Ron English's Rabbbit from Dark Horse

i've only seen images of Ron English's Rabbbit vinyl figure online and thru his pop-artworks, and had enjoyed what i had seen. now thanks to Dark Horse, i have an opportunity to give a personal review of this figure:

THE PACKAGING: what draws your attention first is the deceptively simple and attractive full color window-boxed figure (with ample space within). then the three-eyed creature within grabs you by your eye-sockets and your intrigue, simultaneously wondering what's the peaceful zen-like hypnotic stare's gonna do to your pop-culture-lurvin' psyche.


personally, the contrasting pop-dots within the box surface serves as quite an ideal (diorama) display for Rabbbit, standing there partially hidden amongst the colors, a striking image stares back out. unfortunately the surface is easily damaged, when removing the twist-ties and plastic-mould backing from the figure.

THE FIGURE: standing @ 9"-ers tall, this soft vinyl figure is non-articulated. (hence "figure" and not "toy" :p). a silent observer amidst other shorter vinyl figures :)



THE DESIGN: the figure character design itself is charmingly retro, with a heavy dose of kitsch, both disturbing and unique, especially with his three eyes, 2 noses and 2 mouths (would've loved to see a single mischievous tongue sticking out from one of it tho hahaha) and the stubby three rabbit-ears, very reminiscent of Indian-deity halo-ed flames (IMHO). a lethal-sweet color combo of baby blue and pastel pink contrasts lightly with the off-whites in the eye-balls, tummy and fluff-tail = *very nice*

personally, i reckon it would've been pretty kick-a$$ if the off-white areas were GID (Glow-In-The-Dark), IMHO *heh*

PLUS: the unique character design mentioned above, and a banging good sculpt, to boot! :)))

MINUS:
i've only 2 gripes so far:
(1) the quality of the figure is a tad disappointing, with visible mould-joints around the figure, especially the obvious visible neck-to-head joints (which came apart slightly when i tugged at it gently, my bad :p), which is fine if the figure is left standing as-is and you don't take a peek underneath :p

but then again, this was released at the end of 2005, innit?

(2) the condition of the figure straight out-of-the-box, with slight dirt smudged over some surfaces (dust?) and a tad hard to wipe off, even with a damp cloth. (will try other liquids later on).


WRAP-UP: altho released more than a year ago, this Ron-English-design has lasted pretty well since (except for the physical dirt within) and has become an iconic representation of the artist, moreso than anything else i've seen so far, IMHO. and @ an uberly-affordable price of USD$17.99, you can do no wrong with having this figure in your collection.


check out Dark Horse for ordering details / and my multiply-album for more images of Rabbbit :)

[POSTED circa 25.01.07]

dKiller Panda's Monster Theatre Figures (Dark Horse)

hot off the production-line and into my grubby arms comes Series One of dKiller Panda's new Monster Theatre-mini figures (produced by SD Toys), courtesy of Dark Horse. first thing i noticed (as compared to the small images found on DH's product reference site) was that the figures were far more impressive than the images shown. waaaaay impressive. do take a virtual walk with me thru my humble review of the figures, shall we? :)


THE PACKAGING: boxed-up in a simple (but classy-ish) elongated black-box with frontal window display, with white text and graphics. the DKiller Panda's icon/logo is prominent on box sides, while the back shows the entire family of the Monster Theater-series. the packaging is stylish. (but i've always been partial to anything "black" anyways LOL)

both dKiller Panda's and SD Toy's website URLs are displayed clearly (at back), and that is something i would appreciate, rather than just "nameless" designed-figures randomly displayed LOL (a small quirk of mine, my apologies)


THE QUALITY: the 3"-er tall PVC figures have no articulation whatsoever. and regardless of some minor finishing irregularities, the black-and-white paint-work was commendable. and they could stand/balance by themselves. that to me is a big-plus :)




THE DESIGN / SCULPT: designed by dKiller Panda [interviewed here], there are 6 classic horror characters in this series, split-up between two "sets", with Set One featuring Nosfe, the Invisible and London [here] while Set Two features Franky, the Bride and Mummy (which is the set i have and am reviewing :p)




personally, i feel the designs are "killer" (sorry, i had to get that in LOL) and the sculpts are phenominal. as unarticulated as these figures are, they have a "life" of their own, just from the design. a quasi-super-deformed design-take on classic horror characters, perfect for the quasi-kitty-cute-generation, while not alienating the older folks (*ahem*), IMHO


and as "scared" as we should be from these things-that-go-bump-in-the-night, they are enduringly cute adorable and an actual delight to look at, IMHO ... heck, i can even imagine them squealing in miniature voices, for attention! especially Mummy who goes around trying to scare folks, while teh Bride calmly and coolly stands back and just wants to dance, while Franky seems so keen to have fun as well, but am clueless to get about it! .... or maybe tis the caffeine in my system babbling ... *twitch-twitch*



wish i had Set One too tho, i kinda like Nosfe (from looking at the images) *heh*


EXTRAS: in addition to the two boxed-sets, there is also the Monster Theater Display Cases = where a singular display-box includes 2 each of the 6 characters, from Monster Theater PVC set 1 & 2 -- (Vampi, London, Invisible, Frankie, Bride, Mummy) - which means it'll be "easier" for collectors to just get whom they like, without getting the entire box.

