Tag Archives: ghost

Back to the Beginning

Since I was a young lad, I’ve always been drawn to “heavy” music. My dad was an oldies guy, which during my childhood was primarily music from the 50s and 60s. My mom was into modern rock and while her sensibilities weren’t exactly heavy, they definitely were compared to what my dad listened to (which back then was primarily Neil Diamond). As a result, I often tended to prefer the music my mom would put on compared with what my dad would select not truly realizing what it was I liked most about music. The first band I really gravitated towards was Aerosmith and my very first cassette tape was the album Pump. My first CD purchase would end up being Big Ones which I didn’t realize was just a compilation of songs I had been listening to for awhile, but at least they were all songs I enjoyed (even if my mom owned all of those CDs already). From there, I’d get my own “boom box” for my bedroom and my preferred radio station would become Worcester’s WAAF which skewed much heavier than my mom’s preferred Rock 101. By the time I was heading into middle school I found myself getting into bands I was hearing on the radio like Tool, Korn, and Worcester’s own beloved Godsmack. As I entered into high school my tastes went heavier thanks to friends and easily accessible mp3s traded in AOL chat rooms. Bands like Metallica would eventually come out and shit on mp3 files that were so accessible, but without those I may have never discovered bands like Children of Bodom, In Flames, and Opeth.

And without Black Sabbath, most of those bands wouldn’t exist. I don’t know if I truly appreciated that as a kid, but it certainly became apparent as I went on my heavy metal journey. Danzig would become my favorite band in high school and it’s hard to imagine that band existing without Sabbath (Glenn Danzig, as well as many other artists, was not shy about borrowing Sabbath riffs). As a kid, I was definitely aware of Black Sabbath, and as a child of the 80s I was very aware of Ozzy Osbourne. He had a reputation as a mad man and his songs were frequently featured on radio and MTV. Probably more so than Sabbath at that point, but it’s not as if one had to listen to the radio for very long to hear something like “Paranoid” or “War Pigs.”

My first Black Sabbath album would be the classic Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. There’s nothing I could say about that album that hasn’t been said before: it’s perfect. I’d also be lying if I said Black Sabbath was one of my favorite bands. It’s not as I tend to favor more up-tempo stuff, but I always liked the group and enjoy listening to it. I also think Black Sabbath is perhaps the most influential band ever. That’s not to say other acts haven’t been incredibly influential, but just in my little circle of music I indulge the most in, it’s Sabbath by a mile.

Few bands today could pull-off what Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne just did with the Back to the Beginning concert. Taking place at Villa Park in Birmingham, UK, Back to the Beginning is a giant celebration of Black Sabbath and its frontman Ozzy Osbourne who has been suffering with Parkinson’s disease which is forcing his retirement from the stage. This made the show both a celebration and a farewell and for a lot of artists and fans it might be the last time they get to express to the boys of Sabbath how much their music influenced them. Osbourne is of course not the only member of the band and joining him on stage for the finale was guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and for the first time in 20 years drummer Bill Ward. These four men came to define heavy metal and started something they likely could never have imagined back when they started, and though the band has not been without drama and controversy over its 50 years of existence, the guys of Black Sabbath have remained well-respected and much loved by their peers.

A lot of artists were on-hand to celebrate Ozzy and Black Sabbath.

Back to the Beginning was a non-profit all day concert played before 45,000 fans and an untold number of others watching at home. It featured performances by the bands Mastodon, Rival Sons, Anthrax, Halestorm, Lamb of God, Alice in Chains, Gojira, Pantera, Tool, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, and concluding with a short set of solo Ozzy material and a set by Black Sabbath. Mixed into the bill were performances by super groups. Organized by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, the super groups featured the talents of Jake E. Lee, Billy Corgan, K.K. Downing, Vernon Reid, Travis Barker, Ronnie Wood, Sammy Hagar, and many more. Artists appeared for free with the event offering travel reimbursements. I have no idea how many took advantage of that, but I hope a lot of the bigger acts flew on their own dime.

Because of the massive bill, set lists were kept pretty short. Most acts only had 15 minutes and change-overs were done quickly via a revolving stage. While one act performed, the crew could set up for the next one out of sight. In between acts, video messages were played alongside public service announcements for the charities the show was benefitting including Acorns Children’s Hospice, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Cure Parkinson’s. Despite the sadness of seeing Ozzy and the boys one final time, the mood was definitely celebratory. Other musicians could often be seen offstage watching and enjoying seeing their peers perform. The crowd certainly had favorites, but was responsive for pretty much all of the acts and especially so when they went into covers of classic Sabbath and Ozzy material.

