Tag: mcfarlane

Figure Spotlight: Camille Noire

This figure is part of the Clive Barker’s Tortured Souls series. And is a pain to assemble. I got this figure prior to knowing heating figures allows you to assemble them far easier… So first thing’s first… was to assemble her properly. Still a pain, but at least she’s assembled now!

Bit of a gruesome one, but she’s pretty detailed. Here’s her body closer up to the camera for a better look:

Yep, she’s not holding back on the body mods! The blood effects on this one aren’t too bad, compared to other bloodied figures. 

Side shot of the right wing:

These wings are the thing you had to assemble, and they’re a pain. One bit goes into her shoulder, and there are prongs into her back. Also the hooks on the armature can slip out of the wings, and they are NOT easy to get back in. The shoulder part is the one that’s the pain – I’m not sure if they were a little deformed on mine, but there was no way they were going to go in without some heat to bend it into shape. 

Shot of her back:

Some impressive blood effects here… and I’m not sure how she got so much stretchiness out of her back skin. I like the blood effects here – they came out well. 

Shot of the top of her head:

Not sure that’s how you’re supposed to use a saw blade!

For the Tortured Souls I have, I really like this series. I think this one has been well done, and has a good amount of detail put into her appearance. This figure certainly isn’t for everyone, but if you like horror figures, I think this is a good one, if you’re prepared for a very annoying assembly. 

Figure Spotlight: McFarlane Viper King

This is one of the figures I bough early on in my collecting. Being McFarlane, it’s still a quality figure in my collection:

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This figure looks cool… but has a habit of falling over. He doesn’t come with any stand holes either, so I’ve developed various ways of standing the bugger up over the years. Though after this photo session, I did manage to get him to stand up on his own!

Close-up of his face: 

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Very much an angry fellah :P. The arms move up and down, and his neck moves, which gives some poseability. 

Viper King from the back:

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The Blu-Tack mark is from the original owner – obviously the technique they used to keep him upright. I favoured stands and string, rather than tack. 

Here’s a close-up of his back:

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Some interesting details back here, I like the tail part on his head. 

The black, red and silver colour scheme works well, and there’s a decent amount of detail in the sculpt. Just a shame they didn’t provide him with a stand so you could pose his snaketacles fully, thus making him prone to faceplanting. This issue can be resolved by sticking him down, or coming up with your own form of stand, but it’d be nice if he was provided with one. 

Vampire – Wetworks – Alt Colour version

This figure was a random pickup at an action figure store I visited. Thought he looked cool, so decided to buy him. When I did my research on this figure, I found he was the alt colouring. 

So here he is, in his alternative colour scheme glory:

Personally, I prefer this colouring to the main version – here he has black pants and loincloth, which I think fits the theme of the figure better. He’s also a dark green instead of a greyish colour, which I don’t think helps him look vampiric, but the sculpt doesn’t say “Vampire” to me anyway, despite that being his name. 

The sculpt on him is nice and detailed for the most part, but… that waist… what’s going on there?! 

Let’s take a closer look:

Totally tubular! Now I’ve seen it, I’m not sure I can unsee it… not a big fan of this design. I do like the logo thing going on, on the loincloth. The loincloth is made out of a fairly thick plastic, which coupled with the odd waist design, does make it look comedy-sized. As a standalone piece it looks OK, but with it sitting strangely on his hips, it isn’t a good look imo. I am loving the detail on his skin though, which can be seen in the upper parts of this photo. 

Face:

He has this headgear thing that slides on his head. Kind of in two minds about this piece – he looks better with it, but in of itself, it just feels odd. If you don’t like it, then it is an optional part though, so isn’t a biggie. Jury’s out for me though. 

Left:

Here he is, leaning back apparently. He cuts a decent profile from the side imo – looks a lot less strangely shaped from the side. His head sticks out nicely, and I love his hands, with their elongated claw-style. The tendons show up from the top too. 

Aand the obligatory fat leg parts – this is a McFarlane creation after all – these are painted well, and have enough details to not be plain. This fat leg design is useful for keeping the figures upright though! I do like the lesser need for stands. 

He holds his weapon decently well – you could probably get a more convincing grip out of it than I have, but it slots OK over his hand. 

Right:

Loving the veinwork on his arm, and the horns on his shoulders. The silver bracers around his wrists add a nice detail to the figure, and hide the joint. ABout joints – there aren’t a huge amount, but there are a few posing possibilities. McFarlane figures don’t tend to be super-articulated, especially of this age, but they make up for it in looks imo. 

