ENDEAVOR

Hunting a hero for two years isnt something i was expecting since the first time i saw this Endeavor figure on convention photos. I keep seing photos of him in events and asking on stores to get perplexed expressions and ignorant answers, No one knew there was an Endeavor figure or when it was coming out. A couple of months ago i even saw the figure in person in a convention and they totally refuse to sell him to me...

And now, in total confinement i was able to finally get him. This is pretty much the only figure i got in the last 3 months thanks to COVID-19 and the skyhigh dollar currency. This figure was a little more expensive than wath i had planed to pay, but given how difficult he was to get and how this is pretty much the only figure of Endeavor, it was worthy.

The only figure of Endeavor. Sure, there is a Funky Pop of him but i consider it more a distraction than a real thing and there was plans to release a huge super expensive statue of him but i dont know if that project was completed. Aside of that theres lots of action figures from My Hero Academia (including Nendroids) and not a single series includes Endeavor. I am already used to this kind of things, i even got the feeling he is gonna die soon since that always happends with the characters i like.

Anyway, this figure is part of the "Age of Heros" line from Banpresto, that classic company that use to make high quality figures to a very low price and with this Endevour they dont dissapoint. He is on scale of an average action figure, bigger than Figma but smaller to most statues, he is even on scale with Sol Badguy from Embrace and can stand on his own perfectly with his two hufe feet tough he includes a circular black base, a very simplistic base that works really good.

This is a statue soo theres no articulations at all tough ne needed a little bit of asembly, the plastic they used for him is a little bit soft soo he have a velvet kind of texture that helps to not make him feels cheap. This material also help to keep the paint on place it seems.

The sculpt on Enji Todoroki is fantastic, his pose is extremelly manly and full of personality, looking like a tower with cross arms over his chest, his muscles are perfectly defined under the tigth suit and he have an spectacular ass, tough he has no bulgue at all. The sculpt on the flames ia awesome too, looks wild and very defined since each flame is an independent piece. Special mention to the lace on his boots and the flame beard and mask, the sculpt is really dynamic and dramatic.

He is cast on blue plastic soo most of the paint job is on the flames, with sift orange and reds, the boots looks like they are burning the ground thanks to the strong red on the base. I only wish the flames had some transparency soo they can catch the ligth better, but doing it would means change the material to a harder plastic and that would make them easyer to brake.

His eyes are actually printed on the flame mask wich gives him a pretty cute cartoon look fitting to the manga.

I wish he was bigger, just like i wish the same with Sol, but overall the scale is not bad and the price was still pretty descent for such high quality figure. Maybe someday some company will pick this guy for an action figure or even a Play Arts Kai (thats just a dream) but this figure is a very descent starting point.

He is supposed to be a pair tough, with the second figure being Shoto Todoroki but i am deffinetly not gonna get him.

SOL BADGUY

Holy shit!! Is Sol Baduy from Gauilty Gear!!! My husbando for 20 years in a row!! When i played the first Guilty Gear on Playstation i loved the gameplay and i still do it, for me this is the best 2D fighter and have the perfect gameplay! And Sol Badguy was the character that made definitive my liking for men! A kind of cartoon sexualization of the male form (kind of like Jessica Rabbit for straigth), he is the amalgamation of all my fetishes!

Despite how much in love i was of him (and i am still), for years i drooled over many statues that were exclusive to the japanese market until five years ago when Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN was released and Embrace released two statues based on the game: Sol Badguy and Ky Kiske with theyr new redesign. Since i am not interested on Ky i centered my whole attention on Sol and he wasnt cheap at all.

This is my only figure from the brand Embrace soo i know nothing about it aside that it release a lot of lolis and moe girls but i have no experinence on its quality. The very first thing i noticed about Sol was how small he is, he is a little bit bigger than an standar action figure, wich is not a bad scale but i wanted a bigger figure.

Despite he not being very tall, he is masive thanks to his sword, hair and corcular base soo i got a lot of troubles place him in my room, soo with the years i now apreciate his scale much more since he was bigger he would not fit anywhere.

Despite being a totally statis statue, and being just standing, the sculpt is extremelly dynamic since his whole body flows perfectly with his cartoonish anatomy: huge shoulders, small waist, huge hands and feet and long legs, and his costume helps a lot to gives him "movement" as well as his hair.