Maynard James Keenan performing with Tool.

Being a dweller of the United States, attending this show was out of my budget, but I was able to watch the livestream. The show was almost always electric and Mastodon kicked things off in strong fashion. The format for most of the acts was to play about 3 songs (Slayer, who specializes in short, fast, songs managed to squeeze in 6 into 26 minutes) which took the form of two originals and one cover. Some of the choices for covers were great fits and some surprising too. Anthrax unleashed an excellent version of “Into the Void” during their set while Slayer kind of surprised with “Wicked World” which they wove their own song “South of Heaven” into. Alice in Chains did an excellent version of “Fairies Wear Boots” while my favorite on the day belonged to Tool and their cover of “Hand of Doom.” It just worked so well as a marriage of Tool and Sabbath and really drove home where the influence originated.

The super group performances also proved to be a ton of fun. The first such set included a really kick ass performance of Osbourne’s “The Ultimate Sin” with Lizzy Hale on vocals. That first super group performance concluded with perhaps the biggest surprise of the night with Yungblood on vocals for “Changes” proving that the Sabbath influence can run deeper than most would expect. The second super group performance included some of the biggest fireworks on the day. Just check out the lineup for the first song, the Judas Priest classic “Breaking the Law”: Billy Corgan, K.K. Downing, Tom Morello, Adam Jones, Danny Carey, Rudy Sarzo. Corgan is not exactly anyone’s idea of a Rob Halford stand-in (Priest couldn’t appear due to a prior commitment opening for The Scorpions that same day, but sent a pre-recorded message), but he did quite well. And that was just the start. Sammy Hagar took over for a couple of songs and his voice still sounded strong before giving way to Papa V Perpetua for a performance of “Bark at the Moon.” That’s not the song I would have chosen for Papa, but he brought fantastic energy and delivered a great performance that had the crowd popping. The biggest surprise appearance of the show followed when Steven Tyler took the stage for “Train Kept A-Rollin,” “Walk this Way,” and “Whole Lotta Love.” It was nice to see Led Zeppelin get featured as they’re certainly up there as influential acts in the world of rock and metal. Tyler, at 77 years young, sounded fantastic and moved well on stage. I was left thinking if any other band is going to attempt their own version of Back to the Beginning in the near future it’s Aerosmith who had to call off their own farewell tour due to a vocal injury to Tyler.

Papa V Perpetua performing “Bark at the Moon” in front of 45,000 screaming metal heads.

Following the second of two super group performances it was time for the more noteworthy acts to take the stage. Among them were Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. It’s hard to overstate the influence both acts have had on the world of heavy metal, but their performances left me more in awe of the elder statesmen performing on the day by comparison. It surprised me that Hagar and Tyler both sound better today than Axl Rose and James Hetfield, but I guess that’s just life and in fairness to Hetfield I don’t know if anyone has toured as much as Metallica has.

Parkinson’s disease may have forced Ozzy into a chair, but it’s a throne befitting The Prince of Darkness.

Perhaps it’s a good thing I found those two acts a bit underwhelming because it helped lower expectations for the Ozz-man himself. Ozzy, being left unable to walk thanks to Parkinson’s, was raised from below in the stage in a thrown befitting a heavy metal king. At age 76 and following a pretty hard life, I’m not going to lie to you and say Ozzy looked like a man younger than that, but he definitely sounded like something close to his old self. I think he sounded better than the last time I saw him back in 2005 and perhaps not running around like a mad man on stage contributed to that. Joining him on stage for a set of his solo material was Tommy Clufetos, Zakk Wylde, Mike Inez, and Adam Wakeman. They kicked things off with “I Don’t Know” and followed with “Mr. Crowley,” “Suicide Solution,” “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” and ending with “Crazy Train.” All through-out the performance Ozzy frequently thanked the crowd and extended blessings like a man truly grateful to be there. He would also drink water and hit his throat with a spray. There was also an old English tea cup beside his chair, though I never saw him drink from it.

