When I saw the Svengoolie Horror Host Icon figure on a solicitation sheet, I ordered it. How could I not? I've been watching the show for a couple of years, and we didn't have horror show hosts growing up. I heard about the show on podcasts and it provides you with the old, often schlocky, and frequently edited-for-TV 20th century sci-fi and horror you crave. And now there's a figure - again! Figures Toy Co. did one in Mego-style 8-inch cloth outfit splendor a few years go too, but as I missed out on Mego this faux Kenner release is more my speed. And he has a rubber chicken!
If you think you want this figure, you should probably get it. Most major retailers (and Super7) are sold out. I assume glow or black-and-white versions could be coming, although I'd also love to see a variant with a coffin or the anti-chicken shield he has at the end of the show... which currently airs across the USA on MeTV and where better streams are pirated. The important thing is you should seek one out right now if you want it near retail price.
Ed Repka's painting is gorgeous as always, making the packaging look just a little too good for a retro figure - and that carries through to the product. Sometimes these figures look like they could have been made in the 1970s or 1980s, but not this one. In terms of execution, Sven is very much like Vincent Price [FOTD #2,526] with simpler digitally sculpted limbs and a highly-detailed head with superior paint. Sven has a little shine in his hair and eyebrows, while the make-up is all done with a matte finish on a surprisingly well-sculpted head. The details - and by that I mean wrinkles - are here, as is a good amount of detail on his wig and a simple hat. It's basically a really decent modern head on a pretty simple suit body, but one that's packed with the right details.
His rubber chicken accessory - which he doesn't carry on the show, but is thrown at him from people off-camera - has an impressive amount of detail and paint for a retro figure. Were this a real 1970s or 1980s toy, it would probably be unpainted and molded in a quasi-translucent brownish yellow plastic. If you crave authenticity for the old ways, this ain't it - but it will probably make a lot of collectors happy.
The suit has a skeleton, his beads, a rubber chicken around his neck, and a blue hankie in his coat pocket, over a red button-up shirt. His costume has changed a bit over the years, and I assume some fans wanted vintage Sven and not modern Sven. Me, I only know modern Sven since I didn't even know about the show until he went on the Dana Gould and Gilbert Gottfried podcasts a few years ago.
The figure itself does what it needs to do, and not much else - you can put a chicken in his hand, and he can stand. The neck rotates a little bit, the arms swivel, and the legs swing forward but not by a lot. It's unlikely to be able to pilot most action figure vehicles, although he should be able to hang out in any playsets you may have.
If you're already buying retro figures, odds are you have some horror and sci-fi characters and Mr. Goolie here would fit right in. I like this one because I'm in the tank for Kenner things, but NECA has a Toony Terrors figure that's shipping now, Figures Toy Co. did a Mego-alike a few years ago, and MeTV had a bobble head. The latter two got expensive and are discontinued, so you might want to pick up the new ones if this is something you want. I bring this up because $20 retail isn't cheap, but it's a limited interest figure and there are a lot of fans who probably aren't aware it exists. (At least, as far as I know, I don't think they mentioned it on the show as of my writing this up.) So you know it exists, go get one before they discontinue it. Heck, I might get a second to leave packaged in case I have a chance to get it signed some day.
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