PLUS: great sculpts and design. 'nuff said .. and with it's small size, i reckon i could/would be able to cobble-up some diorama/s for them to muck-about in, innit?

MINUS:
01. no articulation. it would have been nice if at least the arms/shoulders were able to move, where we could do the "im-coming-to-grab-you"-pose, yeh? LOL


02. packaging: mayhap folks not looking specifically for these figures might miss it, as the figures might not "pop out" enough, laid against the blackened-interiors, IMHO. altho one can argue about the "whites" popping out from the blacks ... but only if tis under a spotlight? but stacked-up with other boxes? ... other than that, how could you look away from the mysterious monstrous faces looking out back atcha? *heh*

MY TOY-WISH-LIST: wouldn't be cool if they are bigger vinyls, yeh? i would really mind a decent 6"-er, yeh? heck, throw me an 8"-er and i'll be all over it in a deadened-heartbeat! *LOL*


WRAP-UP: be it you're a classics-connoisseur or contemporary urban vinyl collector, these sets are worth every penny, becoz the "value" goes beyond the after-market price-points, and would have a place in yourr memories, if not your toy-lurving-hearts, IMHO :)

WHERE TO GET:
- Set One (nosfe / the invisible / london)
- Set Two (franky / the bride / mummy)
- Monster Theater Figure Display
- dKiller Panda's website

EXTRA LINKS:
- the dKiller Panda Interview ON TOYSREVIL-weblog
- more Monster Theater images on my multiply



[POSTED circa 13.05.07]

Amy & Jordan Bendable Figure Set (Dark Horse)

Amy & Jordan is a comicbook couple created by Mark Beyer, who victimize each other and by blind circumstance. the dysfunctional duo appeared in a long running weekly comicstrip that had appeared in alternative newspapers in the U.S, and had been collected into trades and comicbooks (Agony) and was even listed in Time Magazine's "Best Comix of 2004". [wiki/dh]

now you are able to "re-live" the couple's "adventures" in your own
home with Dark Horse Deluxe's Amy & Jordan Bendable Figure Set:

THE PACKAGING: front-window display box with a panel of "original" Amy & Jordan art at back of box (would've been nice to actually have an entire self-contained story-strip tho, and/or a write-up about the artist and his creations, IMHO). the box opens up to a base which could actually double-up as a diorama-backdrop :p


THE FIGURINES: within stands 2 X 8" bendable figurines featuring Beyer's characters sculpted by the folks @ Yoe Studio. and becoz the comicbook-look of the duo is "2-D", the 3-D bendy-figures actually reflects that, a pancake-thick couple - which i had thought was pretty cool and farnie :p


and becoz they are bendy (like Gumby), certain parts of their bods, like arms and legs, even torso, can be bent to a certain extent ... be it the Marcarena (spl) or bustin' a b-boy wave *LOL*



WRAP-UP: this set is no doubt a treat for Amy & Jordan-fans! but priced @ near USD$30, i would say this collectible figurine set will only appeal to the A&J comicbook fans, but outside of that would get lost in the display shelves, amidst the hyper-detailed and colorful figures of today's toys and designer vinyls. "recognition" is key and if this appeals only to the "alternative comic-readers"-crowd who already knew of their existence, then it does a decent job of that. but to gain newer fans who know nothing about A&J?

(1) character intros or even information of their creator could've been printed on the back of the display-box.

(2) mayhap the set could include a re-print of their stories in a comic? to gain newer fans, rather than just bank rely on the "older" ones? i feel mayhap to fully "appreciate" these figures, would be for the folks to know what Beyer's comicbooks/strips were all about.

(3) i had wanted to suggest a display-box color-change, but in reality, if folks are not familiar with A&J in the first place, a colorful box might end up just another colorful box (abetted an eye-catcher tho).

- click here for a Amazon collected hardcover book :p

- the Amy & Jordan Bendable figure set is available here @DarkHorse

- for a more detailed review and bigger+more pictures (18 images), do log unto my multiply-album here *heh*

[POSTED circa 02.02.07]