Ghost remains the most unlikely mainstream rock act I can recall in recent times. A Satanic metal act that sells out arenas in the United States is not something I ever expected to see in my lifetime. It was basically the joke in a show like Metalocalypse – a “Can you imagine if such a thing happened?” Super7 got into the Ghost market pretty much right as the profile for the band started to rise. Their ghoulish imagery lends itself well to merchandise, and while heavy metal action figures aren’t a huge market, it seems to have worked for the company as we are on our fifth version of a Ghost frontman. I have to believe a lot of the credit to that should go to former Super7 designer and current Mattel employee Kyle Wlodyga – an open Ghost super fan who worked on these figures. And while Super7 doesn’t list the people responsible for their product on the box, I’m assuming he had a hand in today’s figure of the newest frontman for the group: Papa V Perpetua.
Papa V, or simply V (Vee), was introduced at the end of the video for the lead single “Satanized” off of the album Skeleta. V shows up right at the end clad in his robes sporting his papal hat and looking quite resplendent, if I must say so myself. The look is different from past Papas as he sports a small, skeletal, mask that covers just the top half of his face leaving his mouth exposed. Curly hair pours out from the back of the hat and mask and the skin beneath is painted both black and gray. This depiction appears to be the source for Super7’s latest offering which went up for preorder the day Skeleta was released. Since then, the band has been touring the world in support of the album having just finished up the second US leg. On tour, we saw multiple looks for V which is in keeping with tradition and it lead me to wonder if this particular look would be dated by the time it eventually made it into the hands of collectors and Ghost fans around the globe.
The answer to that question is: kind of. Papa V comes clad in his purple and black robes with the hat permanently affixed to his head. The vestments are adorned with silver etchings and designs and we once again get a two-tiered approach with a main robe and another laid over the top at the shoulders. He has the band’s logo, the Grucifex, hanging over the center of his chest which is connected to the garment that encircles his shoulders (I don’t know what it should be called, but I’m just going to refer to it as a shawl). For a Ghost fan, the look is essentially timeless since it shows up at the end of a video and represents the fandom’s first glimpse of this new character, the long lost brother of Papa IV. When the figure went up for preorder, I wondered what would be under the robe? Not for perverted reasons, but because there’s always another look for the many Papa characters save for the first. Before Skeleta came out, videos for the singles “Lachryma” and “Peacefield” debuted and we saw V in a suit similar to past frontmen of the band, but with a gray/silver blazer. There were no images showing what the base figure looked like and now that it’s here we have the answer which is an unfortunate blank body. Not entirely blank, but basically the same body we saw with the last figure minus the cuffed forearms. Had there been a stage outfit underneath we still would have been short a head as both portraits (and the bonus third) have the mitre permanently affixed to it. Did Super7 request such information and get rebuffed by the band? Would the band not approve a mitre-less V portrait? Those are things I don’t know, but if the more elegant look is a stunner then does it really matter?
If you read my review of Papa IV then you know that’s a pretty big “if.” My main takeaway with that figure is while the soft goods looked lovely, they didn’t sit on the figure properly. Not like the solicitation images which, frankly, looked too good to be true from the start. There was just too much material with the Papa IV figure leading to the material getting bunched up around the neck and presenting a very frumpy looking Papa. He looked like a bundled up old person trying to keep warm. The promo shots for V were much the same as they were for Papa IV so did Super7 deliver this time?
