ThreeA Toys Action Portable Badbot by Ashley Wood action figure review

The fandom of ThreeA Toys and its designer Ashley Wood is one that lies somewhere between the realm of action figures, pop art, statues, and designer toys. With 1/6th (12") scale robots and humans with prices upwards of $300+ collecting them as a line would have your wallet screaming. But now we have 'action portables', 1/12th or six-inch scale versions. Badbot is part of the wave sold in February and is just now shipping.Yes they are significantly less expensive

Badbot stands 7" tall and is made entirely of hard abs plastic with the exception of his flexible intestinal hoses, tho you'd think he was metal by the paint work. Each figure is hand painted with a variety of wash, splatter, and sponge-on techniques to add a textured rust effect that is convincingly realistic. There are weathered stars on his shoulders and a "Badbot" name on his chest that can be made out under all that weathered paint. While I'm one for weathering effects it's a little difficult to tell what base color he is. Black? Dark brown? There's just so much going on here but that's then the idea. You can tell the wash was done with a rag because there's fibers all over his hoses and in the paint you'll want to scrape free.

Packaging for Badbot requires you to tear him free of a blister card. At $55 initially (double on the aftermarket in some cases) I would have really liked to see collector friendly packaging like the 12" version. Once opened there's no way to seal him back in. The package does its job of conveying Ashley Wood's unique art style and shows off the figure. The backer is large and if ordered directly from the Bambaland store is tabbed into the shipping box to keep it safe, a neat idea.

Articulation for Badbot is pretty amazing. First off every joint of his small 1/2" wide hands is articulated. He can spread his fingers as they're on ball joints, make a fist, or hold his guns with a decent firmness. Double ball joint shoulders and waist give him great range as does a ball head/wrists/hip/ankles. The biceps turn and the elbows/knees/toes are hinged. One issue is the ankle ball joints are tiny and are quite loose, his feet falling off easily and making it nearly impossible to stand. Hopefully this isn't widespread. I had to spend a good hour tightening them with superglue around the edges but they still are designed to just barely sit in their sockets.  His knees don't hit a 90 deg angle but come close.

Badbot's accessories are nice. Two large guns make up his arsenal and are done with the same weathered rust effects he has. Their cylinders spin and you can see little bullets in there. He also comes with a cloth goods duffel bag with a cat stuffed inside. The bag's zipper works as does the adjustable strap, also covered in weathered splatter.

Sculpting for Badbot is going to depend on your personal taste. He's retro-sci-fi looking with flat, long sections but very detailed. There's rivets and panel lines on him and his head is very HAL 1000ish. The gut hoses are flexible and don't get in the way of movement but it's partially because the waist is a thin connecting rod hidden from view amongst the hoses. He's 6" or 7" scale depending on the figures in your other collection tho the two guns are more 8" Sigma 6 scale.

So what's the verdict? Well, how big is your wallet? If you were lucky enough to find out about the 'drop', the time Bambaland store stocked them before they sold out in 30 minutes you may have just dropped $55 plus shipping. But if you have to buy him on Ebay expect quite a bit more. Our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store has similar ThreeA figures and will probably have Badbot in stock soon. One serious drawback is the six months production time from when you first order ThreeA figures directly. Some people will lose interest waiting for so long or in my case relocate and have to go through the hassle of forwarding a package registered from China. But if highly articulated, designer action figures is your thing then look ThreeA up. They're also doing mainstream licenses like Halo, Metal gear Solid, and Real Steel.