by Gray Fox
Hey everyone. Welcome to Free Standing Figure. Basically, this is my first attempt at a regular review column, but I've been reviewing figures for years. Like many of you, I've collected figures since I was a child. I've watched the products and the industry evolve over time and being a fellow collector, I know what we all are really looking for when decide to shell out hard earned money for something we intend to add to our collections. They're something of a personal masterpiece for all of us. So individualistic and constantly being refined based on the collector...Sorry. I'm only being a little long winded because this is the first column. All introductions aside, let's get into the review!
I have on deck Jace Beleren from the Magic: The Gathering series by Funko. MSRP Runs at around $15 to $20 depending on where you get him. I got mine at Books-a-Million, but I've also seen the MTG figures at Barnes & Noble as well as Target. He's listed as number 1 in the MTG Legacy Collection of figures. They have this guy and his compadres in stock, here + here.
Now this is Funko's 2nd foray into 6 inch scale articulated figures (the first being the well sculpted and detailed but woefully fragile Game of Thrones series) and the question we have to ask is: have they learned from their mistakes?
The figure comes in a rather handsome window box that is great for storage and display. I believe Funko took a page out of DSTs (that's Diamond Select Toys y'all) book as far as displaying each figure in box on a bookshelf and it paid off. Each box is uniform save for a really cool (and ultimately a little stylized) picture of the character on the front, back, and side of the box. It's a bit on the bulky side, considering Jace has NO accessories save for his cloak, but it admittedly will look fantastic when you assemble the whole series and display then display them together.
Taking Jace out of the package, I've noticed that the white paint app on the back of his cape is easily scraped off. It looks terrible, but as long as one is careful, you should be able to keep damage to a minimum. The cape itself is made of a soft rubber, cast in the same color as the rest of Jace's impractical outfit with the cool looking but easily scratched white runes.
I give Jace a hard time for having such a silly outfit. It's not that bad, but it's asymmetry and strange layering, partial jacket and single glove are worth mentioning. He looks like a Final Fantasy character, or an X-Men villain from the 90's. His cape is soft enough that it began to tear along a seam when I tried to pose him dynamically, so do be careful with it. It looks cool on him though, draping over his face and shoulders well. It gives him a mysterious traveler feel which is fitting of his title 'Planeswalker' (which all players of the MTG Trading Card Game are called in-universe).
Note: I totally have never played MTG more times than can be counted on one hand. While I always thought it was cool, the phenomenon sort of passed me by. I purely got into this series on aesthetic appeal alone.
Jace appears well articulated at first, but he doesn't have many poses he can take. I'm not sure what it is; perhaps the way he was sculpted or some strange angling to his feet. Either way. He can be posed a bit more if you take the cape off. He's been done in the 6-7"scale, all he'll fit well with other fantasy characters in your collection, or as some sort of generic mage. However, based on the limited accessories and not altogether functional articulation, it's up to you if the price point is worth it. I will say this: this whole series, this far, is a vast improvement over the breakable Game of Thrones series of figures. And he at least passes the free standing test, able to be posed without the aid of a stand.
What did you all think? Was I too hard on Jace and his outfit? Would he take enough offense to challenge me to a children's card game? Let us know your thoughts on this review, as well as who you'd like to see reviewed next. We have number 3 in the MTG series, Ajani Goldmayne and Jedi Luke Skywalker from the 6" Star Wars: The Black Series to choose between. Be seeing you, fellow hunters!