Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

NECA's movie figures started out as a line dedicated to a single film - Hellraiser - but soon expanded to include a generic line that encompassed all movies. Now they're doing the same thing with videogames: originally they had a line for Resident Evil 4, and now they've gone wider with "Player Select." There are three figures in the initial wave, including that archaeologist from Albion, Lara Croft. The daughter of Lord Henshingly Croft, Lara was brought up in the secure world of aristocracy - wanting for nothing, she was surrounded by servants, social events and high society. But on the way home from a skiing trip, her chartered plane crashed in the Himalayas. The only survivor, Lara learned how to depend on her wits to stay alive in hostile conditions a world away from her sheltered upbringing. The experience had had a profound effect on her: unable to stand the claustrophobic suffocating atmosphere of upper-class British society, she realised that she was only truly alive when she was travelling alone. Over the following years she acquired an intimate knowledge of ancient civilizations across the globe. Famed for discovering several ancient sites of profound archaeological interest, she made a name for herself by publishing travel books and detailed journals of her exploits. It's been a decade since Lara Croft first appeared on the scene, winning over gamers with her small outfits and big guns. In that time, she's been held up both as an icon of modern feminism and an example of sexist pandering. She was originally supposed to be a guy, when the game was in development - it was changed when the focus of the game switched more to puzzle solving than action. There have been Lara Croft figures before, but it's safe to say that none of them looked like this. Lara is 7" tall, and moves like most of NECA's movie figures: balljointed head, balljointed shoulders, pegs at the biceps, boots and gloves, plus a really nice balljoint for her chest. It doesn't turn spectacularly well, but it does move forward, backward and sideways quite nicely. It's understandable that the complex holsters prevent the figure from having hip joints, but you have to admit, NECA could easily have put swivels right beneath them, in the mid thigh. But would that really have added anything? The sculpt, by Ray Santoleri, is beautiful. Lara is long and leggy, and while she doesn't really match a real-world woman, she does match the exaggerated look of the game. This figure is based specifically on Tomb Raider: Legend, the latest entry in the series, so she looks more human than previous figures, and is wearing different clothes. Even subtle things, like the back of her knees or the leather of her boots, are detailed well. I think she's even got a little camel toe going on, there. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail that falls forward over her shoulder. The paint is both good and bad. The highlights, shadows and modelling are generally good, particularly on her skin, and for the most part the colors stay where they're supposed to be. However, that's not to say there are no problems. The edges of her shorts tend to get sloppy, and the face can be an absolute mess, particularly around the eyes. I had to go through an entire case worth of Player Select to find one that even looked this good. Lara is not a figure you can order blindly. There's a UK-exclusive "God Save the Queen" variant of Lara with a Union Jack on her shirt, as well as a variant of Hitman's Agent 47 in a white suit, which is packed in one out of every five cases. But for old-school Tomb Raider fans, NECA missed out on a variant that would have been smart and simple: put her in a teal shirt, like she wore in the original games. But hey, buy one and customize it yourself. One thing this figure undoubtedly does right is the accessories - Lara's always packing an arsenal when she goes digging, and this figure does not disappoint. She's got her dual USG .45 match pistols, a shotgun and a military grade 40mm concussion grenade launcher. She also has four grenades, but they're permanently attached to her belt. Aww, so sad. The pistols fit in the holsters on her hips easily enough, but getting the shotgun into its place on her backpack is a bitch and a half. There's a small strap back there, but you have to pry the damn thing away from her body before you can even hope to fit the gun in there. Coming directly from Tomb Raider: Legend, she also has the game's version of the legendary sword Excalibur. The weapons are all detailed just as well as the figure, from the raised waffle pattern on the grenades to the light texture on the pistol grips. The magazine drum on the grenade launcher actually spins, which is pretty cool. The figure has a simple disc base, with the pegs offset to accommodate her contrapposto stance. Since one of her feet is lifted slightly off the ground, the peg goes into her toes. Since there's less room in the toes, the peg is shorter. That shows someone was paying attention, and that's what we like to see. Four companies have made Tomb Raider figures over the years. ToyBiz was first, with a horrible piece of crap. Then came Playmates, who made some absolutely kickass game figures and some swiftly forgotten movie figures. SOTA did an excellent job on the figures for the second movie, but nothing more came of it. Now NECA has given us the best-looking Lara to date. She's got some inescapable paint problems, and is light on articulation, but this is still a pretty good figure and worth buying - but only if you can see her in person. Which company made the best Tomb Raider toy? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.