THE KING (SEA INTERNATIONAL / HERO PRODUCTION)
2003 HONG KONG TOYCON EXCLUSIVE - REVIEW 12/05/03
Based on one of Hong Kong's most popular comics, The King, this is a 2003 Hong Kong Toycon exclusive figure put out by Sea International (who made the Angel Spy figure) and Hero Production (who made the Chow Yun Fat and Brad Pitt figures).  I got this figure through Leong (ABCExpress) from Hong Kong.  Leong sells tons of great Hong Kong figures on eBay and I chat with him quite a bit.  Leong is kind enough to email me when new things are on the horizon and even shops the local shops in Hong Kong to find me figures that are no longer manufactured or unavailable here in the U.S.  For that reason alone, I buy most if not all of my figures from Leong (shameless plug for ABCExpress there).

Here are the front artwork of the box.  If you've ever owned a figure from Hero Production, you'll note that they rarely do any type of boxart - just a shoebox type packaging with a generically printed cover on the front of the box and the figure is wrapped in thin packaging paper on the inside.

The thing that caught my attention most about this figure when I first saw the preview pics were his armor.  They are mighty impressive as you can see in the following pictures.  Unfortunately, they are all made with soft plastic.  The shoulder pads are just velcroed onto the black bodysuit.  His front chest and back armor is a one piece that slides down the neckpost before the head is popped in.  While all of the armor is technically removable - it is made not to be removed.  The side armors on his waist are glued on with fabric glue (fabritac) and his forearm guards also just slide on ala the CY Girl's armsleeves.

His boots, on the other hand, are very well made.  Still made of the same soft plastic, the top and bottom comes off as a two piece and are both finely sculpted.  The thing that impressed me most about this "The King" figure has got to be the paint job.  All of his armor, and even his headsculpt, is hand painted with an airbrush.  Most likely because it is a Hong Kong Toycon exclusive that is made in very, very limited runs and not a mass production figure.  Still, very cool.  Speaking of headsculpts. . .

Like Sea International's previous sculpt of the Asian male nude body, "The King's" headsculpt is very cartoony looking.  While his hair is very cool, there is little to no facial detailing.  Everything you see above is what you get.  "The King" does not come with any cool swords or guns.  Just himself and the cheap plastic armor.  The King sports the same body as Sea International's previous nude Asian male figure - which has very poor articulation in the legs and waist with oversized shoulders and hands.  His hands are bendy and are very stiff - a good thing if you plan to play with him a lot since Dragon's bendy hands will break off after a lot of poses.