Review – Secret Base Skull Brain

Blind Box toys — that is, toys that are random and collectible — are just one of the type of designer toys that I pick up on occasion . . . like I did last month when I visited New York for Toy Fair. During our visit to Toy Tokyo (our first visit, since we ended up at the store twice that week) I grabbed my first Secret Base toy, a blind box “Ultimate Battle” pack. Inside the box was Skull Brain, one of the two different character designs packaged in “Ultimate Battle” boxes.

He’s a goofy collectible, but not all that great a toy.

Packaging

I don’t always take time to talk about a toy’s box or card — even if I try to show a photo of the packaging (if I can, some older toys just don’t have packaging any more) — but I want to point out the awesome box art on this piece. And even the design and logo looks great. Though I often buy books, CDs, and magazines because of the art and design, I think this may be the first toy that I’ve ever purchased because of the box.

I’m a sucker. I can admit it.

The Toy

Roughly 2-inches tall and molded of a soft, pliable plastic, Skull Brain’s a solid chunk without any real articulation. His arms look like they should move, and they bend a little, but there’s no real joint where the shoulder and arm meet; the arms can move a little one direction or the other, but if that’s meant to be a point of articulation something’s preventing it from being useful.

And it’s not just the articulation that’s an issue. The paint job is pretty cheap, with the figure molded in a black piece and a white piece, with the red shorts and gloves, black eyes, white ribs and shoes, and pink details on the skull painted on. It may sound like a lot of paint for a 2-inch toy, but at $6-$10 I expect a little better quality work. Of course, these are brought over from Japan so for all I know they’re priced at the equivalent of $1-$2 each over there and it’s just importing (and retailer mark-up) that pushes the price so high. Regardless, he’s priced too high for the quality of the piece.

Closing Thoughts

There are toys, then there are collectibles, and then there are desktop decorations. Skull Brain fits perfectly into the second two categories, but he’s not a toy. He’s cute, solid, and looks good in a display, but I’m not going to recommend that any parents rush out and buy him for the kids.

You, though, may want one of these if you’re a fan of little toys like Battle Beasts, M.U.S.C.L.E. Men, or even the Onell Design Crayboth. After all, Skull Brain’s the perfect size to sit with them and he is kinda neat looking.

If you wanna see an awesome variant on this toy, check out these photos of the Clear Orange Halloween version over at toybot studios. The Pumpkin Head isn’t identical to the Skull Brain, but it’s pretty close and he looks great in translucent orange. For an exact match, in clear blue plastic, peek at the Rainy Day Version at Knunt. I can safely say that despite how cool this version looks, the $110 price tag will keep it out of my collection.

At one point in his life, Philip Reed really didn’t understand why people collected Japanese toys. The toys looked weird, felt alien, and were overall confusing and strange. Today, though, Philip is growing to absolutely love some of these bizarre creations.