--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Bendy and The Ink Machine Buildable Figures
Distributor: C3/Basic Fun!
Model: 13718WM
Pcs: 169/202
Happy Halloween! Time to bust out the candy, scary movies, costumes, parties, and whatever else you need to appreciate this time of the year! ...Also, the rakes. Fall leaves are pretty at first, but if you don't clean them up before it get colder and wetter, you're going to have a miserable winter trying to walk on your lawn...
I already went over how Halloween ISN'T an evil time of witchcraft and Satan worship in my last two Halloween-themed reviews, so I won't bore you by bringing it up again. It's a time of year made for fun, so go ahead and put on your goofy overpriced(or underpriced, if you're someone who relies on dollar stores for necessities...) costumes, grab your sugary treats and booze and whatever else you need to feel warm and fuzzy, and either go trick-or-treating with your kids, attend that loud costume party with your friends, or just stay at home and watch your Vincent Price, Lucio Fulci, Hammer Film, and/or Tales From The Crypt marathon! But, most importantly, BE SCARED!
As much as people like to deny it, fear is a GOOD thing, if used properly. It reminds us that we're awake and aware of the world around us. It prepares us to combat the things we're scared of and keep on our toes to prevent these things from happening to us. It opens our minds and makes us ponder what just happened and what will happen next. And, on a more hedonistic side of things, it gives an adrenaline rush that wakes up every part of our body and brain! That scream of horror soon turns into a laugh of ecstasy as we're quickly made aware that we're ALIVE!
And, according to old horror cult classics, it kills any parasites in our spines that feed on fear. So SCREAM! SCREAM FOR YOUR LIVES!
It's that rush and our obsessions with the unknown and terrifying that are some of the reasons why horror media is so prevalent. As much as we normally want to play it safe, on some subconscious level, we WANT to be scared! We WANT to be thrown headfirst into the unknown, with no way of preparing for what might happen to us or others! As long as it's not overpowering to the point of paralysis and trauma and we can turn it off at some point, we WANT to have our nerves rattled by spooky, scary situations that we can't control!
That's why we buy into horror media! Whether it's from the first-person point of view of a horror game or the view of a character who can serve as an audience surrogate in a movie, we want to experience these feelings and get lost in a mind-bending, hopeless situation that will send shivers down our spines, make our toes tingle, and have us scream until we pass out, laughing! There's so much we don't know vs. what we do, so let's dive in and experience a world of monsters, slashers, ghosts, supernatural occurrences, and even natural happenings that will result in the destruction of life as we know it!
...As long as the media is ACTUALLY trying to scare us, and not simply gross us out, mildly disturb us, or just fail on all fronts. Another reason why there are so many horror movies is that they're cheap to produce, since all you really need is a guy in a mask, a few barrels of fake blood, some prosthetics, and a group of unknown actors who can pose as unlikable teenagers whining about how they want to get stoned and laid until they get unceremoniously murdered. Even if the movie is terrible to the point of virtually no audience, the low budget will almost always guarantee a profit and, most terrifyingly of all, SEQUELS! Even horror games don't need that much work, as they simply need to take some monsters, put them into a dark environment, add some blood effects, and have them jump out at the player every so often. It's this oversaturation of the typical slasher/monster formula that has encouraged media producers today to look in other fields for things they can make terrifying and keep the audiences coming.
And what's more terrifying than old black-and-white cartoons from the 20s and 30s?! ...No, really, I'm asking seriously. Oldschool animations were MESSED UP!
During the first few decades of film, producers were quick to catch on that virtually ANYTHING could be done with a movie! What originally was much too complex or cost-prohibitive to perform in front of large audiences, or even at all, could suddenly be captured on a film reel and distributed around the world to MILLIONS, more than recouping the costs of producing the performance! Clever editing techniques and post-production effects also made possible sequences that would otherwise be impossible to recreate live, plus allowed for a multitude of sets and actors who could be brought in to film on certain days, avoiding an overcrowded filming space. It's these revelations and innovations that guaranteed the success of the movie industry, giving us hundreds of thousands of titles, many of which have become classics and staples of our lives today!
