Category Archives: Figura Obscura

FIGURA OBSCURA Sun Wukong The Monkey King

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Check out new video content from the SpartanNerd on YouTube!

(Direct link to this review here.)

The story here is that I got the Figura Obscura Father Christmas, and realized that I wanted more similar things.

The Figura Obscura logo features variations on a key.

The Headless Horseman was one that I waffled on several times prior to having Father Christmas because the horse would be a nice addition, and the character is undeniably cool. And then I kept hearing people talk about The Monkey King, and how great the sculpt was, etc. I got some money for Christmas and went shopping, but decided after looking at the Headless Horseman retail version, it wasn’t cool enough. The Store Horsemen version has red details and better fire, while the retail version I had my hands on in the store has green fire and details. This makes the horse practically the same horse as Boreus, with some green eyes and highlights. And then the figure doesn’t seem to be that re-usable either. But they had the Monkey King sealed, and so I actually purchased it sight unseen…only barely stealing a glance off of the internet while I was in that store.

Here is a character that I was only vaguely aware of. It seems like there was going to be an Indiana Jones movie about the Monkey King, or something like that. And then recently this year there has been a popular video game, “Black Myth Wu Kong,” and I didn’t even realize the name of the character Monkey King was actually Sun Wu Kong.

In my thinking, how could I use such a character? Well I have the McFarlane Raw-10 Cy-Gor and really like taking pictures of it. But it is huge. (That was a real value, by the way. I bought it at Wal-Mart for like $10)! And Sun Wu Kong is just another weird creature to me to join the other monsters in my collection.

So is all the hype around Figura Obscura Sun Wu Kong The Monkey King worth it?

PACKAGING

The packaging works very similar to what we got with Father Christmas. There is an enclosing “book” capping over the box. This makes for collector friendly packaging and helps push the product forward as kind of a one-off to any casual fan or collector.

The front gives us a good comic image of the figure, with foil details. As you wrap around the box you can see Asian style art depicting characters in the Monkey King’s story.

A tiger guy on the spine. A Raksasha? (My context is Magic the Gathering)

The back gives us the broad story points of The Monkey King. He is kind of a Hercules, only Ancient Buddhist rather than Ancient Greek. Rev. SpartanNerd also sees some parallels to the epic of Gilgamesh. Born out of a rock. Blessed by the gods with incredible strength. He wants the secret of immortality. He challenges and defeats the gods, who offended him, and gets imprisoned in a mountain. He is freed by a monk to go find some scrolls, and picks up some fantastical friends as well…the White Dragon Horse, a Sand Ogre, and a pigman. There apparently 81 tribulations that this team overcomes, and wow…what a story. You know, it also reminds me of the video game series God of War. It seems that Kratos has similar adventures.

Let’s look at the other spine…

A dragon, in flames. And if you remove the cap, you have yet another side panel.

This must be the White Dragon Horse. However, I don’t know who the saintly flying woman is. She looks very “Virgin Mary,” but that wouldn’t be in this Buddhist story.

If you look on the inside of the cap, you see this wonderful Asian backdrop for your Sun Wukong figure.

I’m pretty sure all of this art is by Nate Baertsch. He continues to show his legendary talent.

One more thing…

Behind the figure we have yet another backdrop piece. Another tree. I see it now! It is a peach tree! Makes sense! (I didn’t see it when I did the unboxing video)

FIGURE REVIEW.

Rather than do a “Here’s everything” photo, I am just going to name what we see in the blisters. (This is a double blister.). Sun Wu Kong on the left, surrounded by alternate faces at the top and a giant peach, with four alternate hands on the bottom. The right blister has an alternate head and some feather headdress details, his tail, a pair of alternate feet that are shoes, and his weapon which is a bo staff. Also two scrolls, one with red ribbon and the other plain, and a gourd to drink what I assume is Sake from.

