A vampire babe, Ghosts in the Shell, and Kroft Superstars!

By: Dan Cziraky
Date: Sunday, August 06, 2000

BRIAN PULIDO'S CHASTITY: VAMPIRE ASSASSIN 12-inch figure (Eternal Toys)

After the bustiferous Lady Death and the hellacious Purgatori, red-headed vampire riot girrl Chastity is probably Chaos! Comics' third most popular nasty girl character. Fans were majorly disappointed when Chaz didn't make the cut for Moore Action Collectibles' second series of Chaos! action figures (Cremator and Battle Armor Lady Death, however, were the only two figures in that line, which also featured a glow-in-the-dark Cremator variant and bronze armor Lady Death variant). Chaos! head honcho Brian Pulido tries to make up for the oversight with this 12-inch version from his new toy company, makers of the 12-inch Purgatori and 12-inch Battle Armor Lady Death figures.

Eternal used the same body mold from the Purgatori figure, so Chastity is likewise insanely disproportional. This corrupts the likeness to the character, as she has a more pert, compact physique than either the top-heavy Lady Death or the voluptuous Purgatori. Her pale flesh tones are accented by the all-black, minimalist (i.e. scanty) cloth costume, as well as a bat tattoo over her left breast (shades of Vampirella!). Her arms are encased in rubber sheaths that are supposed to represent metal-studded leather strips, but only serve to limit pose-ability of wrists and elbows. Her legs are likewise sheathed in ridiculous rubber pirate-issue thigh-high boots, loaded with buckles and straps, once again limiting the pose-ability of knees and ankles. Chaz's lovely face is contorted into a warlike, fang-baring snarl, and her scarlet hair is rendered as a hard plastic, Page Boy helmet.

Boasting 14-points of articulation, as well as a pierced navel (I had to Krazy Glue her navel ring back in), Chastity comes with a variety of bladed weapons. There's a short sword, two daggers, a double-bladed knife (take that, Darth Maul!), and twin bandoliers of throwing knives. The 'collector-friendly' box has several nice illustrations of Chaz in action and a crypt-wall background for display purposes. Again, there is no stand enclosed for the figure, who needs assistance in that area because of her oversized boots. Chastity will also be included in the upcoming Dark Alliance set from eternal Toys, a 7-inch scale series that will also feature Asian vampiress Jade, an all-new Purgatori, and a towering, 9-inch figure of Lucifer!

GHOST IN THE SHELL: MOTOKO KUSANAGI 'WHITE OUT' & 'HARD DISK' 2-pack (Toycom/Previews Exclusive)


Okay, I admit it: I've never seen the GHOST IN THE SHELL video. When these figures were submitted for review, I was all set to run out and rent it. Then, I saw the box art and realized two things: 1) I could already tell these were accurate representations of this character, and 2) I still had no interest in watching the video.

Actually, this particular 2-pack was a 'Diamond Previews Exclusive' that featured a variant paint redecoration on the 'White Out' figure; she's more of a 'Pink Out' now, with a pink and blue color scheme to her costume. The is 7-inch tall (or 175mm) figure still comes with two huge guns and has seven points of articulation.

The 'Hard Disk' version of Lt. Kusanagi comes in a metallic, virtual-reality body suit, with lots of little 'fiber optic wires' coming out of her gloves and removable VR helmet. This figure has only three points of articulation, and comes with a non-articulated, mechanical spider creature that probably does something really cool in the movie. Both figures and accessories are blister-carded with mostly Japanese text. I know, I knowI'll make an effort to see the movie one of these daysright after I finally catch X-MEN, okay?

THE KROFT SUPERSTARS SERIES: H.R. PUFNSTUF, SIGMUND THE SEA MONSTER, CLING & CLANG, ELECTRA WOMAN (Living Toyz)

Happy-happy, joy-joy! The '60s and '70s psychedelic kiddie shows of Sid & Marty Kroft have at long last (thirty years?!) been immortalized as action figures! Quelle nostalgique! As a kid of about six or seven, I was the biggest PUFNSTUF fan in the world. We got our first color TV during the show's run andman!the colors!

These 7-inch scale figures are beautifully rendered toysway to go, sculptors at Art Asylum. H.R. Pufnstuf, the titular series' jolly green dragon, stands about 8-1/2 inches tall and has eight points of articulation (including tail!), and comes with white 'good guy' cowboy hat. Also from PUFNSTUF are those clumsy cops Cling & Clang. Packaged together, each stands about 3-1/2 inches tall (Clang is a little shorter), have cloth coats, and six points of articulation. There's also a handheld 'Stop' sign accessory for directing traffic.

Sigmund the Sea Monster, from the Krofts' '70s series SIGMUND & THE SEA MONSTERS, is about six inches tall, has nine points of articulation (all those tentacles!), and comes with his stuffed lobster toy. Finally, there's the lone human character of the bunch, Electra Woman (Dierdre Hall of soap opera stardom) from ELECTRA WOMAN & DYNA GIRL. Now, this was one Kroft series I didn't watch, but the figure is awesome. Not a dead-on likeness of Hall, but close enough that she's recognizable. She has seven points of articulation, cloth cape, and a snap-on wrist communicator accessory. All four sets include colorful display bases featuring the KROFT SUPERSTARS logo. The blister-card packaging features a kitschy, retro TV set design, but there's no textual information about the characters or their shows(!).

I'm really hoping this series if figures does well, 'cause I'd love to see a second series featuring such klassic Kroft kharakters (oops!) as Witchie-poo, Orson & Seymour, and Jimmy & Freddie Flute from PUFNSTUF, Hoodoo the Magician from LIDSVILLE (yippee, a Charles Nelson Reilly action figure!), and Dyna Girl. And, say, when are they ever gonna release the PUFNSTUF feature film on video and DVD, anyway?