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Go Team Venture!
Henry Alan Venture is the blonder of the Venture brothers. He's often off gallivanting with his twin, Dean, as they accompany their father Dr. Thaddeus Venture on adventures, mainly because Rusty has no place else to put them. Hank also has a close relationship with the family's bodyguard Brock Samson and looks up to him at times. Hank is the more adventuresome of the twins, and expresses his frustration at Dean's insistence that they "always get a grown up."
It's been a long, slow road for Bif Bang Pow! to get their Venture Bros. toys out, but apparently their first release was enough of a success, because they've finally released their second figure. And also their third. And their fourth. All at once. Weren't these supposed to spread out a bit more, with one release every few months? Hey, whatever, the important thing is that Hank Venture exists.
Now let's see if he's any good.
For some reason, people forget that a 3¾" scale and a 4" scale are not the same thing. That's a 6% difference, which at human size would be the equivalent of chopping your feet off above the ankle. We mention this because the Venture Bros. toys are solicited as 3¾" figures, but they're not. Hank just breaks that mark, but he's not an adult, not full-grown. Yes, the show uses him as the default height comparison on its model sheets, but that doesn't immediately make him 6' tall.
The great thing about Hank and Dean is that they're clearly brothers, not just two random kids who live in the same house compound. Despite the fact that they have distinctly different looks, both brothers have the same facial features, like their skinny, upturned nose. Hank's head is nearly a
pure oval - it's all curve!
Hank is patterned after Fred from Scooby-Doo. He's got the blonde hair, the white shirt, the neckerchief, and even the same inquisitive attitude. The figure has rather minimal articulation, moving only at the neck, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips and knees. The sculpt is simple, suiting the cartoon's animation style. Hank is athletically built and has a more assertive posture than Dean, but the detailing on the sculpt is limited to a few blocky wrinkles. He's got pockets on his pants and laces on his shoes.
When these figures were announced at SDCC 2011, it looked like Brock would come with several weapons, while Hank and Dean would come with their hover bikes. Well, Brock just had his knife, and the boys have no rides; they do, however, come with the rest of Brock's stuff. Hank gets a big machete with a curved end and several big pits along the blade. It's in fact easier for Hank to hold the machete than it is for Brock, so maybe it was meant for him all along.
Hank is the more traditionally "boyish" of the brothers, while Dean is a little more childlike, even a tad feminine. It's great that Venture Bros. fans rallied to get these made, and even better to see Bif Bang Pow! isn't giving up on these toys. So get yourself a Hank, and preorder the future figures so this line can continue.
-- 03/23/13
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