Tag Archives: Tooney Terrors

#3633: Vincent Price

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

VINCENT PRICE

TOONY TERRORS (NECA)

Fun FiQ Fact #0112: Masters of horror Vincent Price and Christopher Lee shared the same birthday, May 27, and fellow horror actor Peter Cushing’s birthday was only one day earlier on May 26.

I have a deep-seated appreciation of Vincent Price, the root of which comes not from anything Price himself did, but in fact from a stand-up comic’s bit that I heard on Laugh USA some time in the early ’00s, which featured an impersonation of Price attempting to pick up women in a bar, culminating in the phrase “gaze upon my haunting VISAGE!”  I knew Price’s work enough to get the joke at the time, and it’s been stuck in my head ever since, so that it’s the first thing I think of when encountering Price’s actual work.  It’s also become a go-to response to me for unrelated things, because it amuses me.  So, you know, with all that said, I felt like maybe I needed a Vincent Price figure.  As luck would have it, here’s a Vincent Price figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Vincent Price was released as part of Series 9 of NECA’s Toony Terrors line.  While the line initially began as strictly fictitious characters, they’ve started working in some horror associated personalities.  Vincent’s the first time that we’ve gotten someone under their own name, but we’ve gotten the likes of Elvira and Svengoolie, and an argument could be made that Vincent was as much a persona as a real person.  The figure stands 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Ash, the only other Toony Terror I’ve looked at, was pretty stiff, but still had a surprising amount of movement.  Vincent…does not have a surprising amount of movement.  He’s still got the ball-jointed neck, which is certainly useful.  However, he’s just got cut joints at the shoulders and wrists beyond that, meaning he’s really just got the one pose.  Thankfully, it’s at least a pretty in-character pose for Price.  The sculpt is all-new, and true to the rest of the line’s Saturday Morning Cartoon-inspired stylings.  Price is clearly patterned on his look circa the ’70s, which is a pretty classic look for him.  The head sculpt in particular is impressive in its ability to capture everything signature to Price’s likeness, while still looking appropriately cartoony.  Vincent’s paint work is basic, but clean and to the point, and without any notable issues of bleedover or slop.  Vincent is packed with two different right hands, one bearing a cigarette, the other open for gesture or holding.  He also includes a skull (which fits in the open hand), and a black cat.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

One of the places in particular that the “Haunting VISAGE” quote gets thrown around a lot is work, and it’s very specifically hurled Max’s way a lot of the time, to the point that it’s become a very recurrent gag for us.  There was no way I was missing this figure when it arrived at All Time, and I didn’t.  It’s not a very “playable” figure, I suppose, which is a little bit of a shame, but it’s still very fun.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2446: Ash

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

ASH

TOONEY TERRORS (NECA)

In addition to putting together a fairly consistent stream of usually quite accurate recreations of various horror and sci-fi fixtures, NECA has a tendency to experiment with some slightly different styles and ideas from time to time, in order to get a little bit more mileage out of some of their licenses.  They like to have a little bit of fun with whatever their working on, and that translates to some often rather goofy, off-beat ideas.  Tooney Terrors, a line launched late last year, fits right in with that.  It’s not the most complex idea; essentially, they’re filtering horror icons through the lens of a Scooby Doo-esque Saturday morning cartoon.  I myself am not the biggest standard horror/slasher fan, at least as far as collecting toys goes, but they managed to pique my interest with their latest assortment, which happens to include Ash Williams, Bruce Campbell’s groovy, chainsaw-handed, boomstick-weilding fighter of evil from the Evil Dead films!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ash is one of the three figures in Series 3 of NECA’s Tooney Terrors line, which started hitting right at the end of May.  He’s the first “heroic” character to grace the line, though he still does kind of fit with the “terrors” descriptor.  The figure stands 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  It’s mostly cut joints on the movement, but he gets a ball-jointed neck, which was a pleasant surprise, and gives him a nice bit of range.  Given how stiff the figure is otherwise, it actually does quite a bit for posing.  Kudos to NECA for that.  I do have to say, I was a little sad at how large he was, since he’s a little too big to fit in with any of my Scooby Doo figures.  That said, he does fit just fine with the rest of the line he’s *actually* from, so I suppose I can’t be too mad at NECA for not making him fit with a line they didn’t manufacture.  He’s also close enough to be fudgable, so it’s hardly the end of the world.  Ash’s sculpt is pretty fun.  He’s based on the character’s Evil Dead 2 appearance, which is really his most distinctive, and therefore the best choice for such a figure.  It also translates quite well into that simplified design they’re going for, goofy expression and all.  There’s a lot of character behind this sculpt, and even without the usual super hyper accurate recreation of the movie look that NECA’s usually known for, there’s no confusion about who this is supposed to be.  Ash’s paintwork is quite clean, and bright as well, which makes him stand out very nicely on the shelf.  Ash includes his “boomstick”, the twelve-gauge double-barreled Remington he carries through both Evil Dead 2 and its sequel.  He can hold it in his left hand, or stow it in the holster on his back, depending on your display preference.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Tooney Terrors has fascinated me since NECA introduced it, but none of the characters were on the nose enough for me to really warrant picking them up.  As soon as they showed off Ash, though, I knew I had my entry point.  There’s not a ton going on with this figure, but I really do enjoy it.  As much as I love having my movie-accurate 7″ figure, there’s something about this one that almost feels more on the mark to the tone of the movies and the character.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this guy to review.  He and the rest of his assortment, and many other cool toys both old and new, are still available through their website and their eBay Store, so check them out.