DSC_1506
With Avengers: Endgame finally in theaters, it's only natural that the only Infinity War figure from Hot Toys I ordered finally shows up.
Portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch, Dr. Strange played a pivotal role in the Infinity War movie. I'm pretty sure that everyone who has watched this movie isn't exactly blown away by this statement.
What you may not be as familiar with is the drama when it came to the Hot Toys figure.
Hot Toys released a Dr. Strange from his standalone film, which effectively is the same as the Infinity War one, except for the head sculpt.. but I'm jumping ahead of myself. Once the collecting public realized that Dr. Strange got dusted in Infinity War, there was a mad panic.
It was probably close to a month after the release of the movie, and Hot Toys had not announced anything about an Infinity War Dr. Strange figure, even though he played an incredibly prominent part in the movie. Believing that there would be no further figure releases for Strange, the original figure starting commanding stupid high pricing, sometimes in the neighbourhood of almost $700 USD, way, way up from it's MSRP of about $250 USD.
Scalpers who had been "smart enough to stock up" started effectively selling at whatever price they felt like. Despite multiple calls for collectors to basically calm down and not to add fuel to the fire, people were still being people, and bought they from scalpers anyway.
Prices were jumping higher and higher everyday, with collectors calling Retail Aftermarket Sellers opportunists - understandably so, but opportunists none the less, and with the Sellers retorting that they were victims of "market value", and that collectors were simply bitter because they weren't smart enough to preorder.
Sellers had the upper hand, as it were, for weeks, growing more bold by the day.
Then one day, it all came crashing down. I don't remember exactly what day it was in May 2018, but I can tell you this much: the moment that Hot Toys announced the Infinity Wars Dr. Strange figure, the aftermarket scalping of the original figure effectively came to a grinding halt. There was much rejoice in the collecting community, with the exception of sellers who were now stuck with MSRP Dr. Strange figures, or if I may say so myself, potentially bitter "friends" that bought their scalper priced figures because they were informed that there would only ever be one.
From personal experience, one seller was so salty about this change that he proclaimed the 2.0 figure to be a piece of garbage and that we were all failures at life because we couldn't afford a $700 USD Dr. Strange figure.
It was fun, fun times. There have been a few close calls here and there, most recently with Infinity War Thor, but overall figures that are jacked up in price are because they really are sold out.
My figure finally arrived after I'd say a 5 month delay or so over the original Hong Kong release. Not that I was in a hurry or keeping track, but it was amusing to marvel at just how many of the damn things Hot Toys sold that even as I write this there are people who ordered it all over the world who still haven't gotten their order.
So, now that it's here, lets dig in, shall we?
As with most Hot Toys figures, Dr. Strange comes packed in a windowed box with a slipcover. These ones slightly differ from norm by having a cutout in the bottom right hand corner to show the Avengers: Infinity War logo that is printed on the inner box.
As mentioned above, the contents of the box are effectively the same as the original figure. Identical items are as follows: same gang hand signs, two Sling Rings, an open and closed Eye of Agamoto, full fabric outfit including magnetically attaching Cloak of Levitation, two orange magic energy effect discs, and two sets of magic energy rings meant to mimic the effect in the movie (one set orange for general magic, one set green for when the Time Stone is being used). Both sets also come with a dynamic stand, albeit branded differently.
The headsculpt, which features the Infinity War hairstyle, is naturally different. One of the original accessories, the Book of Cagliostro, is no longer here (not a part of the movie at all) but has been replaced with four new magic effects, including a square effect, a larger round magic effect, an effect for the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, and his sword construct. The Infinity War version also comes with a backdrop to mimic the effects of the Images of Ikon, where he multiplies to do battle.
I have to say, this is the first Hot Toys figure in a long time that I've personally been impressed with. The other ones have been pretty good, but the amount of work put into the design of his outfit is insane. It's pretty much all cloth (except for the belts and other such areas) and what is neat, at least for me, is that by staring at a miniature version of the character, you notice these fine details on the costume that you normally wouldn't even notice, like the various puffs on his boots and belt, and the asymmetric nature of the Cloak of Levitation.
