Toy Review: Fresh Monkey Fiction Naughty or Nice, Wave 2: Father Frost


To recap, I've been looking at several figures from the second wave of Fresh Monkey Fiction's "Naughty or Nice" action figures. Today, I'll be talking about the figure I was most excited about: Father Frost. Does it live up to the hype? Read the rest of the review to find out! 

Wait. I hate when reviews pull that shit. The answer is, "mostly." The figure's pretty goddamn great, with a couple minor caveats.


First, let's talk a little about who this guy is. Father Frost is a Russian midwinter figure best known to American audiences as the inspiration behind the Winter Warlock in the Rankin/Bass special, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, though the Russian film, Morozko, features a much more authentic version of the character. Both takes on the character seem to get nods in the accessories of this version, though it's fundamentally a new spin on the character.


As you'd expect, the figure's body (and several of his accessories) are reused sculpts created for versions of Santa Claus the company has released. They've wisely gone with the extended coat, which has yet to accompany a "normal" Santa (it's been used on several variants, such as Pirate Santa). A repaint of this figure - head included - in traditional Santa colors would more or less be my ideal version of Kris Kringle.

Speaking of that head sculpt, it's a good one. The figure has a stern, thoughtful expression, and I love the longer beard and neat haircut. The paint looks more or less perfect to my eye, at least as far as the head's concerned. One of my few nitpicks concerns its appearance on Frost's coat, specifically the ornamental trim. I love the concept, but the thick lines make the toy look artificial and clash a bit with the more realistic head.

Again, this is absolutely a nitpick: if the figure had any major flaws, I doubt I'd even mention that one.


Let's talk accessories. Father Frost comes with quite a bit. In the reuse department, he comes with the standard two sets of extra hands, list, and stand, as well as a gift and a Santa hat repainted in his colors. Of these, I suppose the hands and hat are the most useful: the rest are more geared towards Saint Nick than Morozko, and the stand certainly doesn't add much value.


But as I've said many times before, superfluous stuff is never an issue unless it comes at the expense of something else. And that brings us to the stuff that actually matters: the new accessories. Father Frost comes with an alternate "ice king" head sculpt, a staff with removeable ice crystal, and a toy train, which I'm assuming is referencing the character's Rankin/Bass appearance. It's a fun, albeit silly, addition.

The staff, on the other hand, is more essential. It's a different design from the one Morozko used in the Russian film, but I'm assuming it's the same idea. I like the design and execution for the most part, though it's also the source of my other minor complaint. I have no idea whether this is unique to mine, but the one I received is bent. I could probably fix it with warm water, and even if I don't it's a minor issue. Still, I wanted to bring it up.


Lastly, the figure comes with an alternate semi-translucent head creating the illusion he's made of ice. I'm not a hundred percent certain what (if anything) this was intended to reference: they may have been inspired by various versions of Jack Frost (who's also a version of the same folkloric figure), any of several animated characters, or perhaps just an alternate spin on the whole Winter Warlock thing. Regardless of the intent, the effect is fantastic, and the extra head is greatly appreciated. From some angles, you can see a sliver of Frost's non-icy neck, of course, but for the most part even this is covered by his large beard.


There's not much I can think of that would add to this (or at least not much that'd be reasonable to expect). Alternate hands more in line with the look of the figure would have been nice - the two extra sets are flesh colored, while either solid blue or translucent would have been a little better. But frankly I'm stretching: they checked off all the essential boxes and then some.


Father Frost was a great choice for the line. Since he's essentially a variation on Saint Nicholas, he works well with the same underlying body. On top of that, this is yet another fantastic head sculpt. This line continues to impress me - I can't wait to add Father Christmas to my collection when he arrives, alongside something even more exciting in Wave 3: reindeer. 

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