The Blog of Michael T. Murphy and his lifelong obsession with "little army men" and their imaginary glory, miniature wargaming, and other things...

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Cthulhu 28's, (Initial Review)....


On Sunday 08.07. 2016 at Gen Con, one of my main purchases was the Arkham Investigators #1 set from the new line of "Cthulhu 28" figures from Bob Murch and Pulp Figures.
I decided to do a complete photo set as I went through them, and to give an initial review.
Here's how they stack up.

Cthulhu 28 from Pulp Figures (Arkham Investigators #1)

A nice display showing the new figures with an old spooky house backdrop; (This is not your NORMAL Home-Owners Association here...)

Manufacturer: Pulp Figures (www.pulpfigures.com)
# of figures: 10 metal figures of the "Arkham Adventurers" and 1 light green resin cast of a "Cthulhu Eidolon". 
Size/Scale: Approx. 28mm.

The Arkham Investigators set is a new release from Pulp Figures. So new that they aren't really up on the site yet, however that didn't keep me from "acquiring a set".

Initial Look:

The figures come in a plastic boxed case (like the old VCR cases). The front has the standard package announcement lable with a picture of a painted Eidolon.




Checking the side we see the announcement again. Just like a good old VCR tape...



A look at the back of the box shows three b&w photos (2 of them of the Investigators and one of the Eidolon), along with the standard safety messages, but nothing on "Do NOT use these to summon Elder Gods". I think they slipped on child-proofing here. Or maybe they didn't need to because children have no real desire to summon an Old One; it always seems to be the adults that do the stupid stuff...


The box was held together with a single small piece of scotch tape.



Being the paranoid...errr....inquisitive and cautious person I am, I used an X-acto knife to carefully slice the tape and open the case.











Now the statue does NOT sit "entirely flat" upon the a surface (as the photos show), but it can be worked with, and does look good in the way it is.  Someone wanting it "flush" with the ground would probably have to do a bit of work.

Upon review of the figures, it was noticed that some of them seem to bear a similarity to some other already released figures. While some may think of this as "Rip-off, Rip-off, Rip-off!" and of Bob Murch pulling a fast one, all in all, there is enough variety in them to make them completely as a set, pretty much new and different figures.

The feel, weight, and casting quality all seem to fit pretty much within the standard range of figures from this company, and the set includes a variety of figures/characters.
Flash is evident but minimal, and mold lines are very difficult to find/practically non-existent or at the least would provide almost no real issues with painting, etc...

The usual suspects...Five males and five females, some armed, some unarmed, and some carrying musical instruments.


Figure #1: A visiting professor on holiday perhaps?  I smell Sean Connery as Professor Jones Sr. in this figure...


Figure #2: A dashing and daring, rugged investigator, still under the belief that The Great Olde Ones can be held off with a M1911A1  .45 Pistol... (The big round end is molding flash).


 

Figure #3 is an inquisitve adventuresome sort armed with his trust, well used, guitar.  Every party at one time or another could use a bard, and well, this guy can sing "The Shoggoth Blues" like you've never heard is sung before.




Figure #4: A reworked arrogant Nazi agent, he has now become a cold, hard, veteran, agent of The Church, and armed with his blessed crucifix, and his bag of Holy goodies, he's ready to go forth and try to do something to stem the tide of evil that seems to be washing over his world.....




Figure #5: Whether you want to admit it or not, some folks just don't like guitar music. I mean, after all that stuff that happened with Robert Johnson, plus the fact that some people just find solace in....a horn.  Here we have a trumpet player. Call him Gabriel....call him Satchmo....call him whatever you like...just don't sing "Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Pfthaghan!!" when he goes into his crescendo solo....

And whatever we do, lets not leave the ladies out shall we?

Figure #6: A well dressed lady with a gun. This figure had the most flash, (as is obvious), of all the figures. A piece coming off her side, a piece on her pistol, some ticks on her shoulder and hair. All of these are easily corrected with a good sharp X-Acto knife, and a little bit of gentle filing. 



Figure #7: One of the reworked figures. IIRC, this is a variation from the Dr. Koo, set. however she fits in very nicely and I can always use another Chinese lady , (she can be any ethnicity also), in my collection. Based on the look on her face, it is obvious that she is not a happy camper...


Figure #8: Ya know...Sometimes a rinky-dink pistol just ain't gonna cut it. And a fellow with a guitar or a horn just ain't gonna get the job done. So leave it to the ladies to bring in the heavy, long range, firepower; as in the case of this lady figure carrying a Lee-Enfield Bolt Action rifle. Nothing but high quality British Arms for her by golly!


Figure #9: In 1958, Elvis Presley recorded the song "Hard-Headed Woman", which rose to #1 on US Billboard charts. The title of that song could be easily used to explain this young, female, dilettante who has decided to forego any arms or weapons, and instead has equipped herself with "An ancient book decorated with a design on it's cover that is sure to bring unspeakable horrors to the mind of the reader."


And finally...

  
Figure #10: No group is complete without a penguin...errr...."a nun"...

Overall Impressions:

The bases of these figures vary in size and have little to no real detail, (which is a good thing as some folks don't like detailed bases or bases with clutter.
They can easily be mounted on the standard bases, (Square, round, washers, etc.), and once primed should paint up nicely. Check for flash before painting. 

I've included some shots below of the painted up display pieces from 2016 Gen Con to give you an idea of how they can look.

Overall I would say they are a nice collection of figures, and can be used in a wide variety of Pulp/Horror/Gangster/Noir style gaming and would help fill some missing gaps, and round out collections nicely.






4 comments:

Tim Berry said...

"Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil... prayer, fasting, good works and so on. Up until Doom, no one seemed to have thought about the double-barrel shotgun. Eat leaden death, demon." -- Terry Pratchett

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your initial impressions. I enjoyed this post.

Mark Siefert said...

There was a published CoC adventure (The Dead Man Stomp) with a trumpet player with a cursed horn.

Scott Crane said...

The guy with the guitar is Silver John, from the awesome stories by Manly Wade Wellman. Confronting spooks, elder nasties and the Shonokins in Appalachia with nothing but his knowledge of mountain folklore and his silver-stringed guitar.