POP! WWE – The Undertaker

I was a bit of a wrestling fan around the middle years of high school. Not a massive one, but I enjoyed the action, the over-the-top personalities and the campy tone. This was the “Attitude Era” of WWE, which was an interesting time for the company. The departure of a number of big stars like Hulk Hogan had left them floundering a little, and they were trying to figure out where they sat in the market – were they aiming to bring in a new generation of kid fans, or where they trying to cater to their existing and now-adult fans?

As might be expected, they kind of went for both, with predictably weird results. There was a big emphasis on being EDGY and DARK and SEXY, which meant kids were pretty keen to watch while their parents – and older fans – were often less than approving. It was a big financial success for the company…but a lot of really hasn’t aged very well. Still, a number of modern wrestling legends like Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H and rose to popularity during this era. Modern day golden boy John Cena also debuted shortly after its end, so I guess you could tack him in there too.

But the wrestler that always leapt out at me was The Undertaker. As a teen who was interested in kind of dark and goth-y things but hadn’t yet properly discovered heavy metal or horror movies, the Undertaker was a bit of a pointer in the right direction. A gateway drug, even. So when I stumbled across this POP a few weeks ago, I thought I should add him to the horror shelf.  

This POP looks to be based on ‘Taker in his "Phenom" phase, a look he debuted in 2004. It was a bit of a hybrid of a number of his previous looks, essentially functioning as an edgier update of his original mortician look. It was a great choice; for fans like myself who haven’t kept up on all of the minutiae of the WWE’s lore, it serves as a good generic look for the character.   

But it’s not perfect; in person, The Undertaker is extremely physically imposing and visually interesting – but this hasn’t always translated well to his toys, because he’s pretty much just dressed in different shades of black. This toy suffers from a little of that, with the only real differentiation between different areas of black being the gloss on his coat to give it a leather look. Nonetheless, it’s a well-sculpted figure which allows him to be instantly identified – something that I don’t feel can be said for quite a few of the other WWE POPs.

Undertaker here was apparently released all the way back in 2014, but I managed to stumble on him in a Sydney record store. He’s probably about due for another iteration, perhaps one focused on his "American Bad Ass" era. Until then, this is a solid piece for the casual and dedicated Undertaker fan alike.  

POP! Movies: Chucky (Child’s Play 2)

There’s always a suspension of disbelief involved for any slasher villain, but a killer who transfers his soul into a doll via voodoo ritual? Yeah, right. But the first Child’s Play film is actually far more unsettling than you might expect, with some genuine scares and a great villain. I wouldn’t put Chucky in quite the same circles as Freddy, Jason or Pinhead – but he’s certainly not far below. So given the esteem the films are held in by horror fans, it’s no real surprise that sooner or later we got a POP of Chucky.

This is the Child’s Play 2 version of Chucky, who looks a little rougher round the edges than he did in the first film. I assume they went with this look for a couple of different reasons; the license is probably more easily acquirable/cheaper than the first film (as with Hellraiser vs Hellraiser III). Additionally, Chucky spends most of the first film looking fairly plain, so the scars on his face here add some nice additional detail. It’s a good decision – who would want a POP version of what’s essentially a “My Buddy” doll?

Originally released back in 2014, he’s sculpted to be a little smaller than his horror contemporaries. He’s still bigger than he would be in “real” life but one must forgive the limitations of the format. Additionally, this was around the time Funko stepped up their paint game quite a bit, so he’s better rendered than many of his contemporaries. It’s certainly not perfect but Funko are still to be commended for doing an impressively neat job with so many apps in play – just look at his sleeves! 

There are two other POPs of Chucky available. The first is simply a bloody version of this one; you can pay the premium for it if you want, but making a custom would be easy enough. The other is based on his appearance in Bride of Chucky – it uses the same body, but a different head sculpt. Both are good choices, but not being hugely familiar with the series I thought I’d opt for this one.

While not as great as some of the other horror-related POPs Funko have done, Chucky is still a solid addition to the collection. With Cult of Chucky due out this year, there’s bound to be a revival of interest in the character – who knows, we may even see a third take on Chucky hitting shelves in the near future. 

POP! Movies – Billy the Puppet (Saw)

Year: 2014

Company: Funko

Back in 2004, a little film by the name of Saw was released. It wasn’t particularly original – Se7en was thrown about a lot as a comparison – but it helped bring a bit of edge back to a genre that at the time had been largely been defanged by hordes of Scream imitators like I Know What You Did Last Summer and their ilk. Things again went full circle, though; Saw had numerous sequels and also helped spark a bunch of other similarly themed films and wider industry trends. In this case, that was the “torture porn” era of horror, typified by movies like Hostel.

I was never so keen on the progeny that it spawned, but I did quite enjoy the first Saw film. Even the second had its moments, but by the third I’d pretty much checked out. Maybe I’ll go catch up on all of them one day, but for the time being I’m content to just take a look at this Funko POP of Billy the Puppet.    

Billy is one of the best-known elements from the series, serving as something of a mascot. The pig’s head mask that Jigsaw actually wears in the films never really caught on in the same way, and so there’s a buttload more merchandise for Billy than there actually is for Jigsaw himself. I suppose it’s a little like Pinhead’s situation; originally a supporting character in the first Hellraiser, he eventually became indelibly associated with the franchise as a whole.   

