Action Figure Review: Evil Jack-O-Lantern Bone Brawler from Icons: The Yokai Series by Fwoosh Toys

 

  Today I'm reviewing something kind of fun and unique: The Evil Jack-O-Lantern Bone Brawler from Fwoosh Toys' Icons: The Yokai Series. This is the first figure from Fwoosh Toys that I've purchased and I'm glad to say that it's a pretty nifty figure. This guy was a Fwoosh Store preorder exclusive, though they did have some listed for sale again a week or so ago (though they're now sold out). I actually preordered this guy in October of 2022 and he arrived to my door in late February, so he's been a long time coming. I'm familiar with the Fwoosh's Articulated Icons line but I've never owned any. This guy spoke to me, though. Spooky skeleton. Yokai. Jack-O-Lantern head? Yup. All things I like. I didn't want to wait until October to review him, although he'd make an awfully good addition to 31 Days of Toy Terror, wouldn't he? Let's take a look at the Evil Jack-O-Lantern Bone Brawler after the break...

The Facts:

Height: 6 1/4ths inches

Articulation: Double swivel/ hinge ankles, double swivel/hinge knees, double swivel/ hinge hips, double swivel/hinge lower spine, double swivel/ hinge mid-spine, double swivel/hinge shoulders, double swivel/hinge elbows, double swivel/hinge wrists, double swivel/hinge neck base, balljointed head, and hinged jaw (on some headscupts).

Accessories: 6 swappable skulls, 1 jack-o-lantern head, 1 mouth scroll, 6 swappable hands, 1 sword, and 1 knife.

Non-Scalper Price: $40 dollars

The Positives:

* The Bone Brawler is a 1/12th scale figure and while he feels kind of light, I'm impressed with the quality. You don't see many true skeletons in 6 inch scaled lines and this guy definitely fills a gap. He's not wildly accurate but he's clearly not cartoonish or overly stylized. He's quite reminiscent of the Ray Harryhausen living skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts and The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, or even the skeletons in Army of Darkness. There's some great sculpting and detail work here and a nice dark wash that brings out all of the detail in the bones. This is pretty much the perfect fantasy skeleton for your various D&D figures, too. 

* Here's a shot from behind so you can admire the impressive detail on the Bone Brawler's spine and coccyx. The ribcage looks pretty impressive, too. The attention to detail is really nice on this guy and the articulation really flows with the sculpt in most places.

* The basic Bone Brawler (and the glow-in-the-dark PowerCon exclusive) come with six swappable portraits. You really get quite a pile of skulls with this guy! First up is your standard skeleton head. He's got deep-set, empty eye sockets, quite a few cracks on the top and sides of his head, and a row of teeth set in a pretty basic expression. Not smiling, but not angry, either. 

* The second portrait is called a "screaming" head on the packaging. Yes, without flesh and muscle, this guy is still able to emote thanks to the magic of excellent sculpting. Like Skeletor, Jack Skellington, and so many other fabulous pop culture bone daddies, this guy can change the shape of his eye sockets to be more expressive. Here he is doing his best Skeletor impression. Nyehh!!

* Since he's screaming, you can move his jaw. It's hinged, allowing you to open and close it, so have fun with that. 

* The third skull is the "angry" head. His face is all scrunched up and his eyes are narrowed, like he's squinting. Like Clint Eastwood. 

* Maybe you want your Bone Brawler to be a bit smarter than your average enchanted walking skeleton? How about one with some brains? This guy's got brains. The top of his skull is missing (perfectly cut off, it looks like) and his brain is visible. The sculpt and paint wash really sell the effect, even though you have to wonder why he's still have a brain if everything else has rotted away. 

* Next up is the horned head and it's absolutely creepy looking. There are actually horns on the skull and on the cheekbones. This guy looks really menacing!

* The horned head also has a hinged jaw, so you can make this guy look even more maniacal to intimidate your other figures. 

* Now it's on to what the package calls the Cursed" head. Why's it cursed? I don't know. What's the character that's engraved in the forehead. I believe it's on'yomi/ kun'yomi, meaning "death" or "to die." That's fitting! The cursed head also has a hinged jaw, some creepy eyes, and a scroll of some sort in the mouth. Some Japanese folklore has individuals holding a scroll in their mouth to absorb knowledge or to gain powers, though it also looks like the bamboo piece Nezuko from Demon Slayer has in her mouth to keep her from biting people.

* The scroll/ bamboo bit is removable. Maybe when you remove it the curse is broken? Who knows. 

* The final head, and the one that gives this figure it's name of Evil Jack-O-Lantern Bone Brawler, is a pumpkin head. It's a great looking pumpkin sculpt with a nice texture, visible ribs, a multicolored peduncle (that's the stem for all of you non pumpkin obsessed weirdos), and a really creepy carved face. I love the eyes and the crooked mouth. Very creepy!

* Mr. Bone Brawler has six swappable hands: A pair of gripping hands for using the sword (and the dagger, if you're careful), a pair of open hands with splayed fingers, and a pair of relaxed hands with a thumb that can hold the dagger if you're careful. They swap easily and have the same impressive sculpting and paint wash as the rest of the figure. 

* While he's slender (you can literally see his ribs), the Bone Brawler feels quite well made. He doesn't feel brittle or anything and after having him in hand for a bit I wasn't concerned about breakage or anything. All of the joints use swivel/hinge balljoints with the joints connected by a peg at both ends. He's really quite well articulated, especially due to the multiple swivel/hinge joints in different places in his spine. He can take some excellent poses with a little thought and patience. 

* This sword is very cool! It looks weathered and worn and has a unique blade shape and a cool hilt. 

* The same goes for this dagger. It looks like something you'd buy from a mall ninja store, but that's part of the appeal. The handle reminds me a bit of vertebrae, but maybe I've just got bones on the brain now. 

The Negatives:

* My only real complaint with the Bone Brawler is that his hips are a bit loose. Not too bad for most normal standing poses but he definitely seems like he could lose his balance over time if his center of gravity isn't just right. It might just be because the swivel/hinge has a swiveling peg at both ends rather than his pelvis actually having the joint attached. 

   The Evil Jack-O-Lantern Bone Brawler is a really nifty figure and one that I'm far more impressed with than I thought I would be. I mean, I thought he'd be cool, don't get me wrong, but the stylized design, the weathered paint wash, and the detail just wowed me. factor in that he has seven heads, some with movable jaws and one with a removable cursed scroll, and that's a lot of options for display. While most of these seem to be sold out now (the PowerCon glowing one was still available last time I checked), hopefully Fwoosh Toys will get this guy back out there. Honestly, a back of this set with an additional body or two would be really neat, allowing you to create a small army of skeletons. I'd love to have two or three of these guys on display as this is a very Epic figure. I'm not quite sure where I'm going to display him yet. I do have a large random horror shelf in my hobby room, but I also have a smaller horror shelf in my study with some newer figures like the NECA D&D villains, The Worst Ultimates, the Mad Balls Pumpkin guy, and some of the Super7 Figure Obscura releases. He'd also go great with my Hellboy stuff, or Masters of the Universe, or my Conan and other barbarian figures. Lots of options, here. 



This is the first Bone Brawler I've reviewed, though I have reviewed plenty of other skeletons. Just look through the archives and you'll surely find some.