Right away we can see a mixture of cloth and plastic. This sculpt is pretty indescribable…I don’t think any camera can do it justice…you have to have it in hand. He is completely tactile, if that makes sense!

Time to break it out.

And unfortunately, “break” is the key word.

This is my first pose. And I ran into my first problem.

When I tried to raise his arm…like just a little bit…the shoulder pauldron snapped off. So I broke out the Gorilla Glue. But this stung right away. The other one didn’t have this problem. What I think happened was this side didn’t have enough glue in the first place. You can see below how it works, and inspecting it under light it appears that it was just applied too thinly at the factory. But I didn’t even stress this toy, and right away I had issues.

I wanted to put that alternate head on right away. Now the head comes off so easily. I took the other head and put it on, then proceeded to do the headdress.

My mistake must be that I didn’t heed that warning the Four Horsemen always pack in with their products. “Mythic Legions need you to use a hairdryer.” Is the gist of the message. I didn’t…and you can see how the connector almost separated from the feather under the stress I applied to attach it to the crown.

BOO!

It is such a lovely piece, though. And that’s what makes this even more of a shame. I am glad I caught myself before it could break completely off. So what I did was reinforce it with some Gorrilla Glue. But now I am wary of ever taking these feathers off of the head. And this is fine except for accidents that might happen in storage. But still…

Now it was 11:00 at night. I must not have been thinking straight. I also tried to swap the right hand, and it snapped off at the joint!

Not irreparable…the hand still fits in the peg…if you are going to break one of these wrists, this was the way to do it. But ARGGH! So I stopped for the night and resumed photos and such the next day.

USE THE HAIRDRYER, PEOPLE. OR BE PREPARED TO USE THESE TOOLS.

Think… I bought it. It sat around for a few days while I messed around with GI Joe Classified Gnawgahyde, Porkbelly, and Yobbo. Doing the review of MASTERVERSE Fisto. And I am thinking “I have something really special waiting to be opened!” I actually waited until I put the Father Christmas robe away before opening this. So a few days of anticipation.

So let’s put that negativity behind us.

Sun Wukong is beautifully sculpted. It is like every piece of hair or fur is artistically placed.

Under the power of the hair dryer, his hands become very pliable, and he can hold this weapon with no issue at all.

Those soft goods have a good wire inside, and you can pose them around how you like and they will stick in that appearance.

His paint…also another WOW! The gold details on this armor and weapon pop so hard. And then he has a “mat” of green “Mardi Gras” beads around his neck. (Probably emerald or jade or something story related I don’t know about.)

HOW DOES THE MONKEY KING WORK

First of all, he comes with two heads. Both of them have the ability to swap the face. Some of the faces have tribal paint, or it might be blood (seems like a detail from the story about wearing that crown.).

Like I said, a mix of cloth and plastic. Here I have taken off his belt piece, and you can see how it works. The torso is removable from the legs, and you can remove the belt that way. He looks very awkward without that belt. What you see here in the picture is the cloth robe piece, which has a hole for the ball joint to work with the torso. It has a slot where you can place the plastic chain mail over it, creating layers. And the other robe piece loops through the belt. (There is also a hole in the back for the tail.)

These bracers are sculpted pieces and non removable. All of the pieces are modular, of course to work with other Mythic and Cosmic Legions figures.

I don’t think I will ever take this figure apart like this anymore.

You can swap the feet so that he is wearing shoes.

PICTURED: Funko Magic the Gathering Liliana action figure hands a divine peach to Sun Wukong. Possible captions. “No matter what she said, DON’T DO IT!” My grandfather would have said this…“Boy! Did you steal them shoes from your girlfriend or from your sister?”

I prefer him being shod to being barefoot somehow.

