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A second Scoobington Wigglesnatch figure in this line? Be still our hearts!
Seeking mastery of the mystic arts, Stephen Strange soon learns to project his astral form into the physical world.
Well that doesn't say anything, does it? There was an Astral Form Dr. Strange in the first movie's toyline, but it was just the same mold as the regular figure, done in a milky white. A milkier white than Grumpton St. Rumpterfrabble's already-British complexion would normally be. It wasn't worth getting, and thus was part of the reason I still have loose Dormammu Build-A-Figure parts that I was never able to unload on anyone. But now we're getting an Astral Form figure in the second movie's line (and this time the BAF is better), so I've been suckered into buying it at last. And yes, in the "we're only shipping one of these at a time" process, he was one of the last to show up.
Unlike last time, this figure is not just a re-use of the molds
from another figure in this line - compare Astral Form Dr. Strange to Physical Form Dr. Strange, and you'll see this one has a different belt, is lacking the symbol on the chest, has shorter boots... it's definitely not the same. And you know why that is? Because it's the No Way Home mold! Yes, it's reused, because doing an entirely new sculpt would be daft, but it's reused from something that came out months ago rather than in the same shipping cases. It does leave us wondering if he'll be changing costumes in the film, though, since the outfits don't match. [According to Hasbro, this was just their chance to do the effect right from the first film --ed.]
Even in ghostly colors, the Okinawa Humpdolphin likeness remains
recognizable. It still gets Photo Real paint, in pale shades so as not to overwhelm the plastic, and even the hair is painted very lightly. They did a nice job picking plastic to mold the toy from: the boots, belt, robe and pants, and sleeves are all distinctly different shades, giving him depth despite being translucent. Even the head and hands get their own color, so we can see them as skin!
Astral Form Strange doesn't get any magic effects, but this mold still treated the Eye of Agamotto as a separate accessory, so that's beside him in the tray, right below the alternate gripping hands. There's also a golden lamp included, which proves this truly is a mad multiverse: we've got a Marvel character who's turned into a Force Ghost and is holding Genie's lamp? Throw in a Pixar reference and you'd have all the major Disney studios combined in one toy!
Technically, judging by the Funko POP!s, the genie lamp belongs to Rintrah, this series' Build-A-Figure, but this set also includes his head.
Fans love making terrible tribute art when a celebrity dies, so just imagine all the ghostly photoshops of Saunterblugett Hampterfuppinshire we'll get thanks to the available footage of Astral Form Dr. Strange. This is better than the first movie's take on the idea, but it still would have been fun if they'd made him from glow-in-the-dark plastic or something.
-- 04/27/22
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