Random Toys – Dark Crystal Jen
Funko recently released a new property in it’s Reaction toyline, the 80’s muppet masterpiece, The Dark Crystal! We’re looking at the first figure of the main retail line and the hero of the movie, Jen.
First off, let me say I’m loving the packaging! It’s simple with the iconic picture of Jen about to drive the crystal shard back into place. The front of the card is clearly inspired/reproduced from the cancelled figure packaging in 1983 by Aviva/Hasbro. The back of the card shows all the figures (including exclusive sets) and shows the “build an accessory” Dark Crystal pieces that every retail figure comes with.
The Jen figure is highly detailed. Thankfully, The designers at Funko have started adding much better sculpting to their Reaction figures and the results are spectacular! Jen looks very much like the muppet used in the movie. Not only is the sculpting wonderfully done, there is a nice subtle paint job at work here. There are a few different colors all over Jen, but what surprised me was the possibly airbrushed highlights in Jen’s hair!
All of the wonderful sculpting does have a slight drawback, The shoulders have a fancy bit hanging over them which severely restricts the arm movement. The arm can be forced a little higher than seen in the picture to the right, but even at this angle, the torso halves are cracking apart from the arm prying the decorative shoulder sculpting.
Unfortunately, this issue means that our hero figure can’t even try to recreate the iconic scene shown on the front of the packaging. This is a case where a slightly more toyetic approach (at least just at the shoulders) would have been more preferable. I love the sculpting, just don’t cover articulation joints! Jen’s head also doesn’t rotate due to the hair extending past the shoulders. He can sit down well though so not all of his articulation is hindered.
Jen comes with two accessories, the Dark Crystal shard and a stand for the build an accessory Dark Crystal.
The crystal shard is tiny. It’s taped to the side of the bubble on the card so hopefully it won’t be easily lost (or thrown away) The shard is fully translucent and will fit in either hand (Though it fits in the right hand better as that one appears to be sculpted to hold the shard)
The Dark Crystal base piece looks neat. It’s nicely detailed to look like a stone piece with the symbol of the Great Conjunction sculpted into it. There’s an odd shaped hole to fit the bottom piece of the Dark Crystal into the base.
Jen is a decent figure. The sculpting and paint job are really well done and the likeness is spot on! The only thing holding this figure back for me is the restricted articulation. I’m ok with the 5 POA (That’s what you expect from Reaction figures) but having 3 of those points of articulation limited hurts the figure. The included accessories are a very nice touch and this feels like a good start to the full toyline.