...Of course, it also guaranteed the continued existence of horror and exploitation. These genres have existed since the birth of acting itself, but film made it possible to cheaply create and distribute various films that were too disturbing or creepy to mainstream audiences even back then. These took the nature of film down a dark path, giving us bizarre, surreal, and terrifying images so powerful, that they're still referenced to this day! We obviously still have horror and exploitation films made today, but nothing can match the films made when the industry was still new and in an experimental stage.
And nowhere is the dark experimental nature of early film more apparent than the cartoons of the 20s and 30s. Existing almost as long as film itself, if not arguably longer in the form of zoetropes, animation was used as a method to create films and short features that regular live-action performances weren't capable of creating. Under the film moguls of the early 20th century, it was a way to get certain ideas to screen and make a quick profit, since animation then was considered inferior to actual movie productions, so animators and voice actors could be paid much less for their efforts than big name stars. However, because of what could be accomplished with the medium of animation, despite the low budgets and horrible working conditions(or possibly because of them), studios created many, MANY short cartoons exploiting animation's limitless potential, and again giving us many cartoons and beloved cartoon characters that have seen success and popularity to this day.
Because of the countless ideas that could be brought to life through animation, and the low amount of censorship for films and shorts pre-Hays Code and MPAA rating system, cartoons back then could be about nothing and show pretty much anything! There were the typical musicals and slapsticky seven-minute sequences featuring cute cartoon characters that reflect the squeaky-clean image we like to erroneously give to media of the time. ...But then there were very provocative, suggestive, violent, terrifying shorts that today make you question where the minds and ethics were of anyone working on the productions! Early Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies shorts were especially known for their violent, racist, sexist senses of humor, with blackface jokes, drug and alcohol use, sexual depictions and groping of women, and even suicides often peppering even innocent cartoons meant for children!
Even Disney wasn't immune to the darker side of cartoons, as anyone who's seen the 1930s shorts The Mad Doctor or Pluto's Judgement Day will know!
However, head and shoulders above the rest in terms of absolute cartoon anarchy was Fleischer Studios. We know them today as the people who brought us Popeye the Sailor Man, the first Superman cartoons, and, to a lesser extent, one of the first animated feature films, Gulliver's Travels. ...But they're just as well known for their sexually provocative(for the time) Betty Boop cartoons and their EXTREMELY dark and surreal musicals, animated in the "rubber hose" tentacle-limbed style common in early animation.
If you hate yourself, or you're morbidly curious and want some dark cartoons for your Halloween marathon, check out Swing You Sinners, Bimbo's Initiation, Minnie the Moocher, Betty Boop in Snow White, or a number of other similar cartoons from this studio! Trust me when I say they will be some of the most surreal, mind-bending experiences you'll ever have! You'll need to watch a few episodes of Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared to give you a healthy dose of reality afterwards!
It's this mix of surreal imagery, frightening visuals, and smooth-yet-choppy animation that has kept these cartoons fresh in our minds to this day, even after most animation has long abandoned the "rubber hose", B&W aesthetics in favor of color and more regulated and "natural" movement. Callbacks to these old shorts are still made in our media, from the deadly cartoon in Twilight Zone: The Movie, to recent video games like Epic Mickey. This media captures the look and flexibility of these older cartoons for later generations. ...And reminds us all of just how INSANE they were back then!
And, in 2017, Kindly Beast/Joey Drew Studios decided to make a game based on the aesthetics of old cartoons with Bendy and the Ink Machine! The latest in the trend of survival horror indie games that have garnered mass mainstream attention, following Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Slender: The Eight Pages and the Five Nights at Freddy's series, Bendy takes place in an abandoned studio in the 1960s, where a retired animator finds himself trapped in a horrifying world created by Bendy and his friends, stars of cartoons from decades past who have somehow gained life... It's a throwback to the old days of animation, notably Fleischer Studios and Disney, taking the creepiness and avant-garde nature of those cartoons and using them to create gameplay and atmosphere meant to INTENTIONALLY creep the player out! If you've ever wanted Slender and "Abandoned by Disney" thrown in a blender with public domain cartoons, this twisted masterwork will grant your strange, disturbing wish!