After the set of Ozzy material came Black Sabbath. Perhaps knowing that Osbourne could only handle so much, their set was brief consisting of “War Pigs,” N.I.B,” “Iron Man,” and concluding with “Paranoid.” Before going into “Paranoid,” Ozzy noted it would be their last song ever and took time once again to thank the crowd. It was hard not to get choked up by that admission and perhaps the emotion of the moment also affected Ozzy’s vocals as it was the only time he faltered. Or maybe he was just at the end of what he could handle at his age. When the song was over there was a long, loud, ovation followed by fireworks. The broadcast focused on the fireworks, but onstage the band presented Ozzy with a cake and amateur footage captured this. It did appear more celebratory than mournful and everyone just looks really happy and content.

Black Sabbath performing for what is likely the final time.

And that was really the whole vibe of the show. This was a bunch of artists putting on a big show over their shared love and appreciation of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath. The only similar thing I can recall seeing was the concert for Freddie Mercury. That one occurred after the singer’s death and while it wanted to celebrate the life of Mercury, it did wind up feeling a bit sad in the end. It was nice that this show didn’t wait until then. The guys are still around and even able to perform. Ozzy can’t run around on stage like he used to, but who cares? He was there, he sounded great, and most of all he got to feel the love and appreciation from the crowd and his peers. Before his performance, a video was shared of all of the artists showing up earlier in the day many of whom were eager to see Ozzy and tell him what he meant to them. There were a lot of shots of Ozzy and others posing for a big group photo and I bet a lot of the people in that photo will display it prominently in their own home. They’ll probably hunt down autographs for years of everyone in the picture whenever their paths cross. It was a great show, and while it wasn’t without the occasional hiccup (Tyler kind of blew the surprise thinking his mic wasn’t on before taking the stage) there wasn’t any moment where a performance felt ruined or anything. If you’re a metal head and didn’t see this one then I urge you to check out the rebroadcast. At over 8 hours, it’s definitely worth the money and I think you’ll have a good time.


Super7 Ultimates! Ghost Papa Emeritus IV

Papa IV has arrived!

If you’re reading this the day it went up then you should know April 25, 2025 as Skeleta day! This is the day that Ghost unleashed its latest album upon the masses and there’s a lot of hype surrounding this one. It’s arguably the band’s first release since it saw its popularity explode in recent years. Ghost is a hard band to wrap one’s head around. It’s this satanic, doomy, metal act that has also successfully blended pop elements with its music to create something that’s certainly catchy and unique, but also not typically what one would consider mainstream. For me personally, I’ve gone from seeing Ghost as the oddball band filling the opening slot on a show, to an Iron Maiden support act, to headlining its own tour in small arenas, to selling out large arenas and now playing in some of the largest venues we have. And fronting the band for much of this era has been Papa Emeritus IV.

A gathering of Papas (left to right): Papa I, Papa IV, Papa III

Papa IV took over for Papa III and is the son of Papa Nihil who fronted the band back in the 70s when only three songs were produced: Kiss the Go-Goat, Mary on a Cross, and The Future is a Foreign Land. Like his predecessors, Papa IV tends to take the stage in a somewhat flamboyant suit his face a mask of black and white, but when the situation calls for it he’s known for dawning wings or his full vestments as the leader of the clergy. Super7 has produced figures of the three Papas to come before him (they have not done Papa Nihil) so it was hardly a surprise when this figure went up for preorder last year. I have all of the predecessors, but I only reviewed the first one as they’re fairly similar. This one is perhaps the most different one yet though so I figured, why not? Plus it’s certainly topical.

Papa III: “He keeps asking to be let out of the box? Says he’s sick of smelling his own flatulence.” Papa IV: “Why would I want to smell that? Leave him in the box.”

Papa IV comes in the standard Ultimates! box, though now without a slipcover (because those surely add considerable cost…). He’s clad in his black suit and shiny blue coat. The figure is, as expected, a mixture of old and new parts. This costume required a bit more new this time around due to the cuffs on the sleeves a different style shirt, and the pattern on the pants. I’m guessing that Super7 got to reuse the lower torso, upper arms, calves, hands, and feet. If you’re worried about Super7’s bottom line then maybe it will comfort you to know they saved a little with some repeat accessories.

Papa IV is probably the most flamboyant frontman for Ghost yet.

The most obvious new piece of sculpt work is the head. This Papa has slicked back gray hair and his own distinct pattern of black and white on his face. Super7’s attempt to capture the likeness is satisfactory. I don’t think they nailed it as well as they did with Papa III, but it looks okay. I think it’s just a little narrow in the face and the hair isn’t particularly convincing. The forehead on mine is also a little scratched and I don’t know if that’s intentional or not. I don’t know why it would be. I should also mention he stands at roughly 6.75″ putting him in-line with the other Papa figures.

