Scarabus Week, Day Two:
Demon Fire & Dormant Form

NoisyDvL5

Day Two of Scarabus week may be running a bit late, but I hope you won’t mind once you see the pictures. Today, I’m focusing on the sculpt and since that’s the one aspect that any picture can show, I thought I’d try & spice this one up with a little help from Scarabus’ two alternate looks: Demon Fire & Dormant Form!

While the improvements in quality that I talked about yesterday demonstrate how Four Horsemen Toy Design has hit their stride on the production end of the toy industry, the sculpt is there to always remind us where the Four Horsemen got their start.

The best thing I can about the sculpt might just be that nothing’s missing. I know that sounds odd, but think about how many toys you buy were the boots or gloves are delineated only by two areas of paint on the same smooth sculpt? I’m not one to complain about a figure like Negative Man having to miss a sculpted detail here or there (I rather enjoyed that figure, in fact), but I think you’ll understand that I simply must praise a figure where every detail is sculpted, right?

Take the Scarabus’ figures standard leggings as an example. Not only are they are believably layered and detailed with some nice crosshatching, but they have their straps, and those straps have fasteners where they originate and buckles – that just happen to be little scarabs – where they end. That’s just two pieces. Scarabus is like that from head-to-toe.

I mean it feels somewhat silly getting so excited about the little details like straps and buckles, but I think that’s a byproduct of the toy industry. There are some expertly sculpted mass/online retail toy lines out there (some sculpted by the Four Horsemen, no less), but those sculpts aren’t… terribly complicated. Take MOTU Classics as an example, those figures have great sculpts, but, like a lot of toys, the designs themselves are relatively simple and the figures end up being relatively straightforward as a result. Again, there isn’t anything wrong with that, I love MOTU Classics. But I will admit that having Scarabus makes me wonder what He-Man would look like give the same sense of realism.

As I tout the level of detail, it’s probably important that I similarly point out that the sculpt doesn’t look busy. There aren’t any excessive lines, rivets, or texturing. Every detail on the figure has a purpose and it gives the figures a cohesive, layered look. Some of that is by virtue of actual layering. While there are pieces separated by articulation, there are also a few areas where separate pieces help give the figure some extra depth without adding movement.

If you haven’t seen the awesome exploded view of Scarabus that was on display at Toypocalypse, you need to. Go ahead. I’ll wait…

I think that photo, more than anything, demonstrates how much care and craft went in to making this figure. You might also pay special attention to the neck and lower torso which are also separate, but immobile pieces.

Now, the pieces could be there as part of articulation that had to be removed (the ab crunch being one, the back of the figure shows that it was intended early on), but they are still doing their job providing depth and layering. Again, I feel like I’m overstating little things, but take a closer look as the neck in the pictures, I don’t think it would look nearly as nice if it were one piece. Continue to Page 2…

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21 thoughts on “Scarabus Week, Day Two:
Demon Fire & Dormant Form”

  1. Nice website. Nice reviews. Kudos.

    I couldn’t help but notice that the images (such as demo01.jpg) you have posted recently are 300dpi, which is unnecessary overkill unless anyone plans to print these. I have a broadband connection, but these hi-resolution images take just a tad too long to load. Those with a slower connection may be more frustrated with this delay, however.

    Would you consider adjusting your camera accordingly or optimizing these wonderful images to 75dpi & removing unused colors? They will look exactly the same on screen. It makes little sense to have images with a higher resolution than most computer monitors can display.

    Thank-you for considering this request.

  2. Awesome pics!! Man, you’re really making me want all of ’em. I can only afford one or two, but I can’t decide which ones.

  4. Man…every new set of images and reviews I see of these guys makes me want them all!!!! This is not a good thing haha but it really is! The Four Horsemen did an amazing job on these guys and I think that Scarabus and his crew could menace ANY 6-7 inch toyline really!!!!

  5. just thought it also might help some folks, but on storehorsmen, each individual figure is available for sale… and if you read the full description of the figure, a short additional bio is provided for each character. for example, for Demon Fire Scarabus: “This is the overlord of Gothitropolis in his more violent and demonic form – ready to lay waste to any who cross him!”

    and for Dormant Form: “This is the overlord of Gothitropolis rebuilding his strength in order to destroy his enemies in battle!”

    so ha ha, the horsemen go so far w/ these figs that even the order page has replay value!

  6. Your comic has revealed a horrifying truth: that the evil of John Kreese and the Cobra Kai has its origins in antiquity.

  7. Dormant form has been one of my favorites since the variants were revealed. The black/silver/purple color scheme has a certain Decepticon-esque quality to it. I’m still kind of mad that you have your figures already and I don’t. >:(

  9. I don’t find these too interesting but I have considered buying Queen Alluxandra and Isadorra from their shop.

  10. Pingback: Scarabus Week, Day Three: Thothos & Horos « It'sAllTrue.Net

  12. I’m so glad they started selling these individually. I ordered that Anubis one.

    And when you say you’d love to see He Man with this level of sculpt and realism, wasn’t that the 200X line? Those toys were awesome, except for the lack or articulation.

    Anyway, nice review as always. I look forward to the rest.

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