Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Review 1: Kaustic Plastik 1/6 "Celadus" 12-inch Roman Gladiator Figure

MORE pictures of Kaustic Plastik's 1/6 scale "Celadus" Roman gladiator 12-inch figure. Having shown pictures of the box packaging in an earlier post HERE plus a brief introduction of the company that makes these exceptional figures, let's now zoom in on the figure itself.

This is the Kaustic Plastik Thraex "Celadus" Roman gladiator 1/6 head sculpt which was inspired by UFC Fighting Champion Randy Couture. The actual final product headsculpt is a VAST improvement from their earlier prototype preview pictures.


This is a totally new 12-inch body type designed, produced and released by Kaustic Plastik. Their body comes with 35+ points of articulation. The NECK and SHOULDER have internal mechanism hidden by the PVC Torso. This give a lot of flexibility to NECK and shoulder as well.




This newly developed 12-inch figure body has extraordinarily life-like muscle definition with 4 posing hands, a Lifelike head with "state of art" paint, Carefully painted skin texture, Improved ankle joints for extra stability and is made of extremely durable plastic (PVC and ABS) for lifetime enjoyment. Finally, a company that listens to collectors - no more cracked muscle bodies!!! I LIKE :)


You can see from the many pictures I've taken (with turnaround views) that the Kaustic Plastik 12-inch figure is PERFECTLY scaled and very realistic. The hands are compatible with Hot toys hands and gloved hands.


The Thraex (pl. thraeces), or Thracian, was a type of Roman gladiator, armed in the Thracian style with small rectangular shield called a parmula (about 60 x 65 cm) and a very short sword with a slightly curved blade called a sica (like a small version of the Dacian falx), intended to maim an opponent's unarmoured back. All his 1:6 scale equipment and accessories will be shown in the NEXT post :) Here, we are concentrating on the new 12-inch body which is superb and a GREAT alternative to Hot Toys much more expensive bodies.


The Thraex Roman gladiator's other armour included armoured greaves (necessitated by the smallness of the shield), a protector for his sword arm and shoulder, a protective belt above a loin cloth, and a helmet with a side plume, visor and high crest. Check out the right shoulder and arm guard that goes down all the way to the hands.


As you can see from the turnaround views, this Kaustic Plastik 1/6 "Celadus" 12-inch Roman Gladiator Figure body is certainly well-proportioned and PERFECTLY scaled :)


And here are some more views / pictures of the Kaustic Plastik 1/6 scale Thraex "Celadus" 12-inch Roman Gladiator Figure in a crouching position, showing how the knee and ankle joints bend to support the figure :)


And as Kaustic Plastik puts it themselves: "Final words on the ankle joint. We are FORCED to make it as HARD (and as STRONG) as possible, because our figures come with a FULL SET of METAL Armour. Our Model Celadus, comes with Helm and Leg Protection TOTALLY made in Metal Bronze. As you can understand the weight of such accessories is very heavy. Heavier than anything else you have ever tried to put on a figure and still have it standing. That's why we need a pair of solid legs that can take all this weight on it. In the future we are studing a way to make Legs that looks much more better but are as STRONG as the one we have at the moment. I can assure that our LEGS are stronger then EVERYBODY ELSE's (i.e. COMPETITOR's) in the market."


I'll take their word for it because as far as I can tell, the legs are pretty SOLID and steady too :) I like my figures to stand on their own without any figure stand or support as it makes them look more realistic and Kaustic Plastik 1/6 "Celadus" 12-inch Roman Gladiator Figure looks pretty realistic to me, down to skin tones and muscle definition.


Scroll down for more pictures of the Celadus 12-inch figure in a crouching position as he "warms" himself up before putting on all his armor next before getting into the arena for battle!




Here are some close-up views of the head and torso of Kaustic Plastik 1/6 "Celadus" 12-inch Roman Gladiator Figure which shows off the extraordinarily life-like muscle definition and carefully painted skin texture :)


Check out the Leather-like right arm guard "manica" (protection for his sword arm) of the Kaustic Plastik 1/6 Thraex "Celadus" Roman gladiator which is attached via the straps across his chest, over his left shoulder and back. Awesome details and finely crafted!


The Thraex Roman gladiator also wore a protective belt above a loin cloth.


Look at the amazing details on the arm guard straps and belts - superb! Wait till you see the awesome details of the helmet and armored greaves (you will be blown away by the detailing of the 1:6 scale bronze metal (NOT plastic) armor - that is in the NEXT post!


And here are some close-up views of the Kaustic Plastik 1/6 "Celadus" 12-inch Roman Gladiator Figure legs, showing off the sculpt, the joints and the stability. The strength will be tested when we put on the metal armored greaves which goes all the way up from feet to above the knees.


Right now, Celadus is wearing fabric cushion gaiter similar to the one he wears on his right sword arm before putting on the leather-like arm guard.


Here are close-up pictures of the lower body of the Kaustic Plastik 1/6 "Celadus" 12-inch Roman Gladiator Figure, showing off the legs and joints as the figure assumes a crouching position. I am very impressed by the stability of the figure and how natural the figure looks :)





You can order the Kaustic Plastik 1/6 scale Celadus Thraex 12-inch Roman gladiator figure on their website HERE. Their products are also distributed in USA by Cotswold Collectibles and they are very proud of this because Cotswold Collectibles is one of the oldest company totally dedicated to Action Figures!

If you are in Singapore or around this region, you can also order through The Falcon's Hangar

Check out Kaustic Plastik 1/6 scale Celadus Thraex 12-inch Roman gladiator armor, equipment and weapon NEXT!

4 comments:

One Shot said...

You know me Alex, I would take this guy outside for some action shots the second I opened him up! LOL! I think I have a nice spot in mind for when I get my Gladiator from AZTECA.

alex teo said...

This guy deserves a place / shelf space in every collector's home ;>

CheungKinMen said...

Oh I didn't know that sculpt was supposed to be Randy Couture, I did not recognized it because the sculpt does not have the cauliflower ears XD . You are tempting me to get both roman gladiators, and I know squat about roman gladiators.

I'm one of those guys who would buy a figure because of quality, even if I dislike the property and/or know nothing about it. I keep using him as reference but HT Perseus is a great example of this. Great looking figure all around, the movie sucked, but it didn't keep me away from it. Glad I got it.

Now these new figures from KP are catching my eye, great looking accessories, sturdy and awesome muscle bodies, and well executed. I only dislike the headsculpt from the other gladiator set, looks like a horse, but still worth getting for their prices, which is a major deciding factor for me. What's not to love ?. I hope they tackle on movie properties, but with a twist to avoid lawsuits, haha.

Nice review Alex!

alex teo said...

Thanks JOhnny for the compliments :) LOL about the cauliflower ears. Can't be too obvious I guess, might run into legal problems but i do see Randy haha

These Kaustic Plastik roman gladiators are pretty AMAZING in terms of body and equipment, all newly developed and well thought out. I highly recommend them for their quality and a refreshing take on 1/6 figures. Too much movie merchandising for my liking right now.

Best thing is, they are compatible with Hot Toys so switching heads won't be a problem if the other head doesn't sit well with you.

Thanks for your inputs and making it interesting ;>

CHEERS