The Big Daddy statue pictured below was never available on it’s own, it was only available when you purchased Bioshock : Collector’s Edition for the Xbox 360. Since I was a huge fan of System Shock 2, I had Bioshock preordered and nabbed the statue. A few weeks ago, it was announced that the Big Daddy was getting a companion piece, available from the Take 2 e-store. I’ll do a review on both of them, since there’s little point in owning a little sister without a Big Daddy to go with it.
The little sister was selling for $10 + shipping. That’s an incredibly cheap price, but if you’re ordering from Canada (like I am), be careful about it. Not only did they ship UPS, which is notoriously awful for Canadians, but they put the wrong customs value on the package. I ordered 2 little sisters. It cost me $15 in shipping, which was fine. What wasn’t fine was the additional $21 or $22 I got nailed with in customs fees. Yep, on a $20 package, I paid $21~ in fees. Total cost of $60-$65 for 2 little sisters worth $20~. Not only that, but customer support was rude when I told them they should probably list the proper amount and ship using a different company.
Which reminds me of when I got my Big Daddy, actually. Like many others, my Big Daddy came out of the box with it’s drill broken. They offered a replacement program and were including soft cover artbooks for those that had their Big Daddy damaged. I signed up, no response. Signed up again, no response. Emailed their community relations person, no response. So yeah, their customer relations and their store suck ass and I’m not sure I’d bother ordering from them again.
Enough bitching, on to the actual toy review! Basically, you get what you pay for with this. It’s worth $10, but little more. The little sister is a ceramic piece and comes packaged in a surprisingly nice box. The packing could’ve been a bit better, but since my arrived mint, no complaints. She seems the proper scale compared to the Big Daddy, and it’s a very nice touch to see her acting in character, with the needle hidden behind her back.
The sculpting itself is somewhat subpar. It’s not very detailed, and the paint application is spotty. I realize it couldn’t stand without a base, but the base makes it so it doesn’t properly match with the Big Daddy since she’s on a base, and he isn’t. While it looks alright standing behind the Big Daddy (which is how it is on my shelf), when you place them side by side as in my initial picture, the lack of detail and paintjob make it look rather inferior.
The Big Daddy however is a great hit. The Collector’s Edition was only a few dollars more (he’s available on Ebay for $20-$30 usually) but it was well worth it. He’s a good solid weight, the paintjob is well done, and best of all, he’s very well detailed. He works great as a standalone piece and has a wonderful design, whereas I wouldn’t recommend the little sister except as a companion to the Big Daddy.
My final rating is going to consider the initial price, not the absurd ripoff price I paid because of Take 2′s mistakes.
3/5.
Buying Options : Big Daddy can be purchased here from Ebay.
