Pulp Arcana Studios: The (Almost) Devil of Hell's Kitchen

The Man Without Fear…Of Copyright Infringement

Bootleg. Knock-Off. Homage figure. 

Whatever you choose to call them, when you are a toy collector, these alternative figures will cross your path. You’ll see them in photos, or you’ll catch a review, and your curiosity will be piqued. Well, for all of you out there who have been curious, your friendly neighborhood toy reviewer here at Fanboy Planet, is willing and able to investigate the bootleg phenomena and report back for you. 

Before we begin, I do want to be very clear that Fanboy Planet believes in creator rights and intellectual property. This review is a look at a current and significant topic in the world of toy collecting, and not an overt endorsement of this figure or the company. The presence of these figures in the collector’s market is a fact of life, and we would be remiss to not examine them. 

In the world of…alternative figures, one company name keeps coming up with a reputation for genuine quality: CT Toys. They have made a name for themselves with high-quality, affordable recreations of some of MAFEX’s most impressive figures. Their Hush version of Batman is a spot-on recreation of the MAFEX version, and their line of Spider-Man figures have received incredible reviews. Because of this, CT Toys have distinguished themselves in a piece of the market where companies are not usually well-known or respected.  

Today, we’re taking a look at CT Toys version of the MAFEX comic version of Marvel’s Daredevil, or, as the packaging is labeled, Daredevii.  Now, I don’t have a copy of the MAFEX figure, so I won’t be doing a direct comparison, but we can look at how this CT Toys figure stands as a product on its own.  

A PULP ARCANA FIGURE FIELD REPORT Mission Brief:  

Artifact Identified:

DaredevII (comic version)

CT Toys

OUT OF THE CRATE:

The packaging for the figure honestly looks great. A clear window on the front shows off the figure, and a number of accessories like the alternative heads and hands. A photo of the figure below the window shows off a simple pose. In the upper left, a bronze-age style comic issue number and iconography gives a great comic aesthetic to the packaging. 

It is hard not to be biased when reviewing a figure like this, but the packaging was a pleasant surprise. It gives great comic book vibes while still showing off how good the figure looks.  I don’t know exactly what I was expecting from the packaging of a bootleg figure, but this is genuinely excellent.  

THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS:

Out of the box, the figure is shockingly good. This is a great comic book version of Daredevil. While the color palette is clearly simple, the red has variations that keep it from being monotone. It is subtle, but effective and gives the coloring a degree of nuance that was not visible when in the package. 

The sculpt is sharp and effective. The musculature on the figure is clearly defined and heroic, and the joints are well hidden. While I think this is a surprise blessing of the simple color scheme, but I am glad to see it. The joints are pinless, which again, helps keep that heroic and iconic Daredevil silhouette.  

Accessory-wise, the CT Toys figure is absolutely packed. He comes with six sets of expressive hands to give that martial arts posing that is so necessary with this character.  You get three different heads in total, with one having a neutral expression, one with a teeth gritting grimace, and one with an open mouth yell of rage. Daredevil’s classic billy-club is included in every variation you could hope for. He has two batons he can hold, two batons connected by a length of poseable wire, one with a wired hook on the end, and three different variations for his leg holster.  Add to this a quite decent figure stand and you have everything you could want to bring this figure to life.  

MOBILITY AND MANEUVERS:

Overall, the articulation is impressive. The arms and shoulders on my figure moved beautifully, and there are some really great butterfly joints that allow a great range of motion. The elbows provide deep bends to the arms, and a cut at the upper bicep allows the arms to swivel. 

The head and neck provide a good range of motion. I would have liked just a little more, especially when having the figure look up, but otherwise, I was very happy with how I could position the head for poses. The two alternate heads were a little hard to get on at first, so I did need to resort to the trusty hair-dryer to provide a little heat.  Once warmed up, the heads did go on fine, and this was a good reminder that pretty much any figure could use a little blast of heat before you start articulating them.  

The only real issue I had was with the hips. You do get drop-down hips on this figure, which I was very glad to see on a character as nimble and acrobatic as Daredevil, however my left leg at the hip joint was tight to the point of being squeaky and seemed much harder to get to set correctly than the right leg. This was not a huge problem, but it did make me a little nervous as I was posing him, as I definitely did not want to snap a peg.  

Despite this, the figure does pose beautifully.  You can get Daredevil in some very dynamic poses. I used comic panels as references for some of the poses here, and the figure hit them really well. Most importantly, with the exception of that left hip, the figure was a ton of fun to pose, and I can definitely see this one being a figure that lives on my desk. I kept wanting to pick him up and put in another pose, and I love that sort of fun-factor.  

RECOVERED EVIDENCE:

FINAL RECKONING:

So when the smoke clears and the dust settles, where does that leave us? I honestly don’t know. When looked at objectively, simply as an action figure, this CT Toys comic Daredevil is a banger. He looks fantastic in hand and he poses like a dream. The accessories are varied and useful. Furthermore, he photographs incredibly well.  However, I can’t help thinking that a lot of this may be due to the MAFEX dna of the design as much as the execution by CT Toys. This is a great figure at an amazing price point, but one that comes with a bit of a moral quandary. I can tell you though that when CT Toys puts out distinctive original designs, I will be snapping them up immediately.  

RELIC RATING:  4.5 out of 5 

A fantastic, comic-accurate Daredevil with MAFEX style and articulation for a Marvel Legends price. But the shades of gray in its pedigree are an issue to consider.    

Filed by Mark Gelineau of Pulp Arcana Studios for Fanboy Planet

https://www.instagram.com/pulp_arcana_studios/

FIELD PHOTOS: