Monday, October 31, 2022

31 Days of Toy Terror X: Headless Horseman from Figura Obscura by Four Horsemen Studios

 

   Happy Halloween 2022! I always like to save something really special for my October 31st review and this year I have something pretty special indeed... The Headless Horseman! OK, so I did review the McFarlane Toys Headless Horseman figure from the film Sleepy Hollow yesterday, but today I'm looking at a brand new figure of the Headless Horseman and his horse from Four Horsemen Studios. This guy was a surprise drop at the beginning of the month and arrived in time for Halloween! He's part of the Figure Obscura line started last year with a surprise Krampus figure and continues this year with the infamous specter from one of the most famous stories in American literature. Ready for a frightening fiend of myth and legend for this, the most spookiest of days? Then join me after the break...






The Facts: Headless Horseman

Height: 6 7/8ths inches (with a pumpkin for a head)

Articulation: Double swivel hinge ankles, swivel/hinge knees, swivel thighs, H-hinged hips, balljointed waist, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel forearms, swivel/hinge wrists and a swivel neck .

Accessories: Sword, severed neck piece, neck peg, 2 jack o' lantern heads, flame effect, collar, cape, and 6 swappable hands.








The Facts: Horse

Height: 8 1/2 inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles (x4), swivel/hinge knees (x4), swivel/hinge upper legs (x4), balljointed rear hips, swivel/hinge tail, swivel stirrups (attached to saddle), balljointed neck base, and a balljointed head.

Accessories: Hair piece, 2 swappable manes, bridle w/ reins, and collar.

Non-Scalper Price: $120 dollars

Sculpted by: Four Horsemen Studios



The Packaging:

* Nate Baertsch has done the art for this set and it's very, very good. I don't hang on to much packaging but this is definitely worth keeping around. In truth, this is actually a window box, though the window is covered by the removable piece of art you see on the front. It's a wrap around piece and is actually held on at the sides via magnets. There's a fantastic image of the Headless Horseman on the front and a nice write up about the legend on the side.


* When you remove the front art piece you can look into a standard window box. My figure is removed here (it's not really all that collector friendly, so you won't have to damage the box itself) and you can look inside and see a beautiful scene of the bridge Ichabod Crane attempts to cross near the Old Dutch Church Sleepy Hollow. The magnetic front panel of the box forms another scene, but I'll get to that one in a minute...




The Positives

* It's the Headless Horseman! Does have have a horse? Yup. Does he have a head? Nope. Success! The Figure Obscura line thus far has used parts from Mythic Legions to craft some new characters and the Horseman is no exception. I'm not enough of a Mythic Legions expert to tell you what all is reused here and where it comes from but what we've got is an excellent take on the Headless Horseman. With a character like the Horseman, there's really not a source to base the look on so the Four Horsemen have went with a pretty standard depiction. Black, old-timey looking clothes with a purple ascot and a high collar. There are lots of studs on his lather armor, too, definitely showing off the Headless Horseman's former role of a solider. It's a very solid figure that manages to be exciting and visually interesting despite being mostly all black.



* Here's the Headless Horseman's head.... well, what's left of it after all of that cannonball business. OK, so it's just a stump. The stump is actually a piece that can plug in or pop out and it's new to this set. It's nice and gruesome and looks fantastic here. Very eerie!





* Here's a closeup of the Horseman's armor so you can see all of the details and different textures on his armor. The different bits of his outfit all look unique with slightly different finishes and the little elements like the purple pouches on his belt and the ornate silver belt buckle really add a welcome splash of color.


* Rather than just straight up riding boots, the Horseman is wearing some armored boots and greaves. They look really cool and add to the feel of him being a solider when he was living. The back of the legs even shows the straps holding them on to the fronts of his legs, a really cool and welcome detail.





