Why do the dead walk the Earth? For some, it is because they fear what comes next, and so they cling to the memory of their mortal existance. For others, they haunt the living because they have unfinished business amont them. Still, there are some spirits who linger not by choice, but because they are cursed to do so. Such is the case of the spirit who, in life, was known as Jacob Marley.
Eternally fettered, the Ghost of Jacob Marley wears the chains he forged in life. Each link is a sin that he committed against his fellow man. Each ledger and cashbox and key is a reminder of opportunities lost, of chances to lift up and assist a fellow human that he squandered in his blind greed. This restless spirit now walks amongst mankind, forced to witness the fate of those he could have helped, but did not - and yet, somehow this damnable soul found a way to not only return to the land of the living, but to finally use his influence to help another.
Christmas Eve is one of the nights pf the calendar year when the barriers between the worlds of the living and the dead begin to thaw. It is therefore no surprise that it was on this night that Marley´s Ghost appeared to his former partner, the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge. The specter brought with him a warning, that should Ebenezer not change his was, he too would be condemned to wear the chains of a life poorly lived. Yet Jacob Marley also briught with him hope, for he explained to Scrooge that he would be visited that very evening by three additional spirits and that he still had a chance to turn from his path - a chance sich old Marley had procured for him.
Ever the businessman, Jacob Marley was brokering deals with the spirits even as he dragged around the heavy burden of his own sinful deeds. For he could not assist those he shunned in life, but he could be the instrument that would help remdeem thr sould of Ebenezer.
This story is an old one, and most know that Ebenezer Scrooge was not only saved, but that he became as good a man as any knew. He held Christmas on his heart the whole year through, and all the lives he touched with his remaining time on Earth owed that good will to the ghostly intervention of the "good man of business" once known as Jacob Marley.
The Figura Obscura series for Fourhorsemen has been one of the most amazing lines i ever seen tough i dont have many of them, pretty much every single figure of the series stands out as a brillant collectible and the fact some of them are season themed turns them into something to looks forward every year. While this year they release the Mouse King that looks more like a Teenage Ninja Turtle character, in 2023 the Christmas season saw theyr Ghost of Jacob Marley, from Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol" book.
While this particular story and its character as seen literally hundreds of version on screen and each one wathers down the concept little by little, the original Charles Dickens book was actually "a Ghost Story of Christmas" and was supposed to be haunting and creppy and the people of Fourhorsemen didnt dissapoint by keeping faithfull to the original printed story just like they did with the Frankenstein Creature last year.
Aside of coming in a beautifull artbox that mimics the streets of London full of spirits wandering around and being seen tough the window (tough this ghost renders are based on Fourhorsemen people), Jacob Marley is in the standar scale of the NECA, McFarlane and Storm figures soo he matches perfectly most of other lines in size and is the same size as Krampus and the Creature (and of cours he is a head taller than the Headless Horseman) and can stand on his own perfectly.
He is articulated on the neck, waist, shoulders, elbows, wrists, legs, knees and ankles. The ehad have a big ball joint that let the head be swaped pretty easy but the long hair in the back dosnt let him move the head backside tough the front have a good rnage of movement. The shoulders have a ball joint as well as the elbows and they can turn left and rigth as well. The waist dosnt move too much mostly because of the hip piece of his suit. This peice is made of soft plastic but it blocks the waist movement anyway as well as the legs movement.
The legs can rotate but like i said, the hip piece from his suit makes it difficult while the knees and ankles ball joints moves perfectly with no effort. Actually, the ankles are kinda loose and makes him fall now and then, but finding the rigth balance for them is not that difficult.
The sculpt is superb, like expected. Small details like the wrinkles around Jacob´s forehead as well as the veins, the bag under his eyes, the cut on his mouth, are very faintly and soft sculpted while the missing piece of flesh on his forehead and strands of hair have a very deep and strong sculpt that defines them nicelly. Jacob Marley´s face is cold, stoic, and very severe, and the shroud arund his face have a soft wool texture.
The jacket, the vest and pants also have the same texture while the sleeves end, inside of the jacket and boots have a very leatherish texture that makes them looks much heavyer. Both the vest and the jacket are made of soft plastic tough the vest have no reason for it, the jacket material helps to not limit his legs or even arms poseability.
The details like the big belt bukle and the big buttons on the jacket looks reayy good as well as the scard on his neck but the most oustanding part of this are the legs and the jacket, because, this is a ghost and ghost have no legs, rigth? Soo the boots and jacket are cast in transluscent plastic that reminds a lot the Invisible Man figures. The paint fades slowlly at the end of the jacket and the top of the boots soo the changue between "material" and "inmaterial" sections have an incrediblly soft and natural transition.
The color here is blue....like, theres a whole lot of blue here but theres a lot of different blues as well that ranges from the pale to the almost grey one. The pants have a grey color while the vest have electric blue and the jacket have a pale soft blue with the buttons painted on white and electric blue. The boots have a totally different blue while the skin have a mix of pale and electric tones.
The shroud and the eyes stands out very much since they are the only white parts and while the entire outfit have no shades or other shadows on it, the face and hair have a lot of different tone sof electric and dark blues, specially under the eyes to make the eyes stand out even more and make the hair looks old and dry. Overall, the palette gives a feeling of coldnes and stillnes while the translucent boots and jacket feels very icy.
