Like the previous waves, the 4th wave of Stranger Things 7-inch action figures from McFarlane was just two figures. After basing the first three waves on Season 1 and having done a box set for Season 2, this fourth wave moved us on to Season 3 with new figures of Eleven and Chief Hopper.
Packaging 3/5
The Season 3 Wave 4 packaging uses the same retro blister card packaging as previous single releases, but with a significant change in colouring from black to white. There is also a layout change with the figure blister moving from left to right. This change will likely frustrate carded collectors, but the changes do feel reflective of the period of the 80's that Season 3 covers.
Like the previous carded releases, the card is designed to look worn and damaged which further adds to the retro feel. You can't open the figure without damaging the card or blister in someway. Once opened the figure is strapped into a small inner tray with tape across the accessories and stand with the figure held in with two elasticated ties.
The rear of the card is generic for both Hopper and Eleven. It shows both figures and their included accessories with no other details or text around the show or characters.
The oversticker you can see is from a UK distributor who appears to be the one shipping these to a number of the discount stores.
Paint & Sculpt 3/5
The figure is a brand new sculpt of Hopper / David Harbour and features a more prominent moustache from the original figure. The sculpt is OK and is painted well enough, including some stubble and the injury over his left eye. While the facial decor is better than most at this scale, it is not face print technology so still looks a little basic compared to what Hasbro are doing.
The shirt is the star of the show in terms of decoration with its extravagant 80's pattern, inspired by Miami Vice and other such shows. The jeans are plain in comparison but have a denim texture. They are missing a wash to bring out the detail and give them a more stonewashed effect.
The skin tone is quite chalky and the paint job overall is quite easy to scrape or scuff. There are a couple of paint bleeds - particularly at the shirt sleeves where the white of the shirt bleeds on to the skin tone.
Accessories 2/5
Hopper comes with a number of accessories, starting with a bottle of wine in a black plastic with green label and printed text on said label. This fits into the right hand of Hopper and the articulation can raise it to toast, but not quite get it into his mouth to drink.
Accessory two is his revolver, a carry over from the original Hopper figure. For the scale this carries a lot of detail and is quite well decorated with a silver body and black grip. It is designed to fit in the right hand where there is a flexible trigger finger to slot into place.
Then it all goes a bit strange! Hopper comes with a Walkie-Talkie, the same one as has been packed with any of the kids to date. It cast in black plastic with some silver and red details on the aerial and control buttons. To get the figures to hold this it has a socket on the back which lines up to a special hand that includes a corresponding peg.
Being an adult, Hopper has his own cast hand which is bigger and is a left hand when the usual ones are right. It has a very odd looking fin on the side of the hand which I assume is an error from the factory.
So off you go and pop off the left hand.... and they are two different fittings. The hands on Hopper use a very odd twin clip that the hand sits into and rotates - not a more traditional peg. But the spare hand for the walkie talkie is designed for a peg. The upshot is the hand and Walkie Talkie are therefore useless. If you are lucky the original hand will go back on - if you are unlucky the joint will disintegrate.
For a company like McFarlane to make such an error is a big one? My only thought is that this is packed for use on Season 1 Hopper as a bonus piece.
Hopper does come with the clear Stranger Things stand. This seems to have lost the yellow hue and is a nice clear plastic with bold red printed logo. Hopper has only one socket on his right foot to line up with the stand peg.
Articulation 3/5
Chief Hopper has a total of 14 points of articulation, which does make him quite difficult to pose outside of a few arm movements.
Head : ball joint neck
Body : waist swivel
Arms : ball joint shoulder, single rotating elbow, wrist joint
Legs : ball joint hips, single rotating knee, ankle rotation
The arms bend enough to give some posing options with the gun and the wine bottle, but would need to have double jointed elbows for full motion. Neck and waist movement is minimal and very stiff.
The legs cant move much at the hips due to the overhang of the groin area. The knees dont move and the ankles cant so much be called rockers, and rather just rotate. This does mean Hopper stands fine without the stand.
A lot of the joints are quite ugly looking, particularly the elbows with the exposed ratcheting and the wrists which have a notable gap.
Summary
I admit to only buying this figure when it went on clearance at £10, having been disappointed with the other McFarlane Stranger Things figures at their £20 RRP, this one has the same issues but is more palatable at a lower price.
The figure, like all of the Stranger Things figures, focuses on looks and not the practicalities of articulation or posing. The paint work is good - particularly the shirt pattern - but there are issues like the paint bleed around the sleeves.
Packing it with an unusable spare hand and accessory is a bizarre choice and I can see a lot of broken Hopper's as people pop off those hands ot use the Walkie Talkie and break the mechanism beneath.
I score Hopper a just above average 3 out of 5.
