Thursday, November 5, 2015

Re-Halloween Special: Elvira (Witch Variant) from Elvira, Mistress of the Dark by Figures Toy Co.

 Today for the fourth day of my Re-Halloween special week I'm reviewing a figure that I saw on another blogger's Halloween coverage and purchased for myself: Elvira from Figures Toy Co.'s Elvira, Mistress of the Dark line! Near the beginning of October I saw Joshua Raymond review the basic version of this figure at Misfit Robot Daydream and I decided that I needed to pick one of these up. I love Elvira and I actually remember reading about this figure around the time it was released in 1998. ToyFare magazine did an interview with Cassandra Peterson about the toyline. The version I'm looking at is called the Witch Variant as it comes with a traditional pointed hat and a broom. Ready for a closer look at Elvira's figure? I mean at the Elvira figure? Then join me after the break...



 The Facts:

Height: 8 inches (including her hair)

Articulation: Swivel V-hips, a swivel waist, swivel shoulders, and hinged elbows.

Accessories: Dress, belt, broomstick, and hat.

Original Retail Price: Around $12
The Positives:

* I'm going to talk about Elvira's face later (not in "The Positives" section, unfortunately) but for now I'll talk about all the other...elements of this Elvira figure. Regardless of the face sculpt, when you look at this figure two things will jump out at you to let you know this is Elvira: Her massive hairdo and her all black wardrobe, of course! For a figure from 1998, I think Elvira's essence was captured pretty well. And yes, as you can see her dress is removable and she's wearing a black low cut unitard underneath. 


* I love the look of Elvira's dress. It's one of those rarer instances where a cloth outfit looks pretty nice on a traditional action figure. Elvira's dress has a Velcro strip down the front center and stay put. The included belt also helps to keep everything lined up and in line. The material is that black, stretchy material that Halloween costumes are often made out of, which I think is really quite fitting.


 * In order to add a bit of menace and to give her something to help keep the creeps away, Elvria's belt has a really nice little dagger on it. It's tied on with string, although you could easily cut the string if you really wanted to. Why ruin your figure just for a dagger, though? Leave it be! It looks great where it is!


* What really differentiates this Elvia from the other basic version is accessories. Since this is the Witch Variant, Elvira comes with a pointy witches hat and a broomstick. The broomstick is cool and fits easily in either of Elvira's hands. There's a little texture on it but the sculpt is still pretty soft. The hat looks cool, but it doesn't really fit on Elvira's head. I'll deal with that below, however.










 The Negatives:

* One thing I always try to keep in mine when reviewing an older figure what else was on the market at the time for comparison. In 1998 Hasbro's Star Wars: The Power of the Force line was in it's full stride, McFarlane was just starting to offer Movie Maniacs, and Clayburn Moore has been producing some beautiful female figures in the Witchblade line. Long story short, Elvira's face was definitely not on par with the best of what was being offered at the time. I'm not sure if it was because Figures Toy Co. was a newer company or if there were just some struggles with nailing Elvira's likeness, but things didn't come out quite right. The head sculpt and most of the figure (especially the legs) are really rubbery. It's tough to get her to stand up!


 * The hat looks fine but that's all it's going to be doing. Unless you use something like stick tack, there is no way this thing fits over Elvira's massive hairdo. It's just not large enough. What a waste, as I imagine she'd look pretty cool wearing it!







  In order to give this figure a proper evaluation, I have to step back in the Action Figure Time Machine for a moment. When this figure was first released it definitely would have been more impressive than it is now, particularly because of the size and the cloth dress. The hat, rubbery body, and likeness would have still been problems, though. In the end, I think a Good and a 1/2 is a pretty suitable rating. While I really want to acquire one of the Amok Time Elvira figures from their MonStarz line (that are insanely expensive), I'm happy to have the greatest horror hostess of them all represented in some way in my collection.

Sadly, I haven't reviewed (and don't own) any other Elvira themed items. I have reviewed some other witch themed figures, though:

The Goth Witch bobble head
The Imaginext Witch
Witch Polybag (40032) from Lego
Shokoti from Masters of the Universe Classics
Trixie Lulamoon from My Little Pony: Vinyl Collectibles
Rita Repulsa from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Scarlet Witch from the recent Marvel Legends: Infinite Series

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