The Cursed Dead

Initial pictures had me really excited for these. Some scrawny bloodsuckers were high enough on my list that I'd started customizing a couple. But, is it true? Are those ball-jointed hips I see? And $40 for a figure without accessories seems really high.

@red_ogre The cost isn't cheap, but does seem within the standard range I expect for independent figure makers at this point. It's not like, amazing value, but assuming the paint matches the pics, I can see where that is going. 

I think the red demon looks the most interesting of the bunch with the pumpkin head second place. Respect for a Baxter Stockman/The Fly though I'm not liking how bulbous the hands look on that one. 

Hmmm.  The basic vamp, pumpkin guy, and Fly interest me most, but I'm not sure how I feel about the basic body mold to begin with.  I'll keep an eye on it.

I think the best way I can describe this toy line is that it looks like someone put the cart before the horse.

What I mean is that sometimes you stumble across a Kickstarter toy that's so niche, it could only be the product of someone's deep passion for that subject, i.e. "I have this amazing idea for a toy! I just need a way to produce it."

This Kickstarter feels like the opposite of that. I see three industry vets whose true passion is probably in owning and operating a successful toy company and they retroactively came up with these superficial designs afterward, i.e. "We have the knowledge and connections to run our own toy company. We just need some figures to produce."

Sorry if I yuck anyone's yum, but these are the level of generic character designs I expect from Spirit Halloween costumes. Even the uninspired name, The Cursed Dead, sounds like a generic store brand to me. Those three demons in particular feel like a teenager just discovered Diablo and they decided to doodle some demons while they were bored at school.

@runestonecowboy I kind of agree. I don't know about the motivations of the dudes, but I feel the design is a bit half-baked on the main body. Maybe it's the inspirations they're pulling from, but it feels like the details on it are both too specific to work for a lot of different monsters, but also not interesting enough to work on their own. Like it's caught between wanting to be something way more out there and just going for more generic, but easier to do variants. They're not terrible, they just aren't really bowling me over.

Posted by: @runestonecowboy

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The Cursed Dead, sounds like a generic store brand to me.

I hate to draw the comparison, but it is somewhat "Street Humans" but with monsters.

Some friends were talking about these in a group chat, and one mentioned they remembered seeing them show off at Designer Con 2019, so they've been sitting around for a bit.

Cowboy described exactly what I was trying to formulate.  These figures feel like someone put way too much work into something unmemorable.  They're so detailed in a specific way that leaves no impression.

I've been following these guys on Instagram for what feels like years.  I've really liked the generic vampire design, but yeah, no can do at those prices.  

Posted by: @runestonecowboy

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I think the best way I can describe this toy line is that it looks like someone put the cart before the horse.

What I mean is that sometimes you stumble across a Kickstarter toy that's so niche, it could only be the product of someone's deep passion for that subject, i.e. "I have this amazing idea for a toy! I just need a way to produce it."

This Kickstarter feels like the opposite of that. I see three industry vets whose true passion is probably in owning and operating a successful toy company and they retroactively came up with these superficial designs afterward, i.e. "We have the knowledge and connections to run our own toy company. We just need some figures to produce."

Sorry if I yuck anyone's yum, but these are the level of generic character designs I expect from Spirit Halloween costumes. Even the uninspired name, The Cursed Dead, sounds like a generic store brand to me. Those three demons in particular feel like a teenager just discovered Diablo and they decided to doodle some demons while they were bored at school.

Is any of this a reason to or not to get an item? 

One issue I'm having is the weird armor panels on the legs.  It doesn't really work for any of the characters that regular withered legs wouldn't work just as well if not better for being consistent with the rest of the buck.

One issue I'm not having is that the Djinn, Haet, and Wrage would all look friggin' great with my 18th dudes.  I can already see my old MezCo Hellboy falling down and catching on fire a lot uhhhh, I mean fighting them.

Oh, and WTF's going on with the Djinn's oil lamp?  Never seen one look anything like that, esp not from Arabic culture.  It looks Hindi if anything, imho.

So I agree with all of the critiques levied so far -  but I'm still thinking of pledging for one figure.   I can't imagine buying more than one figure on this body -  I don't like the body enough to have a bunch of it populating my collection... but I could see my way to picking up one to be a more or less random demon - maybe a minion lurking behind Mephisto and Blackheart in my Legends display?    I'm leaning towards Haet  (don't love the name) at present as the best looking head design, to my eye.   I honestly prefer the color scheme for Wrage - but I do not like the head on that one...so.    If I were to get a second after Haet it would probably be Djinn... but I just don't think I need two of these.

I always like to throw a bone to a 1/12th Kickstarter if I can.   So I think I'll pledge for one.   Maybe if one of the stretch goals is really interesting they can tempt me into something else.

I was one of those people who had casually been following this line for a few years...

If I get any of these, it'll just be the basic vampire.  The scales on the legs are odd, since they don't seem to be repeated anywhere else on the body.   The rest of the designs just look like oversized heads on a super slim body.  Not a good look.  The heads would look better reduced in size.

Overall, the final campaign and figure reveals are just disappointing.  Oh well, plenty of other stuff to collect.

I’m going to grab the Doctor figures, I think they look pretty cool.

I want to like these figures more than I actually do.  I can see the work put into these, but they aren’t fully landing for me.  The bodies are… well, I want to say “too detailed”.  Unnecessary so.  Seems like toning it back, just a little, would help these.  A few of these have some appeal.  The Wendigo is nice in seeing them go a different route than the over muscled monsters other companies use.  Dr Zoidberg.. er, Dr. Scante is kind of interesting, but it still feels like it falls a bit short somehow.  In any case, I can’t see myself pulling the trigger on these.