Avatar is a 2009 American science fiction epic film written and directed by James Cameron. Avatar became the first film to gross more than $2 billion and has became the highest-grossing film of all time in North America and worldwide, surpassing Titanic (another James Cameron's work). Avatar has been nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. You really have to admire and respect James Cameron. His list of achievements, imagination and story telling are simply amazing!
Mattel is the company that has done the mass market toys for Avatar. The big surprise is that we did not see the toys being sold in Singapore shopping centres. Only recently did Juliana spot them in Toys R Us and not just any Toys R Us mind you but only the one in Paragon! What’s up with that? Out of the series, I was only interested in the AMP suit. As I had other stuff to get from Mattycollector.com, I decided to pick up the AMP to save on postage cost.
-Updated March 13 2010----------------------------------------------------------------------
It seems that Toys R Us is now bringing in a limited selection of Avatar toys. They are selling the AMP suit but a different version. According to Juliana, it is the Amp Suit Utility which has some yellow color on it.
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I must admit that the packaging is pretty interesting. The shape is interesting and I like the color and picture on it. As the thickness of the box is 2.5", it is not possible to fit the AMP into the box. Hence the AMP comes in a tray of 5 pieces and need a little assembly. Once assembled, you have a pretty good looking toy.
For a mass market toy, the details are pretty good. You can see the rivets, screws and all the little mechanical stuff that makes a mech realistic! I think it is really well done.
The whole AMP is painted grey and there was even an effort to paint on some rust to the suit. It actually turned out not too bad.
Based on what I am seeing on the internet, there are many talented artists who is repainting this AMP suit to make it look more realistic. This toy has great potential especially in the hands of a great customizer.
Articulation is pretty good too. The arms are able to slide backwards and there is articulation at the shoulder and elbow.The top half can swivel at the waist and there is articulation at the knees and feet.Overall, the AMP is pretty poseable.
The AMP comes with his big gun, a knife which can be fitted into the holder attached to the side of the AMP (movie accurate) and the first of its kind, the iTag system. For the iTag system to work you need a webcam. With it you are able to display the 3D model of the AMP on your computer screen. Based on what I am reading, you can do pretty cool stuff with it. Too bad I don't have a webcam hence I can't experience it first hand. You can go here to find out more.
The big gun is pretty cool with good details and a nice paint wash to make it look more realistic. The ammo clip is permanently attached to the figure. The bad thing about the gun is that the hand does not really grip the gun well.The knife is another nice accessory with good details. Not sure if the details on the knife are movie accurate but I like it.
You can pretty much fit any 3.75" figure into the AMP suit. I think the AMP suit fits very nicely with the GI Joe theme.
Overall, I think this is the best and most popular toy from the whole series. I love mechs so this is a nice addition to my collection.
The 5 pieces to become the AMP suit
Inside the cockpit
The AT AT driver fits nicely into the AMP suit!
