MI6 Review: Pussy Galore - Sideshow Collectibles

1964 saw the James Bond phenomenon hit new heights with the third 007 outing “Goldfinger”. One of the leading ladies Honor Blackman, immortalised the female vixen Pussy Galore and is regarded as one of the most memorable Bond girls. Pussy was originally going to be renamed by film producers to Kitty, with a little smart marketing Miss Galore got to keep Fleming’s original name for her character.

Sideshow Collectibles, founded in 1994, has been exclusively licensed to create a line of 12" collectible figures in the likeness of all five Bond actors, key villains and some of the famous women.


Pussy Galore - Honor Blackman

Item No: 7721R
Size: 12 inch (304mm)
Weight: 3.00 lbs (1.30 Kg)
Units: 5000
Artist: Oluf W. Hartvigso
Released: n/a

Order Online - Sideshow Collectibles

Official Description
N/A

Accessories
The 12" figure comes with Dart Gun, S&W .45 Pistol and dressed in a Sexy Black Velvet Jacket and Pants w/ a tight fitting Gold Vest and figure stand.

Right: The front box art uses a glamourous black and white press still..

 

Accessories
Pussy is equipped with two accessories, the first being the dart gun which is seen on Goldfinger’s private jet after Bond slowly regains conscious.

The second and final accessory is a Smith & Wesson revolver, which the figure can’t hold unless supported. With the smaller hand, the handle of the gun does not fit comfortably, and once it is low enough in the hand for the trigger finger to line up the gun falls in towards the figure.

Both handguns have been sculpted to a high level of detail. No flashing is visible on either gun. Only the right hand can hold the gun dart gun correctly.


Above: Reverse box art.
 

Packaging
Sideshow Collectibles has created one of their classiest boxes for this figure. The front has a black and white picture of Blackman and there is a small version of the US one sheet, in the lower right corner bordered by metallic gold. The film title “Goldfinger” has been embossed in metallic gold lettering. The rear of the box highlights Blackman’s film and TV career. Nine stills split the reverse art in half, and the face is finished off with ‘The Bond Girl’ which looks at Pussy Galore, ‘James Bond’ which briefly looks at Connery’s 007, and finally a look at Mr. Goldfinger - one of the most memorable Villain’s in Bond lore.

Printed on the tray is a faint gun barrel, which can be seen throughout the range. The included stand is fixed to the back of the removable tray, so once it is removed the stand can’t be replace securely and the cardboard tray will be damaged (thankfully this has since been revised in newer models in the Bond series).

Sculpting
For the first female in Sideshow Collectibles Bond range, they have chosen the iconic ‘Pussy Galore’. Oluf W. Hartvigson has created a close likeness to Honor Blackman, using PR photos film stills & DVD captures. The main detail can be found on the head and a small amount on hands.

The head has been created in two separate pieces (the head and hair). The hair holds lots of sculpted detailing and the style is a perfect match to the Blackman’s hairstyle. Flashing can be seen running from one side of the hair to the other, and in one area the sculpted hairstyle does not match up perfectly either side of the visible join line. This may relate to only a small portion of the edition however.

The face is close to Blackman’s image but is not as close as Hartvigson’s Lazenby sculpt. The eyes and mouth are not correctly sized, and the forehead is a little small. However, the silhouette of the figure matches Blackman closely. Her nose is perfect, and holds the appearance together. No ears can be seen due to the hair that does not allow the jacket collar to sit correctly.

The revolver has not been designed to be held by this figure as its extremely fiddly to position and tends to fallout of the figure’s hand.

Painting
All but one piece of the detailing can be found on the head of this figure. On the right hand of the figure a gold ring has been detailed. Blackman had striking hair in the film, yet the figure has been given dark locks. Detailed using mustard and brown, the hand painting is to a high standard, but it is not colour accurately based on the character.

The face has been lightly detailed with varied skin tones. Blackman had two moles on her right check, towards her ear, but the paint deco only has one and it is too far forward. There is no paint bleeding anywhere on figure, and the eyes - as with all Sideshow figures - are clear and well detailed and set off by strong eyebrows.

Articulation
Using Sideshow's well established sixth scale female body, Galore has all the movement you would expect to place her in a Judo poses, but the poorly fitting trousers (pants) restricts the lower bodies full range of movement. Featuring tight fitting joints from the head, neck, ball jointed shoulders, chest, cut biceps, double-jointed elbows, and wrists. The waist down, a twistable waist, hips, thighs, knees and rotating ball joint ankles.

Outfit
Sideshow has chosen to model the figure on the scene in Goldfinger’s private jet that was filmed at Pinewood Studios. Bond regains consciousness to see Pussy Galore leaning over him. A poorly fitted waistcoat sets off the 2-piece suit black velvet trouser (pant) and jacket.

The trousers (pants) are too short for the figure exposing the painted ankle joints that are black. If you move the trousers down to cover the exposed ankles they will soon ride back up to the narrower waist of the figure.

 

The gold waistcoat is well made but a little two large for the figure. It fastens with two poppers that are located at the front. The velvet styled jacket has a single fastener in the front. It fits the figure much better then the trousers (pants) and has two small gold details on the end of each sleeve. The gold cuffs are made from the same material as the waistcoat.

 

Accessories
Dart Gun
S&W .45 Pistol

Overall
If you are a collector of Sideshow’s Bond series, this is their first female figure and they have a lot of work to do to improve the female Bond range.

The figure is let down by the lack of accessories and poorly fitted trousers (pants). With the stand being fix to the tray removing it becomes a messy undertaking. Oluf W. Hartvigson has created an average resemblance that could have been refined.

With only a few female figures in the Bond range so far, let’s hope improvements are made to bring them inline with the superior quality male figures.

MI6 Rating

Related Articles
Goldfinger MI6 Movie Coverage
Honor Blackman - Pussy Galore

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