SooSoo Toys Paranormal Detective (John Constantine by another name)

Being unboxed today is a non-licensed (but clearly brand-inspired) figure from SooSoo Toys. SooSoo Toys produces 1/6th scale multi-jointed action figures (the same scale as both the similar style Hot Toys figures and standard Barbies). Their bodies general have between 15 and 17 points of articulation, generally come with multi-piece fabric outfits, and retail in the range of $130-$160 USD.

The figure I bought is named "Paranormal Detective" but is clearly meant to be the DC Comics character John Constantine.  The box art and head sculpt are very clearly designed to resemble Matt Ryan, the actor who plays the character on the TV series "Legends of Tomorrow" (and who played him in the short-lived series "Constantine" and who voices the same character in the animated films "Justice League Dark" and "Constantine: City of Demons"). If you've followed the blog for a while you'll know that I'm always drawn to Hellblazer/Constantine collectibles.

Out of the Box: Disney Couture De Force 20th Anniversary Esmerelda Hunchback Notre Dame

While I've never been a big Disney collector, so many of my friends are (both real life friends and online doll/figure collectors) that occasionally I get swept up in their enthusiasm.  One recent case of this was the number of people I've seen collecting the Couture De Force resin figurines, which led to me picking up their Esmerelda figure, which was released to mark the 20th Anniversary of The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 2016.

I've always thought that Hunchback was such an odd candidate for a Disney adaptation, and so even though it wasn't a completely successful movie I've always had a soft spot for it.  Perhaps it's because it was so oddly-themed that there's relatively little merchandise out there for it (I've long said that I'd love to buy a villain-themed snow globe that plays the Hellfire song).  Seeing this pop up, I decided to give it a try.

This figurine, in line with most of the Couture De Force line is 8 inchces/20cm in height.  The retail prices on the various figures in the line range between $44 and $90 USD, and Esmerelda landed right in the middle at $66USD.  The marketing promises that "faux gems, encrusted crystals and opalescent paint bring each sculpture to life".

The Return of the Tourist Dolls (Thailand Edition)

I didn't expect this post to be up a week later than the others, but life got in the way for a bit (an uncle-in-law passed away, so I went to Toronto for the funeral).  And I'm back just in time to start packing for my move on the 28th.  That's lots of time, right?

Still, there were a couple of Thai souvenirs left unpacked, so they get to be opened up first!

I brought home one major display item, a figure of a dancer in a monkey warrior mask.  As figures go, he's purely a display piece, having no articulation and being permanently attached to a stand.  Still, as display items go, I think he's fairly eye-catching.

In addition to him, I also brought home a small set of keychain dolls (each in traditional garb) to give away to friends. I've parted with half of them already, but I'm including photos of the remaining three here as well.

Out of the Basement: The Muppets

The Muppets

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I'm in Toronto at the  moment and staying through the end of August.  And as I mentioned in my Retro Week post back in May, that means I have access to my mother's basement which stores both childhood toys and her various warehouse sale finds.  So I thought I'd intersperse my regular posts with some shorter ones of the toys I discover whilst digging through the boxes down there.

First up is this random group of Muppets.  As far as I can tell, these are actually from two different lines - the Kermit and Scooter figure are articulated (Scooter has 5 points of articulation, Kermit 1) and have a slot in their backs, while the others are all simple vinyl figurines.  I don't know where any of them came from, so if you recognize them, I'd love to hear more.  In the meantime, I'll just enjoy the randomness of this collection of characters.

Live from Mayonaka Arena! (Taito's P4U Kanji Tatsumi)

"C'mere, Take-Mikazuchi!"

I've never been a big fan of non-articulated PVC figures; I've always felt that if I want a stature, I'd rather it be made of something other than plastic.  But then I saw Taito's Persona 4  tie-in series (Full title: P4U The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena - they're designed around the spin-off Persona 4 Arena fighting game rather than the core RPG) and I was ready to make an exception to my rule.  I was tempted to pick up 5 of them, but cooler heads prevailed (They seem to range in price from $28-$50USD, depending on the source) and I started with the one that had the lowest price (although admittedly it was only lowest by less than $1).

Despite the lack of pose-ability, what attracted me to this series is the sense of action that these static figures manage to convey.  The figure that I picked up is Kanji Tatsumi, and he's posed in the stomp position of his final combination attack move - knees bent, coat flying up, necklace whipping back, the whole bit.  It may be a permanent position, but it conveys movement well and is such a perfect replication of the in-game pose that it makes me smile and quote taglines whenever I walk past him.

The windowless box

The figure was well-packed for shipment, with the three separate pieces all wrapped in bubble wrap inside a solid cardboard box (a very colourful cardboard box, I might add!).  I was surprised that the box was solid.  There have been figures from the main Persona 4 game, and when I've seen them in shops they've always had a plastic window on one side, so the change for this series is an interesting choice.


The sculpt is well done and reasonably well-painted (there are some missed bits in a couple of places - noticeably on top of his head), but overall it's an attractive figure (and it looks exactly like the character).  The chair (which he uses to deliver beat-downs) comes off, and while it feels flimsy it's been solid so far (and I did have to force it into his hands when I put it together).

"Now's our chance for a beatdown!"

The stand is a thin plastic, and is the part of the whole that I'm least impressed with - it really seems cheap in comparison to the rest of the figure.  That said though, it's an eye-catching even yellow, which is in-line with the game design and the feet of the figure fit into the pegs well.  It's also of a design such that the stands of the other figures could fit together like puzzle pieces.

Overall though, this is a great figure.  Even though I'm still on the fence about the static pose,  I'm seriously considering picking up another one or two figures from this series (maybe Chie and Yu.  And Naoto.  And maybe Yosuke...).