Lara Croft Tomb Raider

Actress Angelina Jolie was just beginning her acting career.  She had scored a few minor movie hits and Hollywood was taking notice of the raven hair beauty.

Her tempestuous personal and public life was showing up in the tabloids and her nefarious and somewhat questionable romantic relationships were fuel for gossip.

In the early 2000s Angelina starred in a duo of Tomb Raider movies based on the video game.

She was the perfect fit for Lara Croft, the star of game.

After months of physical, tactical and stunt training Angelina embraced the role and wound up with not one, but two, certifiable movie hits.

Both Lara Croft 6-inch figures come from the second film: The Cradle Of Life.

It’s a real shame that toy manufacturer SOTA Toys and Collectibles is no longer around.  The company introduced some really innovative 6-inch action figure articulation points such as hip and chest rotations, clean wrist and ankle points and hidden points concealed by cloth folds and natural human figure bends and rotation areas.

The standard Lara Croft figure comes dressed in a sleeveless white t-shirt, tan jacket with red piping and insignia, tan/gray slacks, heavy brown boots with leather straps and twin gun holsters with leg strap downs and a large belt with a gold buckle.

Both arms detach and can be replaced with bare arms with a wristwatch on her left wrist.  This gives Lara her video game look.  The body of her jacket then becomes a vest.

The head sculpture looks exactly like Jolie with her angular face and high cheekbones, pulled back hair and intense eyes. 

Hand sculpts are very delicate and each set of hands easily hold the twin revolvers that come with the figure.

Articulation is on the wrists, elbows, hips, waist, neck and head, shoulders knees and ankles.  All are cleverly camouflaged and allow the figure to pose freestanding in various positions.

The packaging consists of a clear bubble pack with an interior cocoon that the figure and accessories fit into.  A large circular stone edifice backs the figure and the Tomb Raider logo shows predominantly on the upper third of the pack.

The Lara Croft In Wetsuit is the most sought after all of the figures and for good reason.

The form-fitting light gray wetsuit really sets off Lara's figure in all the right places.

Lara wears her braided hair over her left shoulder and her features are just as recognizable as the standard Lara Croft figures as are the details on her hands, articulation and color application right down to her red lips and skin tone variation.

The figure comes with a single leather holster with thighs straps and tie, laced knee boots, a white knife sheath on Lara’s right lower leg, a knife, flare gun, pistol with silencer, shoulder mounted light, shoulder packs and ancient box with cryptic text.

Lara also wears fingerless gloves.  It’s a remarkable example of sculpting, carefully executed articulation mechanics and intense attention to details.

The Standard Lara Croft figure sells for around $60 and the Wetsuit figure for $100.