In our age of relative enlightenment (hey, we can only be so enlightened as long as a show like Dancing with the Stars is a huge ratings hit), it still amazes me that there are people in this world that believe in things like Astrology and Myers-Briggs tests. Yes, personality tests (psychometric tests) like Myers-Briggs are just the modern version of Astology…but they lack one critical dimension that has allowed Astrology to last for thousands of years – cool mascots.
Mcfarlane Warriors of the Zodiac wave 1
Mcfarlane Toys recognized that the signs of the zodiac have always spoke to people, and has developed their own versions, called Warriors of the Zodiac. The first four signs – Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer – are hitting shelves and pegs very soon, with the other eight intended to follow. Mcfarlane has added his touch to the classic concepts of the ram, bull, twins and crab.
These will run $12 – $17 each depending on where you pick them up, which is a jump for McToys when it comes to an unlicensed line. Even if Toys R Us and Meijers carries them, it looks like they’ll be $12 a pop.
Packaging – ***
Clamshells, but the smaller style that McToys has switched too. The internal paper insert has some info on each of the four figures in the wave on the interior, which is a nice addition. The design is passable, if not exceptional. And be careful with that machete you’ll need to use to get them open. I love clamshells for their toughness, but that same toughness makes them difficult to open.
Sculpting – Aries, Cancer ****; Taurus, Gemini ***1/2
With some toy or collectible companies, the quality of the sculpting can vary wildly. With Mcfarlane, that’s rarely an issue. Instead, how much you like one sculpt or another is less about quality and more about aesthetics – it’s art, baby, and what you like can be very different from what I like. The quality is always there…the design not so much.
My favorites of this series are driven by my particular tastes. First, I’m an Aries, so it’s probably no surprise that I like the ram quite a bit. They went with a two footed, half man, half goat sort of look for him, much like something out of Roman or Greek mythology. The mask and horns are not removable, so we have no idea just what he might have looked like under there. He’s one of the taller figures in the set, coming in at around 6″ tall, and he stands great on his own thanks to some useful ankle articulation. More on that later. He also holds his one accessory nicely in both hands, and you can get one or two interesting poses out of him.
Next up for me is Cancer, but I can see where some other folks will have reasonable issues with him. He is not sculpted in a particularly dynamic pose – he’s just standing there. There’s a TON of small detail work, with a different texture on practically ever surface of his body. The huge claw right hand and smaller deadly left hand look appropriately menacing, and he stands great on his own even with the smaller feet. I like him because he looks like something right out of a 1950’s grade B sci-fi flick, sort of like the scaley half brother of the Metaluna Mutant.
I’m most surprised by the Gemini design. Of course, Gemini is the Twins, and while the symbol is considered ‘masculine’ in Astrology, it is very often portrayed as a pair of hot female twins. Let’s face it, since historically it was usually men doing the designs, are you surprised? No – but that is what makes Mcfarlane’s choice surprising. While this monstrous version of Gemini, with it’s two headed gaping beast fitted with rows of cruel teeth, isn’t an unusual design in general, I’m shocked that they passed up the chance to do a half nekkid pair of ladies, embracing in a pose that would make Hugh Heffner blush.
This Gemini is definitely not the usual, although the look fits with many other Mcfarlane lines. And for the female figure fans, don’t worry – you’ll get a Virgo that does it up right.
The figures are in a six inch scale, with Taurus the shortest at just over 5″ and Cancer the tallest at almost 6 1/2″ tall.
It’s also worth noting that while all these designs can be seen as similar to past Mcfarlane releases, they don’t exhibit the often ridiculed redundancies – there’s no big boots, midgets, or fat, disgusting blobs. And yes, I meant boots.
Paint – ***1/2
Nobody manages to do ‘controled slop’ quite like Mcfarlane. The paint application is done in such a way as to have a gritty, dirty, rough appearance – and yet have great cut lines, consistent coverage, and clean details. There aren’t many companies that can pull this off, and Mcfarlane has set the bar high in this category as well.
Here, they do a solid job, with only a few minor issues across the whole line. Like the sculpt, people may find there are artistic choices they take issue with, but it’s unlikely that they’ll have a major problem with the basic quality of the work.
This is very critical too, as we are seeing more and more companies fall victim to cost cutting at the time of production. This almost always means cutting back on either the number of paint operations, or the quality of the existing operations. We’re seeing it big time with the mass market boys like Hasbro and Mattel, but it’s also creeping in with the specialty market guys with recent waves. Mcfarlane is a mid range player, and it’s good to see that they paint work is remaining strong.