Billy’s design is something I have mixed feelings about. unsettling when he appears in the films, for sure; but he’s always looked a little too My Chemical Romance for me to find him frightening as a He’s static object on his own merits. The clowny face, the red swirls and eyes…I get why people find it unsettling, but to me it feels like it’s trying a little too hard to be edgy.  

Nonetheless, Billy the Puppet is the face of one of the most successful horror franchises of recent years. With the Saw series set to return to screens for the first time since 2010 later this year, it will be interesting to see what role Billy plays in future films.   

There’s one other version of Billy available, which was an SDCC exclusive in 2014 – Billy has blood spatter on his face and hands, and his face and hands glow in the dark. Expect to pay an arm and a leg (ha!) for it if you plan to track it down.  

POP! Movies – Ghostface (Scream)

Company: Funko

Year: 2014

Originally created as something of a tribute to a genre that had kind of gone out of vogue, Scream ended up being a big hit and spawned a franchise of its own. Directed by horror legend Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street), what the first Scream film got right was the balance of comedy and out-and-out horror. There’s plenty of knowing winks and nods (like Freddy the Janitor), but the film doesn’t skimp on the intensity or gore at any point. It’s not Cannibal Holocaust, but it’s more full-on than plenty of the films that inspired it. The film also owes a lot of its success to the smart screenplay from Kevin Williamson, who would go on to be quite a successful screenwriter…though he did pen another very successful slasher film that was arguably a Scream knockoff* in and of itself.

As a relatively modern horror icon, it’s no real surprise that Ghostface ended up getting released as one of the earlier horror movie figures under the POP! Movies banner. For whatever reason, the box lists the name as “Ghost Face” rather than “Ghostface”. Perhaps this is to do with trademarks surrounding Ghostface Killah, but that’s only a guess on my front.   

The sculpt is great fun; the mask is nicely rendered, and it does a good job of capturing the loose look of the costume. Ghostface has actually been portrayed by seven different actors (plus two others if you count the TV series), not to mention numerous stuntmen. However, the personality and actions remain reasonably consistent across the movies – and while the costume and mask do have some subtle differences across the films, it’s not as drastic as, say, Jason Voorhees. In POP format, one and done is fine on this occasion. 

There are some paint issues, but this is typical of the POP releases of the time. Most of him is cast in black, with some gloss areas -- these are fine. The issues come with the mask itself. Areas of white have been visibly touched up before it went into the box. I wouldn’t mind redoing this more cleanly in the future, but even when I was painting a lot of miniatures, I always struggled with painting white. It’s not ideal, but I’ll live.

Ghostface doesn’t seem to be vaulted, but he is increasingly unusual to spot out in the wild – if you’re a Scream fan and keen to get him, I’d pick him up soon. I’m hopeful that we also get a version of the Brandon James Ghostface from the TV series too; the first season was quite enjoyable, though it started to lose me in Season 2. He’s a fine addition to my ever-growing horror shelf, if not as well-executed (ha!) as some of his fellow horror-themed POPs.   

*I Know What You Did Last Summer

POP! Movies -- Pennywise the Clown

Company: Funko

Year: 2014

I know it’s been very trendy to hate on clowns lately, particularly after the whole clown sighting thing last year – but I’ll quite happily state that my dislike of clowns extends well back to childhood. I don’t have a phobia of them or anything, I’ve just never associated them with positive feelings. The Joker, John Wayne Gacy, those eerie (and depressing) Pierrot paintings every second house seemed to have displayed in the 80s and 90s…clowns are boring at best and genuine serial killers at worst.  

My larger point is that Stephen King chose quite well when he made the villain of IT a clown, even though they’ve become a heavily overused horror trope. I’m re-reading the novel for the first time in…ooh, maybe a decade or so…and while it has some of the usual shortcomings I associate with his books, Pennywise the Dancing Clown, the IT of the title, is one of his great villains.

Of course, even more people are familiar with the character through the 1990 TV miniseries adaptation, where he was played by Tim Curry. Somewhat disappointingly, I’ve never actually watched the whole thing (like many King adaptations, it was everywhere on VHS, but seemed to disappear in the DVD era), but Tim Curry seems to do the character justice. So today we find ourselves looking at the plastic representation of Pennywise, delivered to us by Funko.

This is Pennywise in his more overtly evil form; while he’s creepy in all his appearances, his face changes slightly when he’s about to commit a murder, teeth becoming pointed and eyes shifting in colour. His hands are also stretched out, presumably to grab one of his victims.

For the benefit of anyone who hasn’t seen the book or watched the film (SPOILERS), Pennywise is not actually a clown. King was really riffing on Lovecraft when he wrote IT, though he dressed it up with plenty of Americana and kid’s adventure story to subvert some of Lovecraft’s usual story structure – rather, the clown is a manifestation of an H.P. Lovecraft-style supernatural/extraterrestrial horror that lurks beneath the city of Derry, Maine. Arriving before the dawn of recorded history, he manifests every 27 years or so, wreaking terrible violence before returning to some kind of slumber. 

More in common than you might have realised

There was probably scope to do at least a couple of different versions of Pennywise -- maybe a “plain” version or one holding balloons – but this one serves as well as any other. With the upcoming 2017 movie of IT, it seems likely that we’ll get one based on that film’s take on the character too.

Overall? He’s a well-designed figure, and though I wouldn’t say I rate him as highly as a number of my other horror-themed POPs, my affection for the novel and Stephen King’s wider works was enough to push me to purchase. If you can find him (he seems to be discontinued) and you’re a fan, he’s a worthwhile investment.  

