The Demon is looking most certainly like the God of Thunder. Another new sculpt courtesy of The Farrow and boy did he nail it! In this series of figures I’ve bestowed the best of on the Paul but that wasn’t easy. This Gene is one bad mofo. The only thing that really pulled Paul ahead in the rankings for me was the new head sculpt compared to the previously released one. Plus I wouldn’t want to add too much more to Gene’s ego.
There’s been talk in the 8 inch collecting community that the smirk looks stupid. Before having only seen pictures I would have had to agree but now having one in hand I can see that it’s not so much the smirk that is the problem but that the paint app is just a little off and as such the smirk looks goofy. While I myself am okay with this those wanting to correct the problem can do so relatively easily. My good pal Tom did a touch up on his and as you can see he looks fantastic with only a minor tweaking.
*I will note that FTC did appear to do a bait and switch in the initial pre orders. In those early release prototype pictures this 8 inch Gene was shown to share the same sculpt as the 12 inch version. I don’t believe this was an intentional deception. Like most all prototype pictures show in the fine print “Colors, assortment and final product may vary.”
The biggest thing about this figure that you can’t help but be impressed with are the custom arms. They are a softer rubber but maintain all the usual articulation points. More importantly it’s got spikes! How Rock N Roll is that?!? Plus that shows me that the FTC folks are not joking around when it comes to keeping the bar high. This is one bad ass touch in this scale and style considering how common repurposing of bits and pieces is. Insert loud applause here.
The costume is also excellent. The bat wings look cool and they are well constructed. The cod piece is very well made and painted. The slits in the “pants” are also pretty daring in my opinion because that touch adds for a lot of potential problems with ripping, tearing and so on. But for all I can say and with my daughters stress test, this has not been an issue. The boots are a little ho hum but that doesn’t mean they aren’t top quality. It’s not FTC’s fault that Gene at that time had such boring footwear.
Overall this is such an amazing figure in this scale. Plus I really appreciate that it doesn’t have his tongue sticking out. Sure it’s iconic but it’s used to death. So good call on whoever said; “Hey, you know what? Why don’t we just put the tongue away? Just this one time.” I know I appreciate it.
Again you can round out this figure by making a bass guitar for him or I’ll do it for you for $5 by clicking HERE.
Now, Go Play!
Jim 04/10/14
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