Of course, I'm once again saying this, despite never actually playing it. I haven't even seen gameplay videos outside of the first chapter. I think it's an INCREDIBLE idea for a game, and many people seem to agree with me, so I'm INTENTIONALLY trying to avoid spoilers until the version for the Xbox One is released. I want to play it myself, and on a platform I'm comfortable with, so I don't want everything given away before I can even get my hands on a copy! I want to walk into this game as clueless as anyone who's popped in a nearly century-old cartoon, unaware of how different standards of the time were, and received the shock of their life!
The same goes for Cuphead, another huge indie title based on the animation style of Fleischer Studios. I REALLY want to play this, and I'm leaving all information unspoiled until I do! ...Even though it's been out for over a year, by this point. ...I'm a straggler and a cheapskate, what can I say?
The unexpected financial and critical success of Bendy and the Ink Machine has resulted in a lot of merchandise, despite the game not even being fully released yet*! POP! figures, plushes, action figures, blind bags, keychains, posters, even a series of retro-style cartoons have all been produced based on the indie horror title! The profits from this merchandise, plus future revenue from the upcoming console releases, have likely resulted in a huge net income for the Joey Drew Studios and Rooster Teeth Games, possibly meaning we'll see some more games from them in the future. ...Maybe some more Bendy titles? After all, no matter what you like to collect, Bendy wants a place in your life...
*Though it will be by the time you read this. ...This is a review that should have come out earlier, isn't it?
And that merchandise even includes building brick sets! And that's the focus for this Halloween! What better way to celebrate the month of playful fear than with some sets based on innocent, playful cartoon characters that have come to life? ...And want more than just life...?
I own three, so those are the three we'll be looking at! ...And yes, there are more...
In addition to the buildable figures and Ink Machine playset, a couple mini sets and a range of figure blind bags have also been released bearing the Bendy and the Ink Machine name. ...Unfortunately, these are SUPER difficult to find, and command outrageous prices for what they are! I was lucky to find what I did! ...Though I hope to find the others at some point.
Since I only own three sets, and one is considerably different than the other two, I'm going to split this look into two and tackle the two different kinds of set separately*, starting with the buildable figures. ...And all that's running through my head right now is "Oh, goody... MORE of these!"
For those who haven't seen them, or who don't actually follow me and just read certain reviews on my blog, I dedicated a good several weeks this year to featuring all the constructable figure sets I could find. Mega Bloks/Construx Kubros(and some stragglers), Lego BrickHeadz, LOZ BrickHeadz, Decool Cute Doll, and LOZ CubeDude all had their time in the spotlight, as I built each set and compared them to what most of them were obviously trying to copy: Funko POP! figures. And I thought that was it! I thought I had covered every single line obviously trying to produce building brick versions of vinyl figures. I was sick of them, the world seemed sick of them, so that would be the last I'd ever see of them!
NOPE! Just like any annoying fad, just when you think you've seen the last of them, they're back with a vengeance! So here we are again, featuring ANOTHER set of buildable figures! ...How long until they release another set of buildable fidget spinners I'll need to feature?
It's actually a little surprising how similar the Bendy buildable figure packaging is to the Kubros and BrickHeadz boxes. On the front of the box, we have a close-up picture of the assembled figure, with the piece count, age recommendation, and names of the figure and the license above and below the picture.
While one side gives a view of the figure zoomed out and at another angle(which the BrickHeadz box lacks)
And the other gives some stock artwork of the non-brick version of the character represented.
I'm guessing that, unlike Bendy, whose mug is plastered everywhere in the game, Boris the Wolf doesn't have an in-game traditionally animated counterpart, as he's represented on the box by his 3D model. ...Or maybe it's suggesting he's more fleshed-out of a character than Bendy? ...He's also more dead than Bendy, from what little I've seen of the game, but we won't hold that against him.
Instead of showing the rest of the line on the back of the box, as the Kubros and BrickHeadz packaging does, the back of the Bendy boxes simply shows a diagram of all the pieces clicking together to build the figure. If you've ever wanted an anatomical chart of a Bendy brick figure, these sets have you covered! ...Some self-labeling required...
"You Build It!" it says, in both English and French! Thank you for letting me know! I was just about to hire a 12-year-old kid to put together my brick sets from now on, but I've just been told that I must build it! ...Well, that saved me $5 a month.
Also, I apologize for how beaten up the box is. Like I said, these are super hard to come by, and I'm blown out of my mind that I found these at all! ...Especially since I didn't know they existed before I saw them on the shelves of an overstock warehouse I frequent.
