Review of Doctor Strange
1/4 Scale Action Figure

Introduction

While quarter scale figures haven't been quite as popular recently, NECA has continued to produce some great characters in this size. Their latest release is Doctor Strange, based on his appearance in the 2016 film. Strange popped up in Thor: Ragnarok of course, and he should be a key part of the Infinity Wars film as well, so there will be plenty of demand for him in all shapes and sizes.

This guy started shipping a few weeks ago, and will run you around $100 - $110, depending on the retailer of course.

Packaging - ***
Nothing too super exciting here, but the large windows that NECA provide on these 1/4 scale boxes do allow you to see exactly what you're getting, always a plus. The box is attractive and well designed, but it is not collector friendly, so you'll want your wire cutters handy.

Sculpting - ***
Unlike smaller scale figures, any errors or issues in something this size are quite obvious, even in hand. The sculpt here is somewhat unusual, because it tends more toward a caricature, with some overly exaggerated features, but remains recognizable as Cumberbatch/Strange. In facet, some of that exaggeration ensures you know who it is immediately.

However, it does hurt my assessment of the accuracy somewhat. It's him, but a cartoon version of him. The texture on the skin looks great, and the detailing on the hair is reasonably good. The texturing and detail work on the sculpted costume is even better, where they successfully create the impression of multiple materials and layers.

This is a quarter scale figure, and he stands almost exactly 18" tall. Getting him to stand can be a little tricky, but swapping the hands was fairly easy, and they have an interesting sculpt feature as well - his scarring.

While I like the overall texturing in general, there is a weird triangle impression in the forehead of mine, almost like he'd taken a blow from an oddly shaped hammer. It might look small in the photos, but remember - this is a BIG figure. Even smaller details like that are pretty obvious in hand.

Paint - **1/2
The paint work is generally clean and neat, but there's a couple choices that I'm not keen on.

The hair looks good, and the transition between hair and skin, especially along the hair line (it appears the hair is a separate piece) is clean. The skin tone is a little washed out to my eye, even for a very white Cumberbatch, but that's a fairly minor nit in the grander scheme of things.

There's some slop along the edges of the eyebrows and beard, and even some bleed and slop around the eyes. The lips are a pretty obvious color, looking more L'Oreal than natural, which takes things down slightly for me.

But the big issue here - at least for me - is their choice to lighten the hair, especially in the beard and eyebrows, with a weird color. It looks almost like they just used the skin tone to apply a wash, and it came out pretty bad, even in person. Not only is the color bad, the application is sloppy as well, and because it's in such an obvious spot, it hurts the overall appearance quite a bit.

Articulation - **1/2
We've come a long way since the early days of this scale when 5 points of articulation was a lot.

The neck works pretty well here, although a little more tilt and lean would go a long way to giving any pose more personality. The shoulders are rotating hinge joints, sculpted to hide the joint, and are what we used to call 'NECA shoulders'. They click in place as well, making them very sturdy, but also making it tough to do fine adjustments to the pose.

The wrists and elbows are also rotating hinge joints, but the sculpt does restrict them a bit. The hands swap easily though, and stay in place while you're posing the figure.

The hips appear to be rotating hinges as well, and are also ratchet style. The knees and ankles, like the elbows and wrists, are restricted by the sculpt, but with some effort you can get decent stances. There's some rocker movement to the ankles as well, but they are very tight, and can be tough to work with.

It's worth noting that there's also a heavy wire in the front edges of the cape that can be used to pose it in various ways. I wish they'd gone even further, and added a similar wire to the top of the collar and bottom edge of the cape as well.

Accessories - ***
While the cape could count as an 'outfit', I'm going to drop that section for this review and include the cape here as an Accessory.

And an excellent accessory it is, with a tight fit on his shoulders and that poseable wire I mentioned. The quality of the materials is excellent, and you can do quite a bit with it to enhance any pose.

He has two sets of hands - he comes wearing a set sculpted in two very specific magic making hand poses, and a second set in more generic gesturing poses.

He also has a very detailed amulet, sculpted in a closed position. The scale is good, and it hangs smoothly around his neck.

Finally, there's one of the sling rings that can be worn on one of the hands. There's a second one on his belt, but it's a permanent part of the sculpt.

Fun Factor - ***
While the articulation is a little limited, you can still have a decent time posing this guy. He's also very sturdy and able to stand up to some pretty rough handling, something not too many 'collectibles' can manage these days.

Value - **1/2
The NECA 1/4 scale figures have been hanging around this $100 price point for quite a long time, and it's nice to see them stay there, even with licenses like this. I'm betting it's not cheap to get any of the MCU characters these days, making me appreciate the stable price all the more.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. As I said, this guy is very sturdy and well made.

Overall - ***
These figures are very impressive, especially when you have a gaggle of them together, and I'm always happy to get another key character in the MCU. If you're not a big fan of the scale and style, then this isn't the one that will change your mind. This version of Strange has a few issues, but if you're a big fan of the style and the scale like I am, you'll probably be willing to overlook them to add him to the collection.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***
Paint - **1/2
Articulation - **1/2
Accessories - ***
Fun Factor - ***
Value -**1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth is at just $99 and have free shipping!

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Related Links -
If you like the MCU Strange, check out the Hot Toys version, one of the best figures they produced in 2017.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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