AEW Unrivaled Orange Cassidy review Wave 3

Like a lot of folks, initially I had no idea what to make of Orange Cassidy when he started showing up on AEW Dynamite. Now he’s one of the guys I look forward to seeing the most every week.

Orange presented some interesting challenges for Wicked Cool Toys/Jazwares’ AEW Unrivaled line and the promo pics had me excited they cracked the code. Time to peel the layers back and see if Orange Cassidy’s first figure delivers.

Packaging:  Welp. It’s the same as always in this category.

I love the gold foil and black color scheme, but hate the otherwise lackadaisical presentation with minimal character information and no bio.

Likeness:  WCT/Jazwares hasn’t struggled as mightily with head sculpts like I figured could be a problem. There’s been a few questionable expressions, but the likeness has generally been on point.

Orange Cassidy features one of the better ones since there was zero need to try to come up with some out of character expression. Disinterested/bored is all that’s needed here and the sculpt captures that wonderfully.

The work on the hair is solid and the figure even manages to remind me of my 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, which is another bonus.

Easily the most fascinating thing about this figure is how WCT/Jazwares implemented the jeans. One of Orange’s “big moves” is putting his hands in his pockets.

This wasn’t something WCT was obliged to do, but they actually did incorporate open pockets using a rubbery material for the top half of the jeans.

This was a very clever setup and something that shows how WCT/Jazwares is actively raising the bar on the most accurate and playable wrestling figures on the market.

Scale:  Orange is 5’10” putting him taller than the 5’8” Darby Allen, the same height as the Young Bucks Matt Jackson and Fenix. He should be looking up slightly at the 6’ Kenny Omega, Hangman Adam Page and 6’1” Cody.

So far the scaling on the Unrivaled line has been very consistent with WCT seems to be interested at scaling the figures properly as they line up close enough that I’m happy with them so far.

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Paint:  Orange’s outfit is relatively simple with the whitewashed denim. I’m kinda torn if his hair could have been just a smidge darker, but it’s not a big issue.

There’s some random misses with the paint application — this is an area that’s more common than I’d like with the Unrivaled figures, but typically they’re not in areas that are too distracting.

Cassidy has the glossy skin tone that a number of figures in his line have, but it’s an improvement over the pale skin versions.

Articulation:  The Unrivaled figures have definitely taken base articulation for wrestling figures up a level. The extra range in motion from the tilting torso, extended torso range and wider split hips really add to the poseability.

This helps Orange land his big moves like the Superman punch, plancha and hands in pockets dives. I’m curious how long it will be before WCT/Jazwares implements any upgrades like butterfly shoulders.

 

The major catch with Orange is his pants are made of an elastic style material, which causes a spring back effect that snaps his legs together. This hinders the ability to actually pose Orange with his legs out.

You can pull off the moves in play mode, but for folks more into posing their figures in action scenes, Orange is going to be a little tricky.

Orange Cassidy has:

• neck
• bicep
• ball-jointed shoulders
• elbows (double-jointed)
• wrists
• wrist hinge
• torso
• waist
• hips
• thighs
• knees (double-jointed)
• ankles

Accessories:  This is one of those rare cases where I’m gonna complain about a small omission in the grand scheme of a figure with a cloth outfit and functional pockets.

Orange comes with his trademark sunglasses that fit without looking janky.

His whitewashed denim jacket is well tailored and is impressively done at this scale. And his inner Orange Cassidy T-Shirt — either a tribute to his vainness or aloofness — also turned out very nicely, right down to the V-neck collar.

He’s also got a few more hand options: the matching sliding into pocket right hand and a set of grasping hands. So what am I complaining about? There’s no thumbs up hand sculpt.

In a lot of instances it’s the most movement Orange shows and it’s funny that it’s missing. Clearly WCT needed to save something for the next figure, but I was surprised it wasn’t included.

 

Worth it?  I picked up Orange for $20. Given the complexity of this outfit and the soft goods used this is a solid deal.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

The level of engineering for the jeans, the fantastic head sculpt and soft goods make this an innovative and well executed figure for a line that’s still in its infancy. Jazwares made a good first crack at the attire, but I’m hoping the second take will allow for easier leg movement.

Where to get it?  AEW Unrivaled are showing up at Target heavily now, which is helpful as it was a crapshoot at Walmart. Wave 5 is onto online retailers so you might want to be vigilant on the hunt for Wave 3. You can always pay secondary prices on Amazon.