The Loyal Subjects KISS BST AXN “The Demon”

“You’ve Got Great Expectations…..“

Yep, you’ve got great expectations, but does the recent The Demon 5″ action figure from The Loyal Subjects meet those expectations? Yes…..and no. I really do like the figure overall, but there are a few things about it that have me scratching my head.

Before we get to the negative stuff, let’s talk about the positive aspects of this figure. For starters, the design of the figure is pretty cool. No, it’s not an exact duplicate of Gene Simmons (that’s not the point of BST AXN figures), but it has decent paint apps. The figure’s design is based off of Gene’s 1976 Destroyer Tour suit. It comes with removable wings and some nice accessories. The accessories include two of Gene’s guitars, the beautiful black Punisher bass and the iconic Axe bass. It also features a mic and mic stand and an alternate set of hands. There’s also a BST AXN sticker included.

Despite having twenty two points of articulation, the figure has posing issues. The wings get in the way of posing Gene and they easily pop off of the figure. The wings also prevent posing Gene in his iconic “bass straight up and down” pose. On the Destroyer tour, Gene had fabric wings that could be disconnected at the wrist. I honestly believe that detachable soft goods wings would have been a better option for this figure. Perhaps it would have affected the price point which currently sits around fifteen bucks, but the hard plastic detachable wings on this figure really bother me. Also, the legs are pretty stiff as are the arms. This is a good thing if you plan on posing the figure once and leaving him as is, but I plan on changing up his look once I get my hands on some of the upcoming figures in this line. One final complaint, and it’s minor but noteworthy, is the fact that the photo on the box appears to be of Gene from the Reunion tour and not a photo from the original Destroyer tour. I’m being nit-picky here, but I thought that I should bring it up for hardcore KISS collectors.

I’ve ultimately decided to box this figure back up until I can find the Ace Frehley/Space Ace figure that’s soon to be released. The Demon figure was said to have been released in Walmart in late October of last year, but I am only now seeing the figure on pegs. It is also supposed to be available now at Target and Hot Topic, but I have yet to see one in the wild at either location. This might be a stocking issue with the stores or a shipping issue due to COVID-19 or something else. I’m merely speculating on this and hopefully I’ll see Ace on a peg sooner than later.

I definitely recommend this figure to KISS fans. If you’re a member of the KISS Army like myself, you’re probably staring at this figure on the shelf as you’re reading this post. Despite the wing issues, it’s a pretty cool figure to add to any KISS collection. If you’re a fan of hard rock in general, there are other figures in this line including Slash from Guns n’ Roses and Angus Young of AC/DC that I have seen on the peg. More figures are on the way.

As a huge KISS fan, I’m probably critiquing this figure a bit harder than other figures, but I do believe that my complaints are justified. The packaging looks awesome despite the wrong photo on the front and I really love the bass guitars and Gene’s overall look. Keep that in mind while deciding on whether or not to snag this figure. As soon as the Ace figure hits shelves I will be getting it, so be on the lookout for that review in the future.

KISS was born to be action figures, so seeing these guys in an affordable and easy to collect line of figures is great. Hopefully we will see the Starchild and the Cat added to the line in the near future. If you’re a dreamer like me, nothing would warm your heart more than to see the Fox and the Ankh Warrior added to this line as well but I don’t think that that is going to happen. Heck, it would be really cool if The Loyal Subjects gave us a Paul Stanley Bandit action figure!

Thanks for checking out my review. I hope that you enjoyed it. If you have this figure or any other figure that I’ve reviewed, let me know what you like and dislike about them in the comments. Feel free to share this post on social media as well.

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