I think it is because I always think of monkeys like I do clowns. This is some kind of jokester or funny man. Go ahead…hold hands with your feet. Eat some bugs off of your friend. I’ll throw you a banana, and you can throw…

But the Monkey King is civilized and serious, kind of. Obviously, the point is that he IS a monkey. The gods didn’t take him serious either, but he was able to ascend according to the story.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF FIGURA OBSCURA SUN WU KONG THE MONKEY KING

OK. Deep breath. This Four Horsemen Studios figure can’t have 5/5.

I got that out of the way! It seems like everything they do is crackin’ awesome. (I just invented that phrase…I been playing the drums some lately). And on their end…assuming their responsibility is sculpt, paint, and design…they can’t be faulted. BUT. I had THREE issues within thirty minutes of taking it out of the package.

PICTURED: McFarlane Toys Raw-10 Cy-Gor (never done a review…sorry!), Figura Obscura Sun Wu Kong The Monkey King, and GI Joe Classified Yobbo (review coming soon)! Cy-Gor- yep…she’s a big girl. Yobbo surely knows how to operate that rifle…I think Monkey King wins this one. (Read your comics if you want to know more about Cy-Gor!)

And then on examining the packaging, opening the figures and seeing the amazing sculpt. All this excitement!

But, I mean as soon as I moved the right arm up just barely really, that pauldron popped off. And little fights like that kept coming.

I am going to give this one a 3/5.

Here is my metric.

A point for sculpt and paint.

  • A point for sculpt and paint
  • A point for accessories
  • A point for what he stands for as a unique action figure

But the QC problems…you shouldn’t need a hairdryer. You certainly shouldn’t need pliers or glue just to make the action happen. This COULD take three penalties. I don’t believe it to be a bottom of the barrel figure like Movie Beast Man or Marvel Legends Thor (comic appearance). So I am being generous. I have another Mythic Legion to review soon, and I will have the hair dryer handy right away.

On a positive note, maybe I should look into more similar “animal warriors.” Obviously Ninja Turtles go here. Animal Warriors of the Kingdom. Really there are endless options, or he can just fit right in with Conan the Barbarian, etc. You know, they could expand on this story by giving us more figures from this myth.

Do do you agree or disagree with my commentary, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

SpartanNerd Blog- Best (and worst) of 2024

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I actually did this one as a YouTube video first! So you can check that out here, or keep reading for practically the same content.

I’m not ranking these. They are all great! Someone on here might have gotten a 4/5, but over time have grown to be among the top. So no haters…OK!

FIGURA OBSCURA Father Christmas (review link)

After taking off the red and white costume, and putting it in the terrific packaging for storage until Thanksgiving or Christmas In July…(or maybe some other reason, who knows?) you have a generic elf knight body that you can continue to use all year. YAY!

Cosmic Legions SSKURR’GE (Whiplash homage) (review link)

This thing is just great! Amazing sculpt and green paint. He fits the MOTU need for Whiplash very well. It is just too bad that neither head that he came with really looks like Whiplash. I can find a customized version out there, or maybe eventually something will come out that will work.

Super7 ULTIMATES! King Conan (review link)

I could have put any of my Conan action figures here. I chose the king because he is really different…one of the most “clothed” versions of the character. I could have thrown Thulsa Doom in here easily, though. I have him holding the axe (in the video) from the Battle of the Mounds Conan, just because I like my Conan figures to hold an axe 75% of the time!

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Snout Spout (review link)

I almost passed on this. He was available for so long, and I kept waffling. Then I finally pulled the trigger on the Mattel Creations purchase and I am glad I did. He is HUGE. And that sculpt doesn’t look anything like a “sad Dumbo.” I had the chance over the weekend to pick up the 200x Staction version, but this version is better simply because it is an action figure. It’s true the Four Horsemen sculpt is better, but this MASTERVERSE version takes design cues from that and is superior in articulation and accessories.