“Ugh, we cool? Hang loose?”

If you want this figure to looks its best, you will want to take advantage of the optional vestments. For this iteration, Super7 did it in two layers. There’s basically a poncho that goes over the head (or neck, since you’ll have to take the head off) and then a cape that goes around that and it’s fixed with a Velcro clasp. It’s very colorful, and the portrait that goes with this look is a little cleaner looking and seems to work better for me with the pope hat. Unfortunately, this two garment approach makes the look more cumbersome. The material bunches up around the neck making Papa look like he’s wearing a scarf. It’s also quite restricting when it comes to the arms. Both garments are wired so you can do some posing, even if they just typically hang there when he wears this outfit. Also, take care when swapping heads. On mine, the neck piece has a tendency to want to pop off with the head which can be quite annoying.

Papa IV comes with a bunch of hands. He has five sets total plus an extra right hand in a “Hang Loose” gesture. The other sets are basically for his different costumes. For the standard look, we have black hands which come with sets of gripping, open, and fists. The other hands are black with bronze bones painted over the digits. For those, we get a set of gripping hands and relaxed hands plus the lone hang loose hand. The only other accessories are the microphone and stand which has come with all of the Papa Ultimates! releases.

There’s just too much material here.

Articulation for this figure is the same as the rest as well. Double-ball at the head, single ball at the neck, single hinged elbows and knees, standard shoulders and wrists with an ab crunch. The ankles hinge and rock. It’s all decent, but unspectacular. He can hit basic poses, and with all of the vestments on he can basically do nothing but stand there, but the more nuanced mannerisms you may be accustomed to seeing from the stage are a bit out of reach.

And that’s Papa IV. A figure I want to like a lot, but it just has too many problems holding it back. The soft goods not fitting very well is a real bummer because, off of the figure, they look really nice. I was pleased to see the two piece approach. If you compare it to the render Super7 used to sell the figure it’s almost laughable, if not down right deceitful. The base figure underneath is at least decent. Not great, but it’s unmistakably Papa Emeritus IV. It would have been interesting if they could have done the cuffs on the sleeves with soft goods, though I doubt they could have gotten them to hang realistically. That’s the issue with soft goods at this scale” they lack the weight needed to look like the real deal.

This is likely how you’ll want to display this Papa.

Nonetheless, I’m guessing this isn’t last we’ll see of this mold. Papa Emeritus IV wore these vestments mostly just in music videos. On tour, he wore something different. There’s also his previous look as Cardinal Copia which Super7 passed over. This could be easily repurposed into a figure of the cardinal, either as an Ultimate or maybe a Deluxe release (which Papa II has been re-released as and is the version I have). If that does happen I can’t say I’d be interested in buying this one again. Now, if they do a Papa V Perpetua (spoiler: he went up for preorder today) then that will get my attention as I like the new look. Hopefully Super7 can do it justice because this one is pretty lacking.

I may have only reviewed one figure from the band Ghost, but I do have other ghostly reviews you can check out:

Super7 Ultimates! Ghost – Papa Emeritus I

I feel like I have a pretty interesting relationship with the band Ghost. They came to my attention in 2010 with their album Opus Eponymous and came at the recommendation of one of my friends. It wasn’t so much a recommendation based on quality, but more of a “You have to hear this,” because it…

Figura Obscura – The Ghost of Christmas Past

For past few years Four Horsemen have been bringing us surprise Christmas figures each holiday season. The first was Krampus and the second Father Christmas. Last year, Four Horsemen surprised us with the Ghost of Jacob Marley. A ghost character, especially one in 19th century clothing, can make for a fun design and figure, but…

DC Collectibles BTAS #42 – Gray Ghost

I have long maintained that the best episode of the now classic Batman: The Animated Series is the Mr. Freeze story, “Heart of Ice.” It is not, however, my favorite episode of the show as that honor belongs to “Beware the Gray Ghost.” That episode introduced the character Gray Ghost, a superhero from television who…


Super7 Ultimates! Ghost – Papa Emeritus I

Lucifer! We are here!

