Figura Obscura

bat said:
I'm sure "PRESENT" was meant partially to lead in the direction of the ghost of Christmas Present, not denying that. But the Nutcracker was rather famously a Christmas present himself, a gift to Clara from her unc, Drosselmeyer.
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And if it would've been the nutcracker, I think there would've still been ire, but less of it. It's the fact that it's the rat king, who was definitely not a present, that makes me think they did this on purpose.

All that being said, I'm still extremely happy for this figure. I love rats, and he's been my number 1 wish for a Christmas Figure since the line started.
 
RicksNerdLife said:
Going to one of their panels at PowerCon was quite the experience.

I only dabbled in Cosmic Legions for a minute, so I went to the showing at the last PC, although, I really was only there for the NECA panel, which was following in the same room.

And boy...

They have a legion (no pun intended) of borderline cult members. They are so loyal to the 4H to the point of it being weird. I'm saying take a normal fandom (of which we know contain a multitude of awkward, antisocial dweebs) and amplify that times ten. And they have people that just...volunteer. Like, not getting paid, but just...offer their time in exchange for Lord knows what. A free figure or two? But it comes across as very little dog following around the big dog like the old Looney Tunes cartoon. It's kind of pathetic.

Overall, there's a level of sycophancy that I just don't get, and the worst part is that the 4H really seem to lean into it. They come across as very clique-y in their behavior, favoring the sycophants over just normal fans. Just an incredibly weird vibe.

Anthony Scott of ToyHype was sitting in front of my wife and myself, and as Cornboy was walking out of the room, Anthony hit him with a "Oh, GREAT panel, CB! Heck of a panel, CB!".

At this point, I looked at my wife, who was picking up on the same energy in the room that I was, and I pushed my tongue against my cheek to signify "Look at the blowjob this guy is giving him".

My wife loudly laughs, telling me that both Cornboy and Anthony saw me, and "CB" gave me the nastiest look. Ah well.
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The sad thing is, back in the early days of their being their own thing with the FANtastic Exclusives and 7th Kingdom figures, we WERE a loyal and devoted bunch, but the 4H at least listened to feedback from that dedicated group of fans, even if they didn't always implement those suggestions. They at least interacted with the fans.

I wasn't building the Ghosts, but I am with those of you who were hoping to complete the set and hopefully end it with a Scrooge of some sort. I'm passing on this guy. He's cool as a mouse warrior, but I don't need it.
 
Have never liked the Nutcracker. Have been dragged to it a handful of times over the years during Christmas time. It's arguably my least favorite Christmas-related story. Money saved on this release.

I hope they're not going to be doing Scrooge stuff AND Nutcracker stuff concurrently for holidays now. I'm in for Scrooge at most from any of these.
 
SalemCrow said:
The sad thing is, back in the early days of their being their own thing with the FANtastic Exclusives and 7th Kingdom figures, we WERE a loyal and devoted bunch, but the 4H at least listened to feedback from that dedicated group of fans, even if they didn't always implement those suggestions. They at least interacted with the fans.

I wasn't building the Ghosts, but I am with those of you who were hoping to complete the set and hopefully end it with a Scrooge of some sort. I'm passing on this guy. He's cool as a mouse warrior, but I don't need it.
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I feel the Horsemen still listen to and interact with the fans more than any other toy company. They still don’t always make the choices we might like them to, but they do hear and acknowledge the feedback. The Legendary Barbarian quick sell out is a recent example where they admitted they underestimated the demand there still was for the figure and considering it had 3 hair options on the bare face, they thought some might one figure for each color and set the limit to 3. Supposedly they are working on ways to ‘meet the demand’ with something in the future. Not sure if that means rerelease or another variation. But message received at least.

I do hope the message about false teases isn’t cool is what they take away from this rather than the Mouse King was a bad figure. Wrong roll out but still nice figure. Nutcracker is certainly among those seminal Christmas stories that have lasted for generations and retold countless times and ways so it fits with what came before. With these releases being yearly any deviation from an ongoing collection isn’t likely going to be well received. Had this been last year and Christmas Past this year, the every other year precedent could have been set to mix in other things between the Carol Ghosts.

I do kind of wonder if the fans and the Horsemen look at Figura slightly differently. They seem to enjoy the secrecy and surprise drop to them. I don’t feel that’s an essential part of the line but I do enjoy not having to wait a year or two for a preorder on them. I wouldn’t mind knowing the drop dates earlier than the day before but I always manage to make it work. For me, the variety of characters and figures that otherwise wouldn’t be made is the fun of it. I don’t even think Disney has done a Christmas Carol line outside maybe an item or two. Maybe there was a Muppet figure or two? For such an iconic story the figure representation just hasn’t been there. Father Christmas was probably the most ‘mainstream’ character they’ve done if you count Santa Claus but they wanted to go more original folklore there even. They got ahead of the Krampus and Monkey King waves but most of the figure are one-offs and not likely made by anyone else and that’s the fun of the line to me rather than the roll out.
 
