Hoo,
boy was I pissed off about this figure.
Hugo
Strange is a character that is oddly special to me for a few reasons.
His ghost was in the first Batman comic I ever read, he’s one of
those characters that is more of a mental challenge for Batman (and a
particularly insidious one, at that), and he’s the only character
in all of created fiction ever that I can cosplay (is that proper
word usage? Even after my exhaustive Dragon Con coverage I’m not
sure).
FUCK.
It’s
bad enough when a SDCC Exclusive is a variant or repaint that you
think is cool and really want. But this is the only figure release
Strange has gotten and he is a central character to the game and an
essential part of the collection. This figure isn’t one that you
can pass on and still consider your Arkham shelf complete. I was
furious at DCC’s decision.
However,
in recent years some of the toy companies have realized how shitty it
is to make things Exclusive and have made them easier to get online.
I had hopes that DC Collectibles – being a big comic book company
that would likely want their product in as many hands as possible and
certainly wouldn’t want to alienate their small group of devoted
collectors – would make Strange readily available. Whether through
standard e-tailers like Big Bad and Entertainment Earth or through
their own, newly launched web store.
Well,
it eventually showed up on BigBad’s site, but for the secondary
market price of $44.99 and not the MSRP of $24.99. And yeah – it
could have been even more.
But
I ordered one because I couldn’t very well go without this guy.
He’s now selling for around sixty bucks, so I don’t feel too bad
about shelling out for him.
First
Glance:
His damn glasses are crooked. Other than that he looks great and fits
the aesthetic established by the rest of the line. But… fuck.
Articulation:
Strange has all the joints you might want in an evil psychoanalyst
with a Batman fetish.
Head
– ball joint
Shoulders
– ball joint
Elbows
– swivel/pivot
Wrists
– swivel
Waist
- swivel
Hips
– swivel
Knees
- pivot
Strange’s
head moves around alright. It isn’t the best ball joint ever, but
it does enough.
His
arms work well, but I’d like it if his elbows bent a bit more. He
can’t quite clasp his hands behind his back and it’s driving me a
little nuts because that’s kind of his signature pose and I paid SO
DAMN MUCH FOR THIS FIGURE.
His
hips and knees move about as much as they need to, but the figure
really could have used ankle joints. It isn’t balanced all that
well and has to be in a very specific pose to stand up. He can’t
actually stand in a neutral position – the right leg has to be in
front of the left. HOWEVER – if the only solution would have been
ugly holes in the sides of his pants legs like Mattel does on its
figures with trousers; then no thank you I will deal with an awkward
stance.
All
of Hugo’s joints move well and none were stuck or anything.
Sculpt:
Hugo is a 100% new sculpt.
Okay,
when I say that I can cosplay as this guy, I mean I look enough like
him in my natural state that it works. I do not, however, have his
giant and grotesque fish lips.
Those
fish lips happen to be in the middle of a tremendous head sculpt that
is full of personality and perfectly captures Strange’s appearance
from Arkham
City.
The beard is shaped right and has just the right amount of detail.
The facial expression is very judgmental.
I
feel like an odd decision was made regarding this figure’s
shoulders. The lab coat has very wide openings for the arms. We’ve
definitely seen better from this line. But the weird thing is the
seams on the tops of the arms themselves. These appear to be shoulder
seams, but it seems to me like a better decision would have been to
just leave the seams off and let the separations between the coat and
the arms serve as the seams.
That
being said, the arms do look good and the gloved hands are great.
They have seams and folds and look creepy. The right hand is in a
fairly neutral, relaxed pose. The left looks like it could be ready
to hold a scalpel or
a syringe, but I just cannot make the syringe work. I want so bad for
those two extended fingers to sit on the plunger and it just isn’t
happening. Still, he can hold both accessories and it looks okay.
Strange’s
trousers and shoes are pretty plain. Not much to see here, but
there’s no reason they should be exciting.
Coloring:
The paint on the head is great. The lips are dark and overly
emphasized, which gives the Professor a creepy look. There are dark
washes in the lines of his face to bring them out. His beard and
eyebrows match and have washes as well. The eyes are centered and
well done, not that you can tell in any of these pictures. Just take
my word for it.
The
lab coat and arms match perfectly. This is a major feat considering
they are pure white and molded from different materials. Even Hasbro
can’t manage that trick, so good job, DCC.
His
trousers are flat and dull. His shoes and gloves are glossy black.
Flair:
THOSE DAMN GLASSES!
They
look great, but mine got glued on crooked. I’m scared to try and
fix them because if I screw up my figure will have no glasses. The
translucent lenses look awesome and the glossy black frames are
perfect.
The
Professor’s lab coat is a soft plastic or rubber. The clasps look
great and are painted well, though I think I might prefer it if they
were all fastened. But who knows? Maybe this is pre-perv-out Hugo.
Maybe he just laid 150 ccs of some weird hallucinogen on a patient
and is preparing to get freaky. I dunno.
The
high point of the lab coat is the deco. There’s the Arkham logo
printed on the right side and his ID badge on the left. The badge has
tiny printed detail and looks very good..
Accessories:
Strange comes with a scalpel and a syringe. The scalpel is pretty
basic – just a long-handled blade with a coat of silver paint. The
figure can hold it and that’s what counts. The syringe is made from
a translucent material and has silver paint on the metallic parts. It
looks great and I appreciate the effort DCC put into it.
Packaging:
It’s the crappy old clamshell from the last waves that you need
scissors to open. Blech.
Also, there’s no bio or anything, just a
synopsis of the plot of Arkham
City.
Value:
MSRP is $24.99. Given the Exclusivity I feel like Strange is probably
worth that. And given the fact that I absolutely had to have him I
guess he’s worth the forty-five bucks plus shipping that I paid.
But not really. It’s one of those things where I had to weigh the
hole in my collection against the hole in my wallet.
Overall:
I probably would have given this guy a 5 if I had paid regular price
for him and his glasses weren’t jacked up. While there were a few
minor things I would have done differently, this figure is pretty
much the best Hugo Strange it could be.
4
out of 5
The
only place I’ve seen this lately is eBay and he’s going for
around sixty bucks. Yeesh.
-Phantom
So jealous! I missed out on this guy and can't bring myself to drop 60+ dollars on him.
ReplyDeleteI still have my Secret File Hugo Strange, so I'm not completely Strangeless, but this guy definitely looks much better.
I love that Secret Files Strange. It's a fantastic figure, but you're right - I needed a Hugo in his regular getup.
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