KESSLER WOLF

 

Its almost christmas and wath a better way to celebrate than with monsters and horror, really this season is getting some amazing figures that reminds a lot the 23 years old line called Movie Maniacs. That line give us the monsters from the best horror films from the 80s and 90s but while that line died in McFarlane´s hands long time ago, NECA surelly continue the tradition in a really spectacular way.

Just just fresh from the Comicon here it is the Kessler Wolf, the monster from An American Werewolf in London, one of the best and most disturbing and memorable horror and wolfmen movies along side Dog Soldier and The Howling. And this is the best time to release action figures based on this movie since is the 40th anniversary of the film.

This monster is MASIVE....the box that contains him is really huge and feels almost like a vehicle or a playset from a 90s toy line. In scale with all ther NECA figures he reaches the chest area of all other action figures, on all four since standing on two legs he wold be huge. He is articulated on the neck, torso, shoulders, elbows, wrists, half "hands", legs, knes, ankles and half feet. I am not sure of i should call them feet or hands or ankles at all since his legs have a totally different anatomy, lets just call them half the legs?

The articulations are extremelly sturdy and stiff since they need to bear the hevy weigth beast, but they can sotate and move pefectly except in the torso, the midle torso movement is really limited but really, while articulations are fantastic and perfect they are kinda useless. You can put this beast on any possition aside of standing on four since he is a big hound and his back legs are too small to sopport him and the good foolks at NECA fixed this by NOT ADDING A GODMAN BASE...

Even getting a generic base is extremelly difficult since not even Play Arts Kai bases can support the masive weigth of this hound.

He is made with hard plastic except his torso and the middle section in between his shoulders and head, a mane of soft plastic to cover the ball joint on his head. The sculpt is TERRIFIC.... really, the fur texture is extremelly well done as well as his huge head, the small eyes with the evil expression and huge fangs protunding agresivelly out of his mouth.

The paint aplication is just FANTASTIC, just as good as the sculpt. There is an awfull lot of colors here, not just brown. There is different tones of brown to highlight the volume of the fur but there is also black shadows in strategic places and well as blue tones on his face. All this colors mix perfectly and looks incrediblly natural, even his blue feet dosnt looks out of place, they looks really organic.

His orange and brigth eyes, his yellow teeth, his weet gums and lips, the paint job is 100% perfect and looks like a museum replica of the wolf animatronic from the movie.

His only accesory is an extra head that cna be exchanged pretty easy and showcase his open mouth. If the closed mouth looks is already demonic and figthning, his open mouth is even more stuning and nightmarish since his fangs are covered in fresh blood and his tongue and palate have such a realistic texture and color. Really, you can count every single tooth on his mouth and each one is sculpted and painted independently.

I have to say, unlike the Dog Alien and Rino Alien, Kessler Wolf dosnt have too many pose options and feels really static, but i am impresed by the sky high quality on movement, sculpt and paint. There is literally no difference between this and the prototype and that is quiet a feat not many companys accomplish, specially at this range price.

They also released the nigthmare demon wolf from the movie but i am happy just with Kessler, i never dream having action figures from that particular movie. NECA is working on the monster from The Thing too but i am excited to see wath other monsters they release, i am already extremelly tired of Jason´s, Freddy´s, Chucky´s and Pennywise´s.

BEETLEJUICE

 

In the last few years some strage happenings has been around in the action figure area, like NECA resurrecting the Aliens from Kenner or Bandai doing Ranma 1/2 figures, but nothing compare to The Loyal Subject - a brand i never knew before- doing toys of Beetlejuice. Kenner made an action figure serires back in the 80s based on the movie, and NECA did it too in the 2000´s but we are talking here about the Beetlejuice cartoon...the cartoon...

That cartoon that was on TV 30 years ago and  never had reruns, that cartoon that is not streaming on any site and has no Bluray or reboot or sequel and is almost completelly lost by now, that cartoon that last generations dont even know existed at all. Then why? Why??

Aside of questions, The Loyal Subject did it and release a small scale Beetlejuice action figure, the same size a Figma or a S.H. Figuarts. BJ has no base but can stand on his own most of the time, is just a matter to find the balance spot and he is articulated on the neck, shpulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, chest, waist, legs, thigh, knes and ankles.

Sounds pretty dyamic, hu? But is not. He is made in hard plastic, that plastic that toys companys used last century, soo his head can turn just a little bit and is completelly blocked by his hair, same for his ankles, the movement is minimum and thanks to his jacket, the legs bal joints also barelly moves soo he cant open his legs at all or move them at front ot back. Also, the articulations on his chest and waist cant move at all, not even to the sides.