These sets come to us from our old friends over at C3 and The Bridge Direct.
I mentioned them before when I featured one of their WWE Stackdown Ring sets over a year-and-a-half ago, and when I briefly mentioned their failed Monster Jam construction sets in my 10 Franchises You Didn't Know Had Licensed Brick Sets list last December. ...And, since then, they've gone through a bit of reconstruction.
Since we last looked at them, they've combined with fellow toy companies Uncle Milton and Tech4Kids, and, since October 2017, have rebranded the new conglomerate Basic Fun!, taking the name of a company they acquired in 2013.
The original Basic Fun!, based on what little I could find with their unsearchable name, was founded in 1991, and they mostly made miniature versions of toys and games, usually attached to a keychain for on-the-go play! So all those "World's Smallest" toys Hasbro makes today? Basic Fun! beat them to it by several decades!
The new Basic Fun! retains most of the properties of the combined companies, plus they're behind bringing us Mash 'Ems, Arcade Classics miniature arcade machines, Poopeez, and Cutetitos, as well as toys based on My Little Pony, Lite Brite, Fisher-Price toys, Pokemon, Battlebots, Star Wars, Strawberry Shortcake, Koosh balls, Viewmaster, and Thomas & Friends! They even acquired K'Nex earlier this year in February! Overall, I'd say this merger was the best thing that could have happened to any of these companies, especially since it strengthens them in the wake of Toys R Us declaring bankruptcy and leaving American shores!
At the very least, it's resulted in a much more professional and customer-focused website! Huge difference from The Bridge Direct's old site, where half the pages were missing...
While their output of brick sets isn't as massive as when they used the C3 name, they're producing at least two new lines based on popular games. Besides Bendy and the Ink Machine, they even have a few sets and buildable figures based on the Exploding Kittens card game! ...Why this needed a line of brick sets, I have no idea, but it exists and I must have it!
And if they're going to make any more brick sets based on popular games, they'd better hurry before McFarlane Toys snatches up every license out there!
Before we start putting these together, I'd like to point out that they actually sealed their instructions in plastic bags! ...Thanks? ...I would have preferred that they were packaged in a way that wouldn't leave them bent and wrinkled fresh out of the box, but I guess this is a good step forward? Or maybe the instruction manuals are cursed and this is their attempt to prevent people from reading a section of the Necronomicon they accidentally pasted in there? ...Well, if you see a swarm of Deadites swarming out of Salt Lake City, you'll know that was the reason! ...Of course, you won't even see this warning, seeing as how I won't be around to publish the review... ...And you might not be around long enough to read it, regardless...
Plus, let's not forget our standard "0-3" warning
Despite the toy not being recommended for anyone under 14.
Anyone between those ages who tries to use this on Halloween is forced to make an impossible choice: Deal with film and television's greatest monsters, or endure an hour of the Dr Star monsters' electronic wailing!
Alright, we have enough pieces to fill an ink machine, so let's stop stalling and start building! And let's hope this doesn't awaken the essence of cartoon characters past! I'd hate to see Scrappy return from the depths of cartoon hell.
Either of them!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And here they are! The ink machine has given them life and form! ...I assume that's what the machine did. With what little I know, the machine could have just been invented to refill their calligraphy pens or something...
One thing I need to give them credit for right off the bat is their build structure. Unlike other buildable figures we've seen, especially BrickHeadz, they're not built from the ground up with flat and square pieces. Instead, the models start with cores for the body and head(and in Boris' case, the legs), then smooth, sloped pieces are built around the cores to create round shapes! Then you add the legs, the arms, and put them all together, and you get a much nicer shape than most other buildable figures we've seen! The figures for these figures are quite nice!
Boris' shape is even nicer, as it comes with the bonus of making him look like an old, metal toy! With how patchwork and seam-filled the design looks, it looks like he's a hollow, wind-up, metallic toy from around the time the Bendy cartoons were supposedly made. The best part is that he's NOT made of metal, so there's no danger of tetanus if I play with him!
...Though, like with an actual 80-year-old toy, it's probably best NOT to handle them roughly, since the plastic quality is questionable. Bendy here kept losing his toe, and there were a few pieces inside that had a hard time clicking together until they were sandwiched between a few more layers of pieces. ...And, seeing as how this was one of the major problems with the last C3 set I looked at, I guess even two years and a merger can't fix some things...
