As of writing this review, I'm starting on Christmas Eve (I ended up finishing after Christmas). I took the pictures a few days ago but things have been busy with giftwrapping, church, helping my daughter clean and rearrange her bed and playroom in anticipation of getting a TV of her own for Christmas, cleaning for both my parents and my wife's parents, shopping for Angel Tree kids and such, and playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. My daughter and I have been reading through A Christmas Carol in the evenings before bedtime, though with school out bedtime has been getting pretty late. I'm really excited that the Four Horsemen are continuing with action figures from A Christmas Carol and while I kind of expected them to jump right to The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come or Ebenezer Scrooge himself, I like the commitment to form. Growing up I had the version of A Christmas Carol illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt yet to come, so while his take on the Ghost of Christmas Past was probably my first exposure to the character, it's not one of my favorites. The character is so mysterious and ethereal, constantly changing while also seeming to be multiple things at once (youthful and old, masculine and feminine, winter and summer imagery) that it's hard to capture. I really like the take on the character the Four Horsemen have done. Some folks seem to consider it plain but I think it's quite brilliant, taking some of the best elements of the book description. Last year we received the Ghost of Jacob Marley. Ready for a visit from the first spirit? Then join me after the break...
Height: 6 1/2 inches
Articulation: Double swivel hinge ankles, swivel/hinge knees, swivel thighs, swivel/hinge hips, balljointed midtorso, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, hinged neck, and a balljointed head.
Accessories: Belt, 4 swappable portraits, "backpack" with 2 extra additional arms, belt, 3 hairpieces, 8 swappable hands, candle snuffer, staff, hanging candle snuffer headpiece, sprig of holly, streetlight w/ snowy base, copy of Second Stave of A Christmas Carol, and backdrop.
Non-Scalper Price: $60 dollars
*The Ghost of Christmas Past's packaging features art by Nate Baertsch that shows off an idyllic rural winter scene, surely images of Scrooge's past. The front of the box has a beautiful illustration of the spirit of Christmas Past herself while the back features text from Charles Dicken's story about the character and her/his/ it's appearance The part of the box on the right in my photo is a wrap around piece that doubles as a backdrop and snaps onto the box on the left via magnets. I'll get to the backdrop in more detail shortly.
* The Ghost of Christmas Past has been portrayed multiple different ways in film and art, probably having more variations than any of the other spirits as he/she/ it is so ethereal and fluid. There are takes that are clearly masculine and takes that are clearly feminine. Dickens mentions that the spirit is both youthful and child-like while also having the wisdom of an old man. The Four Horsemen's take embraces the feminine descriptions of the spirit, giving us a beautiful young woman with grayish-white hair in a long, flowing dress that ages with time. The soft goods are quite nice, very billowy and ethereal. She reminds me a bit of Ann Rutherford's take on the Ghost of Christmas Past (1938's A Christmas Carol), who is definitely the version of the spirit I would least mind being haunted by!
* When the Ghost of Christmas Past first appears to Ebenezer Scrooge their body and limbs are constantly changing. Multiple arms, multiple legs, no arms, no legs, candle for a head, and so on. The Four Horsemen have chosen to go with four arms for their spirit, though the lower two arms are removable and are attached via a removable backpiece. It's a technique we've seen on some Mythic Legions figures and it works really well here, definitely adding to the supernatural vibe of the spirit.
* The silver belt is shiny, well made, and wired, so you can pose it flowing about or neatly in place.
* The white capes or trains of the dress are also wired, allowing you to pose the dress flowing about. It's very well made and the material is light and sheer, adding to the spirit's ethereal appearance. The soft goods are from the CJESIM team and they look excellent and fit the figure well.
* The Ghost of Christmas Past has multiple swappable heads and multiple hairpieces that swap out as well, allowing you to mix things up quite a bit. Here's the most basic look: A standard portrait depicting the spirit as a pretty young woman with grayish-white hair. The pieces swap easily and there's a nice drybrush effect to add texture to the spirit's hair.
* The spirit is both young and old, and the included extra portraits show the aging process, giving her a spookier feel as time progresses. Not so much aging as she is chipping away. (Dusk Productions has a frightening take on the ghost that reminds me of this take a bit.) The second portrait has half of the beautiful, youthful spirit's face wrinkled and withered with missing chunks of flesh and eyes that have gone milky white.
