The film is truly laugh-out-loud hilarious, and has some of the finest examples of comedic timing and delivery every filmed. If you haven't seen it, go rent it. Right now. Really, stop reading and go rent it!

Now that all the cultural illiterates have left, we can get down to the review. Sideshow Toy has produced several sixth-scale figures based on the film already - all five of the main knights, of course, and Patsy, Arthur's faithful servant. This review is for the latest figure to be released, the Black Knight. Future releases include a 'muddy' version of the knights, the Bridgekeeper, Tim the Enchanter, the Rude Frenchman, and the Dead Collector.

Sideshow's figures are done as 'limited editions', and this figure is no exception. His run was set at 10,000 pieces.

If you have any questions, comments or figures you'd like to suggest for reviews, you can always reach me at mwc@mwctoys.com. If you enjoy this review, take a minute to check out my other site at Michael's Review of the Week, and let me know what you think. Now on to the review!

"The Black Knight"

In one of the more memorable scenes in a move filled with memorable scenes, Arthur meets the Black Knight. The knight is guarding a small bridge over a trickle of water, and refuses to let Arthur pass. The battle ensues, and with much spewing of blood and absurd taunts from the Black Knight ("It's just a flesh wound!"), Arthur cuts off all his limbs. Truly cinematic history.

Packaging - ****
Sideshow continues to produce the coolest packaging in the business. Unlike the previous releases, which were in far more basic window boxes and were certainly not collector-friendly, the Black Knight comes in the now-standard fifth-panel box that Sideshow has used for most of the their recent releases.

The art on the box is terrific, with lots of good text, written in the same style as the film. Think 'opening credits', and you'll understand what I mean. There's also blood splattered all over the front and back of the box, and it's very collector-friendly, allowing you to open it and display the figure, but put it back at a later date with no damage.

Sculpting - ****
We have a new sculptor working on this figure, Jared Chapman. He does a fine job on the helmet, which is not removable. That makes sense though, since we never saw the face (John Cleese played the part) in the film.

The hands are a new sculpt as well, since the gauntlets are part of the hand sculpt. They are sculpted to hold the sword in a variety of positions, and look terrific.

Paint - ***1/2
The knight is wearing armor tarnished from many battles and time. That's really the only paint op here, and the wash on the helmet works perfectly. There's not a lot of color or variation, so details had to be brought out with the basic wash and very few colors. They've done that nicely, and the paint ops reflect the source material perfectly.

To make up for the lack of color on the figure, the stand has a very bright and cheery rendition of the grail logo.

Accessories - ***
There are two accessories with the knight - his trademark broadsword, and his stand. The stand is the same stand Sideshow has issued with all their recent licensed figures, and works very well. It could be a little taller, but stretched to its limit, it works around the knight's waist. As I just mentioned, the base of the stand has the colorful and attractive movie logo, along with the knight's name.

The sword is one of the very nicest I've seen in sixth scale. Unlike many of the newer swords, particularly those with the 12" Lord of the Rings line, this sword is made of a fairly stiff plastic. It's not so stiff that you'll break it too easily, but it isn't so soft that it won't hold it's shape and appearance over time. The detail sculpting on the hilt and guard are particularly nice, and the knight can hold the sword easily in any number of positions.

Articulation - ****
Underneath all that black is the usual Sideshow body. He has a ball-jointed neck, ball-jointed shoulders, cut joint biceps, double-jointed elbows, wrists, chest, waist, ball jointed hips, cut joint thighs, double jointed knees, and ankles. This time, however, the ankle movement seems somewhat restricted, and the helmet and gauntlets tend to get in the way of the neck and wrists.

Even with those minor issues, I gave this figure a better articulation score than usual for Sideshow. Why? Well, they usually end up losing a bit for either loose joints, or leaving out the ball jointed neck, or some other minor item. Even having some minor problems, this time they've gone a step further - the arms and legs on this figure are removable!

Yep, just like in the movie, you can have yourself a bloody torso for a Black Knight if that makes your bread rise. At the standard cut joints on the biceps and thighs, they've employed an ingenious peg system to allow you to easily remove the limbs and reattach them. And just like 'bloody stump Luke', there's plenty of red paint on the exposed areas.

Outfit - ***1/2
Of course, just making the limb come apart didn't solve the whole issue - the outfit had to come apart as well. Both the arms and legs have a break in the material so that the limb can be removed easily. The material from the lower arm overlaps with the material from the upper arm, and it appears far more seamless than it sounds. The only issue here is that the ends of the material aren't hemmed (to keep the overlap thin) and these ends may fray over time.

The outfit is excellent in every other regard as well. The large collar and faux mesh suit look terrific and are made from an excellent quality material. The tunic has the large boar symbol on the chest, well designed and correctly represented. The belt is a little on the weak side, but overall the costume is excellent. The photos of the prototype didn't do the quality of this uniform justice.

Value - ***
Find him as cheap as you can, but if you pay $30 you're getting a great deal. I'm grading this on the actual SRP of $40, which hurts the value category a bit, considering the number of accessories.

Overall - ***1/2
Any major fan of the classic movie will want to give these a serious look. The quality is excellent, and with other great characters like Tim and the Rude Frenchman on the horizon, the opportunity to put together a great display is there. You may be able to find the first series of knights on sale at some Media Play stores or at some Spencer's, or you can wait for the 'muddy' version to complete your set.

Of the seven figures produced in the line so far, this one is the nicest, and with these subtle but important improvements, I'm betting Tim the Enchanter will be in the running for best figure of the year.

Where to Buy -
I haven't seen these at any brick-and-mortar stores yet, although the Musicland family (Musicland, Sam Goody, Media Play, On Cue) are likely candidates as they carry the rest of the Monty Python figures. Online:

- Sideshow has them of course. You'll pay SRP, but you'll be sure they have them in stock right now.

- Big Bad Toy Store has them listed at $30, plus $5 for s/h. I've always gotten great service from them.

- Aisle Sniper has them at $30 plus shipping as well.

I'm always looking for leads on new retailers on-line, so if you have suggestions please let me know!