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Mekaneck (review link)

You can see that my Mekaneck has more neck than he came with stock. I’ll get to the reason why later…

Mekaneck is just great. That we got all of those neck joints…great! His paint is flashy and his armor is just right. And how they are presenting him story wise is also different, with him now taking on underwater responsibilities, getting him away from just “reconnaissance,” as if that wasn’t important. (reconnaissance is VERY IMPORTANT, Hub City Geeks). And that he fills the essential role of Mekaneck in the lineup of heroes is also very nice.

Cosmic Legions Wal-Torr the Mad and T.U.5.C.C. Pilot (review link)

Hey. My list and my rules. I am including Carolina and Clemson on this one! Both have terrific sculpt, paint, and accessories. AND if I was rich I might army build these guys.

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Skeletor’s Throne (review link)

I could have considered Conan’s throne or Boreus (the horse at the top with Santa) as Diorama pieces, but Skeletor’s Throne is the best. It generally sits in the middle of the bad guys, and any of the many versions of Skeletor that I have can fit well on it.

WHO ELSE SHOULD I HAVE INCLUDED IN MY VIDEO? Probably Snake Sorceress Teela, (who I call the Green Goddess.) (review link)

NOW FOR THE WORST OF THE YEAR. (review link)

MASTERVERSE New Eternia Sy-Clone

Remember when I had more necks for Mekaneck? That’s because Mattel Q.C. Sent me another copy of him to atone for the missing mask on Sy-Clone. Mattel didn’t bring us a product that matched past versions…no lenticular sticker on the chest like the vintage one, no ring on his back like the 200x and Classics version. What was supposed to be new and different was that mask. They included these fire effects that can fit on the shield or on his wrists, and they are cool, but they should be IN ADDITION not in place of. He just feels uninspired to me, and with the missing mask, I feel this figure is one of the lowest of the year.

MASTERVERSE Movie Beast Man (review link)

Ugh.

He looks like the salesman for beef jerky or the Geico caveman. He doesn’t look like the movie representation. They should have gone with rooted hair and more of a Grizzlor approach to have done him right. Now we probably won’t get another version of this in the next 15 or 20 years. And that makes this an extra bummer. The design choices of making those hair-mats out of plastic armor pieces…I hope we don’t see those again. And that armor is kind of crappy. And the face sculpt is off. I hate to be negative, but WHY? Probably has to do with rights, etc.

SO DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE, HUB CITY GEEKS? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS! Also, please support the new YouTube video formats coming for 2025.

Boreus-Mythic Legions Horse…SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

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I have been eyeing getting a Mythic Legions horse for awhile. I’ve seen them in stores and conventions for around $80, and they are a large item seemingly worth all that. You start to get into issues of “do I have enough room?” Etc. And there are a few different ones. I’ve seen a brown one, for instance, and the Headless Horseman comes with a scary black horse with red eyes. There’s an undead one, and one with batwing ears. There are a few other animals, one a moose, and a bear coming out next year, There’s a centaur, and also a skeletal horse next year.

But at his heart, the SpartanNerd wants to be economical. And on Cyber Monday this year (2024) Boreus was on sale at Storehorsemen for $55.

I was purchasing the Figura Obscura Father Christmas and started to look around for what else I might want,,,I considered the Ghost of Christmas Past, but at $60 and a buy-in to the Scrooge ecosystem, (‘cause you know I couldn’t only have one, Jacob Marley, the other two ghost, probably eventually Scrooge), I decided to skip that for now anyway, even though she is exceptional.

I started looking at other offerings, and there were other things that seemed like a good opportunity to buy. But seeing Boreus at $55, a gray horse that could be used by anyone, This was too good to pass up. On top of that, I received a Cosmic Legions ashcan comic for my double order.

This is the ashcan Cosmic Legions comic on top of the Father Christmas packaging. Not much story-wise here, but a cool item with sketch drawings and panels without dialogue.

So how is Boreus? Keep reading!

PACKAGING

Boreus comes in a large box with a large window, where you can see everything inside, which includes the horse with saddle, bridle, etc already on, and an extra “flowing” mane for added action.

