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Manufacturer: STIKFAS Private Ltd. (www.stikfas.com) |
HOME...REVIEWS...TOYS...STIKFAS
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It's been a long time since we last reviewed a STIKFAS "Action Figure Kit," but that doesn't mean we haven't been building and playing with them in the meantime! Frankly, we're increasingly addicted to the things. Help!
Since our original review of the very first (well, technically the second) Alpha Male Military figure, the STIKFAS line has branched out in new and unexpected directions. From a simple black figure with a small selection of army equipment, the series has swelled to include a cornucopia of body types, colors and customizing options. And of course, they've always got lots and lots of stickers (or "STIKers") for added fun.
Today's review covers four of the newest STIKFAS releases, although three of them may be familiar faces. Since changing distributors, the company has re-released a number of their more popular and sought-after kits of the last few years. To keep them from being stale (and to satisfy collectors), these older kits have been molded in new color schemes. At the same time, the company has continued to release some great all-new kits, ranging from cowboys to spacemen to hockey players to ancient gladiators to, yes, fairies.
We're going to try something different with this review: a he-said/she-said format that will either provide added perspective or drive you crazy with our redundant ramblings. You be the judge!
AFK32R: Beta Female Fairy
DANIEL: Until recently, there
were relatively few female-body STIKFAS kits, but fans have lately seen
a veritable flood of nurses, windsurfers, pop stars, and an innocuous
little pixie called the Beta Female Fairy. Wait, did I say innocuous?
Take a look at that ginormous spiked mallet - this little lady means
business!
AMY: The Beta Fairy is definitely on the cute end of the spectrum. She comes with a flower companion that doubles as a three-legged stool. Her color scheme features translucent pastel pinks and a soft mint green for the plant accessories and even the giant mallet, which can be decorated with pink hearts or flowers. Continuing in the cute-pretty theme, the Beta Fairy has a flower-themed wand, a bow and heart-tipped arrows, and giant articulated butterfly wings that attach to her back. Did I mention she comes with pink and green bracelets, and no less than two different tiaras?
DANIEL: The kit actually includes two incomplete body frames, one in peach, the other in pale lavender. In the purple-pink color, you get two torsos (one with and one without holes in the back for mounting the wings), head, pelvis, lower legs and feet, and in a fleshtone shade you get the arms, hands, full legs, feet and an additional head. This parts division means that you can't build an entirely purple or entirely peach figure (you'll have to buy the Japanese STIKFAS Fanbook for the latter), but instead get a two-toned figure with a clothed torso and bare arms and legs, plus an option for shoes or knee-high boots.
AMY: Like the Beta Female Warrior (with Dragon), the Beta Fairy has an optional hair piece, a cute little pixie hairstyle that flips out at the ends. The hair is made of the same translucent pink as the butterfly wings, so the flesh-toned "scalp" is slightly visible. Personally, I think this adds a bit of realism, and keeps the hair from looking like a helmet. I wish she'd come with more hair style options, though... The Beta Female Warrior had bangs and a ball-jointed ponytail, and the Beta Fairy would have looked cute with pink pigtails, or a longer hair style. It's also a pity that the tiara can't be worn on top of the hair piece; you have to choose between an uncrowned fairy with hair, or a bald fairy with a coronet.
DANIEL: Psst...the upcoming (or possibly just released, depending on how quickly we finish this review) Beta Female Pop Star does include pigtails, so you'll be able to add some more hairstyles to the Fairy if you want. As far as construction is concerned, building the kit was nice and simple. I usually use a razor blade (don't do this without parental supervision, kids) to trim off the sprue tabs left from removing the figure from its parts tree. Technically, I should probably sand the tabs down, but I'm not quite that patient. Some plastics are easier to shave down than others, and fortunately all four of the Fairy's trees left minimal scarring. Be careful with the translucent pink and green parts, though, as they're molded in a softer plastic than standard STIKFAS frames. With all the curved edges of the accessories, it would be all too easy to accidentally slice off an errant bangle or flower petal.
AMY: While we haven't applied any of the STIKers yet, this set combines the traditionally quirky sense of humor from the other female sets (sultry eyes, scary eyes, fangs, sneers, stubble, and more) with exclusively fairy-themed accessories, such as happy or sad teeth (for a tooth fairy), little insect friends, and a number of hearts, stars, and flowers. There are lots of options to make your Fairy as cute or scary as you want her to be!
