The Crow is one of those movies that came at just the right time, utilizing the perfect actor, the perfect director, the perfect soundtrack, and a top-notch cast of bad guys to create a great comic adaptation. It’s one of my favorite movies and I’ve owned/watched it in every format; I saw first it in the theater, and then bought a version of it in VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray. The first summer that it hit VHS back in 1995 — a whole year after its theatrical debut — I watched it countless times. In short, I love it. I love the comic as well, and while the movies takes a few elements in a different direction, the overall tone of anguish and despair mixed with homicidal rage remains consistent.
Sadly, despite the toyetic nature of the property, there have been few satisfying Crow toys out there. While I didn’t hesitate to grab up McFarlane’s Crow figure under the Movie Maniacs banner, its preposed aspect with very few points of articulation didn’t really scratch that “play with my toys” itch.
For the uninitiated, The Crow — both comic and movie — is the story of the brutal murder of a man and his girlfriend/fiancee and his resurrection at the hands of a crow to take his revenge on the people who killed him. The events differ from comic to movie, but the end result is the same.
Brief side note: I know there’s some debate over whether or not he’s actually called “The Crow.” While he was never referred to as such in the movie, he was in the comic, so that’s how I think of him.
Anyway, without proper action figures of the property for all these years, I didn’t hesitate for even a half-second to preorder the Hot Toys Eric Draven figure when it first popped up. I didn’t care if it was 12 inches or if it was going to be expensive or that it didn’t fit the scale of the vast majority of the rest of my collection. I never really care about that kind of thing anyway if the figure is nice enough, and this is Hot Toys — “nice enough” is an understatement.
Hot Toys inspires a massive, devoted following of people who can’t collect anything but Hot Toys because these suckers are expensive. It’s a line I’ve always admired from afar, but have had to keep at a distance due to the high price point. I almost crumbled when I first saw pictures of the T-800 from The Terminator, but I didn’t. Only The Crow could weaken me to the point where I had no choice.
Right out of the package, the figure immediately impresses. The likeness is the first thing that pops out; this is a dead-on likeness to late actor Brandon Lee. Sculptor Yulli captured his angry grimace perfectly. There’s a creepiness in holding this mini-shrine to an actor who literally gave his life to the project that immortalized him. The paint job is beyond great, right down to the bloodshot eyes.
Once you move past that, you start noticing all the little details. His coat is riddled with (intentional) tears and bullet wounds. Both his jacket and pants feel like real leather. My favorite touch is the fact that he’s actually wearing a tiny replica of his wife’s ring on a string around his neck. I think the only detail he’s missing that I would have maybe liked to have seen — if I were to be completely greedy — is the spent shell casing tied into his hair towards the end of the movie, which was a small note that was carried from the comic book. But it’s wholly unnecessary to the overall feel.
His clothes are fully flexible, allowing him to get into as many poses as the articulation will allow. At his shirt and forearms there’s a mixture of cloth and sculpt to get across his strange taped-up wardrobe. Thin lengths of rope are also incorporated into his torso and pants to complete the effect.
His jacket is fully removable, allowing you to replicate his two main appearances through the movie. After flipping between the two, I’ve settled on jacket on, because there’s an added aura of badass with a black jacket.
The Crow features Marvel Legends-style articulation, with double-jointed elbows and knees, shoulder hinges, full hip motion, and two points of articulation at both mid-torso and below his abs, allowing him to crunch downward much like a real person. His neck and head are a solid piece connected at where the neck touches the torso, like most dolls, which gives him a more expressive range of movement in his head.
There’s really no pose that you can put him in that doesn’t immediately look badass. There’s a perfect marriage of facial expression, hand gesture and realistic clothing that really adds up to more than the sum of its parts. I’m not kidding when I say it’s like posing a miniature person. Hot Toys enthusiasts are no doubt well aware of what I’m talking about, but hopefully those of you unfamiliar with holding one in your hands can tell what I’m talking about from the pictures.
He comes with three sets of hands: fists, grabby-hands ,and splayed hands, which I love for their expressive “come get me” feeling. Though I usually love fists on a figure, I’ve found a lot more fun using those outstretched hands in a variety of poses. They all pop on and off easily.
He comes with his pawn shop guitar, excellently sculpted down to every detail. It features real strings! It’s sized appropriately to him and facilitates those lonesome rooftop interludes peppered through the movie.
The Crow itself — meaning the animal — is also well-sculpted into a flying pose, and it comes with his own clear plastic stand so you can pose him flying behind Eric.
He also comes with his own unique stand if there’s a special pose you want him to get in that he might need assistance to maintain. While his balance is very good, there are definitely some poses that may require an extra bit of support if you want to get creative and have him half-leaping or something.
While the Crow features grabby hands, other than the guitar there’s really nothing for him to grab. They seem to be eager to wrap themselves around a knife, sword, or gun, but it’s understandable that the family wouldn’t want his figure to be packed with a gun. There are plenty of 1/6 accessorizers out there that can probably hook you up with a pair of guns or a sword if you need one, but as is, he doesn’t come with any weapon. That may seem a little odd considering the character dealt out death in no small measure, but it’s understandable given the circumstances of the actor’s demise.
1/6 figures aren’t really in my comfort zone in terms of displaying or playing. I used to collect the 12-inch Star Wars figures, but it’s not my primary collecting focus. I’m not averse to any scale as long as the toy is well made, but there’s only so much space and money to go around. But every so often a figure comes along that is impossible to pass on. While a fully articulated1/12-scaled Crow line featuring both comic and movie designs is one of my dreams, this beauty of a figure more than makes up for the loss of that line. If you’re a fan of the movie, this is a highly recommended figure.