Unfortunately in box there is unsightly plastic around straps holding him in. This is to protect the paint, but for a MIB collector this is unfortunate. That doesn’t describe me, but I thought it important to point out.

Here are the sides of the box

One side shows the aforementioned horse with bat ears, but has Boreus bio. It turns out that Mythic Legions horses are spiritual beings (think Torrent from Elden Ring). This is a cool thing, and this bio gives even more life to this horse. The other side shows the aforementioned moose. All this terrific art is by Nate Baertsch,

Here is the back…

The top cross sell is Duban the Ranger…this is the supposed owner of Boreus. A figure I haven’t seen except in a promo photo.

A big epic image, showing the shiva-like main villain, some demon guy, and a couple of other evil characters. I actually own the Xylernian guard, and so that is something rare for the SpartanNerd in reference to Mythic Legions. That other text is general Mythic Legions story, which itself is vague.

There is a very nice backdrop that I actually have used already in the nerd closet.

BOREUS FIGURE REVIEW

It’s a horse, sculpted and designed by The Four Horsemen. As such, it is very similar to MOTUC Battle Cat. In fact, I think it has exactly the same articulation besides the articulated jaw on the tiger.

So it has a neck that goes up and down, and a head that has up and down, side to side motion. The front legs havc a shoulder and knee joint…these are back and forward. The hooves are rockers.

The back legs have some spread on the hips. The legs are jointed the same as in real life, and once again the hooves are rockers.

The tail is on a ball joint and is fully articulated.

Unfortunately, Boreus can’t lower his head low enough to drink.

I’ll point out that my Battle cat is secondary market and over ten years old. So his joints are loose, especially the head and neck. Boreus joints are nice and tight, and the hooves have a ratchet, which makes it easy to have him rear up for a pose.

ACCESSORIES

The saddle and bridle are nice pieces of work, with plastic stirrups and also loops to store weapons. (The same loops that Battle Cat’s saddle has).

The reign is liberal, and feels to be real leather. It fits in gripping hands with no problems.

This saddle is removable, but I don’t have a reason to remove it. It doesn’t have a strap belt across his belly that undoes…instead you would have to make the legs straight and the move the head down with hairpieces removed, and then slide it over the head. I haven’t done this and have no pics of it, but it can be done if they ever release more saddles. Also notable, the bedroll on the back of the saddle is swappable with another bedroll, if you ever somehow get one. (Maybe a different horse has a different color one.)

The only other accessory is the mane, which is easily removed and swapped. Now the unexpected nuance of this is that the horse also has a “toupee” that is removable, and allows the hair to layer over the bridle how you would like.

PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! King Conan holding the axe from Battle of the Mounds Conan. The king rides on Mythic Legions Boreus, who has the Sword of Atlantis mounted on the saddle. MASTERVERSE Revelations Scareglow leads Mythic Legions Skeleton Legion builders in the attack.

THE ART OF BOREUS

PICTURED: Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Cat, who is evidently entranced by the evil Super7 Ultimates! Battle of the Mounds Thulsa Doom, jousting against Mythic Legions Boreus and Mythic Legions Gold Knight II Legion Builder. Thulsa Doom is armed with the Bident that came with Super7 Ultimates! Black Falcon, and Gold Knight is armed with a spear from the Animal Warriors of the Kingdom Red Weapons loot. (Link to the similar gold version) My money’s on Thulsa Doom for this one…

Boreus is great. He is just so fun to photograph. He is this generic gray or flat black color, so he could be anyone’s horse. He is billed as “Duban the Ranger’s” horse, itself a cool figure, but above you can see that Gold Knight Legion Builder really pops.

Check out this cuteness.

PICTURED: Mashup of MASTERVERSE Revelation Evil-Lyn and Figura Obscura Father Christmas, feeding Mythic Legions Boreus.

This totally works.