The material is kinda softish tough, he is very light and the only hard plastic is on his weapon. Theres not a lot of textures in here aside of his pants tough and his base, since the base is not just a circular piece of rock but it hav lots of cracks and details.

The paint is fantastic here since the base hame lots of shades of greys and blacks giving it a very vivid look and Sol have the same shades of red on his sexy vest and gloves, his muscles and black shirt, the paint is vivrant and fits him perfectly and each element is extremelly clean (like the bucklets).

There is no removable part, soo his hair is the most delicate part given how long it is. Is made with soft pastic soo it dosnt break and dostn weigth too much but its used to keep the figure in balance with a trasluscent rod conected to the base. This rod is kinda anoying looking but necesary.

His Fireseal sword is spectacular looking with its strong red and lots of details like text and bolts here and there, it have a very complex sculpt and moves a little bit on Sol's hand tough it cannot be removed. Oh, speaking of wich, the belt on his waist also move a little bit but not much.

No removable or optional parts and a hell to clean, this statue is great looking thanks to all the personality put on the character design, sexy face expression and dynamic pose. Like i said, he wasnt cheap but i been very happy to have him for years and is one of my favorite figures on my collection that i would save in an apocalypse scenario.

SHAMPOO

Ranma 1/2 was one of my favorite animes when i was a kid, it was soo incrediblly weird and bizarre, soo fun and soo dramatically different to Dragon Ball it made a big impresion on me, tough there were no toy of the characters sadly until 30 years later when Bandai released its S.H.Figuarts.

I hasnt been very interested on S.H. Figuarts given with how fragile and small they look soo i only got Devilman and Rashid, but Ranma was a must and sadly, i wasnt able to buy the entire set but i manage to get my favorite character, Shampoo.

She is smaller than Rashid (and Ranma i guess) and deffinetly feel pretty fragile. She can stands on her own tough her hair is really heavy and needs some balancing, but she also comes with a pretty good looking base with a purple design with her name and shadow. I love how this figures have a unique base for them but the arm that holds the figure is pretty useless...

The figure is cast on the color of each section of the figure soo theres almost no paint on it excelpt on the face and some details. Thsi gives her a pretty clean and vibrant look, with a silk like texture, perfect for an animated character soo theres no mistakes on the paint to be seen and the sculpt is pretty good, tough i think she is more based on the manga version than the anime, given how big her head looks.

She is articulated on her head, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, legs, knes and ankles and all articulations use baill joints soo they work perfectly. Her outfit is pretty simple and made with soft plastic soo ntohing gets in the way of the artculation except the heavy hair. I am surprised the hair has no articulation but it mess her balance a little bit.

But is pretty fun to play with her since che can adopt of action poses as well of very subtle and femenin poses.

She comes with lots of little hands and change them is really tircky given how tiny are the articulation of her wrists. She also have four different face plates: a normal expression, a happy one with open mouth, another happy expression with closed eyes and a face for a "kiss". The paint on the faces is pretty pretty good and is easy to exchange them just by removing the front og her hair, tough given the nature of the character, i really wish they give her and angry face.

Sadly, she dosnt comes with her weapons, but she does have a transport box from the Neko . a very good restaurant. One of her hands can hold the box perfectly and the front of it open up to reveal the inside, a very good looking bowl of ramen with great detailing.

Finally, she comes with her Cat form, a tiny little pink cat with an articulated neck.

Overall, she is realy pretty, cute and very fun to play with, almost perfect ALMOST since she dosnt have an angry face or her weapons, this figures mostly ignore the violent side of the character. Aside of that she is really impresive and a great representative of one of the most fun animes ever seen. Having all characters is a little too much but at least i really want Ryoga.

VENAL ANATOMICA

Back in the 2001, when McFarlane Toys was on its prime toy stores had an invasion of Tortured Souls; McFarlane figures designed by the amazing Clive Barker.

I been a fan of Barker Cenobites since i was a child soo i was fascinated by this collection of figures. Sadly, i was a teen back then, with no job and my parents felt really repulsed and sick just by watching this figures. I had no way to get them at all and many years went fliying.

