Whassup, Cthulhu Cultists? As promised, I’m back to wrap up my look at Warpo’s amazing 12-inch Great Old One. Last time we checked out the packaging and now I’m ready to open this baby up.

The box is just taped on the top flap, so a quick flick of my blood-soaked ceremonial dagger gets it open and inside the figure comes in three parts and is held in a framework of folded cardboard, just like the playsets of old.

In addition to Cthulhu’s body and wings, you get a single sheet of instructions and an awesome little product booklet showing the 3 3/4″ figures in the line. The booklet is bound in human skin and inked in human blood (not really) and shows the core figures from the initial assortment, but not the Kickstarter Exclusive variants. I’ll confess, I was also hoping for some kind of “Coming Soon” image or tease in the book, but no such luck. Attaching The Great Old One’s wings is easy and I can’t stress enough how happy I am they designed these things with turn-locking tabs so they can be easily removed and the whole shebang can be returned to the box for storage. It’s so damn frustrating when you get a toy that is designed to be put together and not taken apart again, and happily that’s not the case here.

Assembly is easy, although it does require some lit candles, recitations of ancient incarnations, and a virgin sacrifice. Once together, this guy is huge. Yeah, he’s 12-inch’s tall, but it’s the wing span and bulbous head that really make him feel even bigger than your average 12-inch tall figure. And if you were expecting just a blown up version of the smaller Spawn of Cthulhu figure, think again. This guy is totally new. The plastic quality feels great and there’s just the right amount of detail in the sculpt to walk that fine line between making an impressive looking figure and paying homage to vintage toys. There’s hardly any space on this guy’s body that doesn’t have some detail work. The mess of tentacles he has for a mouth looks particularly great and I love the disgusting warts that are studded all over his body.

As good as the sculpt is, I think it’s the paint that impresses me the most on this figure. The plastic itself is just the right shade of green and it’s highlighted with yellow in various areas. The gray paint used for the claws and insides of the wings is beautifully applied and the effect of the red beady eyes against the black is absolutely killer. There’s no slop or spray, just a gorgeous high-quality paint job that compliments the figure in every way.

Cthulhu features the standard 5-points of vintage action figure articulation, with points in the shoulders, hips, and neck. You also get additional swivels in the wrists. Technically, there is articulation in the wings, as they can be rotated a bit before detaching, but only a bit. Playing around with this guy is very reminiscent of playing around with my LJN Gremlin from 1984 or even Kenner’s old Star Wars Rancor monster, only the joints feel a lot tighter and more solid on Cthulhu here, and the quality of the plastic offers a lot more heft.

I’m pretty sure that this big guy was originally billed at about $99, at least that’s the amount that stuck in my head and that I was prepared to shell out if and when he ever became a reality. Warpo was ultimately able to deliver this amazing toy for $79.99, so not only did it ship for less than I expected, but nothing was lost in the transition to production. From package to figure, it’s a work of art, and the same gorgeous figure that was shown off from the get go is the one that I’m clutching in my two hands now. He’s the ultimate expression in a line that was perfectly planned and executed from the beginning. Ah, but the Legends of Cthulhu doesn’t end here. There’s a Glow-In-The-Dark version of this big guy shipping now, which will probably wind up on my shelf as well. Also, The Necronomicon Collector Set is due out soon, which is a whole box of goodies, including some cardboard standees to make a playset for the 3 3/4″ figures. Expect to see a review of that set coming soon!