PICTURED: Figura Obscura Father Christmas, leading Mythic Legions Boreus.

A Mythic Legions horse is just…it is the most useful item. And this sculpt…

Earlier I mentioned that I had thought about getting one for awhile. Some of my hangup is that there are toy horses out there for much cheaper. Like…at the dollar store kind of thing. Even Barbie horses are cheaper.

But you want to get the scale right, and you want a quality product. Boreus is a CHUNK of plastic, and there just is none better that the Four Horsemen sculpting any toys out there. I did see a McFarlane Gunslinger Spawn on a horse at GameStop for around $50 sometime in the past year. The workers advised me that it would probably go on clearance soon, and I haven’t seen it since. Now I am curious to compare the two…maybe I will.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MYTHIC LEGIONS BOREUS

I don’t have any complaints. So let’s look for something to complain about…

Crickets….

OK. So he can’t lower his head low enough to drink. There’s one. If you look at him from above and the back legs are kicked out to the side, there is a lot of daylight around the joints and tail.

Really. That’s it. I had to dig deep for that last one. OK…the plastic around his neck in package was unsightly. Boreus doesn’t lose any points for these!

SCULPT: Superior

ARTICULATION: Superior

POSABILITY: Superior

USABILITY: Superior

SPARTANNERD HAPPINESS: Superior!

I award Mythic Legions Boreus 5/5, and he is going to be celebrated as one of the best of the year for me. Furthermore, I am CONVINCED to get the Headless Horseman.

Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

Figure Obscura Father Christmas…SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

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I remember when I first heard the words “Figura Obscura.” This was two years ago in 2022 when they announced this product. I thought it was great, but if you have been following the SpartanNerd Blog for awhile you know my interest was more in the now extinct MEGA Masters of the Universe.

Since then I have bought in heavily to MASTERVERSE figures and Mythic Legions. As the years (really only two years) have waxed on, they released a Headless Horseman, which I think I might actually get now. But the specific reason I haven’t (besides price) is that … when will you use a Headless Horseman outside of the Halloween season?

This isn’t a problem with Father Christmas. Read on to find out why!

PACKAGING

Really. No question. Of all of the packaging I have ever opened or reviewed on the SpartanNerd.com blog, this is the greatest I have ever seen. And I’ve seen some great stuff. This stands like five heads taller. Seriously…let’s go ahead and drop a 5/5 rating on this whole product just based on the packaging.

Father Christmas comes in a Saran wrapped windowless box. I don’t have any idea what sad person would leave that plastic on it. I took it off to minimize the glare for the photo.

Some reader out there is crying “foul!” SpartanNerd, you hate windowless packaging. Hang on, o cynic.

What you have is an outside “cap”. It removes from the box…it is actually an encasing booklet! It works magnetically, making this an optimum collector friendly package! You get a description of Father Christmas on the back…(did you really need that?). But I am glad they did it!

We have some Nate Baertsch artwork depicting Father Christmas, an owl flying overhead, and a caribou behind him. The words Father Christmas are in beautiful Christmas card font, with the four horsemen studios symbol beneath. On the “spine” there is Figura Obscura with a key symbol.

And if all of this wasn’t enough, let’s flip this capper around.

The other side is another beautiful illustration, this time providing a backdrop for your Father Christmas figure! Absolutely over-the-top.

So now onto the box. Yep. We haven’t even seen Father Christmas in package yet!

Here he is, in box. You can see everything clearly. They have him in package with a longer beard than most American versions have…that is because the Four Horsmen went with the widest interpretation of Father Christmas that they could. This isn’t a modern-pop “fat Santa”… this Father Christmas recalls the SpartanPapaDavid (he’ll have to read this blog from heaven) and the stories that he told of the rough life growing up in rural Pennsylvania. Santa Claus would bring the Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve, and “Mr. Take-back” would come and get it on “Old Christmas.” He also would take back your presents if you were being bad. As an adult I understand all of this to be Father Christmas, Epiphany, and Krampus, interpreted in the country ways of the past.