*For the younger reader of this blog, I think it may be difficult to comprehend just how big a deal Stephen King was when I was a kid. Sure, he’s still an exceedingly famous author, but back then he was a genuine phenomenon. My childhood memory may exaggerate a little, but not too much. A public figure since the 1970s and highly prolific throughout the 1980s, the 1990s saw King’s popularity explode to a whole new level. For a while there, you couldn’t walk into a video store without seeing some new adaptation on the shelves, and had an average bookstore display of his works collapsed on you, you would have likely been killed, given how many books he’d published at that point.  

POP! Movies – Army of Darkness: Deadite

Company: Funko

Series: POP! Movies

Year: 2014

This POP has actually been out for a while now, but I’ve spent my sweet time waiting to pick him up. I haven’t watched a lot of horror in recent years, so I wasn’t sure I wanted him. Even more so, a good friend of mine is kind of THE Evil Dead guy in my circle of friends. I love the films – but he LOVES them, and I kind of felt like I’d be infringing on his territory if I picked it up. Some of you will know what I mean; it’s like when you’ve been listening to a band for months or years, then all of a sudden your friend who never really showed must interest in them decides he’s their biggest fan.

But late last year I went to a screening of Evil Dead II on the big screen at George St cinemas, and it was just as good as I remembered it. And then he popped up in Kinokuniya, so after being so happy with Ash I decided to take the plunge.

I must confess, it’s been quite a few years since I last watched Army of Darkness, so I don’t remember this character specifically. “Deadite” is actually a generic term, referring to any human or creature – and I suppose object – that has been possessed by the titular Evil Dead – so there are a bunch of them that show up throughout the series. However, a quick Google seems to indicate that this guy was some kind of Deadite captain. I don't remember if he has any lines of anything, so it's probably time to crack it out and give it a watch again. Fortunately, it's easily available on Stan.com.au.

As befits a deceased undead medieval warrior, he’s equipped with a horned helmet, breastplate, a ratty loincloth and cape, as well as a spear and shield. The sculpt and paint details are much more detailed than Funko ordinarily does, which creates a slight disconnect between himself and his companion figure, Ash. Given that he is a skeleton, rather than a solid body, it’s a necessary compromise, if not an ideal one. As his body is little daintier and his head a bit larger than the usual POP, he also comes placed on one of the clear stands that have been seen with a few of the female characters. But taken solely on its own merits, my only (minor) complaint is with the face’s paint job. It looks a little flat in its current form, but I think this could have been solved with a simple wash. It wouldn’t be hard for a customiser to do.     

Sadly, there were only three POPS released from Army of Darkness – the Deadite, Ash and a convention-exclusive glow version of the Deadite. There are a few different characters that could have been made into POPs if they’d wanted to expand the line; the Pit Witch, Sheila and Evil Ash all spring to mind, not to mention possible different versions of Ash. The most glaring omission, really, is that there isn’t a version of Ash available with a copy of the dread Necronomicon Ex Mortis. Though perhaps this will change with the success of Ash vs Evil Dead. With all the TV shows that are getting merch from Funko, it’s entirely possible they’ll look at doing some of these characters in the future.   

The Deadite has now been discontinued, but can still be had for around retail price if you’re a s-mart shopper. He's not quite as essential as Ash, but he’s a fine addition for completists. And indeed, the Game of Thrones Wight would make a good additional Deadite, if you want to expand your Evil Dead ranks further.

Funko POP! Universal Monsters: Dracula

Well, I was looking through some of the ol’ collection the other day and I came across Dracula here.  I think my wife picked him up for me a few months ago, but I don’t remember the details – at any rate, I figured he should get a look-in on the page seeing as he’s arguably the most iconic of all the Universal Monsters.

Most of you reading will know at least the broad strokes of the history behind the character; loosely inspired by the 15th-century Transylvanian ruler Vlad Dracula (aka Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler), Bram Stoker published the novel Dracula at the end of the 19^th century, bringing peasant legends of the  vampires to a general audience and essentially giving birth to modern-day vampire lore in one fell swoop.

A few decades later, Hollywood came knocking in the form of Nosferatu – an unlicensed retelling of the Dracula story with a handful of details changed to avoid paying royalties (it didn’t work), which was a masterful piece of suspense that stands as an impressive piece of cinema even today. But the cinematic version that really impressed itself into our collective psyche was the Universal version of Dracula. Released in 1931 and staring the then-relatively unknown Bela Lugosi, it was an instant classic (which of course I still haven’t seen) and firmly set the template for the character that most interpretations have since followed.

The image of Lugosi as Dracula has been imitated and parodied so often that it’s lost a lot of its impact over the decades – put a guy in a black cloak, give him a widow’s peak and an Eastern European accent, and people are much more likely to laugh than be terrified. Intentionally or not, this take on him hews a little closer to parody than gothic terror; though the details of the costume (like the pendant) clearly indicate this is meant to be Lugosi’s Dracula, the expression on the face looks much cheerier than it does angry or terrifying. It fits with the overall Funko aesthetic, but I would have liked a slightly angrier expression. 

Though I prefer werewolves to vampires, Dracula’s influence in the world of horror and on wider pop culture is pretty much impossible to overestimate. If you’re a POP fan and a horror fan, that makes this guy a near-essential purchase.

