Enterbay | Real Masterpiece | Michael Jordan (Road)

I have a number of highly coveted pieces in my collection not because of value or cost, but rather the significance to me. In my teens I was a huge basketball fan and studied the sport in my spare time. I was for all intents and purposes, a student of the game. I’m not tall at all so I had to rely on skill, awareness and smarts to hang with the taller people. I needed to learn how to play the game and there’s nobody better to learn about than Michael Jordan, the greatest player of all time.

I don’t care what other people say or how they rationalize who is the best of all time. It all varies by eras and generations, but there is something different about Michael Jordan. Sure, he had unbelievable skills and talent, but it was another factor that makes him the greatest. It’s his work ethic and attitude that sets him apart from anyone else. He didn’t just want to win, he wanted to kick your ass. He never wanted to play with the best, he wanted to beat the best. His sheer will to win is unmatched. Period. Consider this, every time Jordan made the finals, he won. He is a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals.

High-end 1/6 scale figures of NBA players and athletes in general is a market that hasn’t really been tapped yet. Who wouldn’t want a 1/6 scale Peyton Manning? Enterbay was the first company to really delve into these uncharted waters, and I think they’ve done a pretty good job. It was a no brainer for me to order Michael Jordan since he’s my favorite player. I’ve read on several sites that quality control is very hit or miss for Enterbay, so I was a little nervous when I ordered the figure.

It’s scary how realistic it is and I’m still in amazement how it turned out. They really captured his likeness to perfection and I can’t find anything I have an issue with. He looks like he came right off the court and got miniaturized. The figure’s body just mimics Michael Jordan and I have no idea how they did it. I’ll just let the pictures speak for itself. The figure is also around 13″ tall making him more accurate by making him taller than most 1/6 scaled figures. One issue I have is the detailing on the basketball which is not representative of the ones used during Jordan’s era. But since it’s an accessory issue and not the figure, I won’t knock them for it. On one hand, the Bulls uniform is simply amazing. The stitching is well done and the trim is just beautiful. They’ve even included his black compression shorts, the knee sleeve and the arm sleeve, and it’s topped off with his signature Air Jordans. The color is nice and vibrant and even the elastic trim is spot on. The only issue I really have with it are the iron on numbers, names and logos. It’s an issue for me because at some point they will crack and crumble. There’s no way to replace it. I think after all the quality that went into the figure, they should have used small tackle twill and sewn on those items.

The paint work on the head is quite amazing. The details are clean and look extremely life like. According to their spec sheets, they used some kind of multiple layer technique, but I don’t really care what they did when the outcome is this good.

Somehow Enterbay was able to capture the physique of Jordan so when I see the figure on the shelf, it’s not just his head but the entire figure’s stature is Michael Jordan. So when you put the figure in poses, it can’t help but look exactly like him. Jordan’s fadeaway jumper is second to none and I was able to capture that pose quite well. He’s not quite able to reach across his chest like a Hot Toys figure, but you can achieve pretty much any pose you want. His shoulders are ok but it would be nice if they could somehow engineer a better range of motion instead of the ball hinge joint. It’s noticeable when you put his arms above his head like when he’s going for a dunk. It’s not bad if the shoulders were articulated even more it would be uncanny. Whoever can engineer articulated trapezius muscles will have a leg up on the rest of the field.

This figure comes with a whopping amount of extras. He comes the usual assortment of hands, a basketball that contains a magnet which allows the figure to hold and palm the ball, an MVP trophy in this edition, three pairs of Air Jordans and a bendable display stand allowing you to pose him in shooting and dunking poses. He also comes with the Bulls warm-ups outfit. It just simply doesn’t get better than that. This is a rare occasion where the number of extras is just right.

My figure didn’t have the QC issues I’ve read about, but I did have some of my own. The uniform was a little snagged in an area right out of the package. This figure has to be treated with care and away from ANYTHING that could snag the material. The second issue I had are the magnets in the hand. One of them came out just by holding the basketball so I will have to glue it back in. And of course the iron-on items will no doubt fail at some point.

This figure is just fantastic and is one of the cornerstones of my collection. Great job, Enterbay.