MONDO - THE THING

[Asta]

One aspect of lacking perspective is licensing costs.

I'm used to receiving much higher quality military figures that cost a fair bit less, but there was no licensing involved. Same with third party bootlegs.

A chunk of the $265 would've been Mondo's debt to the license holder.

It's tough to weigh up the number of parts between an average military set and MacReady, because you get the two things. While the dog is largely a simple sculpt, lacking fine detail or paintwork, the spider is more intricate with its jointed legs.

Mondo cut corners, which is something certain other companies wouldn't do, because they respect the source too much (e.g., LIM Toys, but they don't pay licensing fees). The jacket is a disgrace when coupled with a figure the size of MacReady. It's a match you'd more expect from a very low end 12" figure aimed at kids young enough not to bother.

Even the spider, as good as it is, had a rushed paint job that didn't differentiate between hair and skin.

I don't know whether Mondo really thought they'd done enough, or that they couldn't afford to do any more due to the profit margin they were left with.

It's an odd one. Star Ace is often used as a benchmark for low quality, yet with MacReady some parts were better and some even worse.

It could also be that Mondo is accustomed to a different target audience, who aren't aware that higher quality in 1/6 is the standard nowadays.

But, again, it's MacReady, so we take what we're given from a company who isn't as established in quality 1/6, and we work with it the best we can.

Any port in a storm. It's been blowing a gale since 1982 with no sight of a licensed 1/6 figure until now. And he's not as bad as we was yesterday.

 

[Remembermyname]

One aspect of lacking perspective is licensing costs.

I'm used to receiving much higher quality military figures that cost a fair bit less, but there was no licensing involved. Same with third party bootlegs.

A chunk of the $265 would've been Mondo's debt to the license holder.

It's tough to weigh up the number of parts between an average military set and MacReady, because you get the two things. While the dog is largely a simple sculpt, lacking fine detail or paintwork, the spider is more intricate with its jointed legs.

Mondo cut corners, which is something certain other companies wouldn't do, because they respect the source too much (e.g., LIM Toys, but they don't pay licensing fees). The jacket is a disgrace when coupled with a figure the size of MacReady. It's a match you'd more expect from a very low end 12" figure aimed at kids young enough not to bother.

Even the spider, as good as it is, had a rushed paint job that didn't differentiate between hair and skin.

I don't know whether Mondo really thought they'd done enough, or that they couldn't afford to do any more due to the profit margin they were left with.

It's an odd one. Star Ace is often used as a benchmark for low quality, yet with MacReady some parts were better and some even worse.

It could also be that Mondo is accustomed to a different target audience, who aren't aware that higher quality in 1/6 is the standard nowadays.

But, again, it's MacReady, so we take what we're given from a company who isn't as established in quality 1/6, and we work with it the best we can.

Any port in a storm. It's been blowing a gale since 1982 with no sight of a licensed 1/6 figure until now. And he's not as bad as we was yesterday.

I reckon so.

 

[crazycheeseman]

What body did you end up using? Asta mentioned there may be compatibility issues due to the pegs in the boots. Were you able to use the boots it came with on the new body? Thanks in advance.

Im using the Jx toys S-01, its quite slim and narrow which I normally use for my Ash customs. But works really well for Macready as it takes a lot of the bulk out with his layers. And you can really get his arms down compared to the stock body, I just used a pair of other boots I had stashed away, not sure the brand. The skin tone doesnt match but im just going to paint it.

 

[Asta]

Yes, I was thinking some drybrushing / simulating artifical creases might enhace the look of the jacket.

I'm reluctant to start though.

Dry brushing an object with high points to dust paint onto them is a natural process, but with the jacket being mostly a flat surface you have to be careful not to make brushstrokes look like brushstrokes.

It's not something you can probably test without actually doing it, because the surface of a scrap jacket might react differently to DID's, but I have the collarless Dragon Models one that might give me an idea.

 

[Omnishredder]

I'm reluctant to start though.

Dry brushing an object with high points to dust paint onto them is a natural process, but with the jacket being mostly a flat surface you have to be careful not to make brushstrokes look like brushstrokes.

View attachment 720377

It's not something you can probably test without actually doing it, because the surface of a scrap jacket might react differently to DID's, but I have the collarless Dragon Models one that might give me an idea.

Aside from weathering with paints / pastel, was thinking of applying some leather softener to the DiD jacket and scrunching this up a bit to give a more lived in look. Could be an option?

 

[cpoll36]

I'm reluctant to start though.

Dry brushing an object with high points to dust paint onto them is a natural process, but with the jacket being mostly a flat surface you have to be careful not to make brushstrokes look like brushstrokes.