The cloak attaches using three magnets, and generally holds in place but can move out of place when you're posing the main figure. There are some wires embedded into the cape itself, but I didn't find much use for the wires and wish they had simply made this a weighed cloak so it would drape down correctly.
Articulation in general is not hampered by this outfit, and this is the first Hot Toys figure I've opened in a long time that didn't come with a precautions list to follow when moving the figure. Sadly, Dr. Strange lacks any real neck movement other than pivoting, and has zero ankle articulation. This does limit the types of pose you can put the figure in, dynamic stand or not. The outfit SHOULD allow you to do overhead arm poses, but I can't say I bothered trying, particularly since you would need to remove the cloak to do it in the first place.
Paint work is, as always, top notch. Paintwork on the hair and mustache/goatee are phenomenal and really doesn't give me much to complain about, if anything. Paint on the Eye of Agamoto is also, unsurprisingly, solid.
Speaking of the head, the detailing is extremely well done, from the hairs on his head and face, to the subtle wrinkles on his face. The sculptor captured the shape of Benedict Cumberbatch's face and jawline very well, but I am of the belief that his hairline, particularly how close the grey parts slick to the side of his head, wasn't close enough, giving him, ironically, a fat head. Not that it changed from the prototype, mind you - this was always something I was weary of.
Another complaint I have is his eyes. For lack of better terms, it almost feels to me that as good as the Hot Toys sculpting team is, it's like they really don't get the shape of Westerner eyes. They're always way too small, if not too close together. Benedict Cumberbatch isn't an anime character, but he certainly has rounder eyes than what we see here.
Fine detailing isn't limited to the the head and outfit - each of the magic accessories also has a plethora of detailing in the form of the many mystic symbols and glyphs that exist in the world of Dr. Strange. it's quite impressive the amount of work that went into these.
While the coloured plastic pieces will never truly replicate the glowing CGI of the movies, most of the pieces do an acceptable job. The square coloured one, however, just looks really dumb. There really is no other way of putting it.
In the end, this figure truly is what ownership of a Hot Toys figure should feel like - premium quality all around, with just enough engineering limitations and design screw ups to remind you that this is an action figure.
DSC_1506
With Avengers: Endgame finally in theaters, it's only natural that the only Infinity War figure from Hot Toys I ordered finally shows up.
Portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch, Dr. Strange played a pivotal role in the Infinity War movie. I'm pretty sure that everyone who has watched this movie isn't exactly blown away by this statement.
What you may not be as familiar with is the drama when it came to the Hot Toys figure.
Hot Toys released a Dr. Strange from his standalone film, which effectively is the same as the Infinity War one, except for the head sculpt.. but I'm jumping ahead of myself. Once the collecting public realized that Dr. Strange got dusted in Infinity War, there was a mad panic.
It was probably close to a month after the release of the movie, and Hot Toys had not announced anything about an Infinity War Dr. Strange figure, even though he played an incredibly prominent part in the movie. Believing that there would be no further figure releases for Strange, the original figure starting commanding stupid high pricing, sometimes in the neighbourhood of almost $700 USD, way, way up from it's MSRP of about $250 USD.
Scalpers who had been "smart enough to stock up" started effectively selling at whatever price they felt like. Despite multiple calls for collectors to basically calm down and not to add fuel to the fire, people were still being people, and bought they from scalpers anyway.
Prices were jumping higher and higher everyday, with collectors calling Retail Aftermarket Sellers opportunists - understandably so, but opportunists none the less, and with the Sellers retorting that they were victims of "market value", and that collectors were simply bitter because they weren't smart enough to preorder.
Sellers had the upper hand, as it were, for weeks, growing more bold by the day.
Then one day, it all came crashing down. I don't remember exactly what day it was in May 2018, but I can tell you this much: the moment that Hot Toys announced the Infinity Wars Dr. Strange figure, the aftermarket scalping of the original figure effectively came to a grinding halt. There was much rejoice in the collecting community, with the exception of sellers who were now stuck with MSRP Dr. Strange figures, or if I may say so myself, potentially bitter "friends" that bought their scalper priced figures because they were informed that there would only ever be one.
From personal experience, one seller was so salty about this change that he proclaimed the 2.0 figure to be a piece of garbage and that we were all failures at life because we couldn't afford a $700 USD Dr. Strange figure.