Back:

The texture details are continued around to the back, and he has some blood marks on his upper right arm. His hair is quite scraggly, but does the job – I doubt a creature like this would have neat hair, after all. Loincloth looks OK back here, but has the same issues as the front (as well as seemingly making a break for it! If you don’t like it, there’s the option of removing it). We also have some mechanical details on the back of his legs, which is nice to see. 

Weapon:

Clod do with a little more red paint on some of the wire/vine parts. It has an interesting, tribal design, but does kinda look… lump of plastic-y. I think if they had sharper points and maybe some paint shading, it would look better. I think it’s mostly the very rounded points that make me think more “cosplay prop” than “dangerous weapon”. I think they could’ve gone a bit pointier, without making it “ouch” pointy. 

Overall, a decent figure. Not sure I’d particularly recommend it, but if you like what you see, and can find him for a decent price, I think a solid enough figure. 

Thresher – Spawn

And now for a Spawn figure, Thresher:

I already owned the blue/red variant, but this one was ¥380… How could I turn that down? And she looks cool in both colour schemes! This one also has the advantage of being complete (as it was still sealed)… believe the claw is missing on my other one. 

Here she is without her mask:

And a close-up of her face:

She does look more diseased than speckled than the other variant, what with the grey skin and purple dots. Her makeup is nice though. 

Close-up with mask:

I love the masks for these figures, so will likely display her like this. The chest paint is a nice fade from yellow to green, though her belly is painted green rather than grey, which looks kind of odd. Looks like they designed it to be a gap in her top, but it’s not painted like that. Fairly minor for me though. 

Close-up of one her arm parts:

This is where a bunch of the attraction of this figure comes in – the number of articulated “extras” she has. I love the bio-mechanical design. The serpentine bracelet(?) on her arm looks good too.

Left:

I like the gun she has – is an interesting design, and there are some paint accents so it isn’t a fully flat silver colour. She has that “big leg” thing going on that most Spawn figures have – but I guess it does help figure stability a fair bit! The bone-coloured parts work well with the green. If I had to nitpick, the grey under her arm is eerily flat grey – could’ve done with a tad of shading in there. 

Close-up of the gun:

Plenty of sculpt detail here. The spiky claw parts help it fit thematically with the figure. She also has a knife down here, as a backup, but this part is part of the figure, so she doesn’t have one to pose her with. 

Right:

Here she wields some bio-gun and a claw launcher. I tried to pick which angle would look best for the claw, but managed to screw it up and not notice until I was writing this blog… The tube plugs in securely into the relevant holes, and as it is loose, it won’t snap if it snags on anything. 

Close-up of the claw:

The painting is really nice on this – the paints blend well. And it fires pretty good too! Pull it back, let it go, lose it on the other side of the room… 

Back:

Other holes are available, should you wish to plug the tube in elsewhere. Back looks OK, but I wish they did more with the area where the parts hinge on her back – added a bit of sculpting so that they fit in with the figure more, instead of looking like round lumps. Sculpting on the back of her clothes is nice though. 

Overall, happy to have two of her, so I can appreciate her in more than one room :). For a bargain price too! Would recommend this Spawn figure, even at less of a bargain. 

Raven Spawn – Spawn

Ah, a Western figure for the first time in ages! I have been buying Western stuff, but this is still part of my Japan haul… so a bunch of other stuff to get through… 

So let’s have a little look at Raven Spawn:

He was sold as a loose figure, so I don’t have his base. As far as I can tell, that’s all that’s missing, barring the box. I did think that one of his hands was missing at one point, but it had just escaped and hid behind him in the bag. I’m not bothered by the missing base, as I find the bases that these figures come with way too big and ugly. They have a feature where they can spin around, but this is kind of pointless… 

From the front, I love the pose, and the brown-black-grey colour scheme works well. 

Face:

A mean-looking dude! Wouldn’t want to meet him on a dark night. His arm is sort of poseable, but not to any significant degree – he’s definitely been designed to hold his sickle aloft. 

Closer look at the sickle:

Fairly uncomplicated weapon, though mine looks like it might be a little damaged at the end there. The sculpting is pretty nice though. 

Middle:

I love this skull tucked in here – it does a good job of holding the chains, and adds detail to his armour. 

