Our extended farewell to the Muppets continues with Uncle Deadly, one of three variants of the fantastic Phanton-of-the-Opera-style character who haunts the Muppet Show theater. Available only from OMGCNFO, there are three different Deadlies to choose from - one in standard colors, one in a tux and the one I chose, the nifty "Flashback" variant, a black and white glow-in-the-dark version of the character in a ghostly form.
Running with the most recent figures in the line, Uncle Deadly comes in an excellent clamshell that protects the figure and shows off all the pieces nicely, emblazened with the Muppets logo and the word "Exclusive" underneath. The back features an awesome Uncle Deadly tombstone image plus that same shot of all the figures from the Muppets line.
Here lies Uncle Deadly, Phantom of the Muppet Show
In life he enjoyed lurking about the theatre; modeling the latest in cape-wear; and a good, old-fashioned melodrama.
...Plus he was one heck of a tap dancer.
Uncle Deadly looks absolutely fantastic. Basically flawless,
the sculpt on this toy is utterly magnificent in every way; beginning with his evil-looking, sneering face with big glowing eyes and roughness all over, working down to his tattered clothing and sickly-thin limbs ripped all over, with nasty sharp claws all over his hands and feet, an awesome-looking hump bursting from his ratted-up jacket, and topped off with his weird tail looming behind him - it's superb. What kind of creature is Uncle Deadly supposed to be, anyway?
His paint scheme makes him look wonderfully creepy, with all a manner of lighter and darker greys with white reserved for his eyes and a nearly metallic gray for the exposed parts of his back; there's another aspect here, in that he's covered in glow-in-the-dark paint, which works spectacularly to glow but makes him the flat-out stinkiest figure I've ever owned. That Skunk figure from the original MotU? Forget it. Ancient Wyrm, eat your heart out - Flashback Deadly would take them both down. When I first opened this toy, the smell was overpowering, and I moved him around the house to well-ventilated areas for over a week before the smell lessened and is now tolerable, but still, sheesh! This isn't really a negative, because the glow is so cool, but any companies reading this, in the future, keep an eye on the scent of your glow-in-the-dark paints; if it's overpowering, try something else!
Despite not being super-articulated, Uncle Deadly has all the articulation he needs to be mighty playable with your other Muppets and maintain his fantastic sculpt. He's got ball-jointed shoulders then peg jointed neck, upper arms, wrists, legs, feet and midsection, with pin-jointed elbows for more movement on those arms - superb! He's got some scary poseability in him, perfect for scaring those other Muppets whilst looming in the backstage. Also armed with a lot of durability, this guy rocks for play - go Deadly!
Uncle Deadly has two of the best accessories I've ever seen; hardly ones to skimp, Palisades has thrown in what is almost another figure with the guy, a nice big floating ghost who's only a little under the height of Kermit and complete with a clear base (reused from Zim's Almighty Tallest) that allows him to float in midair. Wonderfully decorated with appropriate glow-in-the-dark paint, the ghost is fantastic and looks awesome in any collection.
Deadly is also partnered with a cool red-eyed glow-in-the-dark skull, also fitting with the ghost and the Uncle, plus a black Palisades base for him to stand on. He won't need it, since he stands fine by himself, but it's good they included it.
Aside from the minor technical and olfactory difficulties with the paint, I can't recommend this figure enough - the Henson character design is screaming for a figure like this, and the execution by the mighty Palisades Toys is fantastic. I love the sculpt and I love the fact that he glows in the dark and is plenty playable in addition - the ghost is the icing on the cake. The value is also very good - all of the Deadlies are $15.95, and if you're a Muppet collector, you can't afford to pass that up! It's an exclusive that wont break your bank and he's totally worth it. Two ghostly thumbs up!
Truthfully: if not for this toy, would you even know who Uncle deadly was? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.
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