Clive Barker once called them objest that repulse and obsses, and i have to agree, since 15 years later i still felt the obsession of owning this characters, display them and explore them since they are soo uniqueand shocking. No toys were like this before McFarlane produce them and soo far theres still not many toys like this (there is more shocking toys now days? I dont remember any).

Now i have 30 years old (mmmmm) and i finally take the risk to get them. They were pricey, but still affordabele and nothing compared to Play Arts Kai or Hot Toys.

The first one i got is Venal Anatomica, the “Haunter of Primordium”, creation of the Doctor of the Sacred Heart; Dr. Talisac. I always feel attracted to this character given how interesting is his face design and his silhouette, square-ish and elegant, he is kind of hunky looking, something that scares me a lot.

While he is the standar size of the McFarlane toys from back then, everything else is different to wath they used to produce. First of all he is very articulated. His neck, shoulders, elbows and wrists, his legs too. He is not as estatuesque as i was expecting. Also, he can stand perfectly by his own, even with the chains moving around and hanging.

The sculpt is brillant (something to natural), with sculpted veins on his arms and skin texture on the exposed flesh and the fabric texture on his “suit, his costume is extremelly elabroated and complex and full of textures. His body is made with standar plastic but the “leather” suit is made with soft rubbery plastic and the chains are metal. My only complaign is that the blades and spike ball and hooks are made with soft plastic as well  wich makes them looks really “toy-ish”.

Differently to everything McFarlane did, the pain work in here is totally flawless. The skin looks damaged and pretty natural, with blood in the rigth spots and every teeth perfectly divided with black, even his gums have painted shadows and lights.

The black leather outfit is not a black piece of plastic, is actually painted as well with dark blacks on the wrinkles and greys to highlight the details, the level of detail is insane for this size of figure.

His head is covered by a transparent membrane that can be removed. I dont know exactly wath this membrane is, but it adds a lot of deep to the strange and bizarre design. The back is also amazing, with a kind of “insecotid” structure on his neck and flesh erupting from the holes, i can see A LOT of H.R.Giger in here as much as Barker.

The only accesory this Cenobite have is the chapter V of the Six Destinies story from Clive Barker. A little boocklet with a design as scary and unsetting as the character, it really shows the love to the detail they had with this series.

Sadly, this chapter leaves a lot to be desired since it revolves around sec between two of the other monsters and dosnt explain too much of this creature aside it was created by Talisac ( its hilarious to think how a man hanging from hooks can create a creature like this).

I am extremelly happy with this guy and even if hes not that big, he stands out A LOT on my display. This Tortured Souls project between Todd McFarlane and Clive Barker was indeed a peculiarity on the history of the toy industry.

LUCIDIQUE

Being a fan of Clive Barker and collector of figures, the Tortured Souls line became sort of an obssesion for me. An obsession that dissapeared for a long time but always went back suddenly. Soo now that i had the chance to get some of them i decided to get Lucidique since she stands out as the only female of the group.

The “Avenger”, she is daughter of a senator of Primordium but while her father find his end by being a way too good of a person, she is soo evil that even the mafia of the city is scared of her. Somehow, she knows about the cenobites, and trick the assasin of her father to became one but later she decides to give herself as well as a suplicant of Agonistes and find immortality as a she-demon.

This figure was full of surprises. First of all, while the the guys are more articulated to the usual McFarlane statues, this girl is totally static. She can only move her head and one of her arms and thats it. She is mostly a sculpture. Gladlly, she can stand by herself soo theres no harm done.

All the gimicks found on Venal Anatomica are here; her body is made with hard plastic while her leather suit os made with sift rubber, giving her rich rich texture.The chains are metalic but, again, her hooks and blades are plastic. Maybe McFarlane was afraid to release toys with soo many metalic little blades.

Her suit is not plain blackness, since its painted with different tones of greys and have a lot of silvers in the buttins or small nails in between the belts she have. Unlike Venal Anatomica, her skin is smoth and soft with an ethereal transparency that gives her a pretty realistic looks. I have Olga and Fortune from McFarlane Toys from back then (2001) and they deffinetly dosnt have this materials or level of sculpt and paint.

Her face is softlly and beautifully sculpted, an impresive feat given her small size. Her eyes are terrible fearsome and savage, like the eyes of an animal and they are yellow. Her eyes are tiny and yet, they are perfectly painted as well as her teth.

