Something I didn't touch on in my write-up of Unique Toys' inaugural movie continuity figure, R-01 Peru Kill, was the omission of a couple of Lockdown's weapons. While his enormous 'head cannon' was basically his signature weapon in the movie, featuring even in the trailer with its own detailed on-screen transformation/reveal, he was also seen to wield a smaller, arm-mounted version at times, as well as the all-important Spark Extractor he used to off Ratchet when he was first introduced, in one of the early scenes of Age of Extinction.
It didn't really bother me at the time but, in retrospect, it seemed like a very strange omission... Surely it would have been better to release a more 'complete' movie Lockdown analogue, rather than chucking in the lacklustre 'Steeljaw' figure that I, for one, ended up just putting back in the box.
Mr Bucket evidently felt the same way because, at some point after Peru Kill's release, they put together this weapon set to correct these omissions. But do they live up to the quality of Unique Toys' figure?
Initial signs are, frankly, not that great. The box is made of quite flimsy cardboard which seems to have taken quite a bit of punishment, despite having been carefully packaged in a sturdier shipping container with plastic reinforcements in each corner. The print quality is also a little poor, with the images on the front being quite low resolution and fuzzy-looking. A matte laminate has been applied to the box, but it's the easily-scuffed kind, which further diminishes the apparent quality of the product.
The front of the box shows linework renditions of each of the weapons included - two daggers, the 'handgun' and the Spark Extractor, the latter two with their three green cylinders mounted on top. Labelling is very simple - just the Mr Bucket logo (looking a bit like Tarn?) and the MR-02 designation. The two flaps are both marked simply MR-02, but the top and bottom of the box feature amusingly obvious adverts for later products - according to Google Translate, it's "New Product Preview: Next MR-03" on one, "Next, There Will Be MR-04" on the other... neither giving the slightest hint about what these actually are, and neither have been officially revealed yet, as far as I can see.
Probably the funniest part is the text on the back of the box, which literally says "This is the back / Picture on the front"... Is this some kind of Zen?
Inside the box, the weapons are in a plastic clamshell which doesn't look as if it would do much to protect the accessories in the event of more significant damage to the box.
Weapons:
The main advantage, when it comes to Third Parties making accessories for another Third Party company's movie Lockdown figure, is twofold: Firstly, these weapons were never really seen clearly in the movie, so what the designers would be working with is largely concept artwork, giving them more room to fudge the details or create something unique. Secondly, as I noted in my write-up of Peru Kill, the figure isn't exactly overburdened with the sort of intricate detail applied to the CGI - it took a more measured approach that worked in some places, but not so much in others. Mr Bucket have certainly matched Unique Toys' aesthetic.
Going by the way it catches the light, it almost looks as if there are applications of silver paint on some of the armour panels on both weapons. Even so, and in spite of Peru Kill's own fairly basic paint job, they do look a little plain in comparison... though the main problem is that it's a very slightly lighter shade than the paint/plastic used on Unique Toys' figure. The difference is more apparent in person than in my photos, and really only in quite strong light, so I'm not overly fussed, on balance. The outer shells on both - the part containing the peg for attaching the weapon to the hole in the back Peru Kill's hand - are identical, while the inner parts - the gun barrel and magazine on one, the mounting for the Spark Extractor on the other - are unique, with the three green cannisters on top being the only design element shared between them.
The handgun looks just as it should - like a more compact version of his enormous head cannon, with a collection of embellishments around the main gun barrel and only a few hints of smaller details around the armour panelling that covers Lockdown's forearm. The main difference between this and the larger weapon made by Unique Toys - other that size, obviously - is that UT put thicker, rounded-off prongs on theirs, but Mr Bucket has left some quite sharp points here and there. Aside from the green cylinders at the top (painted silver with a translucent green overcoat, as it turns out, since it doesn't line up perfectly in places) the main gun barrel has silver paint on a raised stripe on either side, while the tip of one of his bullets has been coated with copper plain, and a small, flattened ring detail - a little further back on each side - has a touch of copper as well. The entire gun is coated with a dark gunmetal paint, closely matching the plastic, but far, far shinier.
