Okay, so for starters, I'm a huge Indy fan. I have waited a long time for an Indiana Jones action figure line with decent quality and many characters, and since I've collected Star Wars figures forever, I actually wanted them to be this 3 3/4 size too (granted, I prefer my other collectible figures to be 6 inches or so, but I don't usually get accessories or playsets for those). Well, with the 4th Indy film, which is way underrated in my opinion (fellow longtime fans should give it a second viewing before deciding yea or nay; I had to warm up to it myself but love it now), that long dreamed of action figure line finally arrived from Hasbro... to mixed reactions. I'm sure many complaints were about the small size of the figures compared to the now more popular 6 inch or larger action figures out there for adult collectors these days. And, let's face it, most Indy fans are adults who grew up with the original films. However, I think what put most people off of this new line is that many, MANY figures were released to stores with awful paint jobs. I mean TERRIBLE paint jobs, specifically in terms of the eyes. This was most noticeable in the Raiders figures, and Indiana more than anyone.
Now, in my case, I wanted to wait and make sure they made more figures, and I wanted to see if the price wouldn't go down a bit too. Figures are way overpriced these days. But, once I saw Last Crusade figures on the shelves (along with a price drop of a couple of bucks), I dived in. A few of those first figures I bought I have previously reviewed, and let me tell ya, those ones I selected had excellent face sculpts! Of course, with huge, cartoony eyes painted on some of the figures, it would sure be difficult to notice the sculpting underneath. So, combine those first bad impressions with the fact that young kids just don't seem to "get" Indy (yeah, it was the second biggest film this past year, but the toys sat on shelves till the figures hit 3 bucks recently, and they're still moving slowly with a few character exceptions), and you end up with the problem I'm having now. I have wanted a Short Round figure to stand next to my Indy figure forever (a desire carried over from my original Kenner Indy figure), and it seems those Temple figures are only going to be available online now, for those of us in the states, at outrageous scalper prices since the first couple of rounds of figures sold so poorly. And to add insult to injury, the Elsa and Colonel Vogel figures have been in extremely short supply since day one. Man, I want an Elsa!
Anyways, as I searched fruitlessly for Elsa and the Temple figures this weekend at the big U.S. retailer who recently cut the price on these figures down to clearance levels, I did increase my total collection count to 14 (hope to add more before they're gone, too), as my second main focus was on Raiders of the Lost Ark figures, which I'd bought none of yet. I ended up with a nice number of Raiders characters, including an Indy with a good paint job and a decent Marion also, plus the figure I'm going to talk about here, the Cairo Swordsman.
You may remember this guy from the famous scene in which Indy responds to flashy swordsmanship with a well placed bullet. If you managed to get the jacketless, sweaty Indy figure (I still need that one myself, he's become one of the tough ones to find), set him up with the Cairo Swordsman for a great display! As I mentioned before, these figures have great detail, but you definitely have to check out the paint jobs and find a good one. The same figure can look amazing or awful depending on how the face is painted. The Cairo Swordsman is not as articulated as some of the figures. He can still be posed well, but with the stiff plastic of his robe, there was little point in making his knees bend, so they simply don't, nor do his ankles. He is also rather shy in the accessories department, as he only comes with his sword and secret artifact. Each figure comes with a different artifact in a paper crate, though they seem to be sized for 6 inch action figures like the one the Disney theme parks recently started carrying.
Regardless, the Cairo Swordsman is a great Indy villain figure to add to your collection. He's not a major character, but he's from one of the most memorable scenes and is really nicely sculpted here. A good choice for play or display as opposition to the greatest movie hero of all time!
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