the legs hold the
figure in the box. These are easily removed. The stand has
been placed along-side the figure, meaning it’s easily
removed and replaced with no damage to the box. The stand
is stamped with the film title “Die Another Day”
and character name.
Sculpting
Mat Falls returns to work on this Die Another Day figure,
and the sculpting looks excellent, capturing Rick Yune's
heavily made-up appearance. The diamonds on the face mostly
match up, however some appear missing. Falls has encapsulated
the hairless henchman’s sinister look. The right hand
has been perfectly set to hold the pistol. Upon closer inspection,
finer details on the hands are visible including veins,
tendons and creases in the skin at the joints. Small amounts
of flashing can be seen on both hands.
Both accessories have been sculpted with much care by the
Sideshow team and have not lost any detailing in the manufacturing
process, which can sometimes be the case with finer items.
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Detailing
The intricacy of detailing on the head is outstanding, and varying
levels of pale veins have been added all over the head and neck.
The only issue is the left ear, which has not been finished with
as much care, and will vary across this range.
Skillfully detailed and finished in silver the diamonds are set
off by the sharp red scars. The eyes are light blue with a red
tint, giving the figure the desired albino look. The detailing
on this figure is some of the best Sideshow has put out in the
Bond range.
Articulation
Using Sideshow's well-established sixth scale male body,
Zao has all the movement you would expect. He features tight
fitting joints from the head, neck, ball-jointed shoulders,
chest, cut biceps, double jointed elbows, and wrists. The
waist is twistable along with the, hips, thighs, and knees.
The loose fitting costume allows for a full range of movement.
However the boots restricted the ankles' full range of movement.
Outfit
The figure has layers and layers of well-tailored film accurate
clothing. Simple black trousers (pants) with a single popper
at the waist securing them. These are tucked neatly into
the soft rubber boots, which carry a lot of great detailing
around the laces.
The figure wears an elasticized black polo shirt, which
fits tightly and is similar to the shirt on the Lazenby
figure. Next is the excellent waistcoat, sharply tailored
with a neat finish. The waistcoat has three poppers on the
left hand side.
The trench coat on this figure is great - a perfect length
and cut, allowing the character free range of movement.
Accessories
The Zao figure comes with two accessories that are both
seen in the film. First - a Stetchkin pistol with removable
magazine, the bullets of which are well sculpted and detailed,
fitting snugly into the handle. The gun is finished with
a brown detailing on the grip. The slide of the gun can
moved back and forth. Overall the gun is one of the bettered
detailed accessories in the Bond range.
The second and final accessory is the Icarus glove, which
is worn by both Zao and Graves in the film. Finished to
a high level both in sculpting and painting, the glove has
been caringly recreated.
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Above: Reverse box art |
To place the glove onto the figure proved challenging, removing
the original hand from the figure was a lot easier then replacing
it with the glove. Once swapped over, the effect is impressive.
The glove is the stronger of the two accessories, however it is
one of the trickiest to use.
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Accessories
Stetchkin pistol
Icarus glove
Overall
Paint and costume on this figure are some of Sideshow's
most effective work. This figure completes the Die Another
Day set along with Pierce Brosnan as James Bond and Halle
Berry as Jinx.
MI6 Rating
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Related Articles
Die Another Day MI6 Movie Coverage
Rick Yune - Zao
Images courtesy Sideshow
Collectibles. Original content is copyright mi6-hq.com ©
1998-2005.
Bond materials © Danjaq and United
Artists. Bond trademarks Danjaq.
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