I generally like Benedict Cumberbatch as an artist, and all the projects he's been in have been pretty good.. or at least the ones where he's doing the heavy lifting. I won't count his cameo in Zoolander 2 against him. I was thrilled to hear he had been cast as Doctor Strange but for whatever reason, none of the actual Strange movies have every "wowed" me. They've been OK at best, but it feels like they're restraining him from Sherlock levels of greatness in terms of acting. On the plus side, it means getting an action figure of the guy became that much easier, and over the years I've gotten a few, with my eyes out for a fire sale on a few others.
Probably back mid November 2023, BBTS had the S.H. Figuarts from Multiverse of Madness on clearance. So, I put it on the list and here we are.
I don't know why, but as far as I know, they never released a Wanda into this series. This would be like only Thor being made for Love & Thunder and not Mighty Thor. I'm also curious how they stopped at one version of the character and didn't do the other main version, Dead Strange.
As you can see, Doctor Strange comes packed heavy on the gang signs rather than actual effects, which is a bit disappointing considering he doesn't Sign Language guys to death:
1 x Main Figure.
1 x Cloak of Levitation
17 x Posing/Effects Hands, including Sling Ring Hand.
2 x Energy Disc Effects.
1 x Serpent Effect
While we're on the topic of disappointments, this set only comes with one head, and it's not a great one at that.
Well, here he is unpacked. and.. yeah. Kind of underwhelming to be honest. It doesn't look bad, but it definitely doesn't look great either. This is probably the first time where my first impress was "This is Marvel Legends with better joints". Everything just looks so... off and bloated.
Benedict Cumberbatch, and by extension Doctor Strange, is a lean, muscular guy. They captured that part of the character in previous releases, shown on the left. I have no idea why they decided to go and give him a Khan Baba body, and worse yet, who would actually approve it. Also for reasons unknown, it appears that the new version is glossier than the old one, which doesn't help with the Marvel Legends comparison. This sheen unfortunately distracts from the fact that the actual sculpting on the outfit is the usual level of quality, with fabric folds and other minute details captured.
The Cloak of Levitation has taken some steps in the right direction. The first Doctor Strange figure had the worst cape ever - basically it was one of those boards you used to fold clothing on. The second one (my older one) improved the formula slightly by keeping the collar and mantle the same plastic, but made the actual cape part wired fabric.
The latest version makes the whole thing wired fabric, which is great. It's something I've enjoyed on the Hot Toy, and having the option to display with or without the Cloak is nice. The actual tailoring is pretty good, and it's double layered too. The wiring is only along the edges, so more wires would have been nice, Getting the collar to fit flush on the body can be a bit annoying.
The baby step part of it, however is the fact that Tamashii hasn't quite perfected its mounting methodology, which consists of a hook that keeps popping out of the body every time you ruffle the Cloak the wrong way. As you can imagine, this also means when you pose the figure, there's a pretty good chance it's gonna pop out. On the plus side, at least it's easy to get the thing back in.
The head sculpt is again, not terrible. Certainly a move in the right direction compared to its predecessor, but far from their best work. It seems like all the right details are there but they're incredibly faded, resulting in a muddied mess of a face.
Articulation is generally there, but the proportions of the body do not help in conveying this, and as mentioned, removing the Cloak of Levitation will certainly help you maximize what you can get, though it's not really helpful if your goal was to get some sort of pose involving that part of the outfit. The legs are only designed to bend forward, and there is enough give in the skirt to allow for full access to this. Full waist access is present as well as a competent Back Arch/Ab Crunch, but there is no chest level articulation. Shoulders feature Butterfly Joints. Head and neck tilt are there and aren't mind blowing.
Its too bad about that mess on the face and hair, because all the other typical Paint Application benchmarks appear to have been met. Small details are sharply painted with no noticeable artifacts. The bright blue on the vest appears to have been painted on, again smoothly with no issues of concern. Otherwise, it's the usual minimalistic approach, but in this case with some strangely shiny top coat.
From a Build Quality perspective, it's really just the way the Cloak hangs on the body. Other than that, like with Paint, things are pretty good. The hands and Effects parts swap out and fit on their respective parts nicely. There are no issues to report about the body itself, which has nice joints and no immediately noticeable blemishes. Translucent plastic pieces did not present with any air bubbles.
This Doctor Strange figure isn't great, but it is taking steps in the right direction, while at the same time having some odd steps backwards. This combined with price point is probably what lead to this set not selling particularly well, though to be completely fair I don't think any of them have sold well since Endgame. Perhaps a few more accessories would have helped to boost sales a bit, but as it stands this really is a set for the most diehard of Doctor Strange fans. It doesn't really suck, but it doesn't really excel, either.
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