Review of Theodore Sodcutter - Ghostly Ghoul
One:12 Collective Action Figure

Introduction

Mezco is well known for doing multiple variations on a theme, especially with their in house properties. In the One:12 Collective, that means changing things up with their Rumble Society characters, especially the more popular ones.

And Theodore Sodcutter is one of those more popular ones. He's a creepy horror-themed ghoul, with various skull-like head sculpts, and lots of gruesome accessories. They produced his initial version, then a second release titled 'Bag Headed Butcher Edition", and finally, the third release called "Ghostly Ghoul'.

This third release is the first time in quite awhile that Mezco has done a One:12 PX exclusive. Once a common thing, selling only through retailers, like comic shops, that use Previews to do their ordering, it's become a far less common practice.

This guy started shipping a couple weeks ago - yea, I'm a bit late on the review, but he's just too cool to skip - and will run you around $150.

Packaging - ***
It's the usual box, nothing too unique or exciting. It has the Previews Exclusive sticker on the cover, and the interior trays are all very collector friendly, with no need to damage any of the packaging when removing the figure or accessories.  There's no excuse to not free these guys from their plastic prison!

Sculpting - ****
This guy has a LOT of head sculpts. There's something for everyone here. And they all generally work with the light up feature, sorta - more on that in a later section.

There are SIX different portraits, conveying lots of different moods and attitudes. The basic version has a stoic look, serious but not extreme, with the bottom teeth showing.

Then there's two versions of the slight grin, a sly looking expression that is more evil than any of the others. He has intent, and it's not good. Just a few fangs are showing, enough to get the point across. While these two might seem close, one clearly has a more angry brow, with a slightly open mouth, while the other is more playful, although there isn't any game you want to play with this dude. While all the portraits are great, it's these two smiling portraits that I love the best.

Then we have two versions of a wide scream, one with the jaw unhinged and huge, the other with the teeth jutting out to bite deep.

To finish things off, we have his portrait where one eyeball seems to have come out, dangling on his cheek, clearly a situation that's not okay. Some of the heads are more rotted than others, and this final one has the most bone and sinew exposed.

All these portraits are extremely well sculpted, with lots of skin detail and a very skull like appearance. The ratty hair is a little thick, but at this scale - remember, these are only about 6 1/2" tall - the work is pretty impressive.

The work on the two open mouth sculpts is particularly impressive, with a lot of detail on the gums, teeth, and tongue. Picking just one to display is tough, which makes having three versions all the better. You can outfit each one with a slightly different look, and have some to spare!

Paint - ***1/2
This figure looks terrific, with a blue hue to his overall color. It's not a particularly healthy look for your normal person, but a great skin tone for a ghostly ghoul.

The various heads have varying paint jobs, and some include the teeth, tongue, and gums. These are all terrific, and the eyes - which are translucent to work with the light effect - manage to look great without the light as well.

The hands match the skin tone on the faces, and the various plastic clothing parts - like the various hats, and the cool shoes - have nicely painted wear and age. Some of the wash they've used to bring out the skin and hair texture is a little heavy handed, but it also varies between the head sculpts.

While there's a nit or two here, they are very minor, and the paint operations continue their trend of high quality work, well above the usual in this scale.

Articulation - ***
The basic body is the same as the previous Theo's, but there are two key improvements in this area.

First, the ball jointed neck seems to have a greater range of movement. One of my complaints with the first release was the forced downward stare due to the neck. Here, I was able to get a lot more tilt backward, allowing him to look straight ahead, or at least closer to it.

The second improvement is the elbows. The first version had breakage issues, but it appears as though this is a much smaller problem this time around.

The rest of the joints work as expected, from shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, torso, and ankles. However, I did find the ankle joint on the left foot hard to work with, and I was worried about damaging it.

Accessories - ****
There are six - SIX - different heads here. If he could get more than four stars, he would.

But along with all those heads, there's a bounty of other goodies, starting with 12 hands to go with the pair he comes wearing. These swap pretty easily, and they stayed tightly attached as I was working with him.

