Have you ever seen Pirates of the Caribbean? Or at least heard of it? I bet you have. Well, you know captainJack Sparrow? Yeah, the guy that plays him, Johnyy Depp, has been in good movies, believe it or not. Movies that didn't involve ridiculously convoluted storylines, non-existant characterization and relatively famous actors that don't even get their likeness used in their character. Now. while a lot of his movies are worth watching (includeing the original Nightmare on Elm Street, in which he appeared when he was just a mere teenager)the most worth watching ar his Tim Burton collaborations. Particularly those from the 1990's. Films such as Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow and, the subject of tonight's review, Edward scissorhands. Those three movies, as well as his two 2000's collaborations(Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), to a lesser extent are real classics. While the PotC trilogy sinks to the depths of action movie history, his Tim Burton films will remain true classics. And like most classics, companys will always want to find ways to cash in on them, and one of the most tried and true ways of doing so is through the toy market. Although we're still waiting on figures from Ed Wood, and good figures from Charlie and the Chocolate factory, Sleepy Hollow and Ed scissorhands have both been immortalized in plastic. Some of the more recent offerings have been from Mezco (who did an excellent work on the Hellboy figures, along with some others) and they include a 9" Edward, The prof., and and two exclusive Eds. They also did Mez-Itz (the subject of the review) and a 13" plush. So how do these stack up? Let's find out.
packaging-****
Mez was right on the mark with these guys. They come in a windowbox that's about 9" tall. It comes well decorated with some nice images from the movie,as well as some of the figures themselves. Plus, it's collector friendly. Two pieces of tape are all that hold the lid closed, and there are just two twisties holding these guys in.
sculpt: Civilian ED-****; Regular Ed, Professor-***1/2
Civilian Ed is easily the best of the three. His likeness and facial expression mimic those of his on-screen counterpart perfectly (well, considering it's a caricature, anyway). The professor (or inventor) and regular Ed don't fair so well, unfortunately. Regular Ed is just slightly off. At first I thought it was just the lips, but upon re-watching the film I realized it was actually a number of things. First off, yes, the lips are a bit off. They should really be smaller, with a more extreme downward angle at the sides. The eyes are also part of the problem, they're a bit too big for the expression to work. The professor is actually a good likeness, but the expression is way too stern. If I remember correctly he was usually smiling in the movie, and even when he wasn't he never looked this serious. Nitpicking aside, these are all decent caricatures.
paint: Professor-****;both Edwards-***1/2
The paint is just as good as the sculpt. The only problem I have is more with the color than the application. whiile the Professor is top-notch, the two Eds are just too pale. He always appeared pale in the movie, but pale to a human extent. Here they look vampire-esque.
Articulation: Professor-***; Both Eds- ***1/4
These guys use the standard Mez bodies:
Ball jointed neck X1
Ball jointed shoulders X2
Cut wrists X2
Cut waist X1
The articulation here is good, the joints are all strong enough without being constrictive (which is good, since they'd wall apart otherwise).
The two Eds fare better because their scissorhands are both jointed.
accessories-***1/2
There's an ice angel (the same size as the figures), the proffessor's cane, and a cookie from the Professor's first appearance. The ice angel is extremely well sculpted, and includes small scratches and dings that imply a carving (there's no paint or articulation, just in case you were wondering). the only problem is that it doesn't look like the ice angel in the movie. I'm not sure why they went with a different design, but nitpicking aside, it's a great accessory. The cane is pretty much well made, except it's A) too long, and B) too thick. I guess it's hard to make a cane in this scale that looks good, but it's still and issue. The cookie is a cookie. It has the same texture as a cookie would, and is cast in brown plastic, negating the need for paint. Actually, it should be tan, but most people probably won't care.
fun factor-**
These aren't reall meant for kids. They have a few delicate parts (Ed's hands, the sculpted clothes, etc.). The box says for ages eight and up, but I would recommend gicing these to someone no younger than ten. Maybe more like twelve.
things to watch out for
Be careful taking these guys out of the package. If you're not careful you could easily damage some of the previously mentioned delicate parts (my regular Ed's leg peg broke off as I was taking it out! Although I suspect it was already broken. Also, if you have a loose arem (or leg) then applying a little sticky tack on the inside of the joint will help strengthen it. That's also how I fixed my Ed's leg.
value-***
I paid something like sixteen bucks for this set. That's about four bucks per figure (I'm counting the ice angel as a figure here because it's about the same size as the others). That isn't an awful value, but nine bucks (that's three bucks per figure) would be the ideal value. Even so they're a better value than the 9" figure.
Overall-***1/2
If you're looking for regular Ed, civilian Ed and the professor, then this is really the best way to get them (the others being between $20.00 and $25.00). The likenesses on the Eds are both better than the 9" figure, and the Professor includes his cane, something the 9" iteration lacked. If this version had come with Ed's Christmas present, then it would render the 9" version almost obselete.
Where to buy
I picked mine up at CornerStoreComics.com. They also still have them at Mezco's site, but you'll be paying a few bucks more.
related links
Michael Crawford has a gues review of the Medicom verison over at his site. That's all I can think of.
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