Yes and no. They obviously felt the older figure didn’t work because they adjusted their approach. This time around, the figure has the under robe, we’ll call it, and the embroidery is quite lovely. It’s a bit thinner this time, but that could be because it doesn’t have a wire running through it. It’s more of a true robe with sleeves while the robes on the first three were more like ponchos with sleeves sewn into them. Curiously, it differs from the promotional images in that there’s no inner black robe. There should be black visible from the front, but Super7 opted to just stick to purple rather than sew this into the garment. To combat the frumpy problem, Super7 went with a mixed media approach. The upper shawl piece is plastic as well as the center, purple, portion that runs down to the hem of the robe. It’s much heavier compared with soft goods and seems to sit better on the figure. It also means that all of the details needed to be sculpted, but Super7 appears to be up to the task. There’s quite a bit of paint as well and it looks pretty damn good. Under close scrutiny you may find a few flaws to the paint job, but on the whole I consider it acceptable. Unfortunately, this approach creates a new problem. This plastic is fairly thick and it has next to no give. This must have been a change during production, because the solicitation shots (which you can still find at any retailer carrying this figure) clearly show the shawl folding like a soft goods garment would in the shot where V is lifting his arms slightly. This sculpted piece has no fold, no slits of any kind, and thus the figure’s arms are pinned to his sides since it hangs past his elbows. There might as well not be a joint at the shoulders because they can’t go anywhere. There’s a shot where the figure is raising its hands up and that pose is impossible unless you take this off. And I can’t tell if it’s meant to come off. Something is holding it on at the shoulders, while the soft goods peg onto the underside of the center purple portion. If you want to do anything special with the legs, you can unplug the soft goods from the overlay for that, but when I tried to pull the shawl off it didn’t budge and I don’t want to ruin what’s here.
So that’s a bummer. It does indeed make the figure look better, but he might as well be a statue. You can work the elbows slightly and that’s about it aside from the head and hands. And the joint in the neck on mine is pretty loose. I’m a little nervous that it will break if I switch portraits a lot. As for the portraits, you get neutral, open mouth, and if you ordered from Super7 directly you get a bonus pack with a grimacing expression. To do V’s portrait, Super7 sculpted the head and painted the face black and silver and then glued the mask on over it. The mask has an almost mirrored finish, like chrome, and it looks great on all of the faces. V’s gloves are sort of similar in that they are designed to look like metal. Super7 gave them a silver coat, though the sculpt is a little softer than I’d like. The images also seemed to imply they’d have the same finish as the mask, but that’s not the case. And for hands, we get open, gripping, “expressive,” and what Super7 refers to as As Above, So Below hands. In other words, they’re two-finger pointing hands. The bonus pack also comes with a set of “horns” hands which always makes sense to include with a heavy metal musician. The black microphone and stand that every Papa has come with is also included. It’s a fine spread, though the hands are not particularly useful given the articulation limitations. He can place his hands against the front of his body or go out slightly to the side and that’s pretty much it. The head rotates and it’s on a double ball peg with a ball joint at the neck so there’s some tilt, but the tails on the mitre are pretty stiff plastic so he can’t look up much. Since his legs are also hidden, I kind of wish they did different feet than the old ones as they’re not the easiest to stand. Something a little bigger and wider would have helped there since there’s really nothing to do with the legs. They exist just to have him stand on your shelf.
Once again, Super7 delivers a mixed result. They solved one problem with the past figure, but in doing so created a new one. It’s something Super7 seems to be pretty good at. They really make action figure making look hard and seem flummoxed by problems other companies have already solved. And this time, the figure cost $65 plus a tariff fee. I think after everything, I paid close to $80 to have this figure sent to me by Super7 so I could get the extra pack, and now I don’t know if I’ll bother opening it since the hands are mostly useless given the articulation limitations. And calling them limitations might be generous – this figure does almost nothing. The presentation in a neutral pose is wonderful, the best of the Ghost figures so far, but you almost can’t consider it an action figure. I honestly don’t know how to feel. The presentation from the box to the figure is wonderful, but everything else is not. And if you want to get angry you’re justified in doing so because the renders clearly show a soft goods shawl and poses the figure can’t do (plus, it’s missing the black in the front). Softer plastic up top, some slits in the design, and then it’s probably not an issue. Or it’s a lesser issue and one most can live with. Or do what Super7 used to be so good at doing and give the consumer options. A removable plastic one for those who want it and a removable soft goods one for posing. Or even two plastic ones where one is preposed to at least allow for the figure to lift his damn arms. Unless you’re a Ghost superfan or an in-box collector, this is a hard one to recommend. If you don’t open your toys then this one is great, albeit expensive. If you wanted to pose him then it sucks. I’d say wait for a discount, but these Ghost figures seem to rarely hit the discount bin. In the end, it’s another Super7 offering that both pleases and frustrates because if Super7 is committed to anything it’s making sure you’re never truly happy with their product.
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