AFK39R: Omega Male Military
DANIEL: The Omega Male body
is taller and broader than the original Alpha Male, representing a
bigger and more musclebound body. This works just fine for this figure,
who towers over the original Alpha-bodied STIKFAS soldier as he lugs
his heavy hardware into battle. In fact, the Military AFK is probably
the least changed of the re-released STIKFAS sets, since the original
was green as well (at one point, it was going to feature painted
camouflage patterning, but that ended up being too difficult to produce
as a kit). The reissue has a couple of new shades of green, but overall
it should fit right in with the original release.
AMY: ...
DANIEL: Like later Alpha Males, the Omega Male body features a clever innovation: an alternate two-part pelvis that lets builders mix 'n match with other AFKs to create what every good soldier needs: a decent pair of pants. This figure also includes the now-standard option body parts that let you switch between a smooth torso, upper arms and upper legs, and versions with square holes for attaching accessories.
AMY: ...
DANIEL: This guy's got a great assortment of gear. He's got four plug-in pockets, two canteens, a pair of binoculars, a survival knife, a small rifle, a radio backpack with removable handle, a helmet, night-vision goggles, and a four-part mortar launcher, plus a shell that fits in the assembled launcher's barrel. And that's just on the olive parts tree! In basic black, he's also got a Vulcan-style machine-cannon (with two removable handles), a bazooka, a heavy machine-gun with removable tripod and ammo clip, a flamethrower and propane pack, two straps of bullets to drape over his torso, and...a thing that I'm not quite sure what to do with, but it appears to be a long handle or support strut for one of his many many guns.
AMY: ...
DANIEL: Construction-wise, while I had fun cutting out and assembling the multitude of accessories included with the kit, I'm not a huge fan of the bright green plastic used for the body. It's a good color for an army figure, but for some reason the mold scars come out much darker than the rest of the plastic, making them much more visible than on most STIKFAS kits. And for some reason to do with the curvature or my own clumsiness, I always have trouble trimming the tabs on the Omega upper arms. Those are pretty minor points, though, and overall you get a lot of bang for your buck with this one. In fact, while it's usually pretty easy for me to pick out my favorite accessories to gear up a fully-assembled STIKFAS figure, there's just too much to choose from here. Look at all of that stuff!
AMY: I guess I don't really have much to say about this one. Compared to the Beta Female, the Omega Military Male isn't exactly a fashion plate, but his vast array of accessories do make up for it.
AFK37R: Beta Female Safari with Jungle Cat
DANIEL: The Beta Safari kit
was one of my favorite earlier releases. The reissue makes the main
figure medium-brown, her accessories leaf green, and her feline
companion yellow. Otherwise it's the same great set, representing an
Indiana Jones-type lady adventurer accompanied (or menaced) by a big,
super-poseable kitty.
AMY: This kit is another great one for themed accessories. In keeping with the adventurous mood, there are various safari necessities such as an old-fashioned camera with flash, canteens, a coiled and uncoiled whip, and various weapons to snap on to the female or her backpack. There's also a little idol statue, whose mysterious masked visage is interchangeable with both the female and the jungle cat for hours of fun. No hair pieces in this kit, alas, but you do get two choices of hat.
DANIEL: "Pith" and "Crocodile Dundee," specifically. I agree with you; I've always liked the Safari figure's accessories. It was one of the first figures to make really good use of those square mounting holes in the arms and legs, letting the figure carry lots of pockets and gear at the same time (even though the female torso doesn't get sockets on the front). I also appreciate the diversity of stuff that you get; depending on how you equip her, your figure can be a scientist, photographer, adventurer or fully-armed butt-kicker. And the idol's adorable. The one thing that seems oddly absent is that staple of jungle adventure, a machete, though you do get a curved throwing knife and boomerang, as well as a grappling hook and handle (you have to supply the string).
AMY: The STIKers have to do double-duty in this case, featuring face decorations for both the female figure and the jungle cat, plus various tiki-style masks for the idol. There are also jungle vines and critters, spots for the cat, and functional fashion accessories like a belt, holster, watch, and boots that you can apply to the figure. While there's still a sense of humor (there's that stubble again!), the STIKers are mostly geared towards exploration of tropical climes.
