Thanks for checking out another Dan's ToyBox action figure review. Today we're looking at the new(er) SHFiguarts offering of Dr. Strange as he appeared in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. I really enjoyed this film and was very excited about the possibilities that opened up in the MCU. Of course, we were given a preview in Spider-Man: No Way Home which, I think, served to whet our appetites. Anyhow when I saw this figure was being released, I thought about ordering it right away, but decided to hold off for a bit. Then, I saw it on sale and decided to snap it up at the significantly reduced price!
Premiering May 2, 2022, with a full US Release on May 6th, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, as part of the MCU Phase 4, introduced viewers to America Chavez, a young lady with the power to move between universes. Pursued by dark forces, Chavez finds herself on Earth-616 and is rescued by Dr. Strange and Wong (the current Sorcerer Supreme.) Suspecting that witchcraft is involved, Strange seeks out Wanda Maximoff for aid and soon realizes that she is the one intent on capturing Chavez. Maximoff believes that by using Chavez' powers, she can bring back the two children she created during her time in Westview (as seen in the Wandavision series.) Maximoff had acquired the "Darkhold" an insidious book of spells that corrupts the reader, from Agatha Harkness, becoming the Scarlet Witch. After Strange refuses to hand Chavez over, Wanda attacks Kamar Taj. During the battle, Chavez accidentally teleports herself and Strange to Earth-838 and the chase across the multiverse is on! If you want to know what happens next, ya gotta watch the movie! Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stars Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role, with Elizabeth Olsen reprising her role as Wanda Maximoff and Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez. Incidentally, Gomez would be nominated for the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards: Best Female Youth Performance (Under 21) for her performance in the film. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was directed by Sam Raimi and introduces some horror elements into the MCU for the first time.
Let's get ready to jump into our four categories: Accessories, Appearance, Articulation, and Affordability. After discussing each, the figure will receive an overall grade of zero to 10 ToyBoxes, with 10 being the "must add" rating. As always, these reviews are based on my opinion alone and are meant to be as objective as possible, in order to help you make the best-informed choice as to whether or not to purchase a specific figure or toy.
ACCESSORIES
SHFiguarts, once again, nails it with the accessories. Though, the bulk are extra hands, there are a couple of neat surprises with this figure. Dr. Strange comes with 8 pairs of hands and one extra left hand, with his sling ring in place. The hands are as follows: one pair of fists, one pair of fists with a tab on the ends for the magic effects, one pair of open/reaching hands, one pair of open hands with a tab in the palm for the magic effects, two different pairs of spell casting hands, one pair relaxed semi-spread fingers hands, and one pair of relaxed, closed finger hands. He also comes with two shield spell discs, a conjured serpent spell a base and support to hold the serpent spell up and a small blue piece to tab in his back when the cape is removed. I really like that the cape is fully wired and removable, unlike my previous Infinity War Battle on Titan Dr. Strange figure. There are some small issues with the cape, but I'll touch on those a bit later. There is also a clear plastic square that the cape can tab into, however, the stand to display the cloak isn't sold WITH this figure... which is kind of ridiculous. Ingenuity though will always win the day as the cloak will balance just fine on the serpent support and base. I think I'd have liked to see more spell effects and maybe fewer hands, but overall I'm good with the accessories. The lack of the stand for the cloak is a huge detraction though and drops the accessory grade to a 7 out of 10.