The thigh and knes movement is perfect tough as well as the arms soo its not completelly static. Even soo, why add such obvios articulatiosn that cannot move? Specially on the torso, since the cut on his chest is extremelly obvios. Despite the ugly cut, the sculpt is really good, BJ anatomy is perfeclly accurate to the cartoon, specially on the face with his big eyes, huge grin with teth and his hair, face expression is also spot on.

I have issues with the colors tough. This kind of figures with strips is very difficult to work with because when you move them, the pattern just mess up, this is not the case tough since thanks to the lack of working articulations, the pattern dosnt broke except on the thighs but i am OK with that, the problem is the white invading the black and the black paint invading the white stripes, the paint application is really not carefull enough.

Also, there is some black stains on his hair and even on his nose, soo the quality control could be better, but my biggest issue is the skin color. Beetlejuice is supposed to be grey purple, not pink, i mean this is like pink pink very pink, like a candy cotton pink. Aside of that, the yellow color in his eyes and dirty green on his teeth are perfect as well as the red tips on his fingers.

As accesoryes, he comes with an extra pair of hands sculpted to hold stuff as well as an extra hand to hold a beetle. Despite the size, the hands can be exchanged pretty easy. Like i mentioned, he also comes with a beetle that fits on his fingers perfectly, ready to eat. The beetle sculpt is good and is easy to notice wath is it and its completelly green.

He also have a kind of....bettle...yellow bottle. I dont know wath this bottle is supposed to be since i dont remember it in the cartoon, and it have no details at all, is juts plain yellow. This is exactly the kind of accesoryes a toy from the 80s-90s would have.

He comes with a top hat and a cane too. The sculpt on both is perfect tough they have the same paint issues the figure have: black and white strips mixing here and there and the orange in the cane have also black marks. Tough the top hat have the shape of Beetlejuice hair inside, soo it fits perfectly on his head with no problem.

Now, the box also shows a sandworm as accesory, but sadly he is not present soo instead they add a complete new character as accesory: Ginger the Tap Dancing Spider. Ginger is small and in scale with BJ perfectly, with each section on her body cast in in the specific color os each sextion, soo the paint is minimum: only on her shoes, little tie and her head. The paint on her head is perfectly aplied, i love her purple lips and the tiny eye lashes on top of her eyes, and she is articulated on her abdomen and head.

I can be very critic with this figure, the lousy articulations and mediocre paint job can be an issue, but i dont feel like i can complain considering this was 20$, a real bargain. Also this is a figure of a 33 years old show, i am actually happy to have him even if its not perfect.

Also, the low quality control, the single color accesorys, limited articulation, the two characters for the price of one thing, the vibrant color palette, even the scale, everything on this figure screams Playmates, or Galob. If someone told me this is a prototype of a cancelled figure from the 80s or 90s, i would belive them perfectly. This guy somehow fits perfectly with the toys of the  Ghostbusters, Gargoyles Batman TAS or Thundercats from the last century.

Soo i am not sure if i can complaing here, this figure feel "rigth", like part of a past that never was. Is hard to explain but he looks terrific and i cant stop looking at him on the shelve. Its a shame Lydia was pushed to march tough since they having both Baatlejuice and Lydia together its gonna be awesome.

DEVILMAN

 Speaking of definitive editions of certain character. When i die i would love to be buried with all my collection tough i know is imposible soo i would take with me just my favorite peices and this one will be deffinetly there. Released by Taito 10 years ago and titled "High-Grade Real Figure Shonen Magazine 50th", this statue was a conmemorative even for the Kodansha Magazine. 

I have no idea if they made more caracters based on this concept but i would love to see it since this statue is trully spectacular. The material is a pretty sturdy and high class plastic that dosnt feel cheap (like the Banpresto figures) and is quiet heavy and HUGE, really huge!! This guy is larger than the Fewture figures, same size of Zennon.

Based on a Go Nagai illustration where Devilman is launching himself towards Siren, this figure shows him at midflight, with open wings and his hands stretched at front, something totally unique for wath i seen over the years, aside of the Volks garage kits, i never saw Devilman in such a dynamic pose before.

Of course, he is not standing soo he comes with a square and sinple base with the logo of Devilman carved in front. The base is totally black and have a rod in the middle that enters into Devilman´s belly suspending him n the air perfectly.

The wings can be removed completelly as well as the tiny tail.

The sculpt is fantastic. The musculature is soo astonishing and perfect its imposible to find and issue here. I mean, even his ass is spectacular and they even gives him a bulgue....he have the small and hairy balls sack that cats have....

The claws on his feet and hands are sharp, actually everything is pretty sharp in here sculpt wise; the antena, the smile full of tiny fangs, the leathery texture on his wings, the sculptor did an amazing job in here.