There only seems to be one variant available – a metallic version coming too, part of this 4-pack. It would be nice to get a glow in the dark or bloody one, but we’ll just have to wait and see.                                                                      

Funko POP! Universal Monsters: Bride of Frankenstein (glow in the dark variant)

Series: POP! Movies

Year: 2014

RRP: $16.95

Bride of Frankenstein is one of the most critically-acclaimed horror films out there, expanding well beyond its incredibly schlocky origins (“Frankenstein was a hit – make me another!”) to live on in our collective cultural consciousness as an iconic and influential film, perhaps even more so than the original that spawned it.

Its themes have been analysed heavily, probably well beyond any real degree of common sense – is it Christian-themed? Anti-Christian? Is it all about being gay? Director James Whale preferred the company of men in real life, which has naturally fuelled a lot of speculation along the lines of the last theory. Of course, I’ve never actually seen it – or the original Frankenstein, for that matter – so I can’t pretend to shed any real light on the matter (though I do plan to watch both soon; it’s a disgrace that I haven’t already).

But weighty themes aside, there’s one thing that overshadows everything else when it comes to the Bride of Frankenstein – dat hair.  Working with make-up artist Jack Pierce, Elsa Lanchester set a bar for updos and beehives that no one has ever really equalled, though many have tried.  

This POP! replicates that with a remarkably solid piece of plastic, complete with the signature white streaks up the side. As might be expected, the Bride is an entirely new sculpt. Her head is disportionately large, even by Funko standards, mounted on a tiny body. The head comes complete with the scars on the cheeks and under the neck. To ensure she doesn’t overbalance, her dress is one solid piece. The bandaged arms are glued on separately.

All in all, it’s a good likeness, though for me it’s not quite as fun as some of the others in the set have been. I’ve now got every character in this series save for the Phantom of the Opera – and though she’s pretty great, she’s a close contender for least favourite with said Phantom. I’ve never felt a particularly close connection with the creature design; it’s just missing that x-factor for me. Nonetheless, she’s a lot of fun and will make a good addition to any horror collection, Universal or otherwise.  

There are two versions of the Bride available – regular and glow in the dark. As with Frankenstein’s Monster, the Glow in the Dark version looks virtually identical to the “regular” one, so if you have the choice I’d say go for the glow! Her face glows green in the dark -- it's more effective than Frankenstein's glow, but not as good as the more overtly glow-y Creature from the Black Lagoon. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Tiger Claw

 When I first started picking up the TMNT figures back in mid-2013, the villains were kind of hard to track down. There was a (rubbish) Shredder, a Foot Soldier (adequate) and a Kraang trooper (good but imperfect). The four turtles themselves dominated the store shelves, which is to be expected. But there’s no point in having them if you don’t have any villains for them to fight!

Fortunately things have picked up a little since then, and so today we look at one of the more recent additions to the line – Tiger Claw!

NB: I’m yet to watch the episodes in which Tiger Claw appears, so I’m purely basing my review here on his appearance, rather than the character. 

SCULPT AND ARTICULATION

Tiger Claw is some kind of half-man, half-tiger hybrid – a deadly assassin feared throughout Asia. Heavy stuff for a kid’s cartoon, but TMNT has never been afraid to shy away from the big issues.

His tail seems to have been docked – I’m not sure if this is a character trait or if a full tail just didn’t cost out for Playmates. Also, the image on the back of the card portrays him as having two eyes, but the toy has one eye and an eyepatch. Maybe this is something to do with the episodes he appears in – starts off with two and loses one to the turtles (edit: A review of the TMNT 2012 wiki suggests it’s never explained. However, the tail is a plot point and not a costing thing.  

The design of the character is much better than the actual execution, though this is more the fault of the paint than the sculpt. Most of the important details seem to have made it through to the sculpt -- such as his backpack and the ammo belt across his chest. Overall it looks great -- but as we'll see in the paint section, there's a lot left to be desired.  

Articulation is as follows:

*cut neck

*swivel-hinged shoulders

*swivel-hinged hips

*hinged knees

Not bad in comparison to some of the other figures in the range, but there is a lot of room for improvement. Truth be told, I would have picked up Tiger Claw the very first time I saw him if he had elbow joints. There are certainly other joints that would have been nice to have too – swivel wrists, ball-jointed neck, just to name a couple, but it’s a $15 kid’s line so we can’t expect miracles. It's acceptable, but in no way it win articulation of the year. 

PAINT

Every time I talk about TMNT, I talk about how the paint apps are crap. Tiger Claw is no exception. They’re certainly more numerous than many other of the figures in the line, but they’re on the sloppy side – his scarf in particular shows signs of chipping. The string on the back of his head for his eyepatch isn’t painted either…it brings to mind shades of Casey Jones and his “no back paint”. Perhaps worst of all is the huge difference in colour between the feet and the rest of his body. 

All of this wouldn’t be so annoying if we didn’t know that Playmates can do better, and has done better in the past. Look at the paint on the 2003 figures – for the most part, pretty clean and well-executed. Go back further to the 1980s series and you’ll see the same thing. But now half the figures in the line look like bootlegs because they’re not enough spent on apps or QC. I appreciate that toy manufacturing costs have risen significantly since the golden days of the 1980s/1990s – but I think we can safely say that Playmates is still making a mint on these bad boys, and some of that capital should be invested in the line.     

ACCESSORIES

Accessories-wise, he comes with two guns, both cast in a very soft plastic. They can be stored in his holsters (though the way they’re in the package is on the opposite sides to the holsters they fit in). 

OVERALL

There are two versions of Tiger Claw – the regular one reviewed here today (he does seems to be available on two different cardbacks, though) and the “Mutations” version, which allows you to pop off his limbs and swap them around with other Mutations characters. The sculpt looks to have been built from the same base, but it is slightly larger than this one.

