H.P. Lovecraft was a mind way before its time. His creation of Cthulhu as a deity that is part man, dragon and octopus is a mash-up of timeless proportions. A New Englander who only lived forty-seven years, whose influential writings have entertained and haunted countless generations since is at the heart of this new mini collection by Illinois-based toymaker Warpo.
After a very successful Kickstarter this initial release from a refreshingly new company has set the stage with a classic retro set, yet one that is not overdone, a wonderfully theme-based collection of four figures. If you want to see their studio head over here for a peek inside. The quartet of initial figures are all 3.75" scale, in retro-style (ala Mego) blister cards and here the set includes: Spawn of Cthulhu, The Deep One, The Cultist and the first that we'll look at, The Professor...
The Professor comes with his handy revolver and a tiny Cthulhu idol. His styling is that of the roaring 20's era. The colors are basic brown tones as he sports a bowler cap and sweet stache! The articulation at waist, head and hands is pretty standard and he is easily poseable (inluding a peg hole in one of the boots). His coveted idol was known to be guarded by frightful sea raiders and worshipped by swamp cultists. He's a classic looking figure with jointed arms and a lotta hutspah!
The Deep One is an amphibian-like creature with a fishface and perfectely spiky back and teeth. If I had to pick a favorite of the batch it would go to this guy. The paint job is really nice with a few colors and details that you don't see on the others and the sculpt is bulbous on top and wieldy on the bottom - and that works well for how he is depicted. His mouth reminds me of the Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas, and I just want it to open to see inside - but these are not those types of figures, though they make you imagine. Of all figures his swivel head seems to work most seamlessly and practically anyway you pose it looks as though it would be somewhat realistic. His big white eyes are killer. He comes with a spear, and if you are a customizer, I suggest you playwith the colors a bit to better match his color to make a weapon that is as chameleon as the character seems.
The Cultist is a nice figure as well and his blank face is haunting and waxy. These guys want to stop Cthulhu's reign on the planet. The lil' green ceremonial mask fits his face perfectly and I actually like the figure with the mask even better as it gives a strong tribal feel, and color contrast. There are a lot of nice details throughout this one. The dart detail on the robe is nice, his staff is nicely sculpted and the outer cape is made of a completely other lightweight but sturdy thing plastic-like material, and in a variant shade of red which brings out the overall color. I think only his feet throw me off a hair as they seem slightly big...but it may have been a design choice that was practical to keep him standing upwards and in place, which it does quite well. The Cultist also comes with a dagger in the same color as the staff.
And lastly we have the Spawn of Cthulhu who's a creepy lil fellow with a lot of character. You'll love the lil red glowing beady eyes and very flexible long, lithe arms. He is mean and green (with other hues to nicely bring out his volume) and probably quite misunderstood. The bulbous head and "tentacle stache" is signature style and puts him among the class of b-movie scary monsters of the era. The wings snap on and off and are quite lizardy as an extension to this guy. They paid attention to detail to his extremeties here - on his feet and claws/fingers are gray spot paint that is that extra somethign that makes him stand out. He also comes with the mythical Necronomicon (a great name for a convention!). It is his "bible" so to speak - a book of magic or grimoire. It is considered that the concept for the tome came from one of Lovecraft's influences, Robert W. Chambers. It's nicely sinished in a matte brown-gray color with a buckle as part of the overall sculpt.
RATING
Sculpt: 8.5/10
Paint: 7.5/10 for The Professor + Cultist; 8.5/10 for Deep One + Cthulhu Spawn
Packaging/Design: 9/10
If you like top pose minis you will have hours of fun with these guys. They can be set up in dozens of peculiar scenarios - I sorta want to drag them to the beach for some reason, partially expose Deep One under some sand, put the Cultist behind a medium sized rock perhaps....maybe Cthulhu can come from a shell? They offer a lot of exploration for all ages, and can easily mingle with other fun and freaky collectibles of similar scale. Warpo has won me over from the start with these fresh figures. When you look at them side-by-side you can see that each is so unique in the line and nothing was repeated.