Benedict Cumberbatch became the entire world’s new favorite name to drop in the wake of the runaway success of Sherlock, the British TV series that gives us a modern take on Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most enduring creation. While this was certainly not the first time the character of Sherlock Holmes has appeared in contemporary popular culture (three different versions were all being produced at the same time, as a matter of fact), Cumberbatch’s take on the deductive drug-addicted detective is the one that has resonated the most, largely due to Cumberbatch’s irresistible presence and delivery. And now, finally, to capitalize on both Sherlock‘s and Cumberbatch’s success, Underground Toys has given us a 5-inch action figure based on what could be television’s most abrasive and charismatic phenomenon.
When I saw the packaging on the shelves at my local Toys R Us, I had to laugh. The overall design is an approach that has been taken with a few Doctor Who releases, and I do quite like it in terms of general presentation. It’s meant to look like the doors of 221b Baker Street, Sherlock and Watson’s home base. Cool. However, the stickers that are slapped all over the “doors” are silly to the point of being outright laughable. It’s as though the manufacturers don’t have enough faith in the consumer to figure out that there’s an action figure lurking within the packaging, so they felt the need to point that out to us. And oh — there are “poseable arms.” Why didn’t you say so? Let me at this thing!
Stickers aside, the presentation is nice. Since this is the only Sherlock character available, it almost makes sense to me to just keep him boxed since it does display nicely, but space comes at a premium, so goodbye, box. And seeing Watson’s face on the right is such a tease.
The design and sculpt of the figure itself is razor sharp. There is no mistaking the likeness for anyone but Cumberbatch’s Sherlock. Sculpt has always been one of Underground Toys’ (Character Options’?) key strengths since their Doctor Who figures are consistently very well done. His overcoat looks convincing and realistic, right down to the sculpted texture of the coat’s material. His scarf is a separate piece and it, too, is textured and looks fantastic for something that could be so simple. The head sculpt is a strong offering as well, and Cumberbatch’s mighty cheekbones are there in all their glory, but the one area that the figure does come up short in is the paint, particularly on his face.
Like Hasbro’s Star Wars Black Series, the sculpt is definitely there, but the paint on his face isn’t doing the figure any favors. The eyes and eyebrows don’t quite capture his likeness to a satisfying degree, and they almost look “cartoony.” The paint on his eyes make the entire sculpt look soft, so if you’re skilled in painting eyes on 5-inch figures, then you may want to take a crack at these. That’s my key gripe here, but everything else looks great.
Now, having been a Doctor Who collector for some time, I know not to expect a lot in terms of articulation, and my minimal expectations were met. This is no Figuarts figure. heck, it isn’t even a Marvel Legends figure where articulation is concerned. What we get here is minimal, and in many cases, barely functional — his knees and elbows can’t achieve a 90-degree bend, for example. There is no ankle or foot articulation, and his head barely swivels. His coat hinders his legs quite a bit, but you get barely any motion out of them anyway. His best range of motion is in his arms, but even that is limited. I had to practice some serious voodoo in order to get him to hold his violin so it looks like he’s playing it. His shoulders and wrists swivel, there’s a bicep cut, and his elbows bend slightly — that’s it. Do with it what you can. Basically, he’s going to be in a strict vanilla pose forever on my shelf.
He comes with a decent amount of accessories, which is a nice surprise for a character that doesn’t really have a “sonic screwdriver,” so to speak — something that is inextricably tied to him. We get a Blackberry (that has sculpted buttons!), a violin and bow, and a skull. All are fun extras, and they would be even more fun if it were easier to incorporate them into the figure’s poses. Okay, the Blackberry isn’t difficult because it fits right in his hand, but everything else took some serious fanagaling.
Sherlock is in the 5-inch scale, so he’s not going to be compatible with a whole lot out there aside from Doctor Who, but even among Doctor Who figures he looks a little bit odd. In the pic above, he looks smaller than Tom Baker’s 4th Doctor, so the scale is off to some degree. He really doesn’t fit with anything I have, I feel, so he is going to be all by his lonesome on the shelf. So it’s absolutely urgent we get an accompanying Watson ASAP. Sherlock needs his companion, at the very least.
Sherlock will run you about $20, but it doesn’t really feel like the value is there, especially considering what Hasbro has been doing with Marvel Legends. I’m happy to have such a nice-looking Sherlock figure on my shelf, but this feels like a $15 figure at most, and I would have been perfectly happy with less-elaborate packaging to make that possible. But with just a little bit of paint work on his face, this could be an almost perfect representation of Cumberbatch’s Sherlock in action figure form, so I’m happy to have found it and will hope for an expanding roster in the future, even if it ends up being just Watson.
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