Review of the Door of the Haberdashery
Hateful Eight Sixth Scale Diorama

Introduction

Asmus Toys has produced three sixth scale action figures based on the Tarantino western The Hateful Eight. Their first release was John "The Hangman" Ruth, which they followed up with Marquis Warren and Daisy Domergue. While the figures have a wart or two, overall I'm happy with the series, particularly at the lower cost price point.

But you know what makes a set of figures even better? A cool diorama to display them! Based on the general appearance of the way station in which the majority of the action took place, Asmus has released their "Door of the Haberdashery", the perfect companion to the figures themselves.

This is now shipping, and will run you around $150 - $160, depending on the retailer.

Packaging - *1/2
Yes, there's a package, but it's designed with one purpose in mind - getting the set to you safely. It will do that. But the brown shipping box with the soft, breaking styrofoam trays isn't really designed to be used over and over again, and you'll be picking up bits of white stuff for days. This sort of package is designed to get the product to you, and then get tossed.

Sculpting - ***
The diorama is fairly large, but I would have appreciated another inch or so of width. As it stands, it comes in at about 13" wide, and 17" tall from the top of the floor (not the shelf) to the top edge of the wall.

This isn't designed as an exact match to the door area in the movie. They've combined some things to make it more interesting, and add more detail into a smaller space. The door itself is pretty accurate though, with three hinges and three boards nailed in place to hold the door shut against the blowing snow outside. I'm not sold on the position of the bottom board, but it did tend to move around during the movie as they opened and re-nailed the door, so I'll cut them some slack.

They've brought other items in to punch up the look, like the shelf to hold the candy jars. They've skipped other things, like the lamp on the wall to the left of the door. They did add an animal skull, but it's not the caribou we saw in the film. And while they included the 'step' inside the door, it's smaller as well.

Which is in fact the biggest issue overall.  As I mentioned, the set itself really needs to be another inch bigger all around, and the door itself needs to eat up most of that extra space. The door is barely wide enough for one sixth scale figure to walk through, while the door in the film was a big, wide beast. It's not as heavy as you might think - both the wall and the floor are a hollow, plastic-like material - so making it bigger wouldn't create much of a weight issue.

This isn't a surprise. Most sixth scale diorama are slightly undersized. But it's still annoying.

However, the detail work here is really sharp. The wood grain, the rough hewn look of the logs, the wandering horizontal lines, the hammered metal appearance of the hinges, the rough, uneven look of the shelf, it's all quite realistic and makes for a fantastic back drop for the figures.

Paint - ***
The paint work looks good, with a nice, realistic application on the various sculpted wooden pieces. There are a number of details too, like the horseshoes above the door, and nice work on the various accessories, like the stove or skull.

I do think the 'grout' between the logs could be a bit better, a bit more realistic. They went for the 'slop is fine in this situation' method, and more accurate coverage here would have been preferred. But in general, the paint work is realistic and appropriate.

Articulation - N/A
Nothing here is designed to move.

Accessories - ***
There are a number of extra items that you can place around the diorama.

I mentioned the 'indoor porch' or step that goes up to the door, as well as the shelf. These are separate pieces, but I'm not really counting either as an 'extra'.

However, the skull is definitely extra. It fits in a slot on the wall, and while I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to be - it's definitely not the caribou that we saw in them movie - the detail in sculpting and paint is extremely realistic.

There's a set of three glass jars with cork stoppers, each with a different color 'candy'. These are simply cut up pieces of plastic tubing. They included a hunk of course rope, but there's no hook to hang it from. In the movie, hunks of coiled rope like this hung from all sorts of places on the ceiling.

Also free to move around is the pot belly stove. In the marketing photos, this stove had a stove pipe, but it looks like they decided against it when things went to production. The hammered iron appearance is excellent, and rough texture is just about perfect.

Light Feature - ***
There's even a light feature with this set, although it's not quite as bright as I'd like.

Inside the stove is a red plastic flame, and it lights up and flickers. The battery compartment - three LR44's, not included - and switch are on the bottom, easy to get to and use.  However, the red light isn't very bright, and is hard to see in a normally lit room.

Fun Factor - **1/2
I don't really think of a diorama like this as 'fun', but it does add something to any display. The fun comes from posing and re-posing the figures themselves, and when you add this set into the mix you can get even more out of the poses.

Value - ***
This display piece will run you less than $160 at most places. Considering the size, it's a solid value, and the detail work in the paint and sculpt make it well worth the cost.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. Take your time attaching the shelf, and connecting the wall to the base. With a little patience, you should be good to go.

Overall - ***
I love dioramas like this. I've picked up quite a few over the years, so getting something that's slightly undersized is not a deal breaker. It's annoying, but it's less obvious on the shelf then you might assume.

I also don't mind some of the inaccuracy, particularly when it's intended to make the set more visually interesting. The glass jars of candy, for example, are a nice addition. I do wish they'd included the lamp to the left of the door, but it's a minor quibble.

At this price point, I'm pretty happy with this set. It's not a perfect replica and it could get up-scaled by about an inch all around, but it's going to add a lot of visual pop to the Hateful Eight display, and you can easily incorporate it into other western lines.

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

Where to Buy 
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Related Links -
Asmus has been releasing Hateful Eight sixth scale figures for awhile. Their first release was John "The Hangman" Ruth, which they followed up with Marquis Warren and Daisy Domergue. No additional figures have been announced.

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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