POP! Games -- Kratos

Company: Funko
Year: 2014
Series: POP! Games

BACKGROUND

The first God of War game burst onto the PS2, introducing its antihero Kratos to gamers all over the world. It had loads of violence, an entertaining story that drew from Greek mythology, a hero we could root for (even if he was a jerk), a bit of (black) humour and perhaps most amazingly of all, quick time events that were fun to play!

It’s no wonder it became such a hit, and sequels followed at a reasonable pace with God of War II in 2007 and God of War III in 2010. A number of spin-off games have also been released, and it seems that the series will return at some point on the PS4 – though one might assume it will be in somewhat different form than the original trilogy. If you’ve played the third game, you’ll know what I mean.    

There’s been a little bit of God of War merchandise over the years, but not as much as you might expect for such a large franchise. So it was with great pleasure that I discovered Funko had picked up the license for its POP! series.

THE POP

This Kratos is presumably based on his appearance at the beginning of God of War III – he’s got the scar running down his stomach, a scar over his right eye and a few other trappings, such as his signature kilt. In each hand, he holds one of the Blades of Chaos, his signature weapon. It would be nice to see some future versions of the character with his other weapons, like those lion gauntlets he steals from Hercules, but only time will tell.

The main criticism I could offer on initial glance is that he’s maybe a little too cutesy. This may sound silly when you consider that we’re talking about vinyl toys, which tend to have an inherently cute aesthetic, but the most of the “edgier” characters that turn up in POP! form tend to retain some of that edge. The horror movie characters Funko has done are great examples, as are characters like the Alien and the Predator.  Even when Kratos was turned into a Sackboy all the way back in 2008, he still looked pretty cranky. Maybe they should have gone for a different paint app on the eyes or eyebrows to create a similar effect. Nonetheless, the sculpt hits all the right notes, and is another great example of why I like the Funko style so much.

Something you’re probably going to hear me complain about a lot during Funko POP! week is paint. Funko’s paint jobs are slowly improving, but they’re still far from great, particularly when multiple paint apps are involved as with this figure. Kratos has continued this trend, being slightly above acceptable but certainly below ideal. His signature tattoo is cleanly tampoed, but there’s slop on the scar over his right eye, his goatee isn’t quite painted to the edges, there’s slop on his hands, and his feet are a bit messy.  

Still, when viewed as a whole, the effect is still impressive. Kratos has arrived on the POP! scene, and he’s ready to kick some vinyl butt.

 

OVERALL

This is a great representation of Kratos, except for his paint. And even that’s not so bad – so if you can get one which good paint, I can wholeheartedly recommend him as a great addition to the POP! family. Hopefully if this one sells well, we’ll see a few other variations of him released – and maybe even some of the other characters from the game added to the line.  

POP! Television – Dr Tobias Fünke

 

Company: Funko

Series: Arrested Development

Year: 2014

RRP: $AUD 15.95

THE BACKGROUND

So, here's the first instalment of Funko POP! week kicking off with Dr Tobias Funke!

Arrested Development first began airing in late 2003. Smart, clever, funny and fast-paced, it never quite got the ratings it deserved, though it garnered many excellent reviews. In 2006, it would be cancelled – yet another show gone well before its time.

This was disappointing, but it was pretty much guaranteed that it would be a cult classic. And that’s exactly what happened. Whenever the deplorable state of modern TV is brought up, you can be sure someone will jump in and complain that Arrested Development got cancelled – it tends to be a race between the Arrested Development fan and the Firefly fan as to who gets in first.

I’ve been that guy on more than one occasion. And so we come to today’s review – my personal favourite character from the show, Dr Tobias Fünke, as portrayed by comedian David Cross.

THE POP

Tobias is dressed (or not dressed) in his signature outfit of denim cutoffs. He’s also wearing his glasses, and flip-flops. The likeness is good – it retains the Funko simplicity while still capturing the essence of the character well.

The paint is pretty good, especially as POPS go – they’re notorious for having crappy paint jobs. There’s still a bit of slop, and some damage on the back of his head where he’s been in the box, but Funko are definitely improving in this area. He also has some hair tampoed on his chest. Not quite as much hair as the real David Cross, but probably more appropriate for the Funko aesthetic (link possibly NSFW). 

 

 

The glasses are a separate piece, glued on at the sides of his head and held in via a hole in between his eyes. Additionally, the body isn’t one whole piece – it’s glued together at the waist.

On that topic, it seems that POP! vinyl figures used to be originally built on a handful of very similar base bodies – check out the Superman and Wonder Woman POPs (both originally from 2010, I believe), and you’ll see that while there are differences, it’s entirely possible that one mould was simply a retool of the other.

But now, there’s a lot more variety. Tobias is definitely indicative of this – he uses the classic headshape, yet his body looks to be completely new. Most of the characters in the line look to have unique bodies too, which is particularly impressive in this day of reused moulds and repaints. It’s good that Funko have been willing to invest so heavily in the line! 

AVAILABILITY

This Tobias should be readily available, and there’s apparently a variant version done entirely in blue. I’m not sure how rare/expensive this one will be, but I’ll definitely be picking it up if I come across it at the right price!

OVERALL

The Arrested Development series features 8 POPs, plus the 1 variant mentioned above. So there’s two Michaels, two Busters, a GOB, George-Michael and George Senior. I hope to get all of them. There’s plenty of characters that I’d like to see in future series as well – Lucille, Lucille 2, Maeby, Lindsay, Barry Zuckerkorn, Kitty, Stan Sitwell and Oscar, just to name a few. And there are still quite a few versions of existing characters that we could see – Hot Cop GOB, for instance!

I’m thrilled with this purchase, and hope we see many more in the future. Arrested Development was a fantastic show, and I’m still hanging out for the movie…hopefully it won’t be too much longer!

Also, it's nice to have another doctor in the collection, to go with the Assassin's Creed Plague Doctor ;)