Theres a lot fo accesorys here!! Like two extra pair of hands, one claw shapped and another one fully open in a very dramatic way. Both works good to hold the chains and can be swaped very easy. Theres a lot of veins and wrinkles on them as well as grey long claws but the ball joint is painted on blue, soo while swaping them constantly the blue color will chip away constantly.
One of the main items in this pack is the head with no shroud around it and the mouth fully open on a silent and groesque scream, the jaw disjointed and the sides of the mouth cut soo the mouth is open revealing all the tissues inside. The eyes expression is full fo suffering too but perhaps the part that make this even more gruesome is the fact the teeth are painted on yellow and the inside of the mouth and tongue on red, soo that make a ghastly contrast with all the pale blue around it. I cant say this enough: the scult of the inside of the mouth and face expression is amazing and completelly perfect.
There is another head that consist on a kind of.....metalic helmeth shaped like a skull. This helmeth is closed at the side with a padlock and have a long metal chain hanging from the chin with a big and heavy loocking padlock in the end. The metalic paint on it and the different components, loke the folden bolts and the golden padlock are really good and this is an addition to the torture of Jacob Marley tough i just wonder if this helmeth if for him or another figure......mmmmm.
The other centrail piece in this is his weigth mechanism: a vest made with leather straps cast in very soft rubber plastic and painted with browns and metalic bolts and golden rings. Each rings have a long chains conected to it if different lenght and this are all REAL chains and each chain have different shapped keys hanging from the half and some padlocks here and there as well.
There is two books hanging from two chains, one is thin and blue with a golden palque in front while other is brown and very thick with a belt closing it. The leather texture of the covers as well as the little golden and metalic details painte don them as well as the pages inside make this books little mrvells, just like the ones included in the Frankenstein Creature.
Three different cashbox hang from three different chains as well and each one of them have a unique design and color palette, with one being completelly square and metalic green, another one have a tall lid while the other have a round lid both with grey and golden details. The texture feels like old metal while the color aplication is perfect and all of them can be open to reveal theyr content.
Lastly, a big thick chains comes out from the pinal cord of the weigth device and conects with a big and heavy safe box with little wheels on the bottom and a perfectly sculpted lid with a convination device. This item have the same texture of old metal as the other chasboxes and the paint is mostly grey with golden finish touches in front and it can be opened as well to keep the skull helmeth safe inside.
This weigth device have one of the straps detached soo once the head of Marley is gone, it can be wrapped around his body very easy and stays there perfectly. The whole chains system is like a metalic cobweb that can be pused around Jacob Marley like tendrils or tentacles to give him a pretty dramatic and spectacular look. This torture device is pretty noisy and can be very anoying while posing the figure around but it also can helps to keep in in balance (or destroy his balance completelly as well).
Now the skull helmeth thing is inside the safe box but waths inside the chasboxes? A toon of keys, twelve different keys bassed on the keys in the boxes of the other Figura Obscura figures. The keys sculpt looks is supper detailed since some have very strange shapes and the metalic finish looks great.
At the begining of the book, Scooge see the face of Jacob Marley in the doorknocker just before entering his house and starting listen to chains on the stairs soo Fourhorsemen included not one but two drooknockers here as well, one with Jacob stoic expression and the other with his disjointed jaw fully open. The sculpt is fantastic and the cooperpaint mixing gold and green gives them a very natural texture and the wings are articulated tough i am not sure how to display this since they only have a hole in the back and the only way to make them stand is by hanging them on a nail in the wall.
And finally, since the experience of Figura Obscura starts from the very cover of the box, the box itself is an accesory: once the magnetic locks are open the wraping around the box opens like a screen and form a background for the figure. The scene shows the room of Scrooge, with his bed in one side, the window in the middle with a lonely canddle and Scrooge himself on his couch by the fireplace completelly terrified by witnesing the pale and transluscent figure coming from the shadows.
The quality of the artwork is amazing and manages to mix realism and stylism pretty good. The color palette of the whole scene is the same as Jacob Marley, deep and cold blue, but the canddle in the middle as wella s the clock tower in outside and the fireplace make a great contrast to the scene and the presence of Scooge on it make the figure actually interacts with the background to build an scene. This is not just a background, this is an scene happening between two different characters and this really makes the display pop up in a very magnific way.
I can talk endlessly about this figure. The Figura Obscura figures only comes out once ot twice a year but each one of them shines from head to toe and completelly unique and original, from the box to the accesory and to the coltural weigth the handle as well. I mean, if you are a reader of books this figure would be awesome given is one of the key characters from the principal work of Charles Dickens but if you are a Christas maniac this figure is a must and if you are a horror collector, this figure is also principal since this was the very first ghostly figure that manifest with chains.
This is one of those expamples of a toy being seen as a piece of art but all Figura Obscura have the same level of quality. They later released the Ghost of Christmas Past but its design was less dashing than Jacob Marley and a few days ago they releasing the King Mouse and i am not gonna get that but they also releaed this year the Jersey Devil and i am still hunting the Masque of the Read Death from a few years back but i hope this series keep releasing this kind of characters next year and focus more on season characters.