* The Headless Horseman comes with a very long and dynamic cape. It's very well tailored with black fabric for the exterior and red fabric lining. It's also wired, so the cape can be posed in different ways. Wrap it around the Horseman, have it flowing behind him while riding his horse; there are plenty of options and it's a really nice soft goods piece. It was apparently developed by CJESIM and it's a quality piece.




* It's held on to the figure via a metal chain that fits under the collar and ascot piece and whatever head (or lack of head) you have placed on the figure.








* The set also includes two Jack O' Lanternn portraits for the Horseman to make use of. The first is a straight up Jack O' Lantern and I'm quite fond of it. This Headless Horseman isn't a bad looking guy, is he? The pumpkin is really nicely sculpted and painted; there's even a dark wash inside the ribs to really bring out the detail. The inside of the jagged mouth and eyes even look all gooey and fibrous. Fantastic work. There's a neck peg that can replace the severed neck peg, allowing the pumpkin noggin to be placed on top.





* The second Jack O' Lantern portrait is similar to the first but this one has flames spouting out of the eyes! They're crafted from a translucent plastic molded in red, orange, and yellow, and they definitely help make this version of the Horseman's replacement head seem even more sinister than the standard Jack O' Lantern.





* If you really want to show off the Headless Horseman a a full blown nightmare there's an additional set of flames that plugs into the back of the flaming skull. This one looks amazing, right? The Jack O' Lantern head is such a striking look for the figure.






* The articulation on Mythic Legions figures is quite good with a model that's pretty consistent with most other 6 inch articulated lines on the market today. The range of motion and quality of the joints is really impressive and while the Horseman doesn't have any pectoral hinges or anything, everything that's here works so that they aren't missed. The articulation blends into the sculpt nicely, too.


* Six interchangeable hands are included, five of which are normal hands. There is a grasping, gesturing right hand, a pair of very tight grips, a looser gripped left, and a standard gripped left hand. There's not a ton of variety here for expressions but the extra hands do ensure that the figure can hold the reins of his horse or his sword easily.


* The sixth hand is a but more unique. It's a right hand with an open palm and a balljoint attached. Why's that? This allows you to have the Headless Horseman carry any of the included Jack O' Lantern heads. That's pretty cool, right? It's a really neat accessory and fits well with what we see the Horseman do in the story.







* The Headless Horseman's sword is nothing too special or unique; just a standard silver sword with some simple paint detail and sculpted flourishes on the hilt.


* Want a spooky scene for your figure? There's also an eerie painting of Tarry Town. This is on the back of the Headless Horseman image on the front of the box and is the piece held onto the front of the box via magnets. It comes loose and is a very well made diorama piece, though it is a bit short if you've got the Horseman atop his steed.




* Without his horse, the Headless Horseman just becomes a Headless Horseless Man, which doesn't sound nearly as cool. Fortunately, he's got a horse and it's a pretty striking steed. The Four Horseman have released other horses in Mythic Legions and this one uses parts from those others. He's a big beast, and heavy, too. This is a very solid and sizeable part of the package.






* The horse is expertly sculpted with plenty of visible muscles and such visible underneath his skin. He's far more ripped than Ichabod Crane's horse, Gunpowder, for sure.





* Mr. Ed this guy is not. His mouth is open and those teeth make him look terrifying, as do his blood red eyes. Who doesn't want an evil horse in their collection? Masters of the Universe fans could even pretend this is Anti-Eternia Spirit!




* The saddle doesn't seem to be removable but that's just fine with me. It's a really impressive piece with lots of visible goodies. The stirrups are articulated (they swivel back and forth into position) and there's also a (non-removable) bed roll on the back.

* The saddle also has four loops on the saddle (two on each side) which can be used to store the Horseman's sword and any other accessories he procures. The Four Horsemen sell lots of Mythic Legions accessory packs, so you should definitely be able to get him some extra weapons if you want to.



* The tail is petty impressive. It's on a swivel/hinge joint, too, so you can pose it quite easily.