You can see that he comes with a ton of accessories. Notably a drum, a doll, a trumpet, a lantern, an alternate shorter beard head, and a Christmas Tree. This is a double blister…It has the shepherd’s crook, two identical wreath crowns, a plastic-sculpted toy sack, soft goods hood, and a soft goods sack with presents inside on the bottom.

Now there are two versions of this product…I have seen the green Father Christmas at a store before. I was very pleased to see the red version released on Storehorsemen again for this 2024 season in red. That version has the same illustrations but with green on Father Christmas’s robe. And if you get that version, you will have the same opening experience as me with that main difference only.

One more thing about the packaging. If we didn’t have enough diorama with this, we also get an inside illustration that you can use for an “in the house” photo.

AND ONE MORE THING STILL…A Christmas card of the artwork. These are not expensive if you wanted more from the StoreHorsemen.

FIGURE: HERE’S WHAT YOU GET IN THE PACKAGE

Father Christmas comes with: (I’m going to photograph in pieces.

  • Father Christmas figure
  • Soft-goods robe, hood, and inner robe.
  • Rubber belt
  • Two heads, one with a long wizards beard and the other traditional (pictured above)
  • Two wreath crowns
  • Toy drum
  • Toy trumpet
  • Doll
  • Rubber duck
  • Dog…it is up to your interpretation on these three. Are they cartoons…toys…characters…is that dog a live dog? That duck one to annoy you when fishing or one to put in your jeep?…that doll an elf worker, or a child stowaway?
  • Shepherd’s crook
  • Lantern
  • Christmas Tree, which is a wire tree, plastic trunk, and white stand
  • Additional sack of items.

SO…the duck and dog came in that sack. And because it is 2024, I assume I am not spoiling the “surprise” items in the sack. So if you are sensitive, time to go look at a different blog entry…try the SpartanNerd.Com home page for starters. Where you can see recent reviews of New Eternia Mer-Man and Mythic Legions Boreus.

….

Turn back now if you don’t want to be spoiled

…

OK.

Here

Is

The

Spoiler!

  • Knight’s head with pointed faceplate
  • Knight’s head with back neck protector
These are the two heads. One is on Sir Godfrey, and the other on Father Christmas, sans robes, with added armor. This is Father Christmas’ surprises for Mythic Legions collectors!

Impressive amount of accessories, really.

HOW DOES FATHER CHRISTMAS WORK

Essentially, the robes are doll clothes. They are very well made. The hood and the outer robe are different pieces, both having a clasp on the front. The purple underdress is basically the same thing that MASTERVERSE Revelation Tri-Clops came with, only in purple. That has Velcro down the back.

The good thing is that when you take off the robes you don’t have a naked Santa. What you have is a really skinny knight. After looking into it, this is actually a Mythic Legions elf body. I don’t have any of those (yet…)

But because Mythic Legions have entirely modular parts, you can put any head on there. So this body can be on display all year, while the Christmas items can go back into that terrific package for storage! YAY! VALUE!

BUT what they have done with the neck is out of proportion to the body. Essentially Father Christmas has kind of a “giraffe” neck if you put his head on the neckpiece and armor. This makes the knight heads look strange on this body without some additional bulk. This is a non-complaint because Mythic Legions neck pieces are also modular. I DID have to use the hairdryer to loosen up Father Christmas’ neck joint enough to pop off.

Still, the utility of having an extra Mythic Legions for the rest of the year makes this Figura Obscura mean so much more.

PICTURED: MASTERVERSE Revelation Evil Lyn alternate head and hands on Figura Obscura Father Christmas body. She is feeding Boreus.

I find that female heads in the same scale work very well with this body. It’s true that Evil Lyn here has no neck, but can you tell? The hands were a perfect swap for this photo.

