SIDESHOW TOYS X-FILES REVIEW

SIDESHOW TOYS, X-FILES FOX MULDER & DANA SCULLY - updated 9/25/04

Before:

After:

I acquired an X-Files set to play with, which suffered from the same problems my first set came with – heavy makeup on both. The first picture above was of the exclusive versions still in box. The natural light actually softened the horrors of the paint. So, there was plenty of room for improvement and experimentation, so I repainted them. The results were mixed. Surprisingly, I found the Mulder headsculpt to be better than the Scully as far as recognition value goes once I fixed the paint jobs (I mean, I think anyone could recognize DD right away, GA, you need to squint a little—more below). Mulder’s head can take more caricature and as a result, it can get away with more. Overall, though, I'm pretty pleased with the figures' likeness after I repainted them.

Mulder – I always use Testor's Model Master Acryl paints for painting skin tones, mostly skin tone warm and skin tone light. First, I got rid of the eye shadow by dry-brushing some warm tint over the brown over his eyes. There was a fair amount of brown as well on the ears, so I figured that it was meant to be shading. I stand by my earlier comparison to the Ultimate Soldier deadheads. You need shading at 1:35, 1:18. But at sixth scale, you don’t need to be so heavy handed with shading and shadowing, especially when the sculpt is so hard, as both the X-Files figures are (the lines especially above the eyes are etched deep; the features generally are exaggerated). Just the way light falls on the sculpt at this large, detailed scale, is usually enough. Dragon’s recent head paintjobs, even if bland, are truly miles ahead in this regard. They didn’t used to be, but after 6 years, they’re consistently pretty good, so that what you see on the DML website is usually pretty close to what you find in the box. Anyway, back to Mulder. I softened the lip color with skin tone warm with some insignia red for the lips. I cleaned up the hair line. I re-painted his eyebrows, painting them as the artist originally sculpted them (lowering them, trying to get rid of the surprised look). I also lowered his gaze to be dead on straight, as opposed to looking slightly upward, by moving his pupils slightly down to just briefly touch the lower eyelid. While I was at it, I added a bit of brown to his pupils to soften the blue (bluer than Scully’s). I am extremely happy with Mulder now. Yes, the sculpt is a caricature, the jowls are a bit too fat, but it’s immediately recognizable.

Scully – conversely, taking a hard look at Scully revealed problems with the sculpt that aren’t so easily fixed. First, the lazy eye is actually a (slightly) asymmetrical eye. The left eye (the good eye) is the correct shape. The right slants upward on the outer edge and is a little smaller as a result. It is next to impossible to fix with paint, because it’s part of the sculpt. I moved the pupil in line, which helped, and also made the pupils smaller to be better scaled in comparison to Mulder. I cleaned up her hair line, which was especially hard around and behind her ears. Like Mulder, she too has pretty heavy eyeshadow and overly-raised eyebrows. I was really unhappy with the black shadow line painted into the crease of her eyelids, so I softened it with slightly diluted warm tint. I also lowered her eyebrows and unarched them just as I'd done with Mulder. I softened the eyeshadow overall, because it didn’t fit GA’s look IMO, which to me is more natural looking, rather than made-up. I’d earlier said that the sculpt reminded me of Judy Garland or Joan Rivers. One reason is that the design of the head and neck joint exaggerate the jowls, making her jaw look big from any angle except dead-on, slightly above looking down at the figure. That angle, however, reduces the impact of her very nicely sculpted nose, probably GA's most distinctive feature. However, another problem with the sculpt is that the forehead is too short. Lowering and unarching the eyebrows as the prototype was painted helped in that regard, but still, the hairline is part of the sculpt, and it can’t be fixed entirely with paint. The lipstick was way too glossy and OTP for a professional, non-prostitute, non-CY Girl, so I dulled it to a semi-gloss. A member of the discussion boards, tomfin2000, mentioned her eyes are cold, with which I agree completely. I really think it’s all the makeup. Again, to me, GA’s look is more natural and light. The eyeliner, eyeshadow, and super-arched eyebrows and the glossy ruby red lipstick was way too much, I think, and does a disservice to the sculpt, which is really passing good. When placed next to Mulder, you know right away who it’s supposed to be.

Finally, I also have to say that the tailoring on both their suits left me unimpressed. Mulder’s jacket is huge and bulky, not helped at all by the shoulder pads. Scully’s coat also would also sit better I think without the shoulder pads. The fabric is thick enough without the extra batting to hold their shape. Try as I might, I could not get Scully’s shirt collar to look good on top of the coat lapels (neither did SS, on the box photos). But it looks dorky with the collar tucked in. It’s not helped by her hair hanging over the neck, which interferes with the collar. This is exacerbated by the fact that her neck is way back at the base of her skull, reducing the area where her collar sits. On the other hand, I think the trousers on both are excellent—the perfect length, and the shoes on both look great. Their accessories were okay, but Dragon would’ve done a better job as far as realism, scale, and fit. The best accessories are the stands, which are absolutely necessary for both figures in my case; Scully has a bum left knee and hobbled ankles; Mulder has a trick left ankle and a hinky hip (I'm digging the shoulder joints, though).

Overall, I’d give my repainted figures a B/B+. They are definitely worth getting if you’re a fan, but if you have any skill at all with a paintbrush, I’d recommend at least getting rid of Mulder’s eyeshadow and lipstick. I am 100% happier with him now than when I first got him, which says a lot considering how disappointed I was at first. I’m again looking forward to CSM, Doggett, and Frank Black. I hope they add Krycek and Skinner to that list as well.