The Skeleton Army are from the 1963 Jason and the Argonauts film by Columbia Pictures. The story follows the Greek mythical hero Jason on his quest to find the Golden Fleece. One of the things that the film was noted for was its stop-motion fighting skeletons. If you wish to find out more about the legend or the film just head this way.
Figure Basics
As standard figures from the Tokusastu Revoltech line come in a box themed to the character, at the front is a door with a picture of the figure and its series information, if you open the door you will find detailed information about the series the figure comes from (in japanese) and a window for viewing the figure. On the side of the box is information about the revoltech joint system and on the back of the box you will find all the licensing information and images of the figure posing with its accessories as well as detailed information about its various accessories. Inside the figure is encased in molded plastic with extra plastic wrappings as needed, and the figure is held in place by plastic twist ties.
As well as character specific accessories the figure comes with a plastic box for storing its accessories in, these little boxes are stackable so the more figures you have the taller your stack. The figure also comes with a little plaque with its name and series.
Figure Design
The skeleton is a very thin spindly figure being nothing but bones. Beside being nothing but bones I must say they are very impressive bones because the skeleton looks very realistic with good proportions and some very fine sculpting. The spinal cord and skull look intricate as do the hands and feet, it is very creepy.
Like most revoltechs the skeleton is extremely well painted with fine shading giving great depth to its bones. And just look at the skull, the lines of the plates are fantastic.
The skeleton uses a version of the revoltech joint system, which uses a combination of hinge joints, swivel joints, and revoltech joints. Revoltech joints are hinge joints with pegs on either end and allow for both hinge movement and some rotational movement, typically revoltech joints are ratcheted allowing each slight variation of movement to hold fast.
The figures in the Tokusatsu line vary widely in design and therefore have slightly different joints. The skeleton due to its small size uses a small version of the revoltech joint which lack the ratchet, but this does not affect it's ability to hold poses as it is a very light weight figure.
The skeleton has articulation at the base and top of its neck, at the shoulder and elbow, below the rib cage and above the pelvis, at each hip, knee and ankle. All of these points use small revoltech joints, the only other joints are hinge joints on the jaw and on each hand.
The skeleton is therefore extremely posable and you can get it in just about any position.
Figure Fun
The skeleton comes with a number of accessories and we will start with it's variety of hands. It comes with a selection of hands a pair of relaxed hands, a pair of open hands, a pair of hands for holding items, and the figure also comes with an extra lower arm piece with a hand attached to a leather strip which is used with the figures shield.
This is the second version of the Skeleton Army figure and thus it comes with different shield motifs, this time we have the image of a skeletal medusa and on the second shield some sort of monster. As well as the two shields the skeleton comes with two identical swords and a long spear.
The skeleton also comes with a very detailed character specific base. It comes in three parts which you assemble. The detail of this is just incredible not only is it stunningly painted but the half skeleton has a shoulder joint and an articulated jaw.
Overall I am very impressed with the accessories which come with the skeleton, they are beautifully painted, there are plenty of them and the articulation to the half skeleton is just an added bonus.
There is one other thing about the stand, it can be used to store all the extra accessories.
I've had a play around with the skeleton and I was able to take quite a few fun photo's, I mean the comical gags you could come up with are endless but I'll let the images speak for themselves.
Overall the skeleton is a great figure, a little delicate at times but surprisingly well balanced despite this. I haven't personally seen the movie that its from but I am a fan of the Jason and the Argonauts story and other Greek mythology, all of which I studied as a child, so I think I can safely recommend it to fans of the mythos. That being said I recommend it to those who aren't fans as well because skeletons are just awesome.
If you are interested in getting your hands of this figure check out amiami I believe it is still in stock.
Tokusatsu Revoltech Skeleton Army
