First off, apologies that this review is posting a few months after some folks began to receive their Mantis Hot Toys figure via Sideshow Collectibles, as I only received mine recently. Though I suppose it amusingly feels befitting for this figure to have a review go up on a delayed schedule.
You see, the Mantis figure has been a particularly long awaited one. After all, this is a character introduced into the MCU seven years ago in 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and who first had a Hot Toys figure teased with a prototype on display way back at Comic-Con 2019 – except at that point, she was going to be part of the Avengers: Endgame line. For whatever reason though, Mantis never got her Hot Toys due through the years, even while all the other members of the Guardians received figures. And no disrespect to Mary Poppins’ biggest fan, but it felt weird that even Yondu received a Hot Toys figure before someone like Mantis, who has become a core member of the team with so many appearances at this point.
So after all this time, was she worth the wait? I’d say absolutely, as this is a really cool figure that is a terrific representation of her onscreen counterpart, albeit with some quibbles.
For one, the packaging on the box here is stellar with its vibrant, eye-catching art. But perhaps the best touch is when you remove the outer box and see the thin cardboard sleeve that sits over the figure and accessories. This Mantis is specifically from The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (more on that below) and the fact that they made this art look like gift wrap, complete with fake warping and wrinkles on the “paper,” is a wonderful touch.
As for the actual Mantis figure, she looks great. It’s an excellent likeness of Pom Klementieff as the character, wearing that familiar alien makeup, “bug” eyes included. In a perfect world, I’d have loved a second portrait, to show Mantis in the gleeful, grinning look we’ve sometimes seen her break into, but the passive expression she has is very much one the character is known for as well.
The costume details are quite impressive, showing all of the ornate scaling and decoration that can often go overlooked when she’s moving about on screen. However, for those who hate costume creasing, be aware it’s almost certainly going to happen with Mantis – the material and the details basically ensure you can’t keep the figure looking pristine.
In fact, she came out of the box with some small creases already visible in the bend of her arm sleeves. It honestly doesn’t bother me much, given if Hot Toys costumes are going to look this realistic, they’re also going to also get realistic creases, but mileage will vary.
The one thing that did bother me more was how little you can turn her head, thanks to her sculpted hair. The debate between rooted and sculpted hair is one plenty of collectors have big feelings on, but personally, I’m more in the camp of “if it looks good, it is good.” But Mantis’ hair is long enough that it impairs how much you can turn her head quite a bit. The early prototype photos had shorter, less screen accurate hair that likely allowed for the head to turn more, but I get there’s no perfect answer for this. You just have to keep in mind the sculpted hair does mean she’s pretty limited in terms of poses – though this issue is at least softened a bit due to her being a character with mental abilities who does tend to stand more stoically than others.
One thing I love about her hair – seeing the blue highlights among the black. Which yes, are in the films, yet are often easy to miss. As with the costume, details like this are one especially appreciated aspect of Hot Toys figures, since you can honestly often get a better idea of what a character truly looks like than you do in the source material.
Mantis comes with a few options for hands, per usual for Hot Toys, though with one inclusion that stands out in a big way – the folded together hands, which is actually one piece of plastic molded together. It’s a great addition that allows Mantis to have a very Mantis stance, while also serving a secondary purpose tied to the figure’s actual accessories.
Because again, this is the Mantis from The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. And while she wore her traditional costume in that special, she also gained some Christmas-themed additions as the story progressed, which is what she comes with here. You can gear Mantis up in her holiday best if you wish, including a sweater, a headband, a skirt, and a necklace, all of which make for a very fun variation on the figure’s normal look.
And that’s where those folded together hands come in especially, well, handy. That giant candy cane accessory is a very wide one that can’t really be held by any of the hands that come with Mantis, but she can essentially hold it against herself with the folded together hands snapped in.
The official photos for the Mantis Hot Toys figure have her posed in various other ways, using her open palms to delicately support the candy cane, but I found these impossible to replicate – the best I could do was having her use it as an actual cane.
The detail on these accessories is awesome and I loved that they made sure you could see the eyes on the little snowman on her necklace.
You may have noticed one additional accessory in a photo of all the holiday additions above – a pair of sunglasses. Hot Toys specifically does NOT intend for them to be worn in the instructions, only saying she should hold them. That’s obviously a bit odd, and for what it’s worth, I have seen some people post photos where they successfully put the sunglasses on her, but for now, I’m playing things safe and she’s carrying them.
Receiving this Mantis figure in 2024 makes her feel notably special. First off is the simple fact that we at last have a Mantis Hot Toys figure at all, allowing her to finally join all of her fellow Guardians of the Galaxy on the shelf. But she’s also special because she is from the Guardians Holiday Special, and that makes her quite unique on the collectible front.
There were two Disney+ / MCU Specials in 2022, the Guardians one and Werewolf By Night. They were both very well done and showed the strengths of these types of standalone stories for the MCU, but unfortunately, there’s been no movement on any more being made since. And on the Hot Toys front, Mantis now becomes the only figure released from either special, since Werewolf By Night characters like Jack Russell, Elsa Bloodstone and Man-Thing have sadly been overlooked completely in that regard. That being the case, there’s a likely chance Mantis will remain the one and only Hot Toys figure to represent that brief era of the MCU, so at least she provides some proper holiday cheer along the way.
On Sideshow’s site, Mantis is technically not in stock for immediate purchase but is available to join the waitlist – something I’ve had quite a bit of luck with in the past and would recommend trying for those interested and comfortable splurging for her predictably steep price – $269. A Mantis Hot Toys figure in her team uniform from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been teased via prototype, but so far, hasn’t been officially announced for pre-sale, so who knows when or if she’s going to happen, given we’ve been down that road before.
Ultimately, the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Hot Toys Mantis is well worth getting for those who’ve been debating picking her up, since this is a collectible clearly ready to kick names, take a**.
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