Kaustic Plastik / Infinite Statue - 1/6 Bela Lugosi as Dracula - Action Deluxe Figure

[Asta]

Did my eyes deceive me or were there new pics of this figure from SDCC?

According to Sideshow's Virtual Booth, he's on the same podium as Nosferatu.

 

[Life_m2000]

Pic from the booth.

 

[Life_m2000]

That picture is the production version of the figure.

 

[xXJ0kerXx1]

Pic from the booth.

the more i look at him, the more im tempted to PO him. you can only get the magnetic base from their website right?

 

[Life_m2000]

the more i look at him, the more im tempted to PO him. you can only get the magnetic base from their website right?

They are magnetic bases but think the exclusive on their site is the graveyard base

 

[Asta]

you can only get the magnetic base from their website right?

The bases are only as good as the figure's ankles.

My John Wayne can't stand up on it because his ankles give way, so the base is literally just a useless lump of cheap looking plastic with a paper sticker on top.

 

[Asta]

 

[Dr. Anton Phibes]

The bases are only as good as the figure's ankles.

My John Wayne can't stand up on it because his ankles give way, so the base is literally just a useless lump of cheap looking plastic with a paper sticker on top.

Paper sticker? You're scaring me. What are you talking about? please don't tell me this is gonna be cheap, overpriced, caca.

 

[Asta]

Paper sticker? You're scaring me. What are you talking about? please don't tell me this is gonna be cheap, overpriced, caca.

John Wayne's base has a paper sticker on top printed to look like wooden floorboards. You can see the same thing in the Bela photos, as there's the white edge of the paper showing.

The stand is a cheap looking lump of plastic. I hated it before I even realised he wouldn't stand up on it, because I dislike 'podiums' for figures.

You can't beat a good old black oval crotch grabber base.

 

[Dr. Anton Phibes]

John Wayne's base has a paper sticker on top printed to look like wooden floorboards. You can see the same thing in the Bela photos, as there's the white edge of the paper showing.

The stand is a cheap looking lump of plastic. I hated it before I even realised he wouldn't stand up on it, because I dislike 'podiums' for figures.

You can't beat a good old black oval crotch grabber base.

Do you have a link to the review of the John Wayne figure I can read/watch? I really don't want to melt into a pile of ooze today, but I need to know if it's gonna be a usable base or just poopy.

 

[Asta]

Do you have a link to the review of the John Wayne figure I can read/watch? I really don't want to melt into a pile of ooze today, but I need to know if it's gonna be a usable base or just poopy.

The only video reviews I remember seeing were Dean Knight's. Companies send him products early to review, and he's obliged to gush about them.






The thread for him is here:

https://www.collectorfreaks.com/thr...john-wayne-official-1-6-action-figure.241208/

Hot weather may have made his ankles even less secure than the day he arrived, but he wasn't very sturdy on the base even when he would stand upright on it.

These were my experiences with the figure:

Rooster's here.

First thing that struck me was how old fashioned the box was. Not even the luxury shoe box style most third party companies use, but an end flap that you have to open carefully so as not to cause damage. I usually pry that type open by sliding an metal ruler under the cardboard and gently levering.

Then upon revealing the plastic tray, the re-use from the Deluxe version is immediately evident by the empty spaces for the coffee pot and mug.

Then we get the figure itself.

First impressions of the sculpt are favourable. The detail and paintwork is better than it appeared on camera. It's not shiny, glossy or cheap looking, and the same goes for the hands too.

The hat is also a rigid plastic, and not the soft rubbery kind Thunder Toys used for the Western Ghost Rider I received recently.

The belly and thighs are padded, and it's likely the latter that made the trousers look funny in the reviews.

At first I thought the buttonholes on the coat were fake, but I was able to push the point of a pair of tweezers through them. So in fact they are functional and very tightly tailored.

The Winchester is a bit odd. The stock and fore grip are plastic - the hard almost translucent kind. The metal parts have been so heavily weathered that they look rusty.