PICTURED: Figura Obscura Father Christmas and Mattel Creations Fisher Price Little People figures.

You can see above that Father Christmas is actually very articulated. He can sit on a knee and give out presents to the good little boys here. (He-Man might be the bad one…he is holding a sword after all.)

PICTURED: Figura Obscura Father Christmas and Mattel Creations Fisher Price figures.

The toy sack is very detailed. These toys are not removable…but you get the drum sticks, teddy bear, nutcracker, toy lion, toy bugle, three balls, and a book that Reverend SpartanNerd has to assume is a bible.

I am showing Father Christmas holding that trumpet. Be very careful, Hub City Geeks. This is one delicate item. It fits very well in the robe pocket, and probably should stay in there or in the sack. Father Christmas didn’t come with any additional hands, so he can’t finger the valves or anything like that. He can hold it, but be careful getting it into the hands. With the robes on, he can’t have two hands on it as if to play it, and if he can I was too afraid to try, not willing to bend the instrument. Incidentally, the doll also can fit in the robe pockets well. AND, the drum has a chain with a hook on it so that it can clip to his belt.

Ah. SpartanPapaDavid’s story, kind of.

The Shepherd’s Crook and Lantern…Father Christmas doesn’t need a weapon, does he? Of all the Mythic Legions figures made, I bet this is only one of a handful that didn’t have some means of attack. BUT, the shepherd’s crook could be a weapon that someone else might use all year long.

I have only one singular, true gripe with this whole product. And that is that when you have the lantern on the crook, the heaviness of it causes the wrists to buckle, knocking him off balance. He doesn’t really have a counterweight. If ever a figure could probably have come with a stand, it is Father Christmas. Just think, someone might only ever own this product from the Four Horsemen Studios. He is a fine Santa Claus. Maybe the best I have ever seen anywhere. But if he has trouble standing as a long-term display that is kind of a problem. For me, he has face-planted several times while holding the hook, usually with the lantern. And that lantern comes right off and goes who knows where. I wasn’t there when he fell over! And as I type this, one of those wreath crowns is missing. I believe he fell over, his crown landed in the floor, and a SpartanPet got it. Or it went down in the AC vent. Or something else. All I am saying is it is good that it came with two of them. (Dork Lair seems to think this was an accident, all of them coming with two wreath crowns.)

PICTURED: Mythic Legions Boreus and Figura Obscura Father Christmas. Boreus seems to be the perfect match with Father Christmas.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF FIGURA OBSCURA FATHER CHRISTMAS

Are you kidding me? Seriously?

If I could award 6 points I would. This thing is incredible. If you are a Mythic Legions fan and also like Christmas, this is for you. If you do Christmas and want a nice Santa decoration, this is a great choice. He could also sit on top of a tree…he’s about the same size as one of those angels. (Rev. SpartanNerd wouldn’t do it, but you could…)

And the value here…just take all those Christmas pieces off and put them in the collector friendly package for storage, and you have another Mythic Legions that you can use all year.

Which brings me back to the Headless Horseman. I have punted on that for two main reasons. Price and functionality. But I got to thinking about it. His body can be used all year. Just put a different head on it. That horse is ghostly, so who could ride it all year…OH YEAH…Skeletor. Scare Glo. Blah blah blah. Why was the SpartanNerd so unimaginative?

So not only has Figura Obscura Father Christmas delivered so much awesomeness, he has convinced me to move on the Headless Horseman, and also…The Monkey KING! Figura Obscura is where it is at, people! I won’t ever get the Egyptian Gods on religious grounds, but I might actually go for Greek Gods if they make them.

So the SpartanNerd rates Figura Obscura Father Christmas a solid 5/5. The packaging is superior. The sculpt, paint, and soft goods superior, and the accessories varied and awesome. He delivers the Christmas joy and so much more!

Please post your agreeing comments, Hub City Geeks. (How could you complain?)