REVIEW: Dark Horse's ELFQUEST Mini-Busts

The fantastic adventures of Cutter, Leetah and Skywise continue...

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In 1978, Wendy and Richard Pini put out a small black and white comic called ElfQuest #1 and millions have since fallen in love with this imaginative telling of elves, trolls, and humans. There have been many publications of ElfQuest, including at least two versions colored by the Pini's themselves, a line of action figures and now Dark Horse Deluxe has produced a set of mini-busts bringing three of the most central characters to us in three dimensions.

The approximately 6-inch tall mini-busts are each done in a limited production run of only 1500 hand-numbered pieces with the license, character, sculptor, and number printed on the bottom of the pedestal. I really like that the sculptor has been given credit right on the piece. One does not need to look for packaging or try to remember who's work it is. More companies should be doing this.

PACKAGING: The packaging is pretty basic, but it does exactly what it is meant to do. Each box offers some of the Pini's line art of that character done almost as parchment as a background for photos of the mini-bust itself. The character's name, the production run and the sculptor are added to the front of the box, all the info one would need to deicide if they might be interested in the product. An individual color is striped down each box corner and on the top and bottom to help bring out the primary color in the bust.

The left and right side panels offer left and right side photos of the mini bust with a note about the articulation (I'll get to that in a bit), while the back offers a brief background of the character and websites for both Dark Horse (darkhorse.com) and ElfQuest (elfquest.com).

SCULPT: Master sculptor Tim Bruckner (timbruckner.com) has been given the task of bringing the Pini's work into three dimensions, and he has done a wonderful job. Rather than offer an interpretation of the ElfQuest designs, Bruckner stuck true to the Pini's art, something not every sculptor can pull off. Facial expressions are right from the reference drawings, and the poses call forth the strengths of each character. Leetah's open and outstretched hands offer hope friendship and understanding while Cutter's crossed arms and watching eyes show his protectiveness and willingness to lead. Skywise is pondering his loadstone while keeping a ready hand on his sword, but his mischievousness comes through in his grin and eyes.

Textures like Cutter's cape and Leetah's hair band immediately register as wolf pelt and metal respectively. Even the little details in their pedestals like leaves, bark and the knife-carved crests reads well from a distance and even better as the piece is examined close up.

Speaking of the pedestals, a great feature has been added to these -- articulation. Like Dark Horse's Hellboy mini-busts, each figure is actually a separate piece with a central post that inserts into its pedestal. This allows you to turn the figure for a better grouping while keeping the crest on each pedestal to the front of the display.

PAINT: In general, the paints on these are excellent. Skywise and Cutter are great, featuring a mixture of matte and semi-gloss finishes that work very well. Semi-gloss paired with matte black really brings out their eyes, providing a touch of personality that takes a good sculpt to that next level.

Skin tones are good, with Skywise being a tad lighter than Cutter. The touch of color in their cheeks shows a great attention to detail as well. Alas, it is Leetah's hair and skin tone that bothers me. For me Leetah has always been very dark skinned, almost African, with dark reddish brown hair. The figure has Leetah's green eyes, but I feel her hair needs more red in it. Her skin tone, while darker than the other two, is just not dark enough. The Leetah mini-bust is more olive in color than the deep chocolate hues that the Pini's have used.

That said, the quality of Leetah is no less than that of the other two -- her dress is a beautiful blue and there is no slop on the piping. In fact, I could find almost no slop on any of these busts; lines were followed well and even details like fingernails were dead on to the sculpt. There is some amazing quality in the paint application here.

COST: Each of these ElfQuest mini-busts retails for $49.99. It's the going rate for a resin sculpture of this size and considering their more limited run than most busts, a rather good price.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: ElfQuest is one of those licenses that most have heard of, but may not truly know. These mini-busts offer a beautiful group of statuary for those that know the characters or not. For true ElfQuest lovers, these are a must-have; there accuracy to the Pini's art is just too good to ignore.

For more images of the Cutter, Leetah and Skywise mini-busts, CLICK HERE.

Review and Photos by Mark Meyer

Review Samples Courtesy of Dark Horse