I'm also not a fan of how yellow the pieces look. I get what they were going for, trying to replicate the severely yellowed look of old film stock, but it looks over-saturated even for the yellow-and-black aesthetics of the game. A more pale yellow or even a tan color would have worked much better with these sets. ...As is, it looks like Bendy and friends are starring in their newest animated venture: "Bendy in Panama Fever Ahoy!" The musical!
However, that brings me to the other thing I REALLY like about these figures and that puts them above most other buildable figures we've seen: The custom pieces and print jobs for the faces! Bendy's face is a completely new plate piece with his face printed on it, complete with Pac-Man eyes and devilish smile! Boris get the same type of eyes on already existing pieces, but they're professionally printed on! No sucky stickers went into these faces! ...They went into other parts, but we'll get to that later.
But my absolute favorite part of these figures are the rubber glove hands! They stick on via a ball joint, giving them wrist articulation, and they feel really nice! They're not too stiff to move, yet they retain a form and don't flop around like cheap rubber! It's quite a nice molding job, and adds to the aesthetic of these supposedly being toys released around the time of Bendy! ...The original cartoons from the game's fictional universe, that is. Not just tie-in toys like they already are.
The hands are obviously too big to work with regular brick figure accessories, but with some fidgeting, you can get larger accessories to fit. Boris here just became a Jedi, wielding a lightsaber from one of the Lego Star Wars Ultrabuilds. ...I'm sure Disney's not far from buying Bendy And The Ink Machine lock, stock, and barrel anyway...
Bendy, on the other hand, has gone for a more... Devilish use of his hands. ...He was the kid at school that threw rocks at the birds on the fence and fed the class' pet hamster to another class' pet snake, wasn't he?
One other thing both figures came with were these spare white plates with serial numbers on them. I don't remember if I featured a set with these before, but third-party brick sets have a habit of including these, possibly to keep track of how many sets have gone out. ...I didn't want them to go to waste, so I just stuck them on some unused studs on the back of the figures. Now if you catch them speeding, you'll have a number you can report them with! ...If they weren't speeding towards you to kill you, that is...
Now that I've given an overview of what both figures share, let's take a quick look at the individual figures. First up is the titular Bendy, aka Bendy the Dancing Demon, basically the studio's answer to Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny. Or possibly more likely Bimbo the Dog or Felix the Cat, given the time period these cartoons were supposedly made in. ...Of course, even with how messed up old cartoons were, with fundamentalist religious beliefs still being prevalent in the media back then, I don't think a major studio even back then would have adopted a literal servant of hell as a mascot!
Though that wouldn't stop them from literally using demons and hell in their cartoons!
Like I mentioned, the faceplate with Bendy's face on it is a custom piece, and they did a really good job of recreating the game's likeness, as well as the mischievous imp-like expression prevalent with cartoon characters of the time. ...Though I wouldn't have known this was a demon if I didn't look it up. With the placement of those horns, I originally thought they were ears and Bendy was some kind of cat. ...The evil twin brother of Felix the Cat, maybe?
Not that Felix needs help, since he's also had his share of dark moments...
He's also given a little custom bowtie piece! Now we know that there's nothing sinister about this character! If you see him running towards you, he just wants a hug!
When it comes to articulation, Bendy's head can turn. ...However, the peg that attaches his head to his body is pretty loose, making him a bit of a bobblehead as a result...
The arms also move, but because of the poor plastic quality and how the arms are just on a hinge, they'll immediately flop back to his sides the second you let go. I know Bendy is based on the "rubber hose"-style of animation, but I wasn't expecting his figure to literally be boneless...
Also, his back doesn't seem finished. Couldn't they have added some sloped pieces on the back to round out his body? And not make him look his spine is exposed? ...Or was that intentional?
On the whole, I guess Bendy's fine. ...If you keep him facing forward and don't try to move him.
The other guy we have is Boris the Wolf. I'm not sure what relationship he has with Bendy, if he's a sidekick or antagonist or just a background character, but I'm assuming he basically plays the same role as Disney's Goofy(or Dippy Dawg, as he was known then by.) In the game, there are apparently a number of different Boris', some friendly, some antagonistic, and some dead. ...Mostly dead.