I feel like I have a pretty interesting relationship with the band Ghost. They came to my attention in 2010 with their album Opus Eponymous and came at the recommendation of one of my friends. It wasn’t so much a recommendation based on quality, but more of a “You have to hear this,” because it was so out there. I grew up with heavy metal and it’s been my genre of choice since I was a pre-teen so Satanic metal was nothing new (have you seen the amount of Danzig shit I’ve posted?!), but it had been awhile since I heard something quite like Ghost. Ignoring the content of the material, Ghost sounded like a throwback to the 70s. The somewhat high-voiced vocals of Papa Emeritus I mingled with sludgy riffs and driving percussion. It wasn’t the blast beasts, grunts, screams, and such of black metal or death metal, the subgenre most associated with Satanism these days, and instead was more in-line with originators like Black Sabbath. Only there was little subtlety to what Ghost was singing about which added a different kind of entertainment value. Shock value? I suppose, but at the end of the day it’s all entertainment.

Super7 can be criticized for a lot of things, but presentation is rarely one of them.

Ghost was next on my radar due to the band’s placement on the Hunter/Heritage tour, a co-headlining affair between the then more established Mastodon and Opeth. That was a show I had to see, and if Ghost was on the undercard then yeah, I wanted to see them too. Only I ended up missing their performance that night. It would be years later when the band opened for Iron Maiden that I found myself with tickets once again to see Ghost. That time, I really wanted to make sure I saw them and so did my cousin who I was attending the show with, but the evening traffic of Massachusetts had other plans in mind. We got to the show just after Iron Maiden took the stage, so naturally, we missed Ghost. Again.

An action figure that comes with not one, but two, thuribles is something I never thought I’d see.

This year, I came out of my COVID cocoon to attend a live event in the form of Nightwish. It was after that show that my cousin told me Ghost was coming around later in the year and he really wanted to see them this time. I had kind of lost touch with the band, but my cousin swore by the new album so I followed his advice and grabbed Impera. I loved it. It’s more poppy than the first two albums, which were the only ones I owned before 2022, but the hooks were great and the band had definitely evolved more of an arena sound which has apparently suited it very well considering the venues they now headline. I grabbed the other albums I had overlooked and also enjoyed them. What I couldn’t have predicted was how much my kids would like the band. My daughter, especially, loves Ghost now. She has a Frozen karaoke machine she’d rather sing Ghost songs through. And my son’s favorite song is “Year Zero.” It amuses me to no end.

For those wondering what’s under the robe.

Given that, of course I had to go grab the Super7 figure of Papa Emeritus I! Papa Emeritus I is the frontman for Ghost’s first album before being replaced by the logically named Papa Emeritus II. He’s essentially a Satanic version of the pope as he’s clad in the long robes and features the tall, funny, hat (I’m told it’s called a mitre), but his clothing is adorned with inverted crosses and his face painted sort of like a skull. It’s a look, for sure, and it’s not a surprise to see it converted to plastic and soft goods. Super7 has a track record for working with punk and classic metal acts and some contemporary musicians. Ghost seems to almost check all of those boxes to some degree, the music may not be “punk,” but there’s a punk attitude in place. Super7 also employs Kyle Wlodyga to spearhead some of their brands and he LOVES Ghost so the company has partnered with the band to produce not just Ultimates!, but ReAction sets as well.

The second head is the same sculpt, but with a different deco. Mine has a little color bleed on the black which is unfortunate.

The Ultimates! Papa Emeritus I comes in the standard Super7 Ultimates! style packaging. It’s a slipcover over a window box and it’s tailored to the band’s aesthetic. We have a white slipcover with the band’s logo on the front embossed in a metallic material, a G mixed with an inverted cross, with the rear featuring the band’s name in their stylized font. The logos are both really cool as the metallic portion plays with light. Sometimes it looks like a traditional steel color and other times it looks almost gold. The inner window box presents the figure with arms outstretched in a “T” shape with the cardboard over the window evoking the image of a stained glass pattern, though absent any color. On the back is a bio for the first Papa Emeritus and speaks of him in the past tense, which makes sense given this came out last year.

He looks positively resplendent in white and gold!

