Diamond Select Van Helsing

I couldn't resist picking this guy up a few months ago when I saw it - and yes, this was supposed to be part of Shocktober. I'm a little behind, but this has to be shown off, this figure is stunning!

Straight out of the box you can see that Jean St. Jean (the sculptor of this toy) absolutely knocked it out of the park with his work here. It's just such a great looking piece, I really do love it. Van Helsing is an imposing 7" figure.

Everything about this figure is superb, the sculpt and paint is amazing, the accessories are spot on, and the display base is just stunning.

The cemetery display base comes in 4 separate pieces: the cemetery ground, a cross headstone, Mina Harker's headstone, and Mina Harker herself bursting from the ground.

Put all together and the result really is superb.

Accessory wise, Van Helsing is armed to the teeth. And my favourite part of all of these weapons? They all have storage on Van Helsing himself.

He comes with his pistol

An incredibly bad ass sword

A musket!

And my personal favourite - an axe that looks well worn and used, even with some added detailing that makes it looks like blood staining on the blade.

I will talk about the articulation, but on a figure this good looking, it really is secondary!! I mean, just look at this detailing! The nice rich red jacket, the leathery look of the pouches and belts, the light grey blue trousers, the brown boots, all of this adds to the look of Van Helsing.

The sheaths for his weapons look like leather, there are folds and wrinkles in his clothes, there's gold button and buckle detailing, I mean this is a top notch looking figure. I don't mind that the stakes on his front aren't removable because they only add to how awesome Van Helsing looks. This is a guy who's seen some stuff, and is ready to kick it's ass back to Hell.

Van Helsing's articulation is also strong. His head turns and looks up a little, but not down. His shoulders move up and down, and back and forth and there's a bicep swivel. His elbows bend and swivel, his wrist swivels at the glove but doesn't bend.

His waist swivels a little, his hips bend forward and go out a little, there's a thigh cut, his knee has single bends but it's a ratchet joint so it's good and strong, there's a boot cut, ankle band and pivot.

Van Helsing has peg holes in the bottom of his feet meaning he can peg straight into the cemetery base which just looks great.

And look at that face and head detailing! How bad ass is this guy?! He's seen some serious evil. And jammed an axe in it's face.

This figure really is a gorgeous piece. If you've any interest in horror, pick this up. If you've any interest in Jean St. Jean sculpts, pick this up. If you've any interest in owning a really great figure for a very good price (approx. £20 here in the UK), pick this up!

Go Figure!

Marvel Select Gambit

When I saw the Marvel Select Gambit, I knew I had to have him. I'm not Gambit's biggest fan by any stretch, but I've always enjoyed what I've read when he's appeared in comics, or when he's been in the cartoons. And this guy is an excellent looking, comic accurate figure.

This figure comes in the oversized Marvel Select packaging that showcases Gambit up front, stores his base in the back, and shows off his accessories.

His accessories include a small bundle of three charged playing cards, two different 'swoosh' effects of thrown playing cards, a different pair of hands, and his staff

These are all lovely little pieces which are sculpted and painted well.

I especially like the throwing cards. The semi transparent charged flames coming off them look very cool and he looks bad ass when holding them too!

But my favourite throwing cards are these ones - you can see that these have a specific section for his flat hand - these are my preferred posing cards with the figure for sure

Onto Gambit himself now, and his articulation is what we expect from the Marvel Select toys. His head moves side to side, and up and down a little. His arms move up and down at the shoulder joints and have elbow articulation, and his wrists swivel. He has a torso crunch (how else do you think he got those sweet abs?!), but no waist articulation, his knees bend (the joint is nicely hidden behind the knee pad), and his feet move up and down at the ankle.

The sculpt and paint is where Gambit really shines though.

His coat - which has several browns, nice shading, different textures and even a nice little silver paint app on his belt buckle - looks brilliantly windswept and makes the figure look super dynamic. Gambit's torso is magenta (that's right, not pink!... It's totally pink) that has some shading accentuating his muscles. There's some nice silver piping at his neck and over his hips, that is sculpted on with it's own little notched details matching his staff. The pink detailing runs down the side of his trousers to his lower legs which are a nice silvery blue paint for his boots. The stand out for me though, is that head sculpt, with the mask, the flowing hair, his stubble and his very cool red eyes!

The display base that Gambit comes with is a really nice corner of the Danger Room from the mansion. It's sculpted nicely enough and has some variation in paint and gives Gambit a nice solid flat base for posing in.

I absolutely recommend this guy if you're a collector of Gambit figures, Marvel figures or if you just want a cool looking superhero (that's why I bought him!) then he's well worth the money! I foolishly bought this guy online then found him in store 2 days later. It's always the way!

Go Figure!