Sunday, June 26, 2011

Ghostbusters: Vinz Clortho (Keymaster of Gozer) Figure Review

Flavor Text:

"It's good to be king!" (chair not included)
"PERSONNEL FILE

Name: Vinz Clortho
           Keymaster of Gozer

Profession:
  • Minion of Volguus Zildrohoar, Lord of Seboullia (aka Gozer)
Ghostbuster Status:
  • In possession of nerdy tax accountant Louis Tully's body
  • Not the sharpest Shub roasting in the depths of Sloar
Quotable Quotes:

"Gozer the Traveler-he will come in one of the pre-chosen forms.  During the rectification of the Vuldronaii, the Traveler came as a large and moving Torb!"

(Page 1)

Habits & Hobbies:
  • Property destruction
  • Speaks to horses
  • Growls
Accomplishments:
  • Found the gatekeeper
  • Transformed into a Terror Dog with sizeable horns
  • Opened a gateway to an alternate dimension
Notes:

Consult Louis Tully regarding the GB "tax issue" after releasing the minion possessing him... and before taking a sample of his brain tissue.

(Page 2)"



Sculpt:


Vinz probably has the most new parts (besides the head, obviously) from Mattel's Ghostbusters figure lineup. While I appreciate the sculpt of the new torso, the material used feels very cheap and "hollow".  It would've been much better if Mattel incorporated the "rubbery" material (used for Courtroom Battle Peter Venkman) for Vinz's light-blue colored button shirt and used an orange-colored torso with wrinkles sculpted into it.  But hey, at least we've got a quasi-ball-jointed torso!


Vinz's facial sculpt ranges somewhere between "good" and "somewhat accurate".  The facial expressions of both heads are pretty darn accurate, however, I don't feel comfortable in saying that the facial sculpt is a "dead-on accurate" representation of Rick Moranis.  Each time I compare the two (the figure and photos of the actor in the Ghostbusters film), it looks like him but doesn't at the same time.  I can settle with the somewhat "cartoony" Vinz head sculpt.



Articulation:

(Vinz Clortho breakdancing)
Vinz has approximately 15 points of articulation: ball-jointed head, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, ball-jointed wrists, quasi ball-jointed torso, swivel waist, swivel-hinged legs, swivel knees, and rocker ankles.  Unfortunately, Vinz can't place his arms down to his sides due to the sculpts of both arm and torso.  However, I do recall Vinz walking around with his arms in an "A" shape.  Like the other Ghostbusters figures, Vinz's leg (particularly his left) joints are way too loose.



Paint Application:


Mattel's paint application of Vinz Clortho is quite "iffy".  For instance, Vinz's yellowish-orange shirt hasn't been properly painted (around the collar) because the light-blue coloring of his button shirt is seeping through.  The bottom right crotch area shows the light-blue color emerging in a "peek-a-boo!" sort of way amongst the brown trousers.  There's also some pizza crust "stain" on Vinz's open-palmed right-hand (but that's due to the pizza being wrapped around his hand for too long in the packaging).  There's also a few noticeable "mustard stain" spots on the back of his left elbow joint area.

"Yes, have some."
Vinz's alternate head (with the funky headgear) has a few paint application problems as well.  The wiring on his headgear have been haphazardly painted.  Also, the chin strap (white) paint has bled onto Vinz's face.



Accessories:


Vinz comes with a pretty sizeable amount of accessories: "ruffled hair" Vinz head, "Terror Dog" head, slice of pizza, plastic container (or bowl) of popcorn, and alternate "head gear adorned" Vinz head.


Vinz's head can be removed without too much trouble, but I would be careful when pulling off his alternate "science experiment" head since those tiny "wiring" sculpts on the headgear may break off one day.  Also, the "Terror Dog" head can be placed over the headgear-less Tully head without any problem.  Earlier on, I had trouble popping in either of Vinz's heads onto the peg; the back part of the neck kept on getting in the way of the collar of his shirt.  The best way to approach this is to slide the back of Vinz's neck in first and VOILA!

It's really cool to see Mattel include both the bowl of popcorn and slice of pizza as accessories with this particular figure.  Sure, those props were used for a few seconds or less, but it maintains the accuracy of a specific scene in the movie.  So, thank you Mattel.  However, I found it somewhat of a challenge to have Vinz pose with them.  With a few adjustments, I managed to pose his left arm in such a way so that the jar of popcorn would stay put.  However, the slice of pizza was slightly trickier to manage.



Packaging:


It's the same old "Ghostbusters" packaging with the angry Stay-Puft Marshmallow in the background with the figure behind a large "window-like" display.  I admit, the way the figures have been presented thus far in their  respective packaging really enhances the overall look of the figures.  Interestingly, additional accessories (such as Vinz's alternate head or the fat Scoleri Brother's alternate feet) are kept hidden from sight.



Price:


It goes without saying the price paid for this figure is just ridiculous (and that goes for the rest of Mattel's "Ghostbusters" line).  I've seen far more articulated and better sculpted figures with better material go for cheaper than what Mattel is charging for each individual Ghostbusters figure.  If you've subscribed to Mattel's "Club Ecto-1," you'll be locked in until the next subscription comes around.



The Good:

* Vinz definitely makes a nice addition to the Ghostbusters line who happens to not be one of them!
* Scene/character specific accessories!
* All-around new sculpt!



The Bad:

* Paint applications not up to par as usual.
* Vinz's left leg and ankle are a bit loose.



The Ugly:

* Still a bit too expensive (somewhat regretting being a "Club Ecto-1" member) for my tastes.



