Company: Romandoh
Packaging: Boxed
Size: 7" tall to regular head (9 " tall from Stallion head on shoulder). Checkmate is heavy! This is one large solid figure.
Sculpt (4.5 out of 5): Checkmate's sculpt is well done. There is plenty of detail on his paints including crease lines. The sculpt is well muscled without being freakish. Checkmate's face is just like in the anime. The Stallion head is simple yet pleasing. The Rook head with its brick lines and menacing eyes is excellent. The only minor complaint i have with the sculpt is the new Romandoh body design that exposes the underarm joints. However, the excellent articulation that it creates makes it acceptable.
Paint (5 out of 5): This is one area where the new Romandohs are really impressive. The paint job is incredible. There are no sloppy lines or bleeding of one color into another. Checkmate's pants are painted a dull flat red while his armor for his upper body, shoulders and head is in a glossy shiny red. His flesh is in a nice flat flesh tone that gives him a very realistic appearance. The Rook's head is well done giving it the texture of brick. The Stallion's head is great. The shadowing on the Stallion head sculpt along with the glowing eyes make it look imposing. The paint on the Stallion body is very simple and is done in a flat dull dark blue.
Articulation (3.5 out of 5): Checkmate has standard articulation for a G2 Romandoh. He has 13 points of articulation at his neck, shoulders, elbows, upper chest, waist, upper thighs, knees and ankles. The ball and socket articulation for the shoulders is excellent. The shoulder armor is even on hinges to allow for better arm movement. Once again, the only thing I could ask for is some sort of hand articulation.
Accessories (5 out of 5): Checkmate comes with tons of accessories. He has his King head, the Stallion head, the Rook head, the Pawn attachment, a cape and the Stallion body. You couldn't really ask for much more with this figure.
Action Features (4 out of 5): Checkmate is pretty fun to play with. Obviously, you can swap all of the three heads from his neck to his shoulders. The heads attach via small ball sockets. It takes some effort to snap them in place, but once they are in they don't pop out. His upper torso pops off from his lower body. You can then pop the upper body onto the Stallion body. This also takes a little effort, however, once in place it is a pretty solid fit. You can also take his cape on or off. You can also take the Pawn attachment off from his back.
Coolness (5 out of 5): C'mon, its Checkmate! A cool character like Checkmate deserves a bad-assed figure like this one! The sculpt, paint job and accessories all combine to make this an imposing figure for your toy shelf. This figure is very eye-catching.
Value (3 out of 5): No Romandoh is a "good deal." Having said that, I don't really have a problem with the cost of Checkmate. This figure goes for $65 on xxxxxxx.com. But, considering the quality, size and articulation of this figure and all of the accessories I don't think it is that bad.
Overall ( 4.3 out of 5: The greatly anticipated Checkmate figure gets a huge thumbs up from me. I love the looks of this figure. I think the accessories are very cool and really boosts an already nice figure. Despite the price, I definately recommend this bad boy.
Below is Checkmate in King mode.
Attached Files
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DSCF0014.JPG 270.81K
113 downloads
Edited by Rokk, 29 December 2004 - 07:01 PM.