I instantly thought of Alice Cooper's 'Desperado'....



Tell me where the hell I'm going
'Let my bones fall in the dust
Can't you hear that ghost that's calling
As my Colt begins to rust
In the dust






Rooster's Colt .45 is actually very good. Sharp details and well cast. It really does look the part, and isn't at all rusty like the Winchester. Along with the grips it's improved immensely since the prototype.


The base is a bit overkill, and more like a pedestal. The magnets are strong enough that you can hold the figure and the base doesn't drop off, yet he doesn't feel very secure left alone standing on it. I mean, he will stand on it, but will rock at the slightest touch. Accidentally knock him too hard and he'll topple.

You can't beat a good, old fashioned crotch grabber. I wouldn't recommend this style for anyone living in areas prone to earthquakes.

It also looks quite cheap and tacky since the wood flooring looks like a piece of paper glued on. The gold plastic 'JW' buckle-like plate on the front pulls out, so they can insert a new one for different actors/characters.


There's a lot of futzing and checking to do, but I'm not at all disappointed yet. I may be once I start to try and wrestle with the clothing, but there really is a lot to like here that I didn't appreciate from the reviews.

There are a few things that mark this as a 'John Wayne' figure rather than a 'Rooster Cogburn', since KP/IP didn't have the license for the film.

The darker colour of the gun belt, suspenders, and Colt grips may be small indications that they had to diverge from the source.


The vest hugs the body tighter than I thought it would. It's his belly padding that eventually pushes it out at the openings. I'm not sure I like this look for him even though it shows off his U.S. Deputy Marshal badge. By the wet looking patch on the inside of the vest it' appears the badge is glued on. Would've been good if the vest and coat had used magnets to swap the badge over, even if that isn't screen accurate.

The shirt sleeves are a bit short, so the coat is a better option.

When you put the coat over the vest, it's evident why the vest was in a separate bag in the box. The combination with the belly padding, which also extends up to the chest, makes him so bulky he looks like he must be wearing a life jacket under his coat! It's really no good. You have to choose one or the other, not both.

With the coat I managed to fasten the bottom button using a DiD buttonhook, which is how he was wearing at some points, but I was still having trouble making it look right. There's a fullness at the sides which makes it stick out rather than drape, so I think it's better not to do any buttons up, but hitch the right side over his holster for access, and pull the left side down tight.

His gut doesn't help with any of this.


Overall, he's not as bad as I thought he was going to be. But he's also not as good as he should've been for the cost.

KP are fond of blowing their own trumpet about how wonderful they are, but they're just not that good. I was far more impressed by Thunder Toys' Carter Slade Ghost Rider...

View attachment 582372


The tailoring and materials on that figure were perfect. I even prefer the sculpted boots to KP/IP's.

John Wayne isn't at that level. The tailoring feels clumsy, making him awkward to get looking natural.

The trial run with the vest:

View attachment 582374

And with the coat:

View attachment 582375


He may look better with just the shirt, showing off his braces and gun belt.


I knew this wasn't going to be an easy figure to futz, because it didn't look particularly good to start with.

I'm very tempted to cancel their Bela Lugosi, because there won't be much room to futz the mediocre out of that one.

I showed the figure to my dad, who's a huge fan of westerns. I asked him if he recognised the actor. He said he couldn't tell, which wasn't a good start.

In the right light I see a grumpy John Wayne, and the paintwork is a lot better than it looked in those reviews and photos.

I futzed with the coat, but can't shake the feeling there's too much volume at the sides, making it bulge out. I expect this was to accommodate the vest. My dad's comment was that it wasn't small enough.

So I tried the vest on him again, and the comment was, "That looks better."

I think it actually does, but you have to futz it and position the arms to tame at least one side of it.

View attachment 582383

View attachment 582382

He's looking better to the eye than in the photos. Photography is tough with this one for some reason. He didn't like the flash, not just his face but the clothes as well, so I resorted to non-flash.