Hand & lower chain:

Mmm, spiky. I like the way this stands out from the rest of him, so his hand can be clearly seen, despite the muted colour scheme. This hand is perfect for holding the lower chain half from his body. 

Left:

Here we get to see his leather strips cape. I like the texture on it, and the texture on his boots. 

Right:

Oops, looks like I had the chain a bit twisted up here… Love the “feathered” bits on his arm and ankles – they add a fair bit to the figure. The texture on the side of his chest looks good too. 

Back:

His cape feels a bit flat form the back. I feel almost it needed more separation of the leathery strips, so you could manually add a bit of depth, but then again, this could become annoying and tangly. Overall, not a figure that the back warrants much attention, further making the spinning base that he should have come with kind of useless. 

Overall, I like this figure – the small details really makes this figure. The sculpt really helps with what could potentially be a boring figure into an interesting one. Would recommend if you’re OK with him being more of a poseable statue and like the stylised look. 

Angela – Limited Edition – Spawn

This figure came with a VHS tape, with some Spawn episodes on… but that went straight into storage. So let’s look at the figure instead:

I was attracted to this figure due to its blue colour… and cheap price tag (¥500). I love the colour scheme on this figure – there’s a variety of colours, but they work together. The blue and goldish colour pairs well.

Face:

Here we have her hair and headband. She looks like the wings are part of her head, but if we look up close, we see this is not the case. Whilst the translucent wings are a nice effect, it may’ve been better to keep the headband as the same colour as her armour. The paintwork is average for McFarlane – which is reasonably neat if you don’t look too close :P. The black belt across her midriff terminates a bit early, which looks odd. 

Left:

Her weapon is neat, and she holds it well. The tip can fire out, and does so with some force. I like the armour on her arm, and the purple boot is.. interesting. 

Right:

Here we can see the button that fires the tip. The gold armour on her arm on this side I like quite a bit. I like the spiky shoulderpads too. 

Back:

Here we can see the brightness of her hair – it is quite a bright orange, that contrasts with the rest of her. There’s a decent amount of texture sculpted into it. Paint on her backside is a bit sloppy. I like the sword on her back, which she can also hold, if you prefer it to the staff. 

Overall, I’m really glad I picked this one up. I was trying not not buy all the McFarlane figures, as the quality isn’t the best for these older figures, but certainly worth it for ¥500! She’s grown on me a fair bit since I’ve unpacked her, so she’s staying on display 🙂

Rock God – Guitar Hero

Found this fellah in a charity shop, still sealed. So ofc I had to do my bit for charity and buy him:

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Here he is, showing the world how to rock! He was a bit hard to assemble, as the peg on the base wouldn’t fully go into his speaker. A poke with a sharp object to make the hole deeper, and bam! In fits the peg :D. Once assembled, he does stand up OK, but if he’s slightly off, he’ll just rock over onto his butt ><. 

His colouring is very nice though – not particularly complicated shading job, but the colours work. The beard probably has the most amount of shading in this figure.

Close-up of the base:

I like the fact they’ve used the logo for the stand, but it would’ve been nicer if the stand was larger or heavier, so that the figure was less prone to rolling over. The pegs are solid though, and has withstood the rolling over this figure has done. 

Left:

There are some paint transfers, seemingly from his skirt. Or is it a kilt? I do like the belt and the massive metal chain. 

Right:

The buckles on the shoes and wrist straps are nice. He does articulate a bit, but not very usefully. You can’t get many poses out of him. 

Back:

I like the fact the speaker has some detail on the back. His hair has a nice amount of shading in it. 

Top:

His face looks really good, and his mouth as depth to it. His eyes look a bit odd, as they are plain blue, but it is a pretty shade of blue. 

Overall, I like this figure, It’s an OK figure, but not overly fancy. I got him pretty cheap though. And he goes well with his golden counterpart I already had :). 

Venal Anatomica – Clive Barker’s Tortured Souls

Whilst putting together a Suruga-ya order out of timesale items, I found this dude! And again, I’m buying cheap Western figures from Japan, lol.

So here he is:

One cool-looking dude… if you like this sort of thing. Standard amount of metallic protrusions for a Tortured Soul. I like the metal chains that hang in front of him, and the claws jutting out of his hand. 

Close-up of those claws:

The paint has been done well, so they look like they’re in his flesh, instead of just being kind of stuck there. We can also see one of the chain weapons that hang by his sides. 

