Sarah Connor T2: Judgement Day

Long before Sideshow Collectibles became the mega-figure and collectible giant it is today it produced a number of 12-inch (1/6th Scale) articulated figures.

Sideshow had yet to represent and distribute Hot Toys figures and instead was producing their own film, TV and pop culture licensed properties.

One such property was T2: Judgment Day: the second film in the Terminator saga.

Three figures were created for the series: Sarah Connor, the T-800 and the T-1000.

I’ll be talking about the Sarah Connor figure.

With the recent release of the latest Terminator film: Dark Fate, moviegoers get to see Sarah Connor return to the franchise after an absence of three films. 
 
Terminator: Dark Fate makes the sixth film in the series.  The film has not performed as well as the studio had hoped and appears to be a flop and will not recoup its production and marketing costs.

Future films in the franchise are in doubt.

The film is a direct sequel to the second film ignoring the three films released before it.

Before I get into critiquing the figure I’d like to talk about its packaging.

At the time the figure was produced by Sideshow its packaging was considered some of the best of the industry.

The solid black box with its front flip open lid is decorated with photos of the enclosed figure and provides pivotal historical information about the film it was taken from.

It also includes a thin piece of tissue paper that protects the inner clear plastic display panel showcasing the figure.

The figure is secured in place by a form-fitting plastic cradle complete with securing straps (dental floss, tape and plastic bands) where necessary. 

Trevor Grove sculpted Sarah’s likeness and he did a fantastic job.  Many of the techniques he used on the sculpt are reflected in the future Hot Toys action figures including the realistic eye reflections and careful attention to skin tone and feature likeness.

While sculpted the hair looks realistic with defined hair strands falling realistically over the figure’s head.  Some would argue that the figure’s features are little too much delineated.  I disagree.  It is important to emphasis the figure’s features to make it identifiable.

Body, hand and figure sculpting are good although a little crude by today’s standards.  Still the articulation points are well done allowing the figure to pose in hundred of positions with or without its circular base and wire frame figure assist.

Hand sculpts are in a grip position and on my example the figure easily holds the various weapons and accessories when posed.

The hand’s grip work especially well when the figure is holding a handgun, rifle or knife.

Paint application is clean with tonal variations that mimic actual skin tones.  Hair highlights look realistic and add depth to the figure with no bleed-overs or sloppy edges.

There is a slight color variation with the exposed hands, face and neck as compared to the articulated body.  The figures cloths and accessories easily mask the difference.

Articulation includes ball-jointed shoulders and hips, double-jointed elbows and knees that when paired with the wrist and ankle articulation gives the figure a remarkable range of motion.

The figure poses easily in various positions, all of which look natural.  Paired with the T-800 and T-1000 figures the Sarah Connor figure interaction looks natural and not forced. 

Joints are tight, pivot comfortably and stay in place once posed.  The entire figure is sturdy and fits comfortably and accurately in the provided cloths.

Sarah’s outfit includes a black tank top, tactical vest with Velcro on the pockets (there is cardboard in the pockets to keep them in shape), black pants, black mid-calve boots and a standard belt.

Sturdy and durable plastic buckles are on the belt and vest and are scaled perfectly.  The vest is easily removed as are the other clothing items.

Her military pants boast several pockets and like the other cloths are stitched tightly and in scale.

The boots fit snuggly but lack the detail of the other clothing, but they adequately do the job. 

Weapons include a Colt handgun with removable clip, a knife with sheath, and a M-16 rifle (M-4 A-Cog) with silencer and removable stock.

All the weapons are perfect miniature replicas of their full-scale namesakes, sport excellent paint and details and fit securely and snuggly in her hands.

Also included is a pair of black sunglasses that fit her face correctly.

Overall the figure is extremely well done, articulation in varied to provide maximum movement and posability, the clothing fits and folds like real cloths, the accessories match the figure’s movie counterpart’s and the weapons capture the look and feel of Sarah’s arsenal.

Sideshow did an outstanding job with one its first commercial figures.  The figure foreshadows the figures to come and collectors are sure to want all three figures in the original Sideshow T2 collection.