APPEARANCE
This is a superior offering, when compared to the Infinity War: Battle on Titan Dr. Strange figure, in terms of appearance. The colors are more vibrant, and the design is much more intricate to the costume. Most important though, his hair doesn't have a greenish tint to it!! The likeness is a bit improved as well, which I appreciate. I do wish the cloak would sit a little better on his shoulders, but if you squeeze the wired sections closer together, it pushes his head forward, which is kind of disappointing. Let's start with the cloak. SHF did an amazing job on the cloak. The wire runs around the entire perimeter of the cape and makes posing it a dream. The patterns on the inside and outside of the cloak look fantastic and what's more... there is a "patched" section to repair the damage the cloak sustained in the film. Even the gold decorations at the front of the collar are sculpted and designed nicely. There is some bulk to this cloak, which is good as it helps provide some counterbalance when posing. His facial sculpt and paint applications are spot-on, and the paint is very cleanly applied. I noticed that his hair has a couple of shades of brown to it, but it's designed in such a way that it's not immediately noticeable until you are actually studying it close. I really like the two shades of blue on his robes and the red trim is very tightly applied. I couldn't find any issues with spray or fuzz on the lines, which was even more impressive considering how fine the line work is. Even the necklace for the Eye of Agamotto is sculpted well with an eye for accuracy. (No pun intended.) The sash/belt at his waist is free floating, but snug enough to not slide down or move too easily. This is also sculpted really well, with multiple details laced throughout. His pants are a solid blue, with nicely sculpted details and the boots look fantastic. In addition to the design elements of the boots themselves, the bottoms have fully sculpted tread on them. Not what you'd expect, given that the figure will be standing most of the time, but still a very nice tough. The serpent spell is very nicely done as well as it moves from white to translucent yellow, to bright orange and finally to an olive green for the snake head. Even the mouth is detailed in a pink/white, with white teeth. I'm actually very impressed with this accessory, though I have to admit that I'm having trouble recalling seeing this spell in the movie. The two shield disc spells are translucent orange with the spell effects/designs sculpted into them. Incidentally, the hands designed for the spells have orange paint applied to the ends of the pegs in order to better camouflage them. It actually works quite well as behind the discs, the hands take on the same orange hue. Hats off to SHF for this bit of visuall trickery. Other than the way the cloak sits, I really like how nice this figure looks and I'm very happy to give it a 9 out of 10 for appearance.
ARTICULATION
Normally, I'm a big fan of the articulation engineering that goes into SHFiguarts offerings. There is both good and bad with this and unfortunately, for me, the bad outweighs the good by just a bit. Starting at the head, it will turn side to side and look down very well. The neck also moves, which helps with the downward tilt. Unfortunately, looking up is very limited, even without the cloak in the way. With the cloak, if you try to pinch the collar closer together, the back will push his head forward. He does have great side to side tilting motion though. The shoulders are a bit surprising. There is full 360 rotation and the arms can raise to beyond a T pose. The butterfly joints have decent forward range, but to my surprise can move backward much further. I didn't expect that much range to them, so that's a nice feature. There is no bicep rotation, but the arm does have a hidden minimal rotation to it at the shoulder socket. The elbows bend in fairly deep and the wrist pegs allow for rotation and hinge motion. Additionally, the wrist pegs are firm enough that they don't tend to move when you are trying to swap hands. The torso joint is hidden behind the belt and while it does allow for turning and some side-to-side tilt, the backward tilt is far superior to the forward crunch. I was disappointed in that I'd hoped to be able to get some deeper crunch poses for him. Sadly, the great leg articulation is hindered by the robes. They are soft material and fairly pliable, but kicking his legs forward does get hindered. Thankfully, the side slits do allow for some amazing splits. The upper thighs do have a very nice swivel to them, which is helpful as well. The knees are double jointed and will bend just beyond 90 degrees. His ankles hinge and pivot with ease and the toe articulation is sturdy and moves nicely. You likely aren't going to get him into too many dynamic poses, but what you can do is good enough. Unfortunately, getting him into a decent cross-legged mediation pose likely won't happen, at least not for me. That said though, I'm still feeling somewhat disappointed with the diminished articulation from a company that generally puts out more quality engineering. I'll give this figure a 6 out of 10 for articulation.
AFFORDABILITY
This figure typically retails for $84.99 on BBTS but I was very fortunate to catch it on one of their sales for $59.99! Given that SHF has been retailing many of their figures over $90, even at regular price, this figure is worth it. There is enough good in this figure that the price is reasonable. With that said, I'll give it a solid 8 out of 10 for affordability.
Overall, I have to admit that I like this figure a lot more than I originally expected. I wasn't happy to see that the stand for displaying the cape comes separately and I was a bit disappointed in the articulation limitations, but all things considered, I'm pleased to have this in my display. So the Bandai/Tamashii Nations SHFiguarts Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness action figure earns a solid:
8 out of 10 ToyBoxes.
Dr. Strange is a good, solid figure and SHF does him justice with this offering. I hope you enjoyed our take on this very cool figure and as always, thank you for taking some time out of your day to spend in Dan's ToyBox! Until next time... GEEK OUT!!!