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Rex Ganon
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Rex Ganon - the name sounds like an 80's action star. And that's what he is, in the mind of his creator, Jesse DeStasio. Jesse is a man of action himself, better known to many folks as R Hunter, one of the
bright minds behind the web site Millionaire
Playboy, and the driving force behind the Subcultures
events. Subcultures are exhibitions of toys as art, a brave new world here in the U.S.
Rex is Jesse's creation, an indestructible action hero, born of alien invasions and
pop culture. For the best explanation of his origins, check out these two links - an
overview about the character, and a
'self interview' by Jesse.
What I find most cool about Rex is that he's the plastic child of one of our own. Jesse is a card carrying member of the action figure geek club, and he's managed through determination and hard work, to get a figure created of one of his own ideas. This is a dream for many
toy fans, and supporting fellow collectors when they manage to pull something off like this is always a good idea. Jesse worked with the talented folks at
Plan-B Toys (whose WWII figures were
recently reviewed), in bringing Rex to reality. You can expect to see more of Rex, with plans for a regular cartoon at
MPB, and an on-line game.
You can pick up Rex directly from the Millionaire Playboy site, for the reasonable price of ten bucks plus shipping.
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Packaging - **1/2
Rex comes in your basic box, with a military theme. It's not bad, particularly for an independent action figure like this. Flirt with Jesse and he might even autograph it for you.
Sculpting - ***
This figure is a combination of a re-used body, with a new head. The body is from the WWII German Waffen SS MG42 Gunner, part of the Plan-B Toys WWII wave 1. It's been repainted, but otherwise is identical. It has the same highly
detailed, intricate body sculpt, with lots of wrinkles and clothing details.
The head sculpt is brand new, based on the designs by Jesse. It's a rather unique design, and fits in well with the whole 'toys as art' concept. He has a simple design, with little detail, but a bold appearance. The eyes are oval, similar to some early Japanese animation. While the design looks great, it does clash with the extreme
detail of the body. Of course, Jesse had to work with what was available, and has done a nice job using the best possible body out of the Plan-B possibilities.
Just like the rest of Plan-B's toys, Rex's head is removable. You can swap him on to any other Plan-B body, including the fireman, police, etc.
Paint - ***1/2
Most of the paint ops are extremely clean. The color choices used for the body are well thought out, and work with the sculpt and style extremely well. The work on the head is fairly simple, but all the colors
were clean and consistent, with no globbing or slop.
Articulation - ****
Since Jesse went with the Plan-B body, he hit this category dead on. The bodies they use have a terrific amount of articulation - neck, ball jointed shoulders, cut biceps, pin elbows, cut wrists, ball jointed hips, cut thighs, pin knees and pin ankles. The joints are tight, but not stuck, and have a good range of motion. He can hold the weapons in a variety of poses, and looks snappy doing it.
Accessories - **1/2
Here's one category where I'd like to see more. It's most likely due to cost - they only produced 3000 of these figures, and with an all new head sculpt and new paint ops, I'm sure it tapped into the old bank account.
Rex comes with a canteen, 3 pouches, his pistol, folding knife/pouch, and one rifle, all reused from a variety of Plan-B figures. The smaller items fit on his belt with a peg/hole system, and look great on the figure.
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Rex is great fun - lots of articulation, well made and sturdy, and useful accessories. This guy is just begging to go on an adventure! If you have a 8 year old around the house, he'd love a figure like this. The only thing that might put off a kid is the stylized head sculpt, but overall Rex is tons of fun.
Value - **1/2
If you take into account that this is a very limited run, but a regular guy, spending money out of his pocket to get his dream to reality, it's a much better value than my score here. But I have to be fair, and compare this to the rest of the market. The regular Plan-B Toys figures are a solid B value, three stars, and cost about the same. They have more accessories though, and that means Rex isn't quite as good of a value.
However, I wouldn't feel ripped by paying ten bucks for Rex, knowing how limited he is, and where his roots are.
Overall - ***
Rex is a neat figure, with a great back story, and it's a chance to own a figure produced by one of our own. That doesn't happen too often, and it's great to see someone get an idea from concept to reality. It takes a lot of hard work, but with all the project Jesse seems to have going, it's clear he's no stranger to working hard.
Where to Buy -
It's simple - head over to Millionaire
Playboy, and pick yours up today!
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Figure from the collection of
Michael Crawford.
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