Articulation – Aries, Gemini **; Cancer, Taurus *
I believe I first used the phrase “Nerd Hummels” last November when I was describing another Mcfarlane line -Twisted Christmas. This series is another perfect example of that term, a line of figures designed to be small, plastic statues that fellow nerds and geeks will pose on the shelf in their sculpted stance, to admire occasionally and dust often.
If you go in expecting almost no articulation, then the low scores in this category aren’t going to greatly effect your overall (which is my situation), but if articulation is paramount for you in all your ‘action’ figures, then this situation is likely to be a deal breaker.
The Taurus has a cut neck, cut shoulders, cut waist, and only one cut leg at the top of the boot. The shoulders barely move however, and most of the articulation is fairly useless. His horns actually have cut joints too, and these might be the most useful for creating different expressions out of the joints that are here.
Cancer is even less articulated. He also has the cut shoulders, but once again, they barely move. He has cut wrists and cut knees, along with a cut waist. He also has an extra surprise joint – the smaller half of his large claw has a ball joint!
Aries has the cut neck, cut shoulders cut wrists, cut waist, and cut knees – sound familiar? And like the previous two, he also has a surprise…pin jointed ankles! Thank God he does too, because otherwise getting him to stand would be nigh impossible. With the ankle joints though, you’ll easily find the sweet spot.
There’s no surprise joints on Gemini, but even for his weird design, he’s really the most poseable. He has ball joints at all four shoulders (with limited range of movement), a ball joint at the waist between the twins, and cut joints on all four wrists.
Accessories – Taurus **1/2; Aries **; Cancer, Gemini – Bupkis
There’s not much in the way of accessories with this series, which considering the price is not such a good thing.
Gemini and Cancer come with absolutely nothing, nada, zippo.
Taurus and Aries both have a weapon – a hammer and spear, respectifully. Both of these weapons have one end that pops off to allow it to slide through their tight little mitts.
Of the two weapons, I like the hammer design better. It has some wonderful detailed sculpting on the sides, and the nasty spikes are a great touch.
Aries’ spear is decent as well, although it tends to bend in his hands. The thinner plastic for the blades is always going to warp a little, making it slightly less attractive than the cool bad ass hammer.
Value – **
It is an unfortunate situation, but the prices are rising. But when they first start rising, the feeling of any sort of value for that rise just isn’t there. That’s the case right now, where prices are going up but we aren’t getting anything extra for it. If you’re lucky, you’ll pick up these for $12, and they aren’t even a licensed product or a specialty market product per se. A year from now, this might seem like a bargain, but today it seems like a couple bucks too much at best.
Fun Factor – **1/2
While there isn’t going to be any kid clamoring for these initially, they actually have some reasonable play value as villains and monsters in relation to other six inch scale lines. And any kid (or adult) who’s a fan of the old black and white monster movies is going to find a special place in their heart for this version of Cancer.
Things to Watch Out For –
The small arrows that go into Taurus’ back can easily be lost or broken. Everything else, including the various weapons, seemed quite sturdy and unlikely to cause you any issues.
Overall – ***1/2
I think this line has the potential to be some of Mcfarlane’s better non-licensed work this year. I think the key is that these first four can be clearly seen in the context of the Zodiac. In other words, tell someone that one of them represents Taurus or Cancer, and folks would go “Oh, yea, I get it!”. I’m hopeful that will remain so, although I have my doubts with the early photos of Scorpio and Virgo.
If youi were hoping to add these to your Four Horseman FANtastic Exclusive figures, you’ll be disappointed. While there’s some similarity in style with Taurus or the upcoming Leo, these are much too small to go with that line. Stick them with some past McToys lines like Conan or some of the Dark Ages Spawn figures, and you’ll be happier.
Where to Buy –
Larger retailers may end up with these (like Toys R Us), or your LCS may stock them. But your best bet is probably online:
– Clark Toys has the singles for $13 each, but they have a terrific price on the set of four for just $45. They also have preorders up for series 2 and 3, also only $45 in sets of 4.
– Amazing Toyz has an excellent price on these at just $12 each for the singles, or $46 for the set of four.
– YouBuyNow has the singles for $17 each, or $64 for the set of four.
– if you’re going in with some other folks, you can get a case of 12 from Urban Collector for $148, but there’s no guarantee you’ll get three even sets.
– for UK collectors, Forbidden Planet has these listed at 10 GBP each.
– or you can search on ebay for them using sponsor MyAuctionLinks.
Comments: 1 Comment
One Response to “Toy Box: What’s your sign?”Leave a Reply |
May 8th, 2008 at 12:31 am
I can not believe this is a MWC review lol. The sculpt and paint apps have gone down severely on TMP products, and these show it. The boringness and perfect alignment of a natural piece of growth such as a crab shell, and the sloppy face paint (as well as colored plastic to reduce paint apps) is solid proof. Shoddy work at best.