I'd have to say that the Spark Extractor looks a lot bulkier than its on-screen equivalent, though it may be that it's sculpted in a 'standby' mode rather than in its 'ready to extract' configuration. The three blades are set quite far apart and far back on the front section, while the mess of barrels and spikes sculpted inside their perimeter looks generally too large, almost as if it's not quite finished transforming into this mode. It just seems a little unwieldy, rather than the vicious mechanical apple-corer he used to render Ratchet offline in so brutal a fashion. Where the gun is all fitted together into a single unit, the arm mounting for this one - which gains a couple of applications of silver paint on top and one more copper flattened oval shape on each side at the bottom versus the gun - is a separate piece from the business end. It's only attached via a short peg (though the socket feels a little tacky, as if an inadequate glue had been applied), so it's easily removed, but it can only be mounted in one orientation, since the outermost blade at the bottom is squared off at the back, where the other two have small protrusions from the rear. Additionally, the mounting peg is squared off on one side, though there is a little play in terms of getting it properly centred on the mounting. The blades feature applications of a marginally lighter gunmetal paint and are thin enough that they (a) look pretty authentically vicious and (b) are potentially quite breakable... They have some flex, but I'm not inclined to put it to the test. Since the front part is removeable, it almost feels as though there may have been plans for a second, extended version of this attachment... but it also occurs to me that a single, articulated version, on which the blades could be swung forward and the central part extended, would have been preferable. Perhaps I'm asking too much.
The two daggers are identical, with the same mix of two gunmetal paints - the darker for the hilt, the lighter for the blade. Like the blades on the Spark Extractor, they're far finer - one might almost say keener - than the hook/dagger made by Unique Toys, and so feel quite fragile in hand. The crossguard, such as it is, feature two hinged arms that can swing right the way back to the hilt, but I don't quite see any reason for this, other than making it look tidier. There's a peg on one side of each dagger that fits into the hold on the backs of Peru Kill's hands and, to be honest, that's probably the best way to attach them. The grip on the hilts is almost entirely the wrong shape for Peru Kill's hands, so they end up wedged between the thumbs - folded straight down against the palm - and the inside of the second hinge for the fingers. The tips of the fingers barely make contact with the grip, and what it really needed was a slightly fatter section in the middle to make them sit more firmly in the hands. Bizarrely, though, Mr Bucket decided to put slots in the base of the grips so that the daggers can be stored (loosely) on the robot's back using each of the pegs intended for attaching his head cannon. The downside to this is that, obviously, he can no longer carry his original weapon - the one he was supplied with. Neither of the arm-mounted weapons have any storage options, which seems like a huge oversight.
Nevertheless, when attached, all of the weapons do look great. Aside from the slight, but noticeable difference in colour/lightness, they work very well with Peru Kill, and really do complete the figure... I only wish Unique Toys themselves had produced their own version of these weapons instead of the pointless, ugly Steeljaw figure.
When I first saw this set announced, it was a must-have for me. Having it in hand, I have to confess my enthusiasm for these accessories is somewhat dampened. On the one hand, this set absolutely covers what was missing from Unique Toys' release and makes Peru Kill a more 'complete' Lockdown... On the other hand, it feels a little flimsy and underachieving, and would benefit by a few more spot applications of metallic paint, particularly on the gun, to match details on Unique Toys' head cannon. Little details - like the mobility of the blades on the Spark Extractor and the fact that the glowing green cylinders were removeable - have been omitted, yet the daggers have articulated parts on the crossguards. Then again, this is only Mr Bucket's second accessory set to be released, and weighed in at under £30. For a (comparatively) short run set of accessories, made to this level of quality, that represents excellent value for money.
As a side-note, this set was the second half of my purchase from Iacon.Store, and arrived just a few days after Rescue Pioneer. For whatever reason, the tracking information for Rescue Pioneer never updated and is still listed as "Unknown", where this one gave me a complete breakdown of the package's progress - through China's Customs, air freight to Heathrow, through UK Customs, out to the couriers depot and finally to me, taking about 13 days total from initial despatch - and both arrived via Hermes couriers, with no additional Customs charges at this end. Since Iacon.Store seem to carry quite a few products that aren't so easily obtained from my usual UK-based sources, I'll certainly be ordering from them again.
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