Score:

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Online Store Promotion: Hobbies.com


If you guys ever feel the need to get your action figure fix, check out Hobbies.com.  This online store has a wide variety of action figures available ranging from Hot Toys, Hasbro products to NECA, and even Mattel items.  They also sell a variety of remote control cars, planes, and helicopters.  Hobbies.com also sells rockets, puzzles, and even electric trains.

SCRE4M: Ghost Face "Zombie Mask" Figure Review

Flavor Text:


"Ghost Face (The Icon of Halloween):

The icon of Halloween returns with this brand new action figure complete with knife accessory and over 14 points of articulation.  Highly detailed and fully poseable.  Watch for more Ghost Face figures & collectibles coming soon!"



Sculpt:


Although I liked NECA's utilization of cloth for their Dante figure, I'm not a fan of "cloth" incorporated Ghost Face figure.  While the cloth streams are appropriate for GF's elbows, the cloth skirt isn't impressive and is quite a distraction from the overall figure.  The top-half of Ghost Face is adorned with wrinkles and creases in his outfit.  However, as your eye wanders downward, the semi-transparent and unwrinkled fabric "skirt" just stares conspicuously right in your face.


Despite all the expertly sculpted wrinkles and creases of the overall body of the figure, Ghost Face is one plain-looking figure.  After all, there's only so much you can do with someone dressed in all black.  However, the sculpt of Ghost Face's hood is actually very good.  The fold and wrinkles (all over the hood) are realistic and there's even a tip left on the back of the hood which you can slightly fiddle with.


The "hood" part of the figure is composed of two separate pieces: the inner ("meat and potatoes") piece is sculpted with the Ghost Face mask; the outer piece is composed of slightly pliable plastic.  Unfortunately, I couldn't separate the outer piece from the inner piece, most likely because it's glued or molded together.  It's too bad because it would've been interesting to see Ghost Face without the outer cowl.


If you lift up Ghost Face's "skirt" (sorry, old habits die hard) you'll notice the ugly-looking joints.  When I say ugly-looking, I'm referring mostly to Ghost Face's "tight jeans" butt.  While this type of joint/sculpt gives Ghost Face maximum leg articulation, there's got to be a better way because it looks real ugly.  And I mean "Marvel Legends" and "G.I. Joe" type ugly.


There's also space right below the [swivel] waist where the elastic of the fabric "skirt" is kept in place.


However, the sculpted creases and wrinkles detail found all over the bottom-half (the pants and pant legs) are superb.  It's also interesting to see how NECA's sculptors went about covering the knee articulation (the front of both knees are sculpted long enough to cover the joints).


Like your average figure, on the bottom of Ghost Face's right foot, you'll see "NECA 20XX Made in China" stamp.




Articulation:

Ghost Face has seen the light

Ghost Face is endowed with: ball-jointed neck, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, ball-jointed wrists, swivel waist, ball-jointed hips, ball-jointed knees, and ball-jointed ankles.


Although Ghost Face has a fair amount of articulation, there aren't many poses you can do given Ghost Face's occupation.  The figure's range of movement is also restricted by the strange ball-jointed hip design and the fabric "skirt".  You may recall NECA's previous offering of the Ezio action figure (from Assassin's Creed 2) and the similar ball-jointed hip articulation.  Trying to pose Ezio with that articulation was more trouble than it's worth.  My only guess as to why they've incorporated the ball-jointed hip into these figures is due to budgeting concerns.

I do love how NECA finds innovative ways to enhance their offerings to their customers, whether it be through incorporating LED lights or including fabric with their figures.  However, the fabric "skirt" falls short and is more of a hindrance.  I don't understand the purpose of incorporating articulation in the bottom half of the figure just to have it restricted by a fabric "skirt".




Paint Application:


A character that dresses up in all black is pretty hard to screw up, right?  Unfortunately, under Ghost Face's fabric "skirt" was a strange splotch of light brown paint (not really sure how that even happened).  Also the color of Ghost Face's jeans is navy blue; I don't know if that's movie-accurate or not for the Ghost Face character.  There's also some "yellow stain" marks in Ghost Face's mouth and some paint missing from it as well.



Accessories:


Ghost Face comes with his trusty slasher knife, which fits perfectly in his [right] hand.  I've read from other reviews that the knife wasn't big enough, but I disagree.  In proportion to the Ghost Face figure, I think the knife is just about the right size.  I do wish however, that the knife handle were a little bit longer, that's all.  It would've been interesting to see NECA include a "chase" version of a bloodied knife, since NECA is well-known to do these types of variations across their action figure lines.



Packaging:


Ghost Face comes in your typical clamshell packaging with a display front that is large enough to show the entire figure and accessory.  The background design of splashed blood is nice and fitting of Ghost Face himself.




Price:


I purchased this online via eBay for $12.00 (a damn good deal, if I may say so myself).  I admit, the price is what prompted my purchase.  Otherwise, I wouldn't have even bothered with this figure.




Additional Information:

Product Development
Randy Falk

Sculpt
Kyle Windrix

Paint
Jon Wardell
Geoffrey Trapp

Fabrication
Brad Haskins

Prototypes
Adam Smith

Photography
Stephen Mazurek

Packaging
Nick Scragg

Special Thanks
Fun World Staff
Nate Ragon




The Good:

* Got it for a relatively cheap price.
* Impressive details (creases and wrinkles) in outfit.
* Given more than enough articulation.



The Bad:

* Fabric "skirt" is distracting and doesn't provide that much space for extreme leg poses.
* Finding hairballs and strings each time I handle the figure.
* Strange and ugly hip joints (reminds me of Ezio's flawed articulation).


The Ugly:

* The fabric "skirt"!



Score: