Toy OTD: Mezco Cinema Of Fear Action Figure: Leatherface (2008)

And now for something completely different - a Leatherface action figure! I'm assuming this was manufactured as merchandising for the recent Chainsaw remake.

I'm sure you're wondering: why on earth did I buy this? Why do I own it? I'm not a particularly big horror film fan. I hadn't seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre until a couple of years ago, and I didn't really like it all that much (it was pretty creepy, though). I'm not really a Tobe Hooper booster either - the only film of his that I really like is (no surprise) Poltergeist. So what's the deal?

I do have some other horror toys, most of them from Sideshow's original Universal Monsters action figure line. Ultimately if the craft of a toy is good enough, it'll override how I feel (or don't feel) about the source material. In this particular case, stylization is key.

It's not stylization in the sense of stripping away detail - this toy is tweaked in terms of proportion and structure. I like the squat, exaggerated look of this figure. It emphasizes the bulky creepiness of the character.

The sculpt is quite nice, having a great sense of texture. The hair could have been sculpted with more, but ultimately I think it works with the pushed look. There's nice touches, like the removable mask (even though I'm never going to take it off). The eyes peering through it create a nice eerie effect.

The paint work is strong, with plenty of 'blood', of course. The paint is great for helping bring out the detail of the sculpt, and there's an 'antiquing' sort of effect to help give a grubby, battered feeling to the character.

I'm also impressed with the cloth costume - it's a bit unusual for figures of this scale. Adding pants (which could easily have been sculpted) is a nice touch, separating the costume from the figure body without feeling too bulky. The 'stained' fabric adds still more to the overall look, giving more variety to the gore work on the toy.

The articulation is about average - I think there's about nine joints here. The arm joints aren't always naturally positioned, so they can look a little awkward when posed. Still, they do make it easier for the figure to hold the chainsaw - it facilitates the inevitable tweaking needed to make the prop fit into a pair of hands (and of course keeps the prop removable).

Since the joints are limited, and the figure is in a squat and well-planted pose, balance issues are very low. No display stand needed for this toy!

There's only a few accessories included, but that's plenty: a machete, a bucket of, well, human innards and the signature chainsaw. They allow for a decent amount of posing variety and are still large enough to keep track of. They're covered with 'blood' too in order to match the figure. Ugh!

The packaging is not all that interesting. It's the basic window-box set-up with a hangable back card, to open up display options for retailers. While all of the design choices make sense - the window border is cut into a ragged shape; the logo is quite close to the film's, there's a foliage strip at the bottom of the box, the graphics are appropriately blood-spattered and choppy - the overall effect is kind of bland. It seems that the designers deferred to the figure to generate the desired impact. That's fine, but it does come across as a bit of a missed opportunity.

This figure isn't terribly old or much in demand, so it isn't at all difficult to find. I bought mine about a year ago from Spencer Gifts for $30, but you can buy one at Amazon for $12.99 + shipping. Enjoy!

Toy OTD: Mezco 6" Talking Ozbourne Family Figure: Ozzy Osbourne (2002)

The flip side of meticulous accuracy is caricature, and I love both approaches in toys. In general, I gravitate toward caricature and stylization (especially in 3D) because it's always interesting for me to see which details were given prominence over others. While this toy may not be the zenith of this philosophy, I think it's appealing and has a sense of fun.

As you might imagine, this merchandise was a result of the popularity of The Osbournes reality television show. Mezco responded (like many other manufacturers) by acquiring the likeness rights and manufacturing figures of the family members. The toys are in scale with one another, and each features a base with a different voice chip.

I like the caricature here, even if it could be more exaggerated. It's silly, executed in the "bigfoot cartoon" style, and gently mocks Ozzy's outsized image. The pose is a little symmetrical, but there's just enough asymmetry in it to keep the character lively. The paintwork here is decent, and I like the use of assembling different layers of PVC, rather than sculpting the figure all of a piece. It gives the hair and clothing a little extra quality, feeling more separated from the figure itself. The glitter (or silver paint spatter) on his costume is a good textural touch.

There's little articulation to speak of - the figure seems intended primarily for display, and it works fine for that. Ozzy comes with 'his' talking base ("Rock and Roll!"), a pair of glasses and a standing microphone. I find most of the accessories somewhat extraneous, but the glasses add a lot to the character - they're difficult to keep on his head, but it adds a little more sculptural detail.

The original packaging is the standard plastic blister with cardboard backing. I don't find the overall impact appealing, though the fifties retro look is an appropriately ironic design approach.

Naturally, these figures are long gone from toy shelves, but Ozzy isn't terribly difficult to find. It's still selling at Amazon.com for $11.95 + shipping. Good luck!

PS - If you're thinking about collecting the whole family, you can get Kelly though Amazon.com for $6.00 + shipping. Jack and Sharon are both only $5.00 + shipping each at Extreme Collectibles. There's also an Ozzy "home clothes" variant you can buy for about € 12,00 + shipping at Muscara.com. Be sure to try thefind.com when toy hunting - it produces a lot of results that Google alone doesn't!