Presentation is nice and all, but I want the figure! Papa Emeritus comes wearing his signature black pallium with crimson trim. There’s inverted crosses up and down both sides and the face is painted up to resemble the actual character. The mitre is non-removable, but true to the band’s presentation as it’s largely silver and black (is he a Raiders fan?) with the logo on the front. Twin tassels (I’m sure they have a proper name, but I don’t know it) come off the back of the mitre and are sculpted in a soft plastic and possess some flex. The actual pallium is all soft goods with black on the outside and red on the inside. It possesses Velcro on the inside so that it holds together and the only actual hole in the robe is one for the head. There are two sleeves inside to help keep it in place as well. The outer edge is wired so it can be posed to your liking. The hands are really the only parts of the figure visible aside from the head and they’re sculpted in black. It’s a striking look and I’m very impressed with the quality of the soft goods. The head looks pretty good, but does have some paint imperfections, though probably not so bad that they’re noticeable from a shelf.

“Ugh, dude, we mostly just sing about pizza.”

Under the robe, we have the figure itself which is cast entirely in black plastic. Papa is wearing a black, three-piece, suit underneath this thing. It’s mostly stiff plastic, save for the coat. I have no idea if this is accurate to the actual performer, but it makes sense for future releases in the line as far as reuse goes and it looks better than just a blank body, which is what I initially expected. I’m guessing no one will actually display the figure without a robe, but it’s nice to know the option exists. And the suit looks good, it’s just on the bland side since it’s entirely black. It is more matte than I would have expected with the only real shiny spot being the shoes, which are likely supposed to have a hit of gloss. I’m interested in seeing what Super7 does with the body down the road as I think it would look pretty good with some paint.

Oh shit, he’s made his way into the Dream House!

Papa Emeritus, when in his robes, probably doesn’t need to do a whole lot, but he does have some articulation we can talk about. The head is on a ball-peg and it rotates as far as the tassels on the rear of the head will let him. He looks down all right, but not much up because of those tassels. The shoulders are ball-hinged and raise out to the side just fine and rotate all around. The single-hinged elbows go a little past 90 degrees, which is good, and they swivel. The wrists rotate and hinge horizontally. Vertical hinges probably would have been better for the gripping hands, but oh well. The torso has an ab crunch and it works okay, plus it doesn’t look bad. The hips are on ball-pegs and Papa can do full splits and kick forward pretty far. The knees bend at 90 degrees with a swivel and the ankles hinge and rock side-to-side. It’s all pretty good, though some of it is hard to take advantage of with the robe on, but an unrobed Papa can certainly perform like a dynamic frontman should.

The corruption is even affecting princesses!

Papa Emeritus also has some accessories to speak of. He comes with open hands in the box, but also has two sets of gripping hands with one looser than the other and a set of fists in case he needs to punch someone. He also has a silver thurible, the incense holder priests swing around at funerals, that slips onto his open hands. It’s made of real chains with plastic pieces and is a really cool accessory. He also has a black microphone and a microphone stand, since he is a vocalist, after all. And if that’s not good enough, he has a complete second outfit. This one features a head with a white and gold mitre and a robe to match. He even has a second, gold, thurible to complete the look. I’m torn on which one I prefer. The second head has a slightly cleaner paintjob, but also has some color bleed under the nose and left eye. The pattern of the black is also slightly different with a smoother approach to the lips. Neither one actually matches the promotional shots of the figure and it looks like they opted for a less ambitious pattern. Right now, I’m displaying the original look, but maybe I’ll swap to the white in the near future. Maybe for Christmas?

I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get him out of there at this point.

This is a pretty specialized figure, even more so than the usual Super7 products. If you like Ghost and you like action figures, then this is for you! It’s not cheap as it will set you back $55, but I feel better about this figure than some of the other Super7 products I’ve purchased. And obviously, I’m having quite a bit of fun with it if you’ve been paying attention to these pictures. And I feel good about this one mostly because I have no issues with the sculpt and articulation, it all functions well and looks good. The accessories accommodate it very well and are well done. The only thing I’m less impressed with is the paint job on the face. It’s not horrible, but it could be better and considering the head is basically the only part of the figure that’s painted I think it should be a lot better. Is it bad enough for me to consider passing on this figure’s eventual successor? No, probably not, though I have yet to order it because I don’t know that it’s different enough to warrant a purchase. There are other looks for the Ghost frontman that interest me more that I’ll definitely be interested in when and if Super7 gets there. For now, we only know that Papa Emeritus II is on the water for delivery to Super7’s warehouse and a Papa Emeritus III has yet to be shown. I suppose if I want more, I should get on that, but maybe I’ll leave the second one dangling out there in case my kids want to get me something evil for Christmas.