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: Applause Rover Dangerfield Plush (1991)

It's obscure character time once again here at Toy of the Day! How many of you remember the 2-D animated feature gold rush that started to build in the late '80s with The Little Mermaid and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? And who also remembers that Rodney Dangerfield once starred in his own cartoon movie?

If you were working in the feature realm, and weren't on salary somewhere at that time, chances are you probably worked on it (I was still part of the Not-Ready-For-Feature-Length Players, so I didn't). Many of the the non-Disney films from this period quickly vanished into the mists, leaving only a few toys in their wake.

I'm a big Rodney Dangerfield fan, and I always liked how the design looked like him, so I'm still drawn to the toy even though I wasn't that fond of the movie. I think Applause did a nice job of capturing the design in a simple, even-more-streamlined plush form. The colors are striking, the construction is solid, and it has a cute, sad-sack quality to it.

This toy is long out of stores, but since there isn't a lot of demand for Rover merchandise, it'll be very affordable - in fact, there's one for sale on eBay right now for $24.95 + shipping. Snap it up!

How Do You Contact Michael Lau?

I sent an email to him a long time ago, but both his website and email link seem to have disappeared. I wanted to write to him again because I love his new Kubrick-film-inspired figure set, and had suggestions for additional sets. Wouldn't you like to see these characters refracted through the Lau filter?:

* A set based on characters from The Shining - of course, the first trio to spring to mind would be Jack (with axe, naturally), Wendy (with baseball bat), and little Danny. But there's other characters that would make great, creepy figures, too - the hallway twins, Dick Hallorann (with a slot in his back for the axe), the Weird Bear Suit Guy, or Lloyd the bartender.

* A Dr. Strangelove set with all three Peter Sellers characters - President Merkin Muffley, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, and the good doctor in his wheelchair. "Buck" Turgidson would make a great chase figure, too.

* A Lolita set with a sweaty Prof. Humbert Humbert, Lolita, and Clare Quilty. Each set comes packed with a different color of lollipop!

You could also make figures of Kubrick himself, Colonel Dax from Paths of Glory, and - last but not least - Spartacus.

I'm writing all this down in case sending it out into the ether gives it a better chance of coming true. Maybe John K. will make the Spartacus figure if Michael Lau doesn't!

Toy OTD: Thinkway Toys' Wall-E Figures: Lift'N' Load Wall-E, Search And Protect Eve

To celebrate Wall-E's opening day, here's two examples of Thinkway's terrific toy line!

Lift 'N' Load Wall-E has tons of great detail, an intricate paint job, and plenty of articulation (right down to the hands!). The treads don't move, but there are larger versions where they do - hold out for the $30 Interaction Wall-E if that's critical to you.

The figure comes with two 'trash' cubes that you can make Wall-E 'compact'. Since the trash compartment is the same shape, you can put Play-Doh® in there and make Wall-E produce a cube of that, too!

You can get this figure at your local Toys 'R' Us® for $9.99 + tax, or online for $10.99 + shipping.

Search and Protect Eve is just as well designed and executed as Wall-E. Since her eyes are LED-type displays in the film, Thinkway added a clever feature - if you press her head, her eyes will click to one of six different expressions!

Her chest compartment pops open at the push of a button, and you can store some of her accessories - an old shoe, a light bulb - inside (these seemingly random items will make more sense when you see the film). Since Eve is a floating robot, a display stand has been provided when your kids (or you!) aren't zooming her through the air.

I think there's only three points of articulation, but it makes sense when you consider the design. The joints are closer to the ball-and-socket kind, so the most is made from the few options available.

You can get Eve at your local Toys 'R' Us® for $9.99 + tax, or online for $10.99 + shipping.

If they're out of stock, you can also get them at the Disney Store website, but they're more expensive there.

See you at the movies!