The paint too is the same quality with the yellow eyes and each tiny fangs painted independently. The body tough have no paint at all but is cast in his skin tone and i should say, the color is perfect. A little bit grey mixed with flesh color gives him the perfect in-human tone but keeps close to Go Nagi´s design.

If i should find an issue in here would be the rod that keeps him standing. Its black and its on a pretty obvious place, i wish it was transluscent and was a claw instead of a peg but i guess that would make it more delicate. I mean, its been years and this guy hasnt fallen over not once or lean by any side, it was build to stand time.

I really dont know wath can i say about this, this figure is my all time favorite Devilman collectible soo far and he looks fantastic on every single angle and on every single place you put him and thats impresive because i never ever saw any other figure with the brand of Taito and i been looking around but theres nothing. Its a shame they didnt do a Siren as a companion piece for a great battle scene, but this Devilman dont need her at all to looks terrific and sexy.

DEVILMAN

 Devilman have an incrediblle amount of figures around, over the years lots of companies have redesigned him and produced in different scales and variations but very few manage to reproduce faithfully Go Nagai original design with the spirit and style it was born. Unifive did it and Fewture also did some definitive versions (tough not being Go Nagai´s version) but the other company that did it was Banpresto.

They small mini statues with Devilman and Satan were very good, but they also realease bigger statues based on Devilman from the manga and the TV anime, and while i dont own the TV version, the manga version is terrific even if it comes in a pretty cheap plastic box with a cardboard and staple.

The figure is big as a Fewture figure (or Play Arts Kai) and comes with a circular and simple black base tough the figure needs some help to stand on the base itself given of the pose, it tends to lean to his left side. But thats just a little detail compred with the figure itself.

Devilman is walking while twist his torso and looks directly at front. I am not sure wath he is doing really, the more i think about the pose, the less an explanation i got but while being a little pasive, is really dynamic and have a lot of movement. And i got the feeling he is based on a Go Nagai illustration, i think were Devilman is green colored...maybe thats why i dont recognize the pose.

The sculpt is great, the muscles are impresive as well as the face, the sculpt is pretty sharp specially on his fangs and bulguing yellow eyes. The anatomi is perfect, the size and shape of the wings on his head is perfect as well as the wings on his back. The wings are half closed but still they have a considerable size and makes me think they would be huge open. They are made of soft plastic and have a pretty nice leather texture thanks to the lack of color on them and the shiny plastic.

Paint work is great too, while extremelly simple is applied perfectly on the eyes, the red on his mouth and forehead, the black strips on his shoulders and legs. There is no shading or shadow application but i dont think it need it since natural ligth takecare of it thanks to the impresive and dramatic sculpt.

If i could find an issue in here, aside of his lack of balance (i fixed that with a piece of black paper under his feet) i think it would be his claws, they are too flat and almost looks like normal human fingers.

Aside of that he is trully perfect. If i had to sell my collection this one would be one of the lucky ones to stay wth me because it represents the character perfectly and he was....soo cheap, a bargain...like all Banpresto figures, his price was pretty low last century and thats amazing considering the quality, tough of course now he is pretty expensive.

DEVILMAN

Most of the time (if not always) i remember the time lapse of the figures i got or specific memories about it, like how much i wanted back then or the troubles i had getting it, how expensive of cheap it was or where i got it. But this time is quiet the opposite; i dont have any recolection about where and when i get this figure and the most alarming thing is that i dont even know wath brand it is.

Is a Devilman statue that came in a big box with a lot of Go Nagai artwork around it and the title "Devilman Real Big Wing Version" and thats it....it had no brand or logo on any side of the box and i am not sure waths the meaning behind the "real" on the title, or the "big wings version" since as far as i know, there is no wingless version.

The figure have a considerable scale since its bigger than an action figure and comes with a round stand in black plastic with the logo of Devilman carved on it. We got Devilman kind of advancing with his hand rised, perhaps talking with someone in front of him. the pose is very casual and discret tough have enough personality to be interesting.

The sculpt is really good, he have pretty sharp face features and a stoic expression and the musculature of his body is really impresive. The wings on his back and head have pretty sharp shapes as well as spikes that gives them the impression to be a chapitel of a church or somekind of building, giving him a very "garogylesque" style.

The paint is the most interesting part of this statue since he is red...like...crimson red. The black soft shadows on his body to high ligth the muscles as well as the black on his claws and legs gives him the look of burning coal.

His wings, tail and head are cast on transluscent plastic soo the light go trough them pretty nicelly but this also mean the red on his face is a different tone too giving him a pretty odd look. This small detail really make him look a little cheap wich is a shame given how good looking is the statue.

