Tomopop Review: ESC-Toy's Poison Berry Konstricta Medusa

3:00 PM on 08.24.2010   |   Call Niero

There are few artists who can appeal to many different types of toy fans, and Erick Scarecrow is definitely one of these people. Vinyl and resin fans of course love his figures, but he also appeals to fans of kaiju and PVC because of his intricate sculpts and interesting characters. I own quite a few Scarecrow pieces, both resin and vinyl, and Medusa has always been my favorite vinyl figure by him.

When I first saw the Poison Berry Konstricta Medusa at SDCC, I was in love. The bright colors were just so delicious looking, and it helps that pink, purple and blue is my favorite color combination. However, I was worried that the bright colors of the prototype would not translate in real life.

Hit the jump to check out how this mythological lady fared!

Medusa is a big figure, so she comes in an equally large box. She is about 10" tall, and I'd guess that she is about 1/6 scale by PVC standards. Erick Scarecrow usually signs all of his boxes, giving them a nice personal touch. 

Well, I am sure the header picture gave it away, but yes, Medusa's colors are nothing short of stunning in real life. They look even better and brighter than the original pictures. She looks like a piece of pop art, and no matter what figures you display her with, she is sure to stand out on a shelf. Medusa is definitely the most colorful item in my collection!

Medusa's front angle is actually a full profile of her face. You can turn her head a bit to put her at a 3/4 view, but the profile is so gorgeous that I really don't see why anyone would change it. The combination of Scarecrow's signature closed eyes and the vivid pink of her skin is just beautiful. 

You could also display her from the side so her full face would be visible. Paint application on her face is perfect with no overlap or paint smudges/scratches. Quality control seems to be a huge issue for most vinyl companies, so it is refreshing to see quality as high as this on a vinyl piece.

From the back, Medusa is just as interesting to look at, and you can still see half of her face so this is actually a valid display choice. You also get a much better view of how her snake wraps around her from this angle. 

Medusa's snake hair is perhaps her most defining feature. I love the urban twist the design has, as she is both very modern looking yet also easily identifiable as Medusa. Her snake-hair is both adorable and creepy with the combination of the goofy tongues and stylized mouths and the odd eyeless heads.

Medusa's other snake rests gently in her hand. It is not connected at all, and tends to slide out if you move her around, but for the most part it stays in place quite well. 

The snake wraps all the way around her arm and down to her leg, where it emerges from the back of her shoe. There is a very faint seam line on the snake, but it follows the curve of the figure so it is not at all noticeable. 

I really can't get over how ridiculously vivid her pink skin is.  It almost seems to glow, especially on her torso. With a color like that, you don't really need to bother with fine details on the sculpt, but Medusa also has a well sculpted torso, almost akin to the work done on PVC sculpts. Her muscles are well defined, and you can even see faint traces of the curve of her ribcage. 

Medusa's pants are also well sculpted, with lots of folds in the "fabric." The paint is nice and smooth, with no blotches or bumps to speak of. Their baggy and angular look is a nice contrast to her slim torso and the organic curves of the snakes. 

Perhaps the most unusual trait of Medusa's is her snake shoes, which seem to be very much alive. While the right one looks rather innocuous, the left has its mouth open and is showing off some vicious looking teeth. It seems like the mouth takes up most of the shoe, so I guess Medusa must have tiny feet! She also has some pretty scaly looking legs, so maybe the snake shoes are actually part of her body? Hey, she's a mythical being: anything is possible! 

With a great design, fantastic colors and meticulous quality control, Poison Berry Konstricta Medusa would make a fantastic addition to your collection. Unfortunately, there are only 100 of them and they already came and went in the ESC-Toys eBay store. However, they just might pop up in the stores of some other vinyl retailers, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled! If not, you can always check eBay or trading forums because this figure is definitely worth a bit of hunting around!

Thanks to Stephen Donaldson for taking these pictures. It was actually raining while we took them, and even though we were in a moss garden that was pretty heavily covered by trees it got pretty wet. Thankfully, we had the world's biggest umbrella to protect Medusa from the rain! Of course, that meant that we ended up getting a bit wet, but it was well worth it, so be sure to check out the rest of the shots in the gallery!

[Thanks to Erick Scarecrow for providing Tomopop with this review sample]