Close-up of the ball chain:

Two more brutal weapons on chains. Yeah, don’t get near this guy :P. Also a meathook attached to his wrist, making him dangerous in melee combat. 

The cap on his head can also be taken off so you can see his brain:

The cap is attached by a chain, so it dangles down his back if you take it off. He has a much more skull-like appearance like this. Wonder if he can scratch his head with that shoulder blade. 

Head from another angle:

Gory! Chain for his cap is the one attached to the chain on his right shoulder. 

Left:

Here we can see the bands around his head, that have been nicely done and the detailed boots. Seems to have a chatterer vibe going on. 

Right:

Some more weaponry on his right arm, plus here you can see the nail that “holds” the skull cap on. 

Back:

Here we can see the fabric effect done on the plastic – I think this is pretty effective, especially when looking at it in a photo like this. His upper back is pretty detailed, with the flesh parts poking through the back. 

Overall, I do rather like this figure. I think he’s a bit plainer than other Tortured Souls figures, but the sculpting is good and the paint is really nice. I’d recommend him if you’re a fan of the series, and can find him for sale. 

Kin – McFarlane

Here we have Kin from the Spawn universe:

You can choose to display him with or without the pig mask, and the arm he carries is a separate part. The demon on his back is attached via a wire, and cannot be removed, but can be moved to sit in various places on his back. 

Close-up of the demon: 

Love the paint job on this figure – a fair amount of detail, and I particularly like the detail on the demon’s face. Having some articulation in the demon is nice too – allows some customisation of how you sit him on top of Kincaid. 

Without the pig mask:

Didn’t focus on his face in this shot, but  here you can see he’s fully detailed, if you don’t like the pig mask. The placing and sizing of the holes that hold on the mask are such that they don’t really show when you have his mask off, which is a nice touch, if people don’t want the mask. 

Left:

Here we can see the length of the mask – is pretty long! The hair effect on Kin’s arms is good, and I really like the stippled blood effect on the demon’s back. One of the better recreations of blood that I’ve seen on a figure. Often bloodied bits look rather fake, but this one doesn’t. 

Close-up of the axe:

Yeah, I think this axe comes with a side of tetanus. Some lovely paint details on his boots too. 

Right:

And that’s one putrescent arm! I love how they’ve mailed most of the textures o this figure. Only one I’m not a fan of is the trousers – they look a bit wooden rather than cloth due to the paintwork. 

Back:

Even from the back, there’s a lot to be seen in the moulding and the painting. The way the demon is climbing onto Kin’s back gives a sense of motion to me. Love the way they’ve given the trousers a bunch of highlights to help add to them, though the paint does leave them looking kind of woody instead of hessian sack. 

Kin’s jacket:

They didn’t skimp on the detail, despite the fact it is likely to be covered up by the demon. The paint has been neatly done, which shows of the details in the jacket. Almost a shame the demon is permanently connected to Kin – would’ve been nice if there was a connector on the wire. However, I do have a McFarlane figure with detachable wires and they do fall out pretty easily, so maybe this was the best solution. 

Overall, I can strongly recommend this figure if you like the looks of it. It’s not very poseable, but if you’re OK with that, this is a solid figure. 

McFarlane Assassin One – Red version

Can’t stay away from the Mandarake Urban Mines. This was one of two figures I was bidding on, but the other went for more than I wanted to pay, so stuck with this one:

He is called Assassin One, and is part of the Wetworks series of figures by McFarlane. The “default” colour of this figure is blue, then this is the red variant. From looking at the pictures, I actually prefer the red variant. 

The sculpt on this dude is nice, and here’s transparent sculpting working :). The silver spray on his weapons is a nice touch. 

Here he is holding his crossbow aloft:

And me trying to make him hold his scythe thing:

Not sure why they chose to make a hole in the scythe, instead of a peg, like the crossbow. He has holes in both hands, so he can hold the crossbow. 

Here he is from the side, with his crossbow loaded:

You can pull back on the end of the projectile, and it will fire across the room. 

Here’s some of his left side, focused on his arm armour:

The black parts are nicely detailed in the moulding too. 

And his back:

Looks OK from this angle, does look like he’s got a fire in his belly! Not much to speak about in the trunk department. 

He’s a striking figure, well-moulded, and his colours (what he has of them!) work well. He’s also decently poseable, which is good for an action figure ;). Certainly think I got my money’s worth from him, seeing as I paid about as much for him as a trading figure :).