Review of Krampus

Introduction

The Four Horsemen have been producing amazing action figures for themselves - and others - for decades. Their Mythic Legions figures are hugely popular, and very much a fan driven series.

They just quickly announced and shipped a very cool holiday addition - Krampus! While Santa rewards the good children, Krampus deals with the naughty. This version of the mythological anti-santa was only available for a very short time, and ran $50.

Packaging - ****
The exterior is actually a wrap around cardboard cover, held in place with magnets. Inside is a normal window box, but this outer cover can be used as a nifty backdrop to the figure. The graphics are beautiful, and it's all sturdy and fairly collector friendly. There's a couple twisty ties you'll need to get rid of, but otherwise there's no damage necessary when removing the figure and accessories.

Sculpting - ****
This is their design of course, but the important elements are all here - huge horns, Gene Simmons tongue, snarling teeth, hooved feet...I'm loving it all.

The sculpted fur looks terrific, with a ton of detail. The various areas have differing textures - fur, bone, skin, metal armor - that add realism to the overall appearance. The gnarled teeth and giraffe tongue work with the snarling expression to create an evil look, a strong opposite to the cheery, jovial Santa.

The clawed hands are designed to work with the majority of the accessories, and the figure stands about 7" tall. He'll fit in nicely with other Mythic Legions, or with other 7" lines from companies like NECA or McFarlane.

Paint - ***
While the quality of the paint work is excellent, there just isn't enough of it for me.

In bright photos, like the one below, you can see there is a variation in color with areas like the horns, fur, and skin. In hand however, everything tends to blend in too much, losing some of the great sculpting detail. The red tongue and eyes, with the dirty white fangs, are really the only areas that stand out, and I just wish the palette was a big broader and brighter.

Articulation - ***1/2
There's plenty of articulation, as with all the Four Horsemen figures.

The ball jointed neck allows for more movement than I expected, considering the thick fur 'collar'. The lower section of fur is separate from the head, which gives the figure more tilt and lean. It also means you can swap in other heads - like the skulls - and still have the furry neck piece.

There's lots of rotating hinges on the arms, with plenty of movement in the shoulders, elbows and wrists. The hands swap pretty easily as well, with little fear of breakage.

The torso turns and tilts great, and remains in any altered position. The armor around the hips is quite soft, so there's no restriction on the depth of the stance, and the knees and ankles can manage natural shallow poses and very deep stances with equal ease.

The tail attaches with a ball joint, and this was one area where I was a bit disappointed. Getting it attached it tough - obviously you can't heat up the ball on the tail, since softening it would risk damaging it, but heating the butt is difficult because the armor pieces around it are already quite soft, and the additional heat can damage them. I did finally finagle it in place, but even then, it tended to fall off regularly.

Accessories - ***1/2
The quantity here is great - there's plenty of extras for setting up the display.

As I mentioned, there's an extra set of tight grip hands to go with the slightly wider grips he comes wearing. There's also a set of skeletal hands included.

There's a strap to place around his chest, and there's even a slot on the back of this strap if you had a weapon you wanted him to carry. I suspect this is a re-use from other Mythic Legions figures.

There's two skulls, one slightly larger than the other with a different sculpt. Both have articulated jaws. These can be popped on Krampus if you'd like, or you can swap them on to pretty much any other Mythic Legions figure.

Krampus is in the Xmas spirit of course, and he has some jingle bells to let you know he's coming. These are actual metal bells, and will make noise when you shake them!

There's a shackle as well, which can go on Krampus, or which he can use on a naughty boy or girl. The cuffs open up to place them over the wrists, or you can put them on when you're swapping hands.

There's a length of brown cord, and a large basket that opens up. You can use this cord to attach the basket to his back, perfect for carrying away those children who did not obey their parents this year. I wrapped it around his shoulders and crossed in on his back, then tied it, but I didn't really love the way it dropped below his mane. You could also cross the rope in front, and I may try that to get the basket to ride higher on his back.

Finally, he has his bundle of birch sticks. I don't know if you've ever been beating with a bundle of birch sticks - and if you have, I probably don't want to know about it - but I'm betting it's not a pleasant experience.

Fun Factor - ****
With solid articulation, a ton of extras, and a scale that works across lines, this guy is going to look great on your shelf with all kinds of other characters. I'll be adding him into my Christmas display, and he'd look great peeking around the manger.

Value - **
While I love this figure, fifty bucks is still a pretty steep price for a 7" version. The production run on these is definitely going to be limited though, which adds to the basic cost.

Things to Watch Out For -
As I mentioned earlier, getting the tail in place can be quite tricky. I used hot water, since there was too great a risk to the armor from a hair dryer, but with some care you should be able to work it in place.

Overall - ***1/2
This is a terrific release, and a great way to start their new Figura Obscura line. I suspect after market prices on this guy are going to be a bit nuts, especially during the next few weeks of the holiday season.

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

Where to Buy 
This guy was only available originally through the Store Horsemen, the Four Horseman's online store, where he was $50. Online options include these site sponsors:

- you can always search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've reviewed some of the old Four Horseman goodies, like the Scarabus figures.

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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