JUST ARRIVED: Blending the infamous Stormtrooper from Star Wars fame with the dancing iconographic deity, Ganesha, might seem like apples and oranges to some, but this is the keen result of Topz Toy Dsign of Bangkok. It's a clever combination - universally understood by two divergent populaces. Adn you should know - the Spidahooper is being developed in a few colorways (monotone, gitd, b/w and more), but we got the Red Spidahooper (edition of ten) which stands 7" tall (matching most modern action figures in stature), and he's made from a hard almost translucent resin. His six arms, like tentacles (or the legs of a spider as would be inferred), draw you in immediately. The figure is hand numbered on both the clear window box and on the foot of the figure (this is #9/10).
The cardboard package came wrapped with string and inside the blastic box the figure was in a ZipLoc style back to prevent movement or breakage. Opening the box it emanated a scent akin to newness and mothballs (none were enclosed of course). Inside the box included two stickers as seen above, a trading card size sticker with information from Art Toys Thailand (presumably the distributor) and a die-cut stormtrooper head emblazoned with TGU Warrior, an insignia that also appears on the head of the figure (see images below). As a huge fan of Star Wars, and a collector of non-traditional figures outside the commercial realm, this figure is a perfect addition to my personal collection, and is extremely impressive in detail and craftsmanship.
With the nicely drawn artwork (by Pongsuwat Boonchuen) on the back one would figure that this is a female trooper, which adds another interesting twist into the whole schism that is the Spidahooper. The figure will go alongside the recent finds by Special Ed Toys and Ryan Callanan (UK's RYCA) - check out our recent video of these fine collectibles right here. Let's take a look at some finer details:
First thing is obvious is that Tpoz made sure to give it their own branding on the back and on the helmet. On the helmet I really like the chunky almost medallion meets retro superhero font, and on the back it's almost a crude signature, simple yet effective. The gelatinous fluid-like quality makes this figure almost like a giant gummi candy (cherry, raspberry?), and the luminosity once put through light is astonishing and recommended by us, see below for natural light - but for long-term solutions you might want to use an LED type solution to present this figure. Have a look at what he looked like in the window:
No other word than gorgeous comes to mind. Now, this guy is sold out (as many small editions like this often do) but his others are currently up for pre-order so make sure to have a look-see (there's a purple GITD version coming and it looks quite nice). Still, I am completely satisfied in this gem of a figure, some words escape my personal enjoyment - and even though I am biased towards figures not oriented towards the mainstream - I hope to see a larger proliferation of unique takes on classic Star Wars characters as we inch towards The Force Awakens -- or in this case, Star Wierd! The figure is partly in celebration of ten years of the highly recommended blog site Toysrevil which we have become colleague kin. This is simply a perfect ten for originality and sculpt. The packaging is also a nice attempt to be considerate of the finicky collector in all of us. Bravo!
All images ©TJ Norris