I'm finding him very camera shy. Doesn't like the flash, and without the flash the pictures were coming out blurred.

View attachment 582387

And with the dreaded flash:

View attachment 582385

He's not bad overall, but feels limited. A bit clumsy, over priced and over hyped.

Cancelling KP's Bela Lugosi seems a wise move at the moment, because tailoring isn't their strong point. It wasn't with Clouseau, who's Gendarme uniform looked especially bad.

Thanks.



Don't know what it is with this one that everything about him hates the flash, or the camera full stop.

It explains why reviewers liked him more than he appeared, but not why they liked the coat and vest so much.




I was fooled by their Bud Spencer that KP had turned a corner. I think Bud was just bait, and now they have reviewers on board to get early production samples so they'll say nice things about them.

I like the sculpt, and most things generally work even though they're not at the level expected for the price. The coat and vest are the real issues.

After many attempts I managed to get this one of the head:

View attachment 582411


Of more recent western figures I was more impressed by VTS' Red Dead Redemption Arthur, and even more so by LiM's Arthur. And Thunder's Carter Slade, of course.

He's down to his last cigarette because one disappeared. They're so tiny that it might even have fallen down inside his shirt while I had him off the stand changing hands.

One other problem I have with mine is that he has two identical right trigger hands for the Winchester, and no right Colt trigger hand.

So I put the Colt in the left hand that grips it slightly better. (Not easy to fit the finger through the trigger guard as well as the hands are so rigid).

View attachment 582424

View attachment 582423

 

[pixletwin]

I was tempted to get this but he’s missing some key components of the actual Dracula costume (for which I’m aware they don’t have rights to the Universal character likeness) and that would bug me every time I look at him.

 

[Asta]

I was tempted to get this but he’s missing some key components of the actual Dracula costume (for which I’m aware they don’t have rights to the Universal character likeness) and that would bug me every time I look at him.

They did the same with the John Wayne. They didn't have the license for True Grit, so couldn't make an accurate Rooster Cogburn.

 

[Asta]

Do you have a link to the review of the John Wayne figure I can read/watch? I really don't want to melt into a pile of ooze today, but I need to know if it's gonna be a usable base or just poopy.

Nosferatu has the same style of paper sticker top, and it looks a bit wonky like someone caught the edge of it with a fingernail:

 

[JacktheRipper]

I don't mind the stands on these figures. Not sure I would use them, but it should not be a sticker. You are already charging above market, sculpt the damn base.

 

[vaanrose]

Paper sticker? You're scaring me. What are you talking about? please don't tell me this is gonna be cheap, overpriced, caca.

Even on the prototype pictures meant to make this look the best it could possibly be, you can see color banding on the printed base, most obvious on the left side. It's exceptionally cheap.

 

[Dr. Anton Phibes]

Even on the prototype pictures meant to make this look the best it could possibly be, you can see color banding on the printed base, most obvious on the left side. It's exceptionally cheap.

View attachment 589926

Well, if the paper is coated with something that prevents it from being, oh...completely destroyed by standing the figure on it, it might be "ok". But paper? Ugh.

 

[Asta]

Well, if the paper is coated with something that prevents it from being, oh...completely destroyed by standing the figure on it, it might be "ok". But paper? Ugh.

It's got a kind of shiny finish to it.

It's also got some extra shiny marks on it from where the boots rubbed over it.

 

[lordnastrond]

That sucks re: the cheap bases, but to be fair its very rare that I buy a figure for its base - I like the look of the figure and if it comes out looking good (and i have the disposable income) then it will be a purchase - I like the look of the coffin pose anyway.

 

[JustinMP]

Did my eyes deceive me or were there new pics of this figure from SDCC?

Definitely new pics of the production level figure. I thought the soft goods/accessories looked great! I haven’t seen a new closeup of the production headsculpt yet though. Hopefully a few more pics come out this weekend.