Dave's Toy Rant: Kevin Matchstick by Graphitti Designs After hearing some positive comments on this figure from friends, I decided to burn some of the store credit I have at Laughing Ogre, and picked one up. I almost got Grendel, but decided I didn't like the way the fork looked, which was enough to keep me from spending another $15. CAPSULE Good articulation, very good sculpt, durable plastic, good accessories. Ignoring price, recommended. Price varies somewhat depending on your retailer, but I got mine for $14.95. RANT I'll start with the accessories and work inward. The coat is a nice middleweight grey cloth trenchcoat/duster. The collar is stitched to lie properly, the pockets are at the right place for him to put his hands in them (although only one of his hands fits in easily) and the cuffs have the proper straps added. The duffelbag is made from the same cloth, with a big velcro closure. I think the strap's a little long, and handles would have been nice so he could carry it in his hand, but those are minor quibbles. The bag holds his bat and spare hands. The coat comes off and puts on easily, but it lacks any kind of lining, so taking it off reveals all the messy stitching. A little patience and some hemming glue might help nail down the loose flaps. The bat is made from clear softish plastic, and does a reasonably good job of simulating the inner fires of Kevin's bat. I haven't seen the glow in the dark variant myself, but hear it's no great shakes under normal lighting. One problem with the bat is that it can be deformed and stay that way. Mine picked up a little warp in the packaging, and probably won't go true even if I bend it back the other way for a long time. The plastic quality is variable too...the one on display in the shop had crystal clear plastic, while mine is a just a tiny bit milky. Might be that it's from the second shipment, tho. Fitting the bat into the hand is a bear of a task, and best done while the hand is not connected, since it'll probably come off in the process anyway. The last accessory other than the hands is a green bank card, which does have the write-on strip for you to sign your name, but doesn't have a real magnetic strip (those cost enough to not be worth adding just for decoration). As I just mentioned, the hands count as an accessory, because he has several, as do the other figures in this line. He has two of each hand, one set that can hold the bat (or the duffel strap), the other is a right fist and a left open palm. The open hand fits nicely in the coat pocket, although if it's not attached to the wrist at the time it'll look kinda gruesome. At least with mine, the "tan" airbrushing was applied a little too heavily, it looks like he fell asleep with his fingers under a sunlamp. One accessory he doesn't have and I think should have been included is a second green ATM card to his scale, 1/9 size. It could fit in his pocket or be held in those tight fists of his. Maybe I'll scavenge a bit of green plastic and make one. Now to the figure itself. 8 inches (20cm) tall and very beefy, made from a sturdy plastic with good solid joints. The limbs and head are made from fleshtone plastic and painted over (I know this because there's a tiny bit of paint wear on one of his knees and the toe of one shoe). Here's the articulation run-down: neck swivel, waist swivel, ball shoulders and hips, hinge elbows and knees, swivel upper arms and wrists. 14 points of articulation. However.... The ball jointed hips are very restricted in range of movement, moving only about 30 degrees or less forward and maybe 45 degrees to the side. Like the hip sockets for many of the larger Beast Wars toys, they can be popped off and on, but I wouldn't recommend it. All of the swivel joints are non-circular, so bits of the plastic between pieces become visible in most poses. Finally, his biceps are on wrong...his elbow hinges not towards the bicep like on a person, but sideways from it. This was probably done so that he could bend his arms enough, since his hulking biceps could seriously limit range of motion if the elbows were hinged properly. Leave his coat on and you'll never notice, though. His joints are reasonably stiff, but loose enough that if you spin him by his waist pivot, his arms swing out in a nifty Action Punch Motion. Flailing fists, man. Or swinging bat. This will tend to loosen the wrists and make it hard for him to hold his bat up, though (oops). Aesthetically, the sculpt is very good. The face looks right, the clothing folds naturally and the joints aren't too intrusive most of the time. The permanently swept-back-by-the-wind hair is a little goofy, but not a deal-breaker. Putting on the coat makes the hair look like it's in more of a natural position, and also hides the mutant biceps. And speaking of which, you can actually put the coat on while Kevin holds his bat, the figure has plenty of upper body poseability to help in that. Overall, I'd say it's worth the money. Dave Van Domelen, doesn't have biceps big enough that you'd notice if they were connected sideways....