It was fun, fun times. There have been a few close calls here and there, most recently with Infinity War Thor, but overall figures that are jacked up in price are because they really are sold out.
My figure finally arrived after I'd say a 5 month delay or so over the original Hong Kong release. Not that I was in a hurry or keeping track, but it was amusing to marvel at just how many of the damn things Hot Toys sold that even as I write this there are people who ordered it all over the world who still haven't gotten their order.
So, now that it's here, lets dig in, shall we?
As with most Hot Toys figures, Dr. Strange comes packed in a windowed box with a slipcover. These ones slightly differ from norm by having a cutout in the bottom right hand corner to show the Avengers: Infinity War logo that is printed on the inner box.
As mentioned above, the contents of the box are effectively the same as the original figure. Identical items are as follows: same gang hand signs, two Sling Rings, an open and closed Eye of Agamoto, full fabric outfit including magnetically attaching Cloak of Levitation, two orange magic energy effect discs, and two sets of magic energy rings meant to mimic the effect in the movie (one set orange for general magic, one set green for when the Time Stone is being used). Both sets also come with a dynamic stand, albeit branded differently.
The headsculpt, which features the Infinity War hairstyle, is naturally different. One of the original accessories, the Book of Cagliostro, is no longer here (not a part of the movie at all) but has been replaced with four new magic effects, including a square effect, a larger round magic effect, an effect for the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, and his sword construct. The Infinity War version also comes with a backdrop to mimic the effects of the Images of Ikon, where he multiplies to do battle.
I have to say, this is the first Hot Toys figure in a long time that I've personally been impressed with. The other ones have been pretty good, but the amount of work put into the design of his outfit is insane. It's pretty much all cloth (except for the belts and other such areas) and what is neat, at least for me, is that by staring at a miniature version of the character, you notice these fine details on the costume that you normally wouldn't even notice, like the various puffs on his boots and belt, and the asymmetric nature of the Cloak of Levitation.
The cloak attaches using three magnets, and generally holds in place but can move out of place when you're posing the main figure. There are some wires embedded into the cape itself, but I didn't find much use for the wires and wish they had simply made this a weighed cloak so it would drape down correctly.
Articulation in general is not hampered by this outfit, and this is the first Hot Toys figure I've opened in a long time that didn't come with a precautions list to follow when moving the figure. Sadly, Dr. Strange lacks any real neck movement other than pivoting, and has zero ankle articulation. This does limit the types of pose you can put the figure in, dynamic stand or not. The outfit SHOULD allow you to do overhead arm poses, but I can't say I bothered trying, particularly since you would need to remove the cloak to do it in the first place.
Paint work is, as always, top notch. Paintwork on the hair and mustache/goatee are phenomenal and really doesn't give me much to complain about, if anything. Paint on the Eye of Agamoto is also, unsurprisingly, solid.
Speaking of the head, the detailing is extremely well done, from the hairs on his head and face, to the subtle wrinkles on his face. The sculptor captured the shape of Benedict Cumberbatch's face and jawline very well, but I am of the belief that his hairline, particularly how close the grey parts slick to the side of his head, wasn't close enough, giving him, ironically, a fat head. Not that it changed from the prototype, mind you - this was always something I was weary of.
Another complaint I have is his eyes. For lack of better terms, it almost feels to me that as good as the Hot Toys sculpting team is, it's like they really don't get the shape of Westerner eyes. They're always way too small, if not too close together. Benedict Cumberbatch isn't an anime character, but he certainly has rounder eyes than what we see here.
Fine detailing isn't limited to the the head and outfit - each of the magic accessories also has a plethora of detailing in the form of the many mystic symbols and glyphs that exist in the world of Dr. Strange. it's quite impressive the amount of work that went into these.
While the coloured plastic pieces will never truly replicate the glowing CGI of the movies, most of the pieces do an acceptable job. The square coloured one, however, just looks really dumb. There really is no other way of putting it.
In the end, this figure truly is what ownership of a Hot Toys figure should feel like - premium quality all around, with just enough engineering limitations and design screw ups to remind you that this is an action figure.