Brandon Lee as the Crow in the awesome 1994 movie.
The Crow, 18 inch talking doll by Spencer Gifts, 2001
I have several 18" talking dolls. My favourite is The Crow in the likeness of Brandon Lee. It was made by Spencer Gifts (a Universal Studios Company) in 2001 and is awesome! I can't believe what a great job they did on this one. I consider this doll to be a work of art.
I have several 18" talking dolls. My favourite is The Crow in the likeness of Brandon Lee. It was made by Spencer Gifts (a Universal Studios Company) in 2001 and is awesome! I can't believe what a great job they did on this one. I consider this doll to be a work of art.
It has very cool detailing in the sculpting (face, hands, boots) as well as the costume. I think the rooted hair is perfect for it too! The face painting is amazing and the sculpting looks exactly like Brandon Lee. He even has actual masking tape wrapped around his waist and leg just like in the movie. It's easily the coolest of the 18" talking dolls that I've ever seen. Often, when I talk about my collection I'll say "this is one of my favourites", but this is one is my favourite! I'm so happy that this doll was made, I keep it out on display always!
The Crow, 12 inch talking doll by Real Toys/NECA, 2002
This Crow doll was sold as a limited numbered series of 30,000 which to me doesn't seem very limited though I suppose if they are distributed world wide they would become a challenge to find. I do see this doll on e-bay from time to time, which is how I got one. This specific doll is number 401 so its from the early run of the production. The talking feature is activated by pressing the doll's chest, and plays three different sound clips from the film...
1) Brandon Lee's actual dialogue saying "It can't rain all the time"
2) Brandon Lee's sinister laughter (and rather creepy too!)
3) The sound of a crow cawing
Here are some larger pictures to show the detail....
Without the jacket you can see how they cut "bullet holes" in his shirt, added actual masking tape around the waist and leg, and added silver buttons to the front of the pants.
Here's the back view with his long hair. They did the hair for this doll perfectly!
Here's a closer view of his face and costume from the front.
He has a ring on a black string around his neck.
A side view of his face shows what an awesome job they did with the sculpting and the painting. It's perfect!
The hands are very detailed too. Here is the front and back view of the left hand. The right hand was sculpted differently rather than just making a mirror copy and the bandages are different. The skin tone is painted onto black plastic.
Most dolls only have one boot that is copied to make a pair, but the amazingly talented and awesome people who made this doll took the extra step to make two different boots!
The Crow 18 inch talking doll is the best doll in my collection! It's awesome!
This talking 12" Crow doll was made by Real Toys in 2002. Its okay for a crow doll, but not amazing. I find the face doesn't look at all like Brandon Lee who is quite dominantly featured on the cover and sides of the box. This suggests that the doll is intended to be based on the film. In fact the face is quite bad (and very unevenly sculpted) which is a shame as the costume is well done. If only they took a little more time to get the face right this could have been a very cool 12" doll. The doll's body is also not very well put together, though on the plus side it has many points of articulation.
This doll also comes with a plastic crow (bird) figure. The button to make the "talking" recordings play is on the doll's back. There are four different captions.
I have this doll packed away for now so I'll list the talking captions later on sometime... eventually!
The Crow "Reflections" 7 inch action figure set by NECA, 2004
NECA has produced several Crow action figures and collectables. I only have a few. Here is a really cool set called "Reflections" based on a scene in the Brandon Lee film. This was a special boxed set however each of the Crow figures were also sold separately. As such the desk in the center was only available with the boxed set.
Both figures have the same legs and boots, and come with a figure stand. The figures have some movable parts (the neck, waist and boots turn, the legs turn at the hips, and the arms turn at the shoulder) but they aren't very posable. The figures look pretty goofy when you move the limbs out of position, as they are basically made to stay in the same position.
The figure of the crow with the trench coat and crow bird was packaged separately two years later in 2006, with a base designed to look like a graveyard with a tombstone. The shirtless crow figure was reissued a four years later in 2008, packaged separately with a guitar on a strap over his shoulder, and the face was painted with the white and black crow face. It's actually a cooler looking figure than this one.
I really like all the detail that NECA put into the desk, as well as the candles and stuff that are on the desk. Everything is attached. The only down side about his much detail is that it's difficult to dust in between everything! LOL I need a mini Swiffer duster!
The set even comes with a separate clown mask on a string to hang on the mirror the way it was seen in the movie. I taped mine onto position so that it wouldn't fall off and get lost.
The Crow 7 inch action figure set by NECA, 2006
Here is another awesome set of Crow figures by NECA. This set is based on the climatic battle between the Crow and Top Dollar, as seen in the Brandon Lee film. The set comes with the church rooftop. The lighting rod accessory that the crow is holding is supposed to have a much longer tip on it but it unfortunately broke off. I still have it, I just keep forgetting to buy crazy glue so that I can fix it! LOL The figures have the same limited articulation as the 2004 figure set, only in this case the figures legs do not turn at the hips and Top Dollar's feet do not turn. As such this is essentially a diorama rather than an action figure set.
The figure of the Crow was also sold separately at the same time. It came with the lightning rod and a modified base that has the post from the rooftop (which is behind him). Top Dollar and the larger roof top display base were only available in this boxed set.
Here is a better view of the Top Dollar figure.
Here is a closer look at the Crow figure.
The Crow 3 3/4 inch action figure by Reaction / Funko, 2014
This figure is