Here's the first non-prototype & outside of a box shot for the "Team Chaotix" boxed set of 3.5 line figures. You get Espio and his kunai ninja knife, Charmy & his flower, & Vector and his walkie-talkie /radio /communicator device. Notice that the joints for everybody are new here, & look better/improved. This makes having to re-buy Vector & Espio to get Charmy less of a problem. (Most people will have picked up Vector & Espio earlier on comic packs.) Accessories also help lessen annoyance at a forced rebuy to get another figure. To anyone else that had none of these guys: looks like a fantastic way to grab all 3 Chatoix members at once. This should be 14.99 at most Toys R Us stores. It is NOT a store exclusvie.
Here are Vector & Espio from the Chaotix pack set. As you can see, they've got some differences from their earlier release. Let's inspect! First off, their hands are posed differently. The hands are a mirror image of eachother, so either hand can hold the accessory. (Vector used to be fist/pointing, while Espio had 'ninja gesture') Also, for some reason Espio's chest color is darker/non matching to his face-bottom color.
His shoes are a more blue-ey purple than reddish-purple as they were before. Vector will likely have a MUCH neater job on his shoe-stripe, but his back spikes are likely to be duller in color & have worse paint. The new joints help Espio a lot, but his legs may come packaged backward/need manipulation to get his joints turned around to the proper direction.
Here's Charmy! They've done a great job with the Chaotix's smallest member. Clear plastic used for the wings is super! His jacket has minute detail for the stripes on the bee logo. His shoe-soles are textured & detailed just like in the game. Antenna feel flexible so they shouldn't be breaking off.
Charmy doesn't have knee or elbow joints because like the "classic line" figures he's much shorter/stubbier than the rest. He does, however, have a waist swivel, & it is odd. In the far right photo you can see that the cut for it is below his jacket bottom, so his body actually sort of splits, showing you the interior of the figure because he's not cross-section symmetrical like most of the other figures' body types. (like cutting an egg shape down the middle, then twisting the halves off center)
For whatever reason one of his shoes is set bent at the ankle (quite obvious, above) this appears to be purposeful/posed that way not 'twisted in the box'. Like everybody else in the pack, both hands have the same pose. The wings aren't pose-able.
This photo can give you an idea of the new joints vs the old. See how Chaotix pack Espio stands up right, looks less knobby, and the knees don't just flip backward/turn loose like the previous one. (Right photo both figures are laying down, the old one just squishes/flops, that's why it's posed that way)
With his super short legs & unique arms, Vector doesn't have as much of a posing difference. The Chaotix pack figure may have eye flaws/less defined eyes, but neater shoe paint & worse back spike paint, as seen with these photos.
Here is Charmy with his warping flower accessory. All of the accessories are good (textured wrapping for Espios ninja kunai type knife, good paint detail for Vectors communicator) but Charmy's is the biggest. It appears to have a decal for the center texture, and the petals are actually HINGED so you can pose the flower as opened or closed. They didn't have to do that, but it's a really nice touch and shows good attention to detail.
NOTE:
These guys DO come with bases. They're clear, and they're taped UNDER the box cardboard, and not announced on the box at all. Look for them & don't throw them out!
Why aren't the shoes detailed?
Charmy having such nice detail for his shoe-soles really makes Vector & Espio stand out because theirs aren't detailed at all. What's up with that? Everyone else Jazwares has done (so far) has detail for the soles. It seems fiddly, but characters with such a feet/big feet/running theme it's important for.
The Bottom Line:
Buy this set if you like the Chaotix! Improved joints & detailed accessories plus Charmy make it good even if you already own the other figures. The fixed joints really do matter (even in aesthetics for the MIB collector...though not as much). The accessories are all good as well, with the impressive hinged flower & nice detail for the rest.
