Review – 3A Judge Death Action Figure

There have been numerous action figures by ThreeA over the years (Amazon.com search*), but not a single one of their 6-inch scale action figures has felt as fun and durable as this Judge Death that I got last year. I’m usually one to avoid the 3A 6-inch scale figures these days, but when Judge Death was posted for pre-order I decided to give the toy a try. I’m glad I did; this is an excellent design!

Packaging

Minimal design, hefty cardboard, and totally attractive. I almost didn’t want to pop the plastic bubble off of the card — fans of MOC displays will be happy to see how gorgeous the packaging looks — but I quickly recovered my sanity and released Judge Death from his prison. The packaging went to the trash, but I have to admit I felt a little bad tossing such a great piece of art.

Sculpt

3A produces toys (Amazon.com search*) with some of the best sculpts out there, and Judge Death stands out as a masterpiece that’s even more incredible than many of the company’s other works. The head sculpt is remarkable, but it is all of the little details that impress me the most. The belt pouches, the belt buckle, those shoulder armor bits, that badge; seriously, just click on any of these photos to enlarge the image and stare in awe at the sculpting work. Judge Death looks far too amazing for us to not stop and enjoy the work that went into creating the toy.

Paintwork

Wow. I’ve had complaints in the past with 3A’s weathering effects — noxious and overpowering smells come off of some of those older robot toys — but Judge Death has no fume issues at all and looks as awesome as any of their other works. The bone-like coloring of the armor and gear is perfect, and washes and weathering effects make all of the plastic bits look like the toy is the high-end work of art that it is. This isn’t a mass market Mattel or Hasbro action figure, and the paintwork fully supports that idea that what I’ve bought is a collectible that’s designed for those who appreciate a perfect figure.

Cloth Costume

The blue fabric bodysuit fits the toy nice and snug, slightly restricting articulation and without any clear signs of how to even remove the suit from the toy. The fabric bunches a little when moving the limbs to extreme angles, but everything smoothes right back into place and I’ve had no troubles at all. I know not everyone likes fabric on their action figures, but I believe that the cloth bodysuit works perfectly here and doesn’t detract from the fun.

Articulation

The bodysuit hides most of the toy’s joints, leaving me to speculate about what’s going on with the Judge Death points of articulation. After moving the limbs and parts around a bit I think what we have comes down to:

• Head – A ball-jointed neck.
  
• Torso – Ab crunch and swivel waist, even if the fabric dramatically restricts the range of motion.
  
• Arms – Ball-jointed shoulders, swivel biceps, swivel-hinge wrists, and single hinge elbows. The elbow doesn’t seem to have any swivel at all.
  
• Legs – Ball-jointed hips (again, limited by the suit), double-hinged knees, ball-jointed ankles, and a single hinge joint for all of the toes.

Again, I’d like to stress that this is only a guess. The exact joints could be different, but the above is what it feels like is happening as I play with the 3A Judge Death action figure. I’d have to shred that suit to find out what is really going on.

Closing Thoughts

The 3A Judge Death action figure is a hell of a lot more fun than I was expecting, and after getting the toy opened and playing with it a bit I’m ready to break out some of the other Judge Dredd action figures I’ve not yet ordered. And a Lawmaster. How is it I have not ordered a Lawmaster for the 6-inch scale Judge Dredd action figures? I should fix that problem.

See. This is the danger of a toy being far more fun than you expected. It leads you to look at more toys. I should just turn the computer off now before . . .

Don’t miss my Mezco One:12 Collective Judge Dredd action figure review.