King Arthur (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) Review

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King Arthur (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) Review

King Arthur
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Diamond Select)I believe almost everyone has heard of and/or been exposed to Monty Python at least once. The British comedy troupe is known for a couple things, but what they're most recognized for is their film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a tour de farce of gags set in the Middle Ages. The film's popularity has led to plenty of merchandise, but surprisingly not a lot of figures. Sideshow did a ton of characters in 1/6 scale in the early 2000s, but Diamond Select also took a shot at it with a few figures in a smaller scale. How few? Only three got released.

The packaging is a big cardback with graphics related to the film, along with a cross-sell and text about the film and figures on the back. It's quite simple, really, but it looks nice, and I didn't have too much trouble getting everything out of the box. Certainly nicer than that "bookshelf" packaging Diamond would later become known for.

The sculpts are credited to Gabriel Marquez, and the likeness of King Arthur is okay. While the facial features are accurate to Graham Chapman, the real issue is the paint. The paint is a flat, almost cartoony, look, with the darker areas of skin not looking right, and the beard being a lighter color than it should be. This was a figure made back in 2003, and the ability to render real people in plastic was improved a lot since then. Then there's the helmet, with the areas that should be gold being a very dull color. The head's also tilted to the side a bit for some reason, which throws off the sculpt a bit. So yeah, decent sculpt, but poor paint.

Standing 7" tall, King Arthur's body is a little unusual, as the outfit is actually a soft rubber overlay. That's not a bad thing, though, as the paint on it is better than the head, with plenty of nice wash and a clean symbol on the chest. Part of the helmet is also rubber as well, which helps prevent it from restricting articulation. The arms and legs get nice detail and paint, but while the paint has its positives, there's also some negatives. The colors really need a shiner look, as opposed to these dull colors. They didn't even bother with the neck, making it a dark gray rather than skin tone as it should be. Again, the sculpt is good, but the paint not so much.

The articulation is pretty strange on this guy, mainly the shoulders. They're swivel/hinge joints, but the hinges are hidden inside the body, and as a result of this design, there's not much you can do with the arms, especially since the shoulders are the only articulated part on them. The head is a swivel, but I feel it should've been a ball, so his head isn't weirdly cocked like it is. The lower body gets more movement than the upper body, surprisingly, with swivel waist and thighs, swivel/hinge hips, and hinged knees. The sculpt hides the joints well, and you can get a few good poses, but the limited arms keep you from doing anything really cool with him.

For accessories, Arthur gets a shield, a sword, and a sheath. The sheath pegs into the side of the lower belt, and the sword fits in by popping it apart at the handle, sticking the handle in the hand, and then reassembling. The main extra with him though is the base. It's lavishly painted blue and orange, with the movie title and holy grail on it, and it's flat enough at the top so Arthur can stand just fine on it. That's not all, press the grail and you'll hear three lines right from the film: "It is Arthur, King of the Britons," "Look, you stupid b*****d, you've got no arms left!," and "The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.“ The batteries still work after all these years, as the lines came in nice and clear, but they also come in way too loud. I'm not sure if that's intentional or just a battery thing.

King Arthur's an okay figure, and even by early 2000's action figure standards, he has quite a couple issues. The poor paint and limited articulation hold him back somewhat, but if you're a fan of the license, this figure's good enough to be on display. It's a shame nobody today has tried to do new figures from this movie, because Diamond could do some much better figures today given how much they've improved since then, and more than just three, at that.

- 8/16/23