James Bond: Live & Let Die: James Bond 1: 6 Scale Action Figure

Big Chief Studio is currently producing the highest quality licensed James Bond figures around but for such premium figures they tend to have an unfortunate number of flaws. This figure has been delayed for nearly a year and now that it’s released, seems to be hitting the market at scalper prices. I had mine preordered from a specialty store way back in 2019 so I paid the retail price of $250. As I waited and waited, DiD produced a nearly identical figure of Roger Moore from Live and Let Die although it appears to be unlicensed since there is no mention of James Bond anywhere on the packaging.It’s amazing that you can have two figures of Roger Moore from the exact same movie with such different facial sculpts. They both look like Roger Moore but the DiD figure looks more intense with more texturing of the skin. The Big Chief Studio sculpt is softer with lighter skin and a younger face that looks almost like it was done from an image of Roger Moore from The Saint rather than Live and Let Die. Either sculpt is excellent but I may give a slight edge to DiD. After rewatching Live and Let Die, Roger Moore clearly had a darker tan given that most of the movie takes place in the American south and Caribbean. Big Chief Studios definitely should have gone darker.Both figures wear the exact same black “tactileneck” outfit but the Big Chief Studio clothing is more screen accurate. The DiD figure has a too narrow gun holster and the strap over the right shoulder is just a stretchy black band. The Big Chief Studio figure has a non-stretchy, olive colored strap with a buckle, which looks much more screen accurate. I’ll give DiD a point for using a nicer material for the holster. I assume the belts were repurposed because neither is entirely screen accurate but they’re both close enough. I prefer the fabrics of the Big Chief Studio figure and the cuffs are more accurate. Where DiD REALLY shines is in the shoes. They are separate pieces with real laces, real socks and short heels. The Big Chief Studio shoes are cheap plastic with fake plastic socks and the feet can turn 360 degrees, showing a lack of care. You don’t even need to touch the shoes to see the huge difference in quality between the two figures.I assume both figures used repurposed bodies but the DiD figure uses a lot more padding to fill out the frame. In terms of articulation, the Big Chief Studio figure stinks. Besides the terrible 360 ankle rotation, it also has some very stiff and creaky elbow joints. The knee and shoulder joints are ok but swinging the legs outward produces the same creaking. It’s shameful for a $250 figure to have such terrible joints. Besides the hip joint, which is a little loose, the DiD figure is superior in almost every way. I will give Big Chief Studio the edge in the neck joint.I’ve never seen the DiD figure on sale on Amazon, but it is available elsewhere last I looked. I prefer to keep my figures consistent and Big Chief not only has the James Bond license but are clearly using it and have a lot more Bond figures yet to be released. If you can only get one and don’t care if it’s not from the same company as other Bond figures than I’d say that the DiD figure is a better bargain and just a better figure. I don’t think that this figure is worth the marked up price of well over $300 and if history repeats itself the figure may very well go on sale below $250 but possibly not on Amazon.