The black tendrils/tissue/horns that form her hair are also made with soft plastic and they can be moved over to reveal her back. She does have accesoryes, in the shape of an extra chain and hook (is pretty fun put they chains in different places) a blade like sword and a mechanical device with many blades, like a claw. This weapons are useless since they cant be placed on her hands, but they fit on small holders on her back.

As pretty as she is, i have to say i am not excited by her design at all. I think Barker went for the idea of “ugly inside pretty outside” because she is extremelly beautifull and looks alien between the other monsters. Some parts of her dress are biting her skin and theres blood in here and there but she is mustly “normal lookin”. You need to remove her “hair”to reveal her wounds in the shape of a skinned back with raw muscles. The back is incrediblly detailed, with the spinal cord revealing in the middle and the muscles having a weet/bloody feel. Really neat for such hidden view.

She have a leg with no skin too, the hidden one behind her dress and thats it. Her craneum looks like the skin of a dragon and the little horns that give shape to her hair are cool but i dont understand them as a torture. Its more like she is mutatin but still looks aesthetic.

She reminds me a lot Shuna Sassi from Nightbreed/Cabal.

I would have liked a lot more a female as monstruous and hiddeous as the male characters, it would be much more memorable but maybe McFarlane didnt wanted to mutilate a female character or they just wanted something pretty between the monsters?

Either way, she is a great looking figure and have a neat little back story in the Chapter II The Avenger text she comes with. I read Six Destinies years ago and it was dissapointed by the way it ends, but Lucidique back story was one of the few chapters that are worth reading.

SCYTHE MEISTER

Zarles Krieger, the transformed assassin of Primordium, responsable of the falling in its dinasty of rules, was the piece i was more looking forward from the Tortured Souls line.

Back in 2001, i had the feeling this guy was a puzzle i wanted to experience. I didnt fully understood his design just by looking at promotional photos, and see him in pieces inside his clamshell was no better. Once i got him last week, i had my doubts to open him since i wanted him in mint condition, but i am really glad i open him (and the rest).

This is a toy that must be seen in person to be belived.

As much as i try, the photos i took are not able to show the full deep of this mechanical peacock and his many details that appeare suddently every time you watch him.

Like Venal Anatomica, he is fully articulated with his legs, shoulders, wrists, elbows and head and can stand on his own perfectly (amazing!!!). The mechanical device on his back is fully articulated as well as the arm on his shoulder.

Again, his costume is made with soft rubber like the rest and perfectly painted n black and grey and the extra pieces of flesh hanging from his chest are made with a pretty thin layer of suft plastic with a weth texture. No other McFarlane toy have this many textures.

His face is a nightmare, and to my surprise, one of hes eyes is peeking below the straps. His eyes have veins and a blue pupil, perfectly done for such a hidden detail and with this small scale.

He comes with many chains and hooks coming out from around his body, like tentacles. This chains can be wrapped around his body or weapons to form a spiderweb of metal and chains. This chains are bloody of course.

One of this chains comes with a knife (sadly, is plastic) with carvings on the blad and blood stains. He also have a pair of giant scissors/scythe like weapon that fits into the structure on his back. By moving the small handle in the rood, the blades open and close.

The structure on his back have a veil of chains that join on the back on his head, into a weird plug, and the closer they are to his head, the bloodyer they are. My only complaing is that this structures and weapons are all plastic. This mades them extremelly delicate. One of the stinges that keep his flesh pinned to the wheel on his head was broke even inside the package. I am afraid to try to fix it soo i will leave it like that but a sturdier material for this pieces would be much better.

While he is the same size of the rest, he looks much bigger and menacing that the rest thanks to his satanic peacock design. Sadly he have a pretty pathetic end in Clive Barker´s story. While his background was really nicelly done, he later is killed thanks to his pathetic love for Lucidique. I wish Barker had a better story for this incrediblly characters.

I really doubt i get more of this toys tough, maybe Agonistes but i am happy with this 3 monsters. This one specially is an almost ethereal vision, a trully frigthining and surreal toy that could drive anyone into madness if he was in real life scale.

For creating a toy this size that is trully scary and this hellish looking, McFarlane Toys trully deservs devotion for this avant garde works of art.