View attachment 720377

It's not something you can probably test without actually doing it, because the surface of a scrap jacket might react differently to DID's, but I have the collarless Dragon Models one that might give me an idea.

Are you UK based Asta? I noticed that Superdrug sell cheap makeup sponges with pointy ends (like a brush but with a sponge) which might be ideal for avoiding drybrush strokes. Just a very careful dabbing on and building up of layers might work or brushing the tip at an angle.

 

[jaztermareal]

Are you UK based Asta? I noticed that Superdrug sell cheap makeup sponges with pointy ends (like a brush but with a sponge) which might be ideal for avoiding drybrush strokes. Just a very careful dabbing on and building up of layers might work or brushing the tip at an angle.

I was just about to recommend the same thing. I bought a load of makeup sponges in anticipation of weathering clone troopers as I have seen beautiful work done with them.

 

[jaztermareal]

Im using the Jx toys S-01, its quite slim and narrow which I normally use for my Ash customs. But works really well for Macready as it takes a lot of the bulk out with his layers. And you can really get his arms down compared to the stock body, I just used a pair of other boots I had stashed away, not sure the brand. The skin tone doesnt match but im just going to paint it.

I was thinking of digging out a slim but broad shouldered body as I think any figure with multiple layers it gonna look bulky in 1:6 otherwise. Yours looks like improvement over Mondo body

 

[Entropy]

The flaws were expected, especially the clunky body and jacket. Basically a kit, but with replacement pieces and tlc it can look good.

 

[Asta]

Are you UK based Asta? I noticed that Superdrug sell cheap makeup sponges with pointy ends (like a brush but with a sponge) which might be ideal for avoiding drybrush strokes. Just a very careful dabbing on and building up of layers might work or brushing the tip at an angle.

Yes, I am.

But too late because I went ahead and did it.

I used a combination of brushing, dabbing and rubbing away.

The target, which actually looks a bit like paint, didn't feel natural trying to mimic:

The result, which blown up larger than life looks like paint, but in hand not so bad. It doesn't really convince me though, but has taken the newness out of the jacket:

I feel like I need to give the jacket a light sanding, which even if it didn't work would blend the paint.

 

[magpie9]

Don’t think I’m even gonna bother with a body swap. I’ve got no intention of using the jacket and I’m quite happy with this pose after a bit of weathering.

 

[Heavy Metal Spike]

Don’t think I’m even gonna bother with a body swap. I’ve got no intention of using the jacket and I’m quite happy with this pose after a bit of weathering.View attachment 720404

Yeah - I'll wait until this eventually arrives to decide for sure, but I'm thinking THIS may be the look I settle on.

.

 

[Asta]

After rubbing with wet sandpaper the camera shows barely any change. The jacket is so tough it would take a lot of sandpapering to create physical distress. However, to the eye there's a subtle difference. The paint isn't as harsh, and the effect translates more like aging.

 

[Evil_Deadite]

That hair came out looking so much softer than the proto.

 

[JorjeCroft]

While I’m a huge fan of Kurt and The Thing, figure for me is a disappointment. Somehow it looks worse than the prototype and flat paint truly washes out the likeness. Looks very outdated imo. I wasn’t expecting Hot Toys/InArt quality but this looks worse than most of the third party figures. Body looks very cartoonish and head looks big on it. Won’t mention the coat. Just gonna cancel and be sad about it, rn can’t throw away as much money into a figure I’m not obsessed with

 

[karamazov80]

Yeah, I was hoping this figure could be at least acceptable without too much work. I love the film but don't think I need the character so bad that I'll go to the extent of finding all new clothes and boots, a new body, modifying even a replacement jacket, etc. just to get it to a point of acceptability and not excellence. I might just put it up for sale right away and try not to take too much of a loss. Shame. I appreciate Asta providing so many pics and insight, though.

 

[MarkKing]

Having it in hand...jacket is a tad to short from the front.

Maybe it's the body?

I actually like both heads and the paints. Looks like what I paid for...

Have not posed just looking at contents but looks to be fine on my end.

 

[Evil_Deadite]

Is the jacket leather, and if so, does it seem like it could be stretched?

 

[Ramman81]

Having it in hand...jacket is a tad to short from the front.

Maybe it's the body?

I actually like both heads and the paints. Looks like what I paid for...

Have not posed just looking at contents but looks to be fine on my end.

Yeah, I'm gonna wait for this in-hand before I start crapping on it....

 

[karamazov80]

Asta is a long-time member who has shown a lot of sense and judgment with 1/6 scale figures. Here he has provided detailed pics and insight. This isn't one or two photos with bad flash like we sometimes get that sends people careening one way or the other. Seems pretty clear what we are going to be getting here.