That's the stuff. Whip It Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo gives me exactly what I want out of a Devo toy. I've seen a Neca figure, some Funko figures, and they're all pretty nice - but can you put them in your Cantina playset? No. This figure was designed nicely and seems to have brought a bunch of design details to life to make something that's recognizably retro, but also makes a few modern updates to fit in with the toys of today. I'm kind of torn on how much I like the idea of updates, but the results are excellent across the board.
Ed Repka's painting is packaged on a cardback where the front is loosely modeled after the album design for "Freedom of Choice," the 1980 LP that contained "Whip It." the back looks pretty much exactly like the album, with toy turnarounds replacing the band photos. There are aspects of ReAction Figures I love without question, but sometimes the paint is a little weird - that is not the case here. Mark is molded mostly in skin colors, with painted clothing. It seems the torso is molded in black with some silver on the belt - it's subtle. His watch is painted, and the glossy black shoes look both great and a little goofy. It's the toy u want.
I immediately grabbed a mini-rig MTV-7 and found out if he could fit in there - he could. It's marvelous. To put the band in perspective, Devo released this song the same year that The Empire Strikes Back was in theaters. As such, you can see the sleeveless turtleneck and red Energy Dome and say "yeah, that looks like something they might have put in the old Marvel Star Wars comic book as some random bad guy." The sculpting is good, but it seems some aspects may be mirrored - the leg creases look very similar, for example, and I am unsure if the fly on the shorts was reused or not. It seems a little flat. The dome looks great, the face looks excellent, but what really surprised me was the decision to make clear glasses with clear frames. I would have expected a figure like this to be modeled after Baroness from 1984, with sculpted frames given paint or a glossy finish to make an illusion of "clear." I can't imagine Kenner or Hasbro or anybody would have done what Super7 did here, but I have to admit it looks way better this way.
You get two accessories here. It may not make the $20 price tag seem worth it, but then again, who else is making this kind of figure? The cream that might sit out too long (and needs to be whipped) is a goofy addition, the figure can't hold it and it's probably only fun for carded collectors to point to and giggle. The whip itself is excellent, a normal handle with a rubbery tail that is probably a fair bit better (and less breakable) than what we may have had from Kenner in 1980. They would go on to do Indiana Jones with a string whip, the reissue of which isn't very good. Super7 did a nicer job overall.
If you have a few Devo records still, and you know the words to "Gates of Steel," you probably pre-ordered this a few months ago anyway. The only thing I would probably change about the figure - if budgets were unlimited - would be to mold the red Energy Dome in plastic and glue on as a separate piece. The red paint is good, but I would want it to be glossy and really shine. This is a nitpick - it looks like Mark Mothersbaugh, he has painted lips, the eyes are nice and bright and behind glasses. This is a nice ReAction Figure, I recommend it to you even if you open these guys. Don't tell me you don't want Mark Mothersbaugh menacing Cobra.
16bit.com is best not viewed in Apple's Safari browser, we don't know why. All material on this site copyright their respective copyright holders. All materials appear hear for informative and entertainment purposes. 16bit.com is not to be held responsible for anything, ever. Photos taken by the 16bit.com staff. Site design, graphics, writing, and whatnot credited on the credits page. Be cool-- don't steal. We know where you live and we'll break your friggin' legs.
RSS 
