Review: BifBangPow! Kate Austin (The Dharma Initiative)

Kate Austin is sold in a 2-pack with Ben Linus and is in stock now at Entertainment Earth.

Kate is listed under the Dharma Initiative theme with an image of the barracks and the DI logo. I'm glad she didn't come in a blue motor pool jumpsuit, though, because her outfit is nice standard island adventure attire. She comes wearing a white tank top with a very nice pair of brown cargo pants and very cool removable hiking boots. She ships with her tank top untucked, but I think I prefer it tucked in. She comes on a reproduction Mego female body.

I must say the Mego female body is not the greatest. The hands will not hold things, their proportions are a little funky. I noticed a more flashing (excess plastic) on the hands that I trimmed of with a knife. My Kate also seems to be a bit tightly strung, her left arm won't come down to rest against her side. But it is a very poseable body and is in nice proportion to the male figures.

We've been on pins and needles with Kate. I was never a fan of the prototype photo. It had the over-large prototype head and I think the angle it was photographed was not at all flattering to the sculpt. I was also not a fan of the molded hair, Mego females always had rooted hair, so this is new territory for me....

So I was actually surprised how much I like the figure and how well it works. It's in perfect proportion, first of all. I think it's best viewed at a 3/4 angle because you can see what the sculpt is going for. It's not a dead on likeness of the actress, but it's in the ballpark and the lines of the cheeks and nose are really well done. I was surprised to see an attempt at freckles on her nose, I'm not sure it was entirely successful. The hair sits on the shoulders so you have to be careful turning the head so as to not pull on the shirt. But the molded hair works. There would be no way to get a modern hairstyle that resembled the actress in rooted hair. Mego was working with straight hair or bubble-hairdos and flips. This is harder. I think in some places the detail of the hair is a bit rough, Hurley's is a bit nicer. But put me down as an impressed fan.

Update: Here's Kate holding a handgun from the Dr. Mego weapons package, works pretty well, actually. I put her in an extra shirt I had (not sure of the source). Kate often layered her clothes. I'd like to do the orange tank top and white top shirt combo she wore on Walkabout.