Photos and text ©2009 Jeff Pidgeon.

Toy OTD: Mezco South Park Figure: Jesus (Series 3 - 2006)

The Mezco South Park line lasted long enough to include some great characters! Of course, it wouldn't really be complete without one of the stars of The Spirit Of Christmas - Jesus! Happily, Mezco did a terrific job.

The figure is as simply designed as its construction-paper counterpart. Generally, it's very accurate to the original design, but the head looks a little rounder - thought it's possible the design has changed over the run of the show, too. It's a really nice compromise between two- and three-dimensions! The paint work is also tight, which helps preserve the cutout look.

This character doesn't really lend itself to articulation, so big props to Mezco for thinking outside of the box and adding articulated eyebrows! It's a nifty way to customize your figure a little more, especially if you consider the facial variants that Mezco usually produce (I'm sure this toy has more than one). Other than that, we're talking the neck, shoulders, and maybe the wrists.

The big plus of the sculpted robe is that there's no stability issues! While he may not balance on your dashboard, the toy will probably be well-centered on any other flat surface. Any possible branding or legal-ese is hidden away, which is also very cool!

Mezco's South Park blister packaging is deceptively basic. The show's simple, attractive graphics may seem like a gimme, but many toy companies don't always consider the source content. Mezco picked a snowy 'Colorado' background for the blister card, which is eye-catching and on-theme without becoming obnoxious or busy. Very nice!

Rather than bombard us with tiny, easily-lost accessories, Mezco gave us a 'God' mini-figure instead! It's also quite well-made, accurate right down the thin whisker-hairs on its head. Not only is it on-theme, but it's like getting two figures for the price of one!

This toy is three years old, but it's not terribly hard to get today. Unfortunately, it's gone up in price significantly - the cheapest it's going for right now is $49.99 + shipping at superherotoys.com. You may want to hunt around a bit more and comparison shop... good luck!

Toy OTD: Mezco Family Guy Figure: Brian (2004)

Mezco has done a nice job with the Family Guy action figures - most of the characters that you would want have been manufactured, and they've all been done quite well.

Brian here was naturally part of series one - Mezco was smart and knew that fans would want him right away! Like the rest of the line, he's well sculpted - if the pose is a little stiff, well, that's how the characters are on the show a great deal of the time. The default posing is pretty much straight-up-and-down, so it's an appropriate approach for the toys.

There's not a lot of articulation, but it'd be tougher to keep the characters on-model if more joints were added, so I don't really mind. Brian is evenly-proportioned enough that he doesn't have much in the way of balance issues, but a small pegged stand is always good to help with that. The paint work is extrememly minimal, but it's well done.

Like many other Mezco toys, Brian comes with a bunch of accessories - a newspaper, a fire hydrant, an issue of Doggie Style, a cup of coffee, and of course a martini glass. I don't need that many extras myself, but I'm sure it helps sell the toy.

The tricky part about Mezco figures is that almost every character they make is manufactured with one or two different facial expressions. While it's great to have a variety to choose from, it's not as great if you don't know how many there are, or can't find the one that you want. Fortunately, Brian's deadpan variant is the default one, and was pretty easy to get back in the day.

The packaging is the standard back card/blister combo that almost everyone uses. There's nothing startling about the design, but there's nothing wildly off-theme, either. Colors from the show's palatte, the logo, drawings of the character - pretty much the things you'd expect.

Now that the figures have been out for a while, Brian is tougher to find and still popular. That means his price has gone up - to get this early version of him now is going to cost you! Superherotoys.com has it for $44.95 + shipping, and toywiz.com has it for $49.99 + shipping. At those prices (if you don't mind a different facial expression), you'd be better off buying this series 1.5 boxed set (with six characters!) off eBay for $20.00 + shipping. Happy bargain hunting!

Toy OTD: Mezco Family Guy Figure: Chris Griffin

I know that Family Guy doesn't inspire at lot of love from many people, but I think Mezco's done a really good job with the toy line (I like watching the show, too).

The sculpt is nice, though it's a bit symmetrical. On the plus side, it does take advantage of the design's solidity to avoid balance problems. The paint work is fine - mostly quite tight with only a few loose spots. Only four point of articulation, but it's fine as a display piece.

I could probably do without the plethora of accessories that usually accompanies a Mezco toy, but the "Walkman" is well-made, and fits onto the figure easily. I'm usually happy with one accessory if it's really iconic (i.e, Indy's whip), and the figure can hold it tightly.

You'll need to look sharp at the online offerings, as there's a few variants, as well as different facial expressions for this figure. Make sure you get exactly the version that you want!

You can get this version of Chris for $19.95 + shipping at cmdstore.com. There's an 'exercise' version on sale for $10.39 + shipping at panikstoybox.com, and if you join Club Mez (Mezco's collectors' club), you can still get the 2005 Toy Fare exclusive Chris for $18.00 + shipping. Again, note the different paint job on the eyes. Have fun!