Right away, I can say that the build quality of Boris is MUCH better than Bendy's. Like I said, he looks a lot like a retro metallic wind-up toy, with how he looks like he's in two halves with machinery supposedly in between to wind him up. Even so, he looks more complete and like an actual toy than a brick set! ...If you don't look too closely, obviously...
He even has a much more finished back, looking like he's actually wearing overalls that cover the front and back! As opposed to Bendy, who looks like they didn't finish drawing, and apparently runs around in the buff, save for his bowtie. ...Why do short characters look less naked without clothes than tall characters?
He's also given much better articulation than Bendy! Not only are his arms on ball joints, allowing for a much wider range of movement, but they're jointed at the elbows, giving him a LOT more poseability than Bendy! Also, the arms stay where positioned, so you can pose him doing anything you want!
Like scratching his back with Budder! ...Yes, I was considering the other pose all of you were thinking of, but this is a family blog, so get your own and recreate your disgusting desires on your own time in your own house...
Even his jaw's articulated, allowing you to move the lower jaw downward! This is perfect if you ever want to do a stop motion project and make him talk! ...Does he talk? Or are the cartoons from the silent era? ...Technically, people still talked in silent-era films, their voices just weren't picked up by the camera, so having cartoon characters that couldn't talk in their shorts doesn't mean they don't still have a voice. ...Or does it? They're cartoons, so maybe because they were never given a voice actor, they were never assigned a voice to use? ...I am now more anxious than ever to play the game and find out!
Unfortunately, his build's not completely perfect. As with Bendy, his legs don't move, and, because they're larger and made of smaller pieces, they have more potential of breaking apart when handled.
Not going to help his case when he's chased by Bendy...
Also, we have the dreaded bane of brick sets: stickers! I HATE stickers! They never apply correctly, they lose their stick after a few weeks or months, and they're too easily lost! It's just a sign the company was cheap and didn't want to print the design right on the brick! ...And why are the legs made of individual sloped pieces anyway and not one long sloped piece that would make the build sturdier?
It doesn't even make sense! Why resort to stickers when you've already put in the time and effort to create custom paint jobs for the eyes? ...It REALLY hurts when something is so painstakingly detailed and lazily made at the same time...
Sticker decals were also used for the cheeks, but I'm less upset about those. They're only applied to one brick, they're small and out of the way, and they're not as obviously stickers. ...I'm still not happy that they're used, but it makes more sense in this case.
Still, on the whole, this is a well-built figure! Even better built and articulated than Bendy! ...No wonder he wants him dead...
And those are the Bendy buildable figures. Easily some of the best brick figure construction sets we've come across! They're much more figure-like, they're well-built and interpreted in brick form, and the custom pieces make them much more convincing than a figure with standard bricks!
Also, they avoid the uncanny valley feel of the soulless dark eyes of most other brick "vinyl" figures. ...So, the figures that are trying to be scary are actually LESS scary than most other figures we've looked at. ...Isn't it ironic? ...Don't ya think?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quality: The quality is relatively high, with plastic that doesn't feel rough, warped, or greasy. We have the typical problem of a few pieces not fitting tightly, but I'd at least put the overall plastic quality at Mega Bloks/Construx level. The paint jobs and the molded rubber gloves are the parts I'm most impressed with, especially for a third-party brick company! The decal work on Boris' eyes and Bendy's face is VERY well done, and it doesn't appear to scratch off that easily, so as long as they're not treated roughly, they'll probably last for years! The gloves are a little awkward to use with other brick elements, but they're so well molded, and so much other stuff can be inserted into their grasps, that I can't even penalize them for that! On the whole, the quality is pretty good, and, if they put a little more work into quality control, it would have turned out perfectly.