* The third portrait has the spirit's face completely aged with both eyes now milky white and chunks of missing flesh all over, no longer the "skin of the tenderest bloom" mentioned in the book.
* The articulation is pretty much what you'd expect from a Figure Obscura/ Mythic Legions/ Cosmic Legions release: It's not capable of extreme poses, but it's consistent with other figures in the line and it looks good with the articulation meshing nicely with the sculpt. The spirit's dress has plenty of wiring, so it's capable of posing, too, and the extra arms allow for a bit more dramatic appearance.
* Last up is a very old style streetlamp with a candle inside. It's a really impressive extra piece that is made up of a snowy stone base, the lamppost base, a post, and the lantern. This is one of those really impressive accessories that you'll surely find multiple uses for. Honestly, the Horsemen could probably sell packs of these and folks would eagerly grab them up.
* The lantern is removable and has a beautiful design. Rather than gas, this lantern uses a candle, so it certainly predates the Victorian era. Must be from the Georgian/ Regency era. That makes sense, as if it's from Scrooge's past it would have been pre-Victorian. The sides of the lantern have clear plastic panels to simulate the glass panels of a real lantern. It's really impressive.
* The base has some nicely sculpted stone steps while the lamppost base is surrounded by a bit of unmelted snow.
* The Ghost of Christmas Past does carry a candle snuffer by it's side but this version is a bit more unique. It's a smaller candle snuffer, but on a pole. The pole is a separate piece from the headpiece with the candle snuffer hanging from a small loop. it's more like a staff and is cast in gold with some silver highlights. Quite an ornate piece. Probably helpful for getting those candles in hard to reach places, too.
* The second candle snuffer is the more classic one that the spirit carries with it (or wears on it's belt, I think). This one's a bit larger than the one that's part of the staff though the pattern and design are quite similar.
* The Ghost of Christmas Past carries two things: A candle snuffer and a sprig of holly. Here's the sprig of holly, complete with some beautiful berries and leaves with two shades of green paint on them.
* Eight swappable hands are included. A pair of gesturing hands, a pair of grasping hands, a pair of fists (for helping fight off Skeletrex and his bone brigade), and a pair of gripping hands for holding the candle snuffers and holly.
* The Ghost of Christmas past comes with a copy of Stave 2 from A Christmas Carol. I like the inclusion here, even though it's a pretty simple copy of the second chapter of the public domain book with some background art from the packaging of both this spirit and Marley's Ghost mixed in. I look forward to completing this set! I'm just a huge fan of the Figura Obscura line and I'm loving the included books or excerpts with each figure.
* A Christmas card is included as well. Well, my package had one (as well as a Father Christmas Card and an Ashcan edition of the Cosmic Legions comic). It's a beautiful extra! We use our Christmas cards as decorations, so it's nice to have her lining one of our entryways.
* I had a breakage! It was remedied, but the peg inside the hand's hinge snapped when I was trying to remove it for the first time. I had used some heat to loosen it and moved it around a bit, so I was a bit surprised. I was able to easily fix this but do be careful. After this mishap, and after all hands had been removed, I had no other issues at all.
This is the first figure of the Ghost of Christmas Past I've ever reviewed. For more Figure Obscura reviews check out the following:
Frankenstein's Creature
The Ghost of Jacob Marley
Headless Horseman
The Masque of the Red Death
This is a fantastic figure and great addition to the Figura Obscura line. Betting they do the Ghost of Christmas Present and Yet to Come in the coming years. I didn't get the first few, but really like these and the artwork and packaging are superb. My favorite version of this story is the Muppet Christmas Carol. So much fun!
ReplyDeleteThe Muppet Christmas Carol might be my favorite version as well. It's really just a solid version of the film and Michael Caine is Oscar worthy in that film.
DeleteI'm curious about how they'll handle the Ghost of Christmas Present. He can have the aging heads (as he ages over his time with Scrooge), he'll obviously be a larger figure, and I'm really excited to see what they do with Ignorance and Want, the two children that are hiding under his robe. Some adaptations definitely make them out to be rather creepy, so I'm sure we'll see something interesting here.