Games & Comics

Product: Umbrella Academy 6-Figure Set

Website: www.darkhorse.com

MSRP: $39.99

Review by: Bill Jones

The Umbrella Academy 6-Figure Set finds its greatest successes in staying true to the source material of Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba, which isn’t always the case with the inevitable merchandise tie-ins to comics. And while there are a few glaring problems, they are heartily outweighed by the positives.

The set comprises Spaceboy, The Kraken, The Rumor, The Séance, The Boy and The White Violin. The scale of the figures is immediately noticeable. While they are all relatively small, they range from 5 inches (the behemoth Spaceboy) down to 2 inches for The Boy, while the rest fall somewhere in the middle around the 4-inch mark.

The figures initially look deceptively simple, seemingly not quite matching the level of grit and detail achieved by the likes of NECA, but they are incredibly true to the source material. The molding of the figures takes on the angular shapes of the characters – including ridges for the ribs and protruding chest of Spaceboy, as well as more jagged molding for the fur around his wrists – while the coloring goes as far as matching the shadowing of the comics, most noticeably on White Violin.

The detail is most noticeable on Spaceboy, as he is the largest and features everything from a laser, to the tubes of his suit and so forth. The detail is also noticeable in the paint on the socks of the smallest character, The Boy. Also cool is the realization not only does the outfacing palm of The Séance have “Good Bye” printed on in, but the other hand, which is in near his waist and barely visible at a glance, reads “Hello,” showing Dark Horse took the time to include even the little details that will largely go unnoticed. Séance’s cigarette also has a tiny red nub between the grey at the end of his cigarette to create a cool, slow-burning effect.

Another neat detail is that many of the small parts and ends to things – such as Spaceboy’s laser and hoses, as well as the pegbox of White Violin’s instrument of choice – are created with what feels like a bit more bendable of a piece of rubber. So there isn’t quite as much risk of breaking them when struggling to get them out of the packaging or if one is dropped. The figures otherwise aren’t pose-able in any way, however.

The major complaints stem from the fact that they didn’t quite go all the way in making these figures one of the most fully realized sets around. Kudos to Dark Horse for packaging the set – and releasing these four a set instead of individually, for that matter – in a circular container underneath an “umbrella” canopy, rather than standard, boxy packaging. This may be a non-issue for hardcore collectors, who will undoubtedly never take them out of the box, but as cool as the box is, the figures aren’t ready for display in it. Spaceboy faces inward and they’ve all got the usual wiring holding them in the packaging.

So, one looking to unpackage and display them is first faced with pulling off four strips of tape, which leave residue on the plastic. Then the struggle begins with two standard plastic shell packages containing the figures. There is a pole down the middle from the umbrella canopy, which is just part of the plastic dome on top and has no base. It seems like a lost opportunity, where the beautiful packaging is wasted when a simple base could have turned it into a kickass display canopy under which to arrange the figures. Another lost opportunity is that in such an otherwise complete set, quasi-team leader Reginald Hargreeves and/or Dr. Pogo were not envisioned as part of the set.

To be fair, neither a display case or additional figures are promised, and customers are getting an absolutely fantastic rendition of what they pay for with The Umbrella Academy 6-figure set. It’s just hard when something is done so well not to want just a little bit more out of it. Fans of Umbrella Academy should enjoy the figures, though. They do justice to Way’s characters and Ba’s art. And look great on display.

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