Review – Adventure Kartel KA Mumb
Ashley Wood and 3A’s Adventure Kartel series (Amazon.com search*) is kinda grabbing my attention again as I come to realize that it’s the smaller, 6-inch, figures that have given me the most trouble. And after some internal debate I decided to take a shot on one of the newer 12-inch scale action figures in the series and grabbed one of these KA Mumb toys at a decent enough price.
A Steam-Powered Mummy
The Mumb (see the 3A Wiki) is an undead action figure that’s wrapped in bandages, decorated with massive hoses, and wearing a huge drum on its back. The toy was originally released in blind boxes and a pack of four, all of which were posted for pre-order in March of this year (see the 3A Production Blog). Shown in these pics is the KA Mumb I scored on eBay; I am not completely sure on the official name since Mumb info online seems to be quite limited at the moment.
The Basic 3A 12-Inch Figure Covered in Bandages
Underneath all of the bandages appears to be the basic 3A 12-inch scale action figure; it’s kinda tough to be absolutely certain since the bandages are wrapped tight and permanent and actually restrict the toy’s movement in a few places (the hips suffer the most from the bandages). The wrists and ankles are left uncovered so the hands and feet have a full range of movement and the elbows and knees seem to work just fine. For an idea of the articulation and body design check my Shadow Zomb review (posted way back in 2009). That restricted hip movement is a tad annoying, but it’s not so bad as to frustrate me enough to stop playing with the toy.
Hands and Head
Even if the body underneath the bandages feels like a basic 3A action figure, what we can see of the toy’s sculpt shows that the hands and head are new. And the desiccated-like look of the hands and face are fantastic, giving us a mummy that has clearly seen better days before now. The weird, almost mechanical-like mouth is a great touch since it appears that the Mumb’s lips are jagged and in the shape of teeth. That’s just weird!
Full Steam Ahead!
Described as a steam-powered mummy, it’s the hoses and giant tank on the KA Mumb that make it a lot more than just a mummy action figure. The below photo shows the tank on the figure’s back. This comes separated from the toy when you open the box and all you have to do is slot the peg into the figure’s back and everything is ready to go. As with all of the 3A action figures the weathering effects are great, and I am happy to report that the strong oil odor I’m used to encountering with these toys is far less staggering than it once was. Either someone aired out this toy or the factory 3A uses has dialed back on their oil-soaked toy rubs.
Durability
One of the problems I was having in the past with 3A action figures was the toys arriving damaged or, at times, joints snapping shortly after the toys were removed from the box. The KA Mumb feels far more durable than a lot of the robots I’ve owned in the past, and I think that’s due to the size — the smaller robots seemed to suffer damage more easily — and the fact that the KA Mumb has posed hands rather than jointed fingers. All of the joints feel good — the neck joint even squeaks it is so tight — and so far there are no durability issues with the toy.
Ordering from Others
The toy’s great, I paid an excellent price, and not having to deal with the 3A shipping schedule no doubt greatly increased my enjoyment of the KA Mumb. In fact, the entire experience with the KA Mumb has been so positive that I think I’ll try a few more Adventure Kartel figures (Amazon.com search*) following this same approach: Order from someone after the toy is out there and don’t bother with the official 3A pre-orders. And since demand seems to have cooled a little on 3A it looks like after-market prices aren’t too terrible.
Closing Thoughts
More “designer” than “realistic,” the Adventure Kartel KA Mumb action figure shown here reminds me of why I find Ashley Wood’s toy designs so appealing and is tough enough — and playable enough! — that it doesn’t disappoint. I’ll no doubt keep twisting and pulling and posing this toy and have it now on one of the shelves in the living room where I can easily reach it. Plus, the toy is so much fun that I’m going to open another Adventure Kartel action figure right away . . . I can think of no higher form of endorsement than to dig even deeper into a line after posing and photographing a toy.
I’m curious – but with all the weathered fabric, does this figure have that 3A ‘factory turpentine’ smell about it? After picking up three of the gas masked ‘Noms’ in the WWRp (6″) scale, I wound up liquidating the rest of my 3A figures due to the points you’ve covered in this and other reviews. Their 6″ scale ‘Beries’ were always fun though – but any figures that had significant fabric coverage caused my hands to smell like I’d been stripping furniture.
@Blayne – The smell is still there, but it isn’t anywhere near as strong as some other releases. For example, I pulled the 12-inch scale Zombkin from his box — the poor guy has been sitting boxed in my office at work for over a year — and the distinctive 3A smell about killed me.
I do not know if something at the 3A factory changed or not, but this Mumb doesn’t stink anywhere near as bad as their other toys have in the past. But it may also be that this toy was aired out.