My 15-year old is a dancer. She takes about 12 hours of dance per week but it spikes in November/December to 15-17 hours per week because she participates in the local Nutcracker: All Jazzed Up presentation that her studio sponsors. This year she is the Nutcracker. If it had been the Nutcracker that 4H offered, I'd still be kinda miffed that they pulled a switcheroo but would reluctantly buy one. As it is, the Rat King looks neat as a generic savage rat, but not anywhere near $70-neat.
 
RichardSimmonsRobot said:
I hope they're not going to be doing Scrooge stuff AND Nutcracker stuff concurrently for holidays now.
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Wouldn't that be the optimal outcome for most? That way the folks who like this line get what they everyone gets what they want. I suppose it makes it harder for the folks ho do both, but presumably that would be mitigated by an adjustment in communication, which would be the first thing that needs to change regardless.
 
Red Ogre said:
My 15-year old is a dancer. She takes about 12 hours of dance per week but it spikes in November/December to 15-17 hours per week because she participates in the local Nutcracker: All Jazzed Up presentation that her studio sponsors. This year she is the Nutcracker. If it had been the Nutcracker that 4H offered, I'd still be kinda miffed that they pulled a switcheroo but would reluctantly buy one. As it is, the Rat King looks neat as a generic savage rat, but not anywhere near $70-neat.
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Has she ever been a rat? Those seem like the most fun roles to me.
 
I think the rat king is neat and might get it… but I also think it’s like the wrong order to come out with it before the nutcracker.

It’s not quite so obvious what it is without the nutcracker to go with it
 
Mr_Saver said:
I think the rat king is neat and might get it… but I also think it’s like the wrong order to come out with it before the nutcracker.

It’s not quite so obvious what it is without the nutcracker to go with it
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I disagree. In the original story, I think the rat king had multiple heads, so I'd say it's a pretty good interpretation. That being said, this should've been a 2 pack like the Egyptian Gods.

They even gave us a stand again, because of the lack of accessories. I'd rather have the Figure without the stand for a lower price honestly.
 
ManOfTheLamb said:
I disagree. In the original story, I think the rat king had multiple heads, so I'd say it's a pretty good interpretation. That being said, this should've been a 2 pack like the Egyptian Gods.

They even gave us a stand again, because of the lack of accessories. I'd rather have the Figure without the stand for a lower price honestly.
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I think the stand this time was mostly because of how top heavy the figure is. Dorklair mentioned that a few times in his review but it sounds like between the big mouse feet and the tail that he actually holds his balance fairly well. I just wish the stands were more environmental in design, kinda like some of Hot Toys’ stands. But I agree on the price. That Ratking option really seems to have added to the cost but at least it’s not an original creation of theirs for the sake of zaniness.
 
ManOfTheLamb said:
Has she ever been a rat? Those seem like the most fun roles to me.
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She has, and it is fun. She's been in the rodent army a couple of times over the years. She's played most of the parts over the many years. She's too old for Clara, but over the next two years she hopes to cross her last two wanted roles off the list with Sugar Plum Fairy and Mouse King (Queen in their performance).
 
I’m excited to collect the ghosts but I’m a realist. Last year’s ghost is still available. 4H likes doing the more creepy so trying something else makes sense for them. Maybe the rat warrior will sell more. It’s a bit too rich at $70 as the stand and the carapace to hold multiple heads seem like items padding the cost. Maybe one day a mouse warrior comes with less for less.

Thwipp!
 
I love the Nutcracker. Credit to Courage the Cowardly Dog for that.

This is the first time I've been tempted by a Figura Obscura since Anubis. I don't love the rat king head or the protruding neck piece, but the Mouse King head with the tattered cape is A+. I'm really going to have to think on this one. Like others, I don't think he makes sense without the context of the Nutcracker himself. I'm not sure my wife wants me turning our living room bookcase (where I station the Fresh Monkey Santa during the holidays) into a shelf of holiday-adjacent action figures either.

While real-life rat kings draw out some morbid curiosity, I'm not sure I can justify it. If they do the Nutcracker, I'm 100% buying it, though.

I wonder if they'd also make a Sugar Plum Fairy. I'd love to see a Four Horsemen-ified SPF.
 
Buttmunch said:
I don’t even think Disney has done a Christmas Carol line outside maybe an item or two. Maybe there was a Muppet figure or two? For such an iconic story the figure representation just hasn’t been there. Father Christmas was probably the most ‘mainstream’ character they’ve done if you count Santa Claus but they wanted to go more original folklore there even. They got ahead of the Krampus and Monkey King waves but most of the figure are one-offs and not likely made by anyone else and that’s the fun of the line to me rather than the roll out.
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There was a line by a company called Playing Mantis for Mickey’s Christmas Carol 20+ years ago. It was pretty expansive for what it was consisting of 9 figures plus a variant Goofy. There have been figurines, plushes, and ceramic stuff as well from Department 56. Disney did a box set of plush offerings for the Muppet Christmas Carol this year that seemed to irritate more than delight due to the price. There’s definitely not a lot of, if any, traditional Dickens Christmas Carol offerings in the toy world.
 
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