I believe it must have been right before Christmas when I stumbled across a post by the user GERMS on the skullbrain board announcing resin toys that he had created. I fell in love with what I saw there and decided on a whim that I needed one of these sculptures. Fortunately there were still some left and at $35 they were quite a steal.
This is the picture that got me interested and made me buy the figure. I loved the golden shimmer and the contrast of blue, green and red on the textured surface.
Well, a few weeks later a box from Australia arrived. Among the contents not only the figure (bagged with header card) but also some other cool swag such as a printed, numbered and signed reproduction of the picture above, another print and a tiny piece of bark…
The day of arrival was a beautiful sunny day. One of a few among many snowy and overcast days without a ray of light at all. At least it seems that way in retrospect. I would have photographed the toy in front of a white background as I usually do but this time I decided that it might be nice to take it outside. Especially since this fellow never had seen any snow before in his entire life. What an opportunity.
As you can see the colors differ quite a bit from the one above. It becomes evident that the figure has been lit with a very yellow light at that time. The gold sheen is missing under the cold norther light in Germany. I must admit that I was a bit confused at first when I took the toy out of the box but it did not take long and I loved this version just as much.
The sculpt may seem raw a first but it is indeed quite refined. Except for the end of the arms where normally hands would be. It seems that during the casting process air bubbles got stuck there. The remaining holes where fixed with a bit of what seems to be milliput or a similar product. Some people might see this as a downside but I do not. As I said in an earlier post, I appreciate these little imperfections. And since this is not a factory produced toy of a robot that has a shiny surface it actually adds to the personality of the figure.
Other than that the surface is very smooth and it is the application of the paint that gives this toy its gritty look. It feels very solid and massive and it has a wonderful weight that I miss in vinyl toys a lot. The figure does not stand on its own, so for this reason the delivery also contained a small metal base plate that features a similar color scheme with splattered paint. Here is where another gimmick of this toy comes into play. Instead of peg inserted points of articulation the sculpture uses magnets. There is one in the right foot, one at the hip and one in the neck. When I read about this I was worried that the magnets might be just about strong enough to keep the whole thing together. Yet, I was surprised to find out that these are quite tough and there was need to be concerned about it falling apart. Take a close look at the following image and you will be able to spot the one in the foot.
Conclusion: The “Scrubghost Hobo Heart” and the other releases out of this series are unique and one-offs. All pieces have been sold and so far I have not seen any more of them available. I am happy that I seized the opportunity. The one I have is surely a wonderful addition to my collection that I have yet to grow tired of looking at. I can only recommend keeping an eye out for new ones here.