* Check out the hooves. They're not just regular hooves! They're glowing red with an eerie red light emitted onto the fur close to them as well. This isn't just Brom Bones and his horse in disguise. This is legitimately the specter of the Headless Horseman and his phantom horse from Hell.




* The bridle fits over the horse's head easily and has some reins attached to it. It's not too difficult to remove this and put it back on, so feel free to experiment with some different looks.



* There's a collar as well that fits over the horse's neck. It adds another cool detail to the horse and disguises his balljointed neck.




* Guess what? If you really want to depict the Horseman's horse in full on horse mode (AKA running) then swap out his standard mane for this one. The hair on his mane is flying back, showing off how fast he's running. This guy is running Ichabod and Gunpowder down in no time.



* The articulation is excellent and seems very sturdy and easy to use. It's always tougher to gauge articulation on an animal figure but I think this is easily the most well articulated horse action figure I've ever come across.










* The Headless Horseman looks very impressive atop his steed. His fits wonderfully astride the horse, his feet fit in the stirrups well, and he grips the reins like a champ.







The Negatives:

* My only negative with his figure is that the hand with the attached balljoint for holding one of the Jack O' Lanterns tends to flip over when the weight of the pumpkin head is placed on it. It just rotates around. You'll need to find a way to strengthen the joint or something to keep the figure on display this way.




   When this figure went up for sale as a surprise at the beginning of August I knew immediately that I wanted to add him to my collection. I've always loved the Headless Horseman and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and this seems like the best action figure version of the character ever made. While I would have liked a couple additional weapons such as an axe or two, and maybe a skull head, I can't argue with the quality of what we got here. This is a beautiful set that looks absolutely amazing on display. At this point this Hessian and his steed are sold out but considering that the Four Horseman have offered up a second take on Krampus, perhaps we'll see a variant of the Headless Horseman offered up for preorder at some point soon? He's an Epic figure and it'd be a shame if all of the Sleepy Hollow aficionados who want one have to go without. That would be truly scary! For now, though, the Headless Horseman and his steed join other illustrious Halloween icons like Scareglow, Sam, Michael Myers, David S. Pumpkins, Jack Skellington, the DC Bombshells Halloween Batgirl, and Sadako Yamamura. Ten years of 31 Days of Toy Terror. Where does the time go, right?


If you're ready for the Headless Horseman to ride again check out my reviews of the McFarlane movie-based The Headless Horseman, the Imaginext Collectible Figures Series Headless Horseman, the Scooby-Doo!: 50 Years Shaggy and the Headless Horseman, and the Roblox Headless Horseman.

Happy Halloween!


12 comments:

  1. great choice. I can't believe the collecction uyou must have.

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  2. Beautiful piece! The detail is amazing! Happy Halloween! 🎃👻🦇

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    1. Happy Halloween! This is definitely a solid addition to the collection.

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  3. Fantastic figure and packaging. I haven't opened mine yet. It is an impressive piece.

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    1. He's really fun. I really do wonder if they'll do a second release version like they did for Krampus? I wouldn't feel the need to truly buy a second horse but if they did a version 2 in different colors with a skeletal head, a translucent "ghostly" head, and maybe an axe, I'd be interested.

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    2. The Horsemen actually just said today that they're considering doing another one for those who miss it. it would probably use different colors.

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    3. That's cool. I really don't need a second horse but I am curious to see what they do with a second version.

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  4. Awesome figure. I ordered one but it hasn't arrived yet (it's a whole story), but man it looks fantastic. We actually had the movie Mcfarlane one with horse back in the day, but I don't know what happened to it. You should review it one of these days, if you still have it!

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    1. I do still have mine but it has some damage. The sword handle broke at some point long ago and I've been reluctant to mess with the rubbery legs.

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  5. This figure looks fantastic. I love the jack-o-lantern heads with flame effects.

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    1. Yes. The only thing cooler than the flaming jack o' lantern head would be one that lit up.

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