Tiger Claw has some definite shortcomings, but I think his design is really cool, and it's made up for some of the shortcomings with the figure itself. He’s a great sculpt and worth the price of entry for that alone – it’s just a shame about the paint. I’ve only really found him on a “one in store” basis, but check him carefully if you have more than one to pick from.  

Funko POP! Books -- Cthulhu

Company: Funko

Year: 2015

Series: Books

"In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming"

It was only a matter of time till we got a POP! Cthulhu. H.P. Lovecraft has always been a hugely influential writer, but in the last decade or so his popularity really seems to have soared. Modern geek culture has really picked up on his stuff and applied it beyond the horror genre – it’s nice to see him get the recognition he deserved but never received during life.

For those unfamiliar with his work, H.P. Lovecraft was a pulp magazine author in the early 20th century, primarily writing weird fiction – supernatural, horror, that kind of thing. He eked out a modest living in this way, but was more influential than successful in his own lifetime – sadly, he died at the young age of 47.

His short stories and themes have been tremendously influential, but the most famous of his creations was the subject of today’s review – the hideous creature Cthulhu. Cthulhu is namechecked in numerous H.P. Lovecraft stories, but I believe he only appears in person in one – The Call of Cthulhu, a story which ranks among the best of Lovecraft’s work and has gone on to lend its name to a pen-and-paper RPG centred around Lovecraft’s mythos.

Appearance-wise, Cthulhu is an unnatural combination of squid, humanoid and dragon, around the size of a mountain. Temperament-wise, you probably won’t be shocked to discover that he was pure evil. Lurking beneath the sea, he was worshipped as a deity by crazed cultists seeking after forbidden knowledge.

But for all his adoption of supernatural themes and imagery, Lovecraft was an atheist in real life. As I understand it, Cthulhu was not actually a god per se, but rather an immensely powerful alien entity which had arrived on this planet in earth’s dim pre-history. Over time, he became the subject of numerous human religions, as he lay “dead but dreaming” beneath the Pacific Ocean. In a way, Cthulhu was the original ancient astronaut.

This rendition of Cthulhu is a nice balance of cutesy and disgusting. He’s an entirely unique sculpt, and actually quite a bit larger than a regular 3.5” POP -- Dracula is pictured for reference -- but still retails for the regular price! This is good – it can serve as a monstrous terror for my Lego minifigures collection, as well as a POP in its own right. 

There’s lots of little details (some might even say a couple too many for the relatively simplistic aesthetic) sculpted all over him, such as the sucker-like appendages on his head, warts on his wings, the chubby hands and the little spikes on the back of his ankles. To protect his modesty, he wears what must surely be the world’s biggest loincloth. It’s been a while since I read any Lovecraft, but I don’t recall this being a detail he mentions in his stories. It’s a good addition, though – it breaks up what could have been an monotonous display of green. With that said, I think it should have been a darker brown. Which brings us to the issue that plagues most of the POPs you’ll ever get – PAINT.  

There’s not a lot of paint, but the paint that is there is kind of sloppy. The main issue is on his mouth tentacles, the undersides which are painted with a kind of bleached bone colour. It hasn’t been done very cleanly, and the paint looks just a little too thick. On the upside, he’s ripe for customisers to repaint, and hopefully give that him that shiny, just-emerged-from-the-sea look via some gloss varnish. It’s a project I’d like to undertake but currently I lack the skill, the time and the inclination to do so. But maybe one day.   

There are two versions of Cthulhu available – the one pictured here and the Entertainment Earth exclusive version, which glows in the dark and has completely open red eyes, rather than half-closed black ones. I was only going to get one of the two, but after this one arrived I decided I had to own both. So I’ll hopefully be pre-ordering the other version shortly (it seems to be arriving in April). I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a few more versions in future, but I’ve been wrong about most of my POP variant predictions/hopes (Glow in the Dark Gillman/Flocked Wolfman, please Funko?), so don’t be surprised if I am again.

Despite some reservations about the paint, Cthulhu here still comes recommended for all H.P. Lovecraft fans (even though the man himself probably would have hated the cutesiness of it!). Ideal for anyone who needs to add some cosmic terror to their display shelf.    

Jarugar and Trypticon (Transformers: Age of Extinction Kre-O Microchangers)

Some months ago, I reviewed a few characters from the Transformers 4: Age of Extinction blind-bagged Kreons. But I bought several others too – so let’s look at two Decepticons today, Jarguar and Trypticon.

Jarugar changes into a car. This is unfortunate, as I hate the Kreon cars. While some of them look good, the articulation of the arms and legs on the Kreon body makes them quite flimsy, and they don’t hold together particularly well. Move it slightly and wheels start popping off, pieces don’t hold…it’s a pain in the butt. You’ll also notice that there’s no photo of him in alt mode, but if you’re really keen you can see it here. As you’ll read on that link, building him in alt mode works even more poorly than normal cars in this line.   

Nonetheless, he’s a cool-looking grey bot. His burgundy dual-wielded guns are particularly flash, and he makes for a solid, if unspectacular addition to my Decepticon forces.

Trypticon is a little more interesting, given that he is a giant purple tyrannosaurus rex. How could that possibly go wrong? Oh, wait…

Obvious jokes aside, Trypticon is fun in his T-Rex mode, and perfectly serviceable in his bot mode. I’d love to see more of this design in different colourways. My only real issue (and this applies to Jarguar too) is that their paintjobs have clearly been inspired by the Michael Bay style of Transformer, where there are zillions of moving parts -- this works fine for the movies, but for this style of figure, I tend to think simpler is better.  

