Out of the Box: Dragon Age Alistair (ThreeZero)

I've posted a few times now about this Alistair figure from ThreeZero: while at first it was excitement about finally seeing a 1/6th scale Dragon Age figure, as the release was pushed back from November to the new year, to January, to late February some of that excitement had started to turn into frustration.  But the wait is over, and he arrived today!

ThreeZero is a Hong Kong-based company that produces 1/6th (and some larger) figures from a variety of game, TV, and movie franchises (you can check out some of their past and future releases here on their Facebook page). The figures are similar in size and style to the same-scale figures from Hot Toys and Sideshow and sit at a similar price point.

This particular figure has 15 points of articulation (head, chest, waist, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, ankles) and is wearing a well-constructed fabric outfit. His accessory set included a large shield and sword and two pairs of option hands (one pair with sword grips and one pair of fists).

Looking at the box, fans of the Dragon Age franchise will notice something that confused quite a few people when the figure was first announced: the box is branded with art and title of the most recent game, 2014's Dragon Age: Inquisition. 

The Inquisition-themed box.

While Alistair can appear in that game, he's an optional character, and in one of the two scenarios in which he does appear, his role is basically a brief cameo.  Similarly, the likeness of the head (and the style of the outfit) are clearly based on that game and the tie-in comics.  I enjoyed the comics, so I like the look, but I've heard quite a lot of complaints from fans of the first game (Dragon Age: Origins, in which Alistair is a major character, and has a very different look - both because of art style changes and because the later games/comics are set a decade after Origins) who were disappointed to not see a figure who looks like that version of the character.

The character-themed side of the box.

Inside the box, the figure and option hands were secured between two layers of plastic, with a third piece taped to the bottom holding the sword and shield.

The inner packaging.

The back layer of the packaging.

Freed from the packaging, the first thing I noticed was the furryness of the faux-fur trim - the contrast to the rougher fabrics of the armour is a nice touch.

Freed from the packaging with sword and shield
in hand (although not with the sword hand attached -
he can be posed more realistically with that hand
swapped out).

With the top layer of clothing removed.

Rear view.

Interestingly, the boots on this figure are two pieces. The calf sections are separate, but base of them is actually the feet of the figure himself, which means he's designed a bit like a Bratz doll, which struck me as a strange design choice.

Taking off his boots means taking off his feet.

Since the head sculpt was the most-discussed thing I saw pop up in discussions when this figure was released (due to that choice of creating the Inquisition/comic version rather than the Origins version), I popped off the head to get a few close-ups.

Front view

Side view

Overall, I like the amount of detail that they put into this head - on its own it's a quality sculpt, although I understand the complaints who wanted to see the "cute" version of the character from the first game.

The neck peg.

The figure seems to go well with other 1/6th scale figures, although for display purposes, it's worth noting that unlike many figures at this price point Alistair did not come with a stand.

In between Hot Toys Wolverine (L) and Sideshow Krycek (R)
The slight difference in height is purely due to the lack of stand.

Next to Monster High Clawd.
Does Alistair disapprove if you side with the werewolves?
I don't remember. ;)

Overall, I have to say that delayed release date aside, I can't complain about this figure - he's well-made, poses well, has nicely detailed accessories and can stay upright even without a stand.  While I would have preferred a different boot design, that's a fairly minor complaint. 

Alistair patrols the garden.