The Posing of a Pose Skeleton

Pose Skeleton!  The words evoke a kind of feeling one can only describe as "...what?"  If you're feeling the same, then you either A) Haven't seen these at all, or B) Saw these in other people's toy photos and are now like "Oooooh, THAT'S what those things are!"  Either way, I'm here to teach you about the Pose Skeleton and their ways.

I saw these little guys around all over the place eventually, but the first place I saw them was this hilarious tumbler called Giga Blog that ya'll should check out if you want all the laughs.  All they are is...skeletons.  Of varying sizes, around Joe scale, if not a bit smaller (depending on the figure).  And you can pose them. 

Now, every toyline that contains lots of different kinds of figures hits a skeleton at some point (and with Kickstarter and the indie toy scene, I'm swimming in them and laughing all the way to the skele-bank), so ya gotta wonder: What's with these?  Why are they just skeletons?  Just for fun?

Well: YES.  That's it.  They're just fun.  But there's more than that, in this crazy series.

We'll start with the basic skeletons, of which they - and everything in this review - were a gift from my buddy Zach.

They just come in a bag!  It's weird, but I like it.  Minimalist.  Keeps it cheaper that way.  Inside is a standard plastic tray and some directions.

These are all joints like you'd see on a Figuarts wrist, allowing for twists and bends.  It's one of those "anything goes" kind of figures, since there's nothing to get in the way, though I would have liked a bicep swivel of some sort.  The joints sometimes feel a little loose, but since the bugger is so small and light, the joints are never so loose that he collapses. 

Here's a little ad for items in the series; some of which we'll get to.

Within this series, there are "adults" and "kids", the circled ones are the ones we'll be seeing.  The one we're looking at above, I assume, is a younger one, but not a little kid, like the small one.

Scale wise we're still looking at a bit smaller than even a vintage Joe, and that's considering the "adult" size skeleton.  So, if you're looking for that kinda skeleton, Vitruvian HACKS is still the way to go.

But you shouldn't really be buying these for serious skeletoning.  This is mostly for shenanigans of all kinds, and I'll show you why.

ACCESSORY SETS.  Even if you don't buy the skeletons proper, you may want to get into Pose Skeleton accessory sets, 'cause it's everything man.  What I'll show you is just a smattering of the ridiculousness these sets get into. 

Yeah man. That just happened.  With toys.

Though it does bring up a minor gripe about the jaws: They're just ball-jointed into the skull, so technically the jaws don't open that well.  If they were hinged, it would work, but instead the ball joints are pushed UP into the skull, meaning that opening the jaw is just bending plastic.  You can pop the jaw out and lightly put it back in so it's open a bit, but it's awkward when compared to everything else about the figure.

One AWESOME thing about this set and the size of the skulls on the Pose Skeletons:

The red cloak from an old Storm Shadow fits PERFECTLY on it!  The heads of the HACKS skeletons are too small, so the hood just floats above the head (which isn't a knock against the HACKS skeletons, they're just realistically sized when compared to the normal figures).  This fits snug and looks great, and the scythe creates a great, classic Death from Castlevania.

Now all I need is a good Belmont! 

The winner here is clearly the little Metool hat, though obviously that's just a Japanese construction helmet, but what do you want from me?  I'm a Mega Man fan!  That's always gona be a Metool hat. 

AAAWWW YES, that's right!  It's a delightful little rocking chair, table, teacup, saucer, and candle!  What is it with me that THIS is the most exciting one? 

So, final verdict: These things are CUTE AS HELL.  They seem kind of like exaggerated versions of the human body...?  Maybe?  But who cares man, these are awesome! There's a reason you see all sorts of toy blogs taking these around the world and posing them in places, or just setting up crazy scenes with the amazing accessories. 

And MAN, those accessories!  You need anything silly or realistic like this for your Joes?  This is it!  I mean, they're a tiny bit small, but in most cases you won't be able to tell.  There's so much more, too!  There's a freakin' bathroom set with a toilet, a kitchen set with a mid-flipped batch of rice in a pan.  There's....well there's a lot!  And speaking of what else there is in this line...

There are animal skeletons as well!  Zach sent along a T-Rex because I believe that is the universal sign of friendship.

He's a little soft, unlike the hard-plastic human skeletons, but he moves well and can pose with the best of those silly little humans.

Neat thing about this is that he doesn't feel frail at all!  I would hand this over to a kid (well, one beyond the chewing stage) and it could probably stand some mild playwear.  Anything that could break would just pop out, and then you just pop it back together again.

These are all great items, though no where near super-collectable frail quality.  They're nice and playable and FUN, which is the most important part.  Granted, the accessories are more along the collectable quality, but the skeletons are ready for what'chu got, bro.  Bring it.  Especially the T-Rex!  if all the animals are the same quality, I wouldn't hesitate to get more.

Give 'em a shot if you run into them!  They're all Japanese, so you gotta run to your favorite import shops, but they're surprisingly cheap (or, they should be) so at least grab a single skeleton and decide for yourself!