Essentially, neither of these guys really blew me away, but Trypticon in particular is a fun addition to my small collection. 

It seems that the Microchangers theme has come to an end, but we will see another blind-bagged Kreons line sometime in 2015, re-branded as Kreon Warriors. Will they make it to Australia? Given that these guys are still pretty easy to find almost a year after the movie came out and that Collection 2 of the Age of Extinction Microchangers never made it here, I'm a little sceptical. But it's been a reasonably fun ride while it has lasted.  

Lego Minifigures – Battle Goddess (Series 12)

Series 12 – what a series it was! I don’t think I’ve been so pleased with a Minifigures set since probably series 5 or 6.

Today, we take a look at the Battle Goddess. Though she’s not explicitly identified as such, I think it’s a fairly safe bet to say she’s based on Athena, ancient Greek goddesses of wisdom and war. Lego could have really sealed the deal by including an owl with her, but I suppose it may not have cost out.

The figure’s dominant colours are white, gold and brown – white for her dress, gold for her helmet, armour and other trappings (including lipstick) and brown for her weaponry. Her hair and helmet are all one piece, which I believe is a new one. We can probably assume that we’ll see this piece again in future; perhaps a female warband in future Castle sets.

As for other accessories, she comes with the same spear we’ve seen many, many times before, but it’s now got a gold tip. She also comes with a round shield, which has a Greek pattern around the borders and a Greek-style Pegasus at the centre.

The Battle Goddess also has a softgoods skirt, which I have mixed feelings about. Though the design is cool, it doesn’t sit as evenly as it should (they rarely do) and it doesn’t quite protect her modesty either. Points for the idea, but one docked for its execution. Doubtless there’s a customiser out there already working on an improved version.

The Battle Goddess is a really fun, if somewhat obscure addition to the collection. She’s a cool companion for the Medusa from Series 10 – who I now feel like I should track down – as well as the Minotaur from series 5 and the Spartan from all the way back in series 2. But the real drawcard for me here was the idea of getting several, and using her as some kind of Amazon honour guard for Wonder Woman – who is, of course, an Amazon herself. So far I have three (thanks Scott!), which I think will do (though if anyone wants to sling more my way, just let me know!).   

Universal Monsters Funko POP – Frankenstein’s Monster (Glow in the Dark variant)

Perhaps the most iconic of all the Universal Monsters (it’s even on the logo featured on the box of these guys), Boris Karloff’s version of Frankenstein’s Monster has been a massive influence on popular culture – arguably more so than Mary Shelley’s original novel – so he was a natural shoe-in for inclusion in the Universal Monsters Funko POP range.  

Regular readers are probably aware of my predilection for glow in the dark items. I was always going to get myself a Frankenstein’s Monster from this range, but discovering that there was a glow in the dark version was the icing on the cake (currently he’s the same price as the regular version, but don’t be surprised if he ends up going for drastically more on the secondary market). One Christmas present later, and he was in my possession – thanks must go to my sisters!

The sculpt is an excellent rendition of the Monster in the cutesy Funko style, complete with all the signature elements like the bolts in the neck, the staple on the forehead and the outstretched arms. He’s a nice return to the simple style of some of the older figures, providing a nice contrast to the more intricate sculpts that have been appearing lately (though I do love some of them too).

The figure is made up of multiple pieces – one for the head, one for the neck/torso, one for the legs and separate pieces for the arms. The legs are not inserted into the torso properly, which leaves a gap around the base of his jacket. I would suggest checking yours carefully before you purchase it. As for the paint, it’s fine, but shows some traces of that Funko sloppiness around his hairline (though it is still much better than many of the older ones). Just check carefully before purchase.     

The glow effect is solid but not spectacular. Both his face and his hands glow, but as as they are cast in a fairly dark green, they seem to need a longer charging period, and they don't retain their glow for as long as other more run-of-the-mill glow items, like stars or Nightfighter RoboCop.

Overall, Frankenstein’s Monster doesn’t grab me in quite the same way as the Wolf Man and the Creature from Black Lagoon. Still, the glow in the dark aspect bumps him up a few notches, and he’s a fun addition to the collection overall. I’m curious to see if they do a “Son of Frankenstein” version in future; they could re-use the head and put a robe over the rest of the body. Another solid effort from Funko!     

Lego Review -- Arctic Ice Crawler (60033)

Set: 60033

Pieces: 113

Theme: City (Arctic sub-theme)

RRP: $20AUD

Build Time: 30 min



THE BACKGROUND

I've really taken a shine to Arctic sub-theme that came out last year. All of its sets are worth owning, and while it's territory Lego has covered in years past, it's been more than a decade since the last Arctic sets, and I think it's now being covered in much better fashion. Today I look at one of the smaller sets in the series, which I received as a Secret Santa late last year (thanks TK!) -- the Arctic Ice Crawler. 

THE MINIFIGURE

The Arctic male minifigs appear to use a generic body, with only the face different from figure to figure. They don't appear to have individual names, so feel free to make up your own. This guy has a green visor, a slight smile and stubble on his face, so I suppose Professor Green should be as good a name as any.

Professor Green comes with two accessories -- an icepick and circular saw. Obviously, he can also use the crane, the ice block and the mysterious crystal too.

