Review – Dust 12-Inch Scale Koshka Rudinova
It all started when I noticed the 12-inch scale Dust Zombie action figure (mentioned here), which led me down the path of discovery and, fairly quickly, to eBay. A couple days of bidding and I won the 2004 San Diego Comic-Con Exclusive Koshka Rudinova 12-inch scale action figure (the Dust page at Merit International has info). Limited to 60 pieces, this is a very low-run action figure and, for the most part, she looks pretty good.
Packaging
Not at all impressive. Koshka Rudinova came packed in a brown box that looks like a standard, off-the-shelf mailer box with a label applied to the front/side. And the label was obviously printed on an office laser printer; I guess I shouldn’t expect much out of a run of 60 pieces, but I expected slightly better packaging than this.
And it gets even worse when you open the box. Koshka has ZERO packaging inserts to hold her in place; she’s free to rattle all over the box, suffering whatever damage comes her way as she travels from home to home. I know I’ve complained about the excessive amounts of tape, rubber bands, and twist ties we find in a lot of toys, but this goes too far in the opposite direction. At the very least they could have packed her in shredded paper or straw; something to keep her from slamming into the sides of the box as postal employees toss the box around.
The packaging gets a big fat “F” from me. Not at all what I expected to see from an action figure produced by an artist (Paolo Parente, who has some awesome artwork). Ashley Wood’s World War Robot series (click here for WWR posts at battlegrip.com) is the sort of treatment I expect an artist to give products. Dust, based on this one action figure from five years ago, fails in the packaging category. Maybe the next figure I see will be an improvement, but for now I’m very disappointed.
Koshka as an Action Figure
With the packaging disaster out of the way, it’s time to focus on the actual action figure. The first thing I’ve got to say as this is no Sideshow Collectibles* or Hot Toys action figure. Koshka’s face isn’t perfect, and is even a bit ugly from some angles, and she’s nowhere near the quality of action figure that you expect to find in an $85 12-inch scale piece (her original price; I paid $52 on eBay). Her left hand continues to come off, her face (as I said) is a bit odd, and overall she feels more like something from Dragon Models than a high-end action figure. This isn’t exactly a bad thing — I understand that the original $85 price was because of the limited run — but I thought it very important that I make it very clear that the price tag has more to do with the low-run of the figure than it does the figure’s actual quality.
Articulation
I’m not going to undress Koshka in order to get a close look at her articulation. This figure has so many tiny snaps, buttons, and straps connecting her costume pieces together that I’m afraid I’d never get her uniform back on if I took it off. From what I can tell by moving and posing her, she’s got a lot less articulation than we usually see in high-end 12-inch scale action figures, but she’s got just enough to make her poseable and fun. This is definitely closer to a toy than a collectible, with her poseability feeling a lot more like what I’ve encountered from mass-market 12-inch scale action figures than what we’re used to seeing in pieces like the G.I. Joe Cobra Trooper (review here) or the 12-inch scale Star Wars Republic Clone Trooper 212th Attack Battalion: Utapau (review here).
I know this doesn’t exactly tell you a lot about her articulation, but there’s no way for me to get down to the actual figure. Her shoulders appear to be ball-hinge joints, her hips are the same, while her knees and elbows are swivel-hinges. The head doesn’t appear to be a ball-joint, but I can’t really tell exactly what’s going on under that clothing. The waist also moves, but not much up or down. Sorry, guys, but I’m not gonna get myself in a position where I can’t put this figure back together just for a close look at what’s under the uniform. She’s poseable. End of story.
Costume and Accessories
Even though Koshka Rudinova’s sculpt and articulation aren’t at a level of quality you’d expect from an $85 action figure, I’m happy to report that her costume is awesome, beautifully designed and manufactured and every bit as good as costumes I’ve seen on the Sideshow Collectibles* 12-inch action figures that I own. The black jumpsuit has pockets on the pants (for decoration only, not function), a zippered front, and a belt, working holster, and working pouch packed with grenades.
The photo above shows a close shot of Koshka’s drawn pistol, while the shot below shows her holster. The pistol fits perfectly in the holster and the holster closes up tight with a strap that fits down into a loop. It’s a snug, tight fit and once you’ve got the holster closed it doesn’t feel like it’s going to fall open accidentally.
The photo below shows how the belt, holster, and grenade pouch fit on the figure, while around her neck you can see where the upper part of the jumpsuit buttons to the main part of the costume. These appear to be working buttons; they’re tiny buttons, though, so I’m not even gonna try unfastening them. I would either just wind up tearing the buttons off or never getting them refastened. I’m clumsy that way.
The next shot shows the grenade pouch opened, and the grenades inside. (Minus one, which I had removed before taking this photo.) Each grenade slides into a tiny loop of cloth in the pouch and, once in place, these grenades fit snuggly and safely. The pouch uses velcro to stay closed, and the pouch feels secure and very high-quality. As I said, the actual body and sculpt may not be excessively cool, but the costume is great.
Closing Thoughts
Comrade Captain T-A Pilot Koshka Rudinova (the full title printed on the box) is not one of the best 12-inch scale action figures that I’ve ever seen, but her extremely low-run combined with her excellent costume makes her a nice addition to my 1/6th scale action figure collection. She’s not at the level of, for example, Ashley Wood’s 12-inch scale Shadow Zombie (review here), but she’s superior to the 12-inch action figures you can find at Wal-Mart or Target.
The official Dust website lists other 12-inch scale action figures for sale, and if you’re a collector of 1/6th scale figures then I recommend trying at least one of the releases in this line. While it’s not as good as I was hoping for, the fact that she was a run of 60 pieces — and that she looks so good posed with the other figures in my collection — makes me think that hardcore 12-inch scale fans would love this figure.
I still need to find one of the zombies, but after seeing what this one figure looks like I’m going to try to pick one up for under $50; the $70 price on eBay and the Dust website just feels too high for the quality of the toy.
*Affiliate link: Orders using this link earn battlegrip.com cash, which is applied to buying toys.
Philip Reed finds himself still looking at Dust action figures, and anxiously hoping that his waitlist order at Sideshow turns into a real purchase. If you ordered a Dust zombie at Sideshow feel free to cancel the order so that Phil can have your spot. He won’t complain.