Toy OTD: Dark Horse, Tim Burton's Tragic Toys For Girls And Boys: The Boy With Nails In His Eyes, Mummy Boy (2003)

Here's some great examples of how it's possible to take the trickiest of designs and make awesome toys from them.

At first glance, the original Tim Burton drawings would seem impossible designs for 3-D - at least for toys with no stop-motion armatures, or without feet bolted firmly to the floor. But Dark Horse does an incredible job! The sculpts are very true to the original art, and the paint work manages to convey some of Mr. Burton's watercolor style as well.

I've had these figures out of their packages for some time now, and there's no sign of sagging - very impressive, as that's a common problem with top-heavy toy designs. There's either some sort of armature inside the PVC, or somebody really did their homework and figured out how hard the plastic would have to be for long-term support without becoming too brittle in the process. Nice!

There's no articulation here, but that's a risky approach - joints can wind up making the figure more prone to breakage, while still not offering a lot of posing options (as we saw to a degree in McFarlane's Corpse Bride line). I'm happy to trade articulation for better stability, but that's always been my preference.

These two figures are actually part of two different three-figure sets, both of which are well worth the money, and still quite easy to find. You can get The Boy With Nails In His Eyes along with Oyster Boy and Junk Girl for $13.49 + shipping, and Mummy Boy packed with Toxic Boy and Jimmy the Hideous Penguin Boy for the same price at tfaw.com.