Review – Edward Scissorhands’ The Professor

I remember when I went to see Edward Scissorhands. A fun movie, beautiful visuals, and an excellent soundtrack, the film was quite enjoyable but one of those movies that I soon forgot. Well, the rest of the world didn’t forget it and over the years Edward Scissorhands has grown into one of those cult classic films that will not die. It loves on in shirts, posters, and even toys. Toys like Mezco’s The Professor. Let’s take a look at this Vincent Price action figure.

Packaging

For such a large figure — The Professor stands almost 10-inches tall — I was shocked to see a plastic shell and card format packaging. Not quite a clamshell (this is a two-piece construction), this is more like those annoying plastic packs that we find everywhere these days. That means you need to get ready to cut, twist, pull, and tear before you’ll release your action figure from the pack.

The card design itself is pretty basic, with a stock Edward Scissorhands image on the front. The back, though, has an excellent photo of the actual toy and is far more attractive. I understand why the front image was used, but it makes me a little sad that in order to sell toys companies have to abandon creativity at times; the overall card front would have been much cooler if the designers had used the back photo on the front of the card.

The packaging is nothing spectacular. It’s basic, functional, and completely disposable.

An Excellent Sculpt

Take a look at the photos below and I think you’ll see why I think this guy looks great. His proportions are a little odd, his face slightly stylized, and overall this looks more like how the character would look in an animated series than it does Vincent Price. The details are fantastic; the coat, especially, looks great with a highly detailed texture covering the entire surface. But it’s the face more than anything that really drives home how much love was put into this piece.

The below photo, a close shot of The Professor’s face, shows not only the beautiful sculpt but also the excellent paint job. Notice the eyes? Those are some of the best painted eyes I’ve seen on an action figure that was priced under $80 or so.

Unfortunately, the Articulation Blows

As beautiful as the sculpt and paint is, the figure’s articulation is very poor. Ball-hinges at the shoulders, swivels at the elbows and wrists, and a ball-jointed head that’s it for The Professor’s articulation. He stands quite straight and balanced on his solid chunk of plastic legs and feet, but it’s sad that the most we can do with this guy is move his arms a little and twist his head to look in different directions. It may be seven points of articulation but there’s less variety in posing this guy than there is with vintage Star Wars action figures.

The Professor is a poor choice of toy if you’re an articulation fan. But there’s a good chance that 90% of the audience for this toy is Edward Scissorhands fans who will buy him for display on a shelf and for them this is a step up from a basic statue and probably works fine. I just wish his legs had some movement so that I could pose him in a little more exciting stance. (But that doesn’t really fit the character, so maybe I’m wrong and his articulation is just fine for what he is.)

Accessories

The Professor comes with a plastic gift box and two hands for Johnny Depp’s character. The accessories are a little dull — appropriate, but dull — and really only make sense if you’re gonna put together a specific display. Me, I plan to use the gift box with one of my 12-inch action figures (hey, maybe my stormtrooper wants to hand out a gift).

Closing Thoughts

Tall, fantastic paint, and a beautiful sculpt makes The Professor an awesome display piece for fans of Edward Scissorhands. Unfortunately, his poor articulation choices makes him less fun as a toy than he would have been if his legs or waist had a little movement.

I grabbed The Professor because the photos online made me think this would be a cool Vincent Price action figure. I wasn’t completely right but it is a very neat Vincent Price statue with a little articulation. It looks great with my other toys but it’s not one that will be pulled out often. Anyone who wants an exciting toy will be unhappy with this piece, but anyone looking for an attractive desktop or shelf toy should be very happy with The Professor.

Philip Reed likes the stylized sculpt of The Professor but he would like a little more articulation and would absolutely love to see this character — and an Edward Scissorhands — at the 3.75-inch scale.