As you'd expect, there's lots of re-use between this version and the previous two. There's the ax and shovel, perfect for working in the graveyard, and his lantern to light the way. There's the tombstone, as well as the head of his dear wife, and there's a length of rope included that you can use to tie the tombstone to his back, backpack style. By the way, the decapitated head is advertised as glow in the dark, but I haven't tried it yet.

There's some additional outfit pieces, including a cloth scarf. I skipped it this time because my two other Sodcutters are wearing theirs and I wanted a different look, but it's nice to have the different color.

The dude has some nice chapeau's as well, including a short hat, a tall hat, and a bowler hat. Again, you can use a different version now with each Sodcutter release.

He has a satchel, perfect for holding his various 'tools'. There's a number of these instruments, eight in all, including knives, all very deadly and creepy.

And as always, he has the standard display base with both the foot peg and the longer clear plastic support rod. This version also has a very cool full size comic book, and it's a decent read with great artwork. I enjoy seeing the backstory Mezco creates for their in house characters.

Light Feature - **1/2
There are actually two light features with the Sodcutter figures - one great, and one not.

The great one is the lantern. Two batteries are included of course, and they fit in the bottom, behind a small door. The switch is also located behind this cover, making this a less useful feature, but the light itself is very bright, and has a nice, creepy color.

The second light is under the head. There are two small, greenish, glowing LED's on a circuit board at the top of the neck post, and the heads fit over this small circuit board. Under the chin of this board area is the on/off switch, slightly easier to get to than the lantern's switch, but only slightly.

The batteries - also included - were easy enough to install, but unfortunately they do not create enough light to really do much for the eyes. Certain heads work better than others, but overall it's a disappointing effect, even in low light.

Outfit - ****
The outfit is similar to the previous releases of course, but with a different color scheme.

I already mentioned the two outfit items that come as accessories - the scarf and the three different hats. The rest of the costume includes the pants, sculpted shoes, coat, vest, and shirt. The outfit has a very 19th century vibe from head to toe, and the tailoring and fit are excellent. Even with the multiple layers, it all looks natural and realistic. There's some nice dirt and wear, and the smaller details - like the buttons - are properly scaled. They included a thin wire in the edge of the outer coat, adding some posing potential.

I don't love this color combination on the outfit quite as much as the earlier releases, where a greater difference in color between the layers made them more visually interesting. Here, the similar tones create a flatter, duller look.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
With all the accessories and the improved mobility, this guy is nothing but fun. I did worry about that left ankle though, and hopefully it's just a one off situation and not something affecting the entire run.

Value - **
The original Theodore Sodcutter was $120 through the Mezco store. They followed that up with the Bag Headed Butcher edition at $112. However, with this version being exclusive to Previews, the price went up, closer to $150 at most. And that's a lot for what amounts to a reissue of an in house character. You do get a metric ton of goodies with this guy, but that $120 price tag is far more appropriate.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. While the elbows seem sturdier, I'd still take plenty of care when working with the joints. And those itty bitty tools are really easy to lose, so pay extra attention when working with them that you don't drop one in the carpet and don't notice until it's too late.

You might also try buying new button batteries for the eyes when you get him. Companies generally don't use the best when they include them, and a pair of better, fresher batteries might do wonders for the intensity of the eyes.

Overall - ***1/2
The Theodore Sodcutter character is going to go down as one of my favorites in the entire One:12 Collective run, a really creative take on the traditional creepy grave digger. While triple dipping on this guy might seem too much, you get three distinctly colored outfits and skin tones, and can make use of the multiple hats and head sculpts this way.

I don't expect prices to skyrocket on this guy though, so a bit of patience might be prudent if you're looking for a deal.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***
Accessories - ****
Light Feature - **1/2
Outfit - ****
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - **
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
This was the first Previews Exclusive from Mezco in quite some time, at least in the One:12 Collective. That means it wasn't available directly from them, only retailers. Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth is also $150, but the pre-order has free shipping. Once he's in stock, you can use my link and get an additional 10% off, plus free shipping!

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

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