toy review: the screaming hand vinyl figure

June 28, 2007

toy review: the screaming hand vinyl figure

let me start by stating that Made By Monsters X Garageworks Industries' SCREAMING HAND vinyl [tagged] is a gorgeous adaptation of the iconic design by Jim Philips, with a beautiful sculpt mysteriously peering thru a handsome matt+gloss-finish box with window display.

upon opening the box (tis a box i'd like to keep, so gingerly does it LOL) i'm initially surprised by it's sheer weight - clocking in at 1.6KG! with the bulk of the weight primarily from the solid PVC grey base and stainless steel rods, with the hand itself a much lighter vinyl piece. and what a sweet-sculpt it is, IMHO.

the details are great; from the "veins" on the forehand, to the lightly textured tongue (i was going to add some vaseline or gel on the tongue, to make it look "moist", for photo-taking, but was too lazy and i sure didn't wanna do anything to this beaut just when i opened it, yeh? LOL) and the wrist-stump is in glossy-blood red (nice) altho there is no sign of any bone cartilage ... *heh

frankly, if the hand were more insanely detailed, it would look like a Halloween-prop! this way, it retains still the spirit of urban art vinyls, IMHO :) ... anyways, the Screaming Hand does not smoke, thus it's teeth are pearly-white LOL

one thing to note tho: the Hand can be removed from both the stumps and the rods from the base, which renders it a tad tricky to balance - becoz if not perched properly, the Hand would slant sideways (but not fall) - which frankly was a tad disconcerting, to say the least ...

according to MisterLink (of Garageworks Industries), Jim and himself decided to not glue the rods to the base and figure, so rather than having it stuck stiff on a stand; folks can pose the hand indifferent angles and/or remove it completely to "play" - which makes the Screaming Hand more "lively" and enjoyable = for which i totally agree with (see the fun i had with picture-taking and posing below LOL) and for which renders this item beyond "just a sculpture", IMHO :)

one particular thing about the Screaming Hand-vinyl is the size of it = standing at 8 X 10"-ers tall (on stand) - tis a near-perfect humanoid-size! (ie: great for game-play and halloweens - NOT that you'd be bringing your SH out and be mucking about with it, yeh? HAH) ... bare in my mind own hands are not exactly huge tho LOL

limited to 500pcs and priced at USD$150 per, the Screaming Hand, in my humble opinion is indeed a worthwhile addition to your collection, especially if you are a fan of Jim's work and the movement/lifestyle which surrounds said heritage. and while this may not be the vinyl figure for everyone, as a (basic) errant "tourist" of urbanstreetstyle, it is still a sweet sculpt to be had, IMHO.

/// hit up info@garageworksindustries.com to order yours today, if you so please :)

UPCOMING RELEASENEWS:

/// watch out for an upcoming interview with Jim Phillips in HongKong's MILK magazine (once i know the particular issue#, i'll letcha know, yeh?)

/// Made By Monsters is going to produce a Jim Phillips X Sillything Screaming Hand - which will be sold @ Sillything HK with an exclusive limit of 100pcs ... it will be a blue-hand but with a different stand.

/// good news for the US Market, as there will be a Reverse Colorway-version made, with a RED body and BLUE tongue, and will NOT be a limited item!

/// other upcoming iconic releases planned are the Moon Hand and Rat Hand!!!!

*needless to say folks, stay tuned to this blog for future reveals!

*phew* - breatthless news indeed ... meanwhile here's some fun shots i did with my 1/6th-figures!