Toy OTD: Mirage (2004) & Mezco's Big Gay Al Figures

It's always interesting to see what different companies will focus on when they make toys of the same character. Here's Mirage and Mezco's takes on South Park's Big Gay Al.

There's usually a clear winner, but in this case each figure has its merits, which is why I still own both of them. Because this design style is strongly stylized, there's lot of room for interesting interpretation as the character makes its way into the third dimension.

At first glance, Mezco wins a lot of battles right away - the details, color and line work are much more accurate (not that you could tell here, but it's also scaled better next to the kid characters). The sculptor took the approach of trying to preserve as much of the flat, 'primitive' aesthetic as possible - only adding dimension to the largest forms.

The Mirage figure isn't nearly as on-model, but they captured the attitude and pose better than the Mezco version, which looks less lively. Many of the props and details are missing, but the skin tone is better, and I like the overall proportions more, too. There's more going on in terms of form as well - the face is sculpted, and the legs have more definition.

It still looks pretty flat, but the sculptor wanted to take more advantage of the fact that it's a 3-D figure, and pop out more forms for the light to play with. I think that's more appealing in some ways (imagine what each figure would look like unpainted, and I think you'll see what I mean). The overall look is bolder, but lacks subtlety. So in my mind, each figure has its pluses and minuses.

Whatever your preference, you can still get either figure easily. The Mirage South Park line was discontinued, but the Al toys leaked onto the secondary market anyhow, never getting a formal retail release. The Mezco Al is for sale at Panik's Toy Box for $12.99 + shipping. The Mirage Al is much cheaper - you can buy it for $8.00 + shipping at superherotoys.com.

Toy OTD: Mezco Underdog Figures: Simon Barsinister, Sweet Polly Purebred, Underdog

Mezco's done a bang-up job adapting these characters into toy form! The sculpts and paint work are great, the posing and articulation are well-suited for their scale, and Polly Purebred even comes with a base! The accessories are well-chosen, too - Simon comes with a couple of his inventions, Polly has her retro-enormous tape recorder, and Underdog comes with replacable hands and a huge lightning bolt to replace his legs if you want to match his flying pose in the opening credits! The separately-molded, poseable ears are another great touch. He's even wearing his pill-holding ring, usually the first detail to be dropped in merchandising.

Can I also say I'm thrilled that they don't look like the current live-action feature?

In my mind, the only minus from this first series is the Riff Raff figure - he's technically well-executed, but his pose is stiff and symmetrical. It feels a little more like a prototype in that sense than a finished figure. I prefer the sculpt of Funko's Riff Raff Wacky Wobbler, myself - it's a lot softer, but I think it's also more lively. See how simply posing him with the gun and putting the cigar in his mouth make a big difference in throwing off the symmetry!

I'm not sure that there's enough other well-known characters to necessitate a series two, but I would like to see a figure of Simon's sidekick Cad, and maybe a limited convention exclusive of Overcat. Who's Overcat? That's why I think he should be a convention exclusive - I think he's too obscure to sell as a traditionally released figure.

These figures came out during Comic-Con, so they should still be easy to find. I bought mine locally for thirteen dollars each - you can buy all four at once at toynk.com for $49.99 + shipping, or you can get Simon and/or Riff Raff at Screaming Monkey Comics (an eBay store) for $11.00 + shipping each. Underdog and Polly are more expensive, fetching $14.99 + shipping each at toywiz.com.

PS - Keep in mind Mezco's penchant for multiple head sculpts and facial expressions, too - I've only seen a couple of Underdog, but that doesn't mean there aren't more!

Toy OTD: Mezco Animal House Figure: Kent 'Flounder' Dorfman (2003)

This figure is one one of my favorite examples of Mezco's caricatured sculpts. The likeness is good, and it's an appealing, funny sculpt using simpler shapes. The paint work is great, though there's not a lot of articulation (seldom a problem with me). Maybe his chubbiness could've been pushed more, but otherwise very cool.

I saw these figures in stores for quite a while, so I'm assuming they didn't sell all that well - that might explain why I'm not seeing more toys in this caricatured direction from Mezco. I was hoping that the Goonies figures would be made this way, but their designs and sculpts are noticeably more restrained, so I'm assuming consumers didn't generally embrace this approach. It's a shame, because there aren't many other toy lines doing it.

You should be able to get this toy for a good price - there's one for sale at figurerealm.com for $14.95 + shipping, and I'll bet you can find an even better deal if you dig about a bit, or set up a search on eBay.

One Good Thing To Come Out Of The Underdog Movie

Mezco's whipping up some great new figures this summer, presumably on the heels of the upcoming movie. Wisely, these look like the cartoon designs - I'm assuming the less-than-spectacular sales of the live-action Flintstones and Grinch toys had something to do with that. Cool!

If quantity's your thing, you can pre-order a case of Underdog figures for $167.99 + shipping at Entertaiment Earth.