It really is amazing how and what the Warpo people decided to borrow from Kenner for its Legends of Cthulhu range. For example, the Cultist may be one of the best by throwing in a grab bag of what made some of those earlier figures memorable. The "old man" figure was usually one kids didn't necessarily want, but it's not like anybody didn't want the original Kenner Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker figures. This adds a little more action to their basic designs.
The 3 3/4-inch scale creepy old dude has one of those most memorable Kennery elements - the vinyl cape! As a kid, I hated these because they got in the way of vehicle piloting and weren't terribly durable. For a collector piece, though, they're perfectly nice. The plastic cape fits snuggly over the shoulders, and I'm not going to bother trying to take it off. He also has a removable Cthulhu worshipper mask, which is a decidedly un-Kennery accessory from this era. Full-head masks weren't unheard of, but snap-on face masks? Scarce. The unpainted, tentacle spectacles clip right over the wrinkly grey flesh and hopefully you'll never have to worry about losing it.
Under that mask is a painted, pale face with bags under white, pupil-free eyes. The paint is clean and clear, as are the few details on his robes - you'll see a chain, a little darker burgundy, and painted boots along with ghostly pale hands. Every detail is about as perfect as you can hope for in this scale and in this style, with a body sculpt that borrows from - but is not slavish to - the Kenner toys of old. Those old retro figures usually had one bent arm and one straight arm, or two straight arms. This one has two bent arms with a pointing finger, giving him more personality than most figures of the 1980s. It's pretty amazing. His lower robes are a blocky split leg situation, just like Charon and The Emperor figures from a few decades ago. There are even very simple sculpted folds inside the pant legs, just like the original Anakin Skywalker from 1984. You can tell the designers and sculptors really did their homework, as they largely executed the project using a very early-1980s toy vocabulary.
Rounding out the set are two green unpainted accessories. One is a green ceremonial dagger, presumably to sacrifice your other non-Warpo toys to call forth the great beast Cthulhu. It's curved, a little oversized, but otherwise nothing overly remarkable - unlike the staff. This sucker is gnarled, warped, and sports an octopus-like Cthulhu capper. It's nifty, and arguably the neatest extra in the set.
While not as neat as the monsters, Warpo's Cultist is a marvelous exercise in retro toymaking. There's no mistaking the influences, but that's also one of the downers - it's good, but not knock-your-socks-off fantastic. They nailed the look and feel so perfectly, it would be difficult for this style to really amaze you beyond the skillful deployment of certain elements. They really don't make them like this any more, so if you see it at a price you can impulsively purchase, be sure to do so.
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