DANIEL: The jungle cat doesn't have any real accessories of its own, but it does include two different heads, one neutral and one with an open mouth that can hold STIKFAS accessories. Unfortunately, the jaw isn't flexible enough to let you snap items in from the front, so you'll have to stick to objects that can be slid in from the side. The cat's body has a good range of motion, including a mid-tail ball-joint, though an extra torso joint to let it curl up would have been nifty. There's also something a little odd about the shape of the neck piece, which keeps the cat from doing much looking around. An additional downside is that the Beta Female and Jungle Cat body parts aren't perfectly compatible (no jokes, please): the cat head doesn't sit well on the human body, and if you try to give the figure cat limbs, you'll find the joints a little loose. Despite all of that, I do like this kit a lot, and I'm definitely a sucker for "sidekick" STIKFAS figures of any sort.
AFK42R: Omega Male Super Villain
DANIEL: The original Super
Villain came out fairly recently, but as one of the last AFKs to be
distributed by Hasbro, it was pretty hard to come by. Now reissued in
neon green and purple, this set - along with the Omega Male Super Hero
that shipped at the same time - is one of the best values you can get
in the basic figure series. It actually comes with two complete body
frames to let you mix and match costume colors in proper comic book-y
fashion. They didn't cheap out on the body design, either - not only
does the figure have the same two-part waist piece as the Omega
Military figure (for the classic underwear-on-the-outside look popular
among superbeings everywhere), but it adds new two-part lower legs to
let you make boots as well. The trade-off is that you don't get the
usual hole-less torso, upper arm and upper leg pieces, but with all of
these extras, it's hard to miss them. Noteworthy is that there's an
accessory hole in the top of the figure's head, which I believe is a
first for these kits, though none of the figure's accessories seem to
be designed to make use of it. Presumably it's intended to benefit
other Omega kits down the line.
AMY: If the Omega Military Male failed to show off his fashion sense, the Super Villain set does a stunning job of showing off the color and customizability of STIKFAS. The two body frames let you choose from a variety of color schemes. The boot parts alone let you choose between green boots, purple boots, black boots, jet boots, and various combinations of the three colors. There are three different helmet pieces, and three different visors or wraparound sunglasses, as well as various parts that slide onto the limbs to create armor and boot-cuffs. And let's not forget that glorious purple cape! Made of a slightly flexible vinyl, it's soft enough to accommodate some degree of posing... but it does limit the range of motion for the arms somewhat.
DANIEL: Actually, you've brought up one of my very few complaints about this kit. The black accessory frame includes both parts of the lower leg...but no foot piece, so you can't actually give the figure full black boots, just shins (and soles, if you add the jet-boots). I'm not really sure why they designed it that way, but the Super Hero has the same issue, as well as many of the same accessories, including all of the helmets, visors/glasses and the chest plate.
AMY: My one complaint is with one of the hand options, a meaty set of hands in black. They look like two chubby letter Cs stacked on top of each other, and I spent some time trying to align them before I realized that the top C was a thumb and forefinger, off-set from the rest of the hand. It's still a bit odd-looking, though not enough to detract from the set as a whole.
DANIEL: Aw, I like the Big Hands. They're power gauntlets, or the result of some freakish disfiguring mutation. In the world of super-villainy, either works! I also really dig the jet-boots...and the helmet options...and the wrist-mounted rocket and grappling hook...and the moody draped cape, although it's a little too stiff to let a figure wearing it do much posing.
AMY: The STIKers include villainous decorations such as biohazard signs, crosshairs, and bullet holes. There are several options for a skeleton-themed villain, as well as various robotic or cyborg-like features. There are two STIKers explicitly shaped for the chest plate (unfortunately, you only get one plate in the set), although any of the insignias or faces could probably be used on the chest as well. The green bag with the dollar sign on it is a bit of a mystery, though.
DANIEL: The real selling point of this kit is that you get two full figures for the price of one. There aren't quite enough accessories to build a pair of completely decked-out villains (an extra chest plate and belt would have helped a lot), but given that the intention is to let you make one really cool bad guy in a two-part color scheme, it's pretty awesome that it lets you make two decently equipped figures at the same time.
That's it for our STIKFAS multi-review; don't forget to check out the photo gallery!