While the color gives him a pretty unique look, is still easy to see who this character is and it dosnt deviat that much from Go Nagai´s original design and i like that. There is also a green transluscent version of this statue but aside of that, i dont know from where this guy comes from!!

DEVILMAN LADY

 Unifive was a japanese toy company from the 90s that develope a lot of strange and unusual toys, mistery surround it since we didnt see too much about it outside of Japana before it was swallow by Banpresto, but the most popular serires of figures from them was the Devilman "Detial Fgures", a serires of small size statues with some really impresive sculpting and painting as well as glow in the dark variants.

They released both version of Devilman and a Siren, but the other character that was incrediblly popular back then and had a lot of figures (desite not appear in Devilman) was Devilman Lady, she was everywere back then (no surprise since her anime was on air). She share the same size with Siren tough unlike the demon bird, Lady is not in a scaling pose and is missing wings, soo she is the smallest figure of the collection.

She share the same base tough as the rest, a square red simple base with a silver sticker with her name. Her pose....i am not sure if it comes from one of Go Nagai illustrations, i feelt like i seen it before but i cant point out from wath image it is but looks pretty classic for the character. The body proportions with huge boobs and the super cute face with fangs is also the brand of Go Nagai.

The sculpt is good, with most of the detailing being in the furry parts on her anatomy and the paint is good too, while keep at minimum. Her skin tone is a little more dark than Siren and they did a great job on her face, painting her red eyes and fangs perfesctly in such smal scale.

Overall she is a good little statue, tough she is my least favorite of the group, maybe a pair of big wings would change my mind but she still match the rest of the collection perfectly.

SIREN

 

In the 90s Devilman had such a mistery aura around it, it was soo difficult to gte info about Go Nagai´s work and still we got a lot or merchadise around to tease us. Aside of the amazing Fewture action figures, the very first toys about the character we seen around here was the Uni Five "Detail Figure", a series of statues that looked oustanding for back then standars.

The most spectacular characters are of course the two Devilman and theyr variants, specially the glow in the dark ones, but UniFive also released Siren, a basic addition to any collection. Actually she is on every single figure serires but this is one of the very first times i saw her.

She is a tiny bit smaller than the Devilman and comes with the same red square base with a silver sticker in front with her name. Her wings are folded behind her back soo while they have a nice size, they are not as spectacular loking as Devilman´s, still tough the pose is very nice, with a feet on a rock, it looks like she is about to jump or triying to scare someone.

Her foierce expression is more cute than menacing tough since the sculpt is very anime, pretty close to Go Nagai´s original design, with the big eyes and small mouth (tough full of fangs). The body proportions are also the clasic Go Nagi body; really curvy with specially huge boobs.

The paint i good, with her body being very pale and her wings and feathers are totally white with some soft grey brushes to add some shadows, the biggest paint work is on her face, the long leashes, the small fangs, even her tongue is painted in red soo the paint aplication is really aoutstanding for the small scale.

I wish she had her wings totally open for a more dramatic display, but she is really good looking and represents the basic visual representation of Siren perfectly soo i lace her as the second best figure of the Unifive run after Devilman.

DEVILMAN

 Unifive was a japanese toy company that mostly work doing kaiju and sentai figures in the end of the last century. They fused with Banpresto eventually but the very few years they stay active they did some really nice figures and my favorite line was theyr Devilman "Detail Figure" serires. They Devilman representation was really really amazing in both sculpt and paint.

Of course they also did the Devilman from the Toei Animation series as well and they did a great job with him as well. He is in the standar scale of any action figure soo is not too big and have no articulation at all, is a small statue. He comes with a square red base with a silver sticker at front with the logo of Devilman.

Just like the manga version, they did 3 variants of this figure: the basic one, the clear color one (translucent) and the glow in the dark one and this is the one i own since i was never able to get the original painted version.

Aside of the S.H.Figuarts version, i think this is my all time favorite anime Devilman figure. The pose is extremelly heroic and manly and the anatomy is really superb, he is muscly and atheltic but not slim like most figures are and since he is the anime version, theres no texture or very intrincate sculpting aside of his muscle body.

Sadlly, since this is the glow in the dark version, many of the sculpted details are relaly blurry thanks to the strange material he is cast on, but somehow, unlike the other Devilman, he is actually fully painted in a much more character acording way. Yellow eyes and red marks, with his blue underwear and his entire skin is green and that matches perfectly the character design.

The wings are big actually and since his back is arched backwards, the position of the wings have a lot of deepth and have a suft green glow on the edges that looks really nice. Of course the best part is the glow in the dark feature, with the lights off he shines like a green lamp in a way no photo can make justice.

I remember how puzzled i was back then to see two different versions of Devilman, they are soo different yet Unifive matched each other quality in sculpt and glows perfectly.