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Series: Clive Barker’s Tortured Souls,1
Craftsmanship: 8.7 out of 10 - Mouth is extremely detailed - Disturbing sculpt - Will not fall over - Real chains - A comparatively small figure
Playability: 2.0 out of 10 - Are you honestly going to play with this? - Nightmare inducing - All four wrists are susceptible to snapping - Chains limit limb mobility
Points of articulation: 10
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Mongroid (Tortured Souls)
Question #1: Mongroid is:
Question #2: What demographic is this toy aimed at? I’m still trying to figure out the second one. McFarlane Toys has a reputation of doing what it wants to do, no doubt due to the personality of its founder, Todd McFarlane, but this is the first time I’ve really been stumped when trying to understand the logic of producing a series of figures that is so gruesome and disturbing. I’m sure there are lots of Clive Barker fans chomping at the bit, just dripping in anticipation, for this series, as are fans of McFarlane’s work and possibly subscribers to Heavy Metal magazine. There’s certainly no mass-market appeal here – this is about as far from Shrek as you can get.
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Mongroid is hard to describe. He could be described as the small animal sidekick of the series since he’s on all fours and the gaping maw protruding from his belly suggests animalistic qualities. The mouth itself reminds one of Audrey Jr., the huge man-eating plant from Little Shop of Horrors. Only instead of being a plant, it has somehow imbedded itself into Seymour, acquired a bondage habit, and has gone mobile in search of fresh meat. The detail is quite high, especially the mouth which features many sharp teeth. The lower jaw is rubber so it can be moved slightly, but it won’t stay in that position. His skin is textured and |
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the paint (flesh, acid puke green, and blood red around the restraint points) is expertly applied. The wrists and thighs are attached with chains to the leather harness. The chains are real metal, although the little meat hooks attached are plastic. I always like to see metal used in action figures but it just adds creepiness here. In all honesty, I didn’t play with Mongroid much – just as much as I had to, so as to write this review, then I returned him to his box that I keep safely buried in the backyard. However, there are some things of note if you really must play with Mongroid. First, the hands (four of them since he doesn’t have feet) are susceptible to breakage. The seam joints at the wrists are solid but they’re so small – any good downward pressure might snap off a hand. Second, the chains limit the mobility of the arms and legs. Most won’t find this a problem though because Mongroid has been designed to just sit. Which is not all bad, especially if you want to horrify co-workers. His open mouth displays his gullet quite well and a standard pen will fit snuggly in the gullet. Or light a cigarette, stick it in, and pretend he’s taking up yet another bad habit. People will stop visiting your cubicle – guaranteed! (They should slap that on the card as a "feature.") It’s definitely a niche item, but Mongroid won’t disappoint those that seek it out. - Omni
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