THE BUILD

The build is quite simple, but it's still very entertaining. The little details, like the rear-view mirrors, the radar and the down-facing lights on top of the cab are all a lot of fun, really enhancing what could have just been a basic block on tank treads.

The set has a great, chunky feel, somewhat akin to a Tonka trunk. This beast looks like it would definitely be able to stand up to the demands of Arctic terrain, crawling across the snowy plains in search of great treasure, lying deep beneath the ground.

As might be expected, the crane is one of the set's best features. It's not quite articulated enough to pick the ice block straight up and dump it on the back of the truck, but it's close enough to fudge it. The hook doesn't hold the ice block particularly tightly, but this the same across the board for all the Arctic sets that feature a hook. Play carefully!   

Just a side note -- though the truck cab has doors, the minifigure is actually most easily slotted in by removing the roof. You could probably fit two figures in the cab, but I don't think you'd be able to get them clicked in together. The interior makes it primarily a solo vehicle, though I'm sure ambitious customisers could kit it out to seat more.

OVERALL

The Arctic Ice Crawler is a great addition to the Arctic subtheme. It's available at a good pricepoint, and it's also entirely possible to use it as an "army builder" of sorts -- there's no reason why your Arctic expedition couldn't make use of several of these vehicles. So if you've been hesitating, I'd say you should definitely take the plunge.


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Universal Monsters Funko POP – The Wolf Man

Even a man who is pure in heart

and says his prayers by night
may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
and the autumn moon is bright.

The Wolf Man, 1941

Werewolves – my favourite mythical (OR ARE THEY?) creature. Yet strangely enough, I’ve never actually seen the Universal Movie that this POP is based on! I used to own it, but through various circumstances no longer have it, and have yet to track down another copy.

Nonetheless, Lon Chaney Jr’s makeup is among the most iconic in horror cinema, and it’s a werewolf, which makes this an essential POP purchase. The sculpt on the Wolf Man is great! They’ve really captured the look of the character, while sticking to a cool and cutesy form. It’s up there with The Creature from the Black Lagoon, who is possibly my favourite overall POP.

His body is crafted from multiple pieces – one for the torso, one for the legs and separate arms. Funko has really been moving away from its original base body of late, which I have mixed feelings about. It’s definitely appropriate for some characters, but the problem is that a lot of older POPs are beginning to look a little ordinary by comparison, with their rigid pose.  

The paint is several cuts above most Funko POPs – there are a couple of fuzzy spots, but the only real notable weak points are the claws on his feet and the ragged pant legs, both of which are entirely forgivable.   

Final verdict? I’m thrilled with this POP – he’s instantly become one of my favourites. And as a side note, Funko would really be doing themselves a disservice if they didn’t do a 2010 repaint of the mould.  

Pic from Amazon

Autobot Prowl (Transformers X Loyal Subjects Series 2)

In the last couple of years, The Loyal Subjects have created vinyl toys based on a few 1980s properties, including G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the subject of today’s review, TRANSFORMERS!

The Loyal Subjects have now released two series of blind-boxed Transformers, all of them styled with a super-deformed, chibi-esque experience. As is pretty much always the case with these things, it’s yielded mixed results – some of the characters look awesome rendered in this style, while others just look a bit rubbish.

Prowl is somewhere in-between. I don’t have any great love for the character (being more of a Decepticons guy) and generally tend to prefer TFs with faceplates or inhuman heads. So Shockwave or one of the planes would have been great; Prowl is certainly not the worst in the series, but he wouldn’t have been in my top 3 choices. 

When it comes to vinyl toys, my paint expectations tend to be quite low – I mostly buy Funko stuff – but after buying the Kidrobot Raphael, I’ve come to have substantially higher expectations. Unfortunately, they weren't quite met in this case. The tampographs are pretty cleanly executed, but there’s some sloppy paint work that detracts from the overall look – it’s not clean and clearly defined, the way (I think) it should be. One of the red prongs on his head was also slightly bent out of the box, but it seems to have straightened out since. 

Prowl is surprisingly articulated. I knew he moved at the arms and the neck, but there’s actually a bit more – his wrists and shoulders are balljointed, as are his legs. His neck technically moves too, but his chin restricts it from moving much.

NB: When you open one of these guys, they’re split in half at the waist. You need to screw the lower half of the body into the torso – though it looks like a balljoint, it won’t actually pop in.

The articulation is nice in theory, but to be quite honest, articulation is not my main concern when it comes to these designer toys. For me, they need to look cool first and foremost, and be functional as a secondary concern. If they can do both, that’s great! But on this occasion I think they would have been better off cutting out a few joints and doing it Funko Pop or Kidrobot style – one, or just a couple of points of articulation, but not so much that it would make the end result kind of on the fragile side.   

Prowl comes with one accessory – his gun. It’s kind of nice, and in theory I would pass it to one of my “regular” Transformers, if the peg fit their hands (it's too thin).  

Overall, I’m disappointed with the figure. He’s far from horrible, but I think the articulation could be better incorporated. Couple this with the fact that I think $15-20AUD for one of these is far too much to be paying for a blind packaged figure, and I don’t think I’ll be buying from this particular line in the foreseeable future. 

Lego Review – Santa at the Beach (Toys R Us Promo Set)

Set number: N/A

Pieces: 43

Build time: 10 min

Year: 2014

BACKGROUND

I was calling past my local Toys R Us over the weekend, and they were having a Lego build event on. This happens semi-regularly, but they’re often centred on themes I don’t have a lot of interest in. However, I noticed that this one was Christmas-themed, and thought I should inquire. A few minutes later, I found myself walking out of the store with the set in a plastic baggie – apparently they had some spare, so I scored one for free! Thank you Toys R Us!