Design: Unlike most other brick "vinyl" figures featured here, these actually feel like they were built like "figures"! They're not built from the ground up in layers of bricks(mostly.) Instead, they're built with a core, then the core has more bricks built around it, then things like legs and clothing are built around that, then the core of the head is built, with details following, and then the arms and head are added to the body. What results is a much smoother, less "blocky", naturally-shaped body and head structure, much like if they were plastic action figures! I'm tempted to give them a 5/5 just for this unique brick structure! ...However, the tricks budget brick companies like to use with their sets are apparent and make the cheapness of the figure stand out. There's no reason to use smaller bricks when a larger brick that already exists and equals a number of the smaller pieces could have been used instead. Especially since larger pieces would have made things like Boris' legs much sturdier! As I pointed out in the Block Tech Fast & Furious review, it's just a method used to make it seem like the set is bigger than it actually is, and that you're getting better value for your money. And then there's the problem of stickers! It's not as big of an issue here compared to other sets in the past, since most details are printed directly on the bricks, but Boris' knees really SHOULDN'T be stickers! ...Or, if they had to use stickers, they should have used larger bricks to place them on that would better hide the fact that they were stickers! It's small details like these that throw off the professionalism of the build. Plus, they obviously gave more attention to Boris' figure, since his head is attached much tighter, he has a finished back, and his arms have much more articulation. ...A bit insulting to have one of the side characters batter made than the main guy... On the whole, it looks good from a distance! ...It's when you get in close and start nitpicking that the flaws manifest themselves...
Creativity: The fact that they even made scale brick figures of video game characters to begin with is creative! I love how accurate they look compared to their game counterparts, and how they managed to make mostly round features using square bricks! The arms and feet are the most obviously made from regular bricks, but the rest would fool me into thinking these were solid figures if I saw these from a distance! I LOVE the fact that they used custom bricks for Bendy's face and bow tie, and they painted Boris' eyes right on the bricks, as they look so much better than trying to recreate the faces using regular bricks, or even printing decals on several different bricks and trying to rearrange them into an approximation of a face! But my favorite part are the rubber gloves! Even though they're not bricks, they still attach to bricks with ball joints just fine, and they're still capable of holding things! ...Not regular brick figure accessories, but larger accessories, bricks, toothbrushes, killer knives, you name it! I'm also impressed that they tried to keep the old-timey film feel with yellow and black colors. ...It's just a shame that the yellow is too bright... These have some of the best gimmicks of any of the figures built from bricks we've come across, and I can't wait to see what I can pose them with on my shelf! ...I just need to keep all sharp objects away from these things...
Readability: The instructions are clear, but awkward to use and follow along. The "book" folds out into a large sheet of squares, with 1-2 steps each square, making it hard to find a place to set the instructions and easy to lose your place while putting the figures together! Plus, trying to fold it back up when you're done adds an additional dose of awkwardness... Still, they're clear and I didn't detect any mistakes in the individual steps. ...I just wish they didn't feel the need to print them on one long piece of sticker paper...
Packaging: The boxes seem like budget versions of the Kubros packaging. They also follow the checklist for collector packaging(front view of the character, wide view of the character fully built, snapshot of the character from the original media, resealable, etc.) but on a much lesser scale. There are fewer details than Kubros, with the front of the box simply comprised of a picture of the character, the name, and a quick description, and the back being a simplified diagram of the construction of the figure. It doesn't even show what other sets are in the line, or tell us to "Collect Them All!" However, I do like how the color scheme for the packaging also follows the yellow-and-black motif of the game and the figures, and it's well-made, meaning it won't fall apart as soon as you open it. I guess it could have used a bit more creativity, like having the corners mimic old, peeling paper, but, as a box, it does its job and it's something you'd want to keep around.
Compatibility: Most of the pieces are standard bricks, so there shouldn't be a problem getting the figure in general to fit with other sets. The rubber gloves are a little out-of-place, but they'll still work with any pieces that include a ball joint. And, once again, they can be used as figures as well as sets, so invite them to your next minifigure party!
Overall:
If the quality was a little better, I'd give it a perfect 5/5. These are very creative, well-made buildable figures, and some of the best versions of brick "vinyl" figures I've ever seen! The build is unlike anything I've seen with one of these, the design is great with how much they match their in-game counterparts, and the rubber gloves are unexpectedly a great touch. There are pieces that fall off, and Bendy's design is disappointingly simple and loose, but they look great and they'll be fine as long as they're not moved. If you're a fan, hunt one of these down and see how accurate they are to the actual game characters! ...Just keep them away from all ink and sharp objects. ...And keep Boris separated from Bendy. ...Just in case...
No comments:
Post a Comment