THE MINIFIGURE

While this is ostensibly Santa, he’s been given a pirate bandanna headpiece, rather than a “Santa Hat” like the Minfigures Series 8 Santa. His face looks a little grumpy beneath the beard. His suit is plan red, with no decorations to indicate it’s specifically a Santa suit – so he kind of looks like a bikie who happens to be wearing a red suit rather than the traditional conception of Santa, though he’s still recognisable as such.

He comes with two accessories, a transparent greenish-yellow ice block and a red mug. The ice block can be stored in the esky if so desired and the mug can sit on the table.

THE BUILD

Quick and simple to put together, the set sits on a beige baseplate, imitating sand. Atop it sits a red and yellow-striped sunbed, which is cool but a bit too long for minifigures, an esky (which opens and closes) and a table which sits next to the sunbed.

OVERALL

Santa himself is a little lacklustre, but overall this is a cool little set. It’s quick to build, and could be used with any number of minifigures. It’s probably a little difficult to track down, and I probably wouldn’t recommend spending much to do so, but it typifies what a good exclusive Lego set should be – fun, but not essential.    

The Lupine Book Club Sunday Afternoon Reader -- Part 2

More Sunday Afternoon reading! Let's get into it. See the Part 1 for an explanation of what I mean by Sunday Afternoon reading, should you require one.

Messages – Stan Romanek (2009)

Pic from Amazon.com

A few months ago, my dad leant my sister this book. She’s currently undertaking her PhD in psychology, so my dad was interested to hear what she thought about it from a psychological perspective. So I decided I’d have a read as well.

One of the main points which distinguish the book from the hundreds of others like it is that author Stan Romanek seems to have accrued a number of photos, as well as some video footage, of his abductors. Unfortunately, many of them do not seem to have made it into the book. I can appreciate that there are space considerations, but it does his story no favours when he talks about amazing photos he’s taken, then doesn’t include them. And to put it rather bluntly, regardless of where you sit on the sceptic/believer spectrum, the included photos are not going to impress. The same applies to his footage of “Boo” (one of a number of named aliens in the book) which you can view here.

Still, Messages is an entertaining, enjoyable read, and – whether true or not – a good introduction to the main tropes of UFO abduction phenomena. One of my sister's thoughts, incidentally, was that whether or not anything real had happened, he probably needed some counselling for stress.

Lego Batman – The Visual Dictionary

Pic from Amazon.com

I bought this while overseas in 2013 – I figured 5 pounds was pretty good for a Lego-related book and Batman minifigure. The book was definitely worthwhile -- covering the Batman and (DC) Super Heroes Lego from 2006 through to 2012, it naturally inspires a great deal of regret that I wasn’t paying more attention to Lego around this time (not that I could have afforded it back then anyway). Though a lot of licensed Lego is a mixed bag, the Batman theme in particular generated some really cool sets. Additionally, there are curiosities such as a prototype of Wonder Woman’s invisible plane – which will be showing up in 2015, albeit it different form.

Unfortunately, the minifigure was pretty disappointing in comparison to the book. Based on the Electro Suit from the 2008 Lego Batman video game, they’ve used the flimsy plastic that sometimes turns up in the Minifigures theme, the helmet doesn’t fit properly and he's missing the backpack that he has in the game. Nonetheless, when considered as a package, it’s definitely money well spent. No regrets about this one.  

Mysteries of the Unknown: The UFO Phenomenon (1987)

Pic from Amazon.com

I mentioned this book in the previous instalment of the Sunday Afternoon Reader. Of the two, I think it is the better, with more impressive illustrations, and an overall more unsettling tone. But of course, ideally you’d own both, even if they do cover some very similar territory.

A classy looking faux-leather cover, lots of metallic ink printing and many entertaining stories add up to make this one a winning combination. 

The only downside is that now I feel like I need to track down a copy of Mysterious Creatures, which was another excellent one from the series. It's still available reasonably easily, so it may be one to track down in the new year.

Ninja: 1,000 Years of the Shadow Warrior -- John Man (2013)

Pic from Amazon.com

As we get older, there are certain beliefs we held as children that need to be challenged. One of them is the idea that ninjas were black-clad badasses who pretty much went around chopping people's heads off and then disappearing in clouds of smoke, leaving any survivors in awe of their near-supernatural abilities.

Sadly, this wasn't the case, and it's a shock I think most men struggle to come to terms with. It's way worse than finding out Santa isn't real. I don't think I've quite dealt with it yet, and so I cling to characters from my past like Storm Shadow and Raphael -- ninjas who do live up to my exceedingly high expectations.

Ninja dispels a lot of legends surrounding the titular warrior-clan, but it also contains enough sensationalism to keep the interest inflamed throughout the course of the book. Importantly, it shows that for everything we do know about the ninjas, there's a buttload more that we don't know -- after all, what we do know seems to indicate that they were deliberately secretive...in the meantime, I'll probably continue to use outrageous pop culture interpretations to fill in the blanks.

That wraps it up for another installment of Sunday Afternoon Reading -- Part 3 will hopefully not take as long to arrive as Part 2 has!

If there's a particular book you'd like me to look at in the future, post in the comments and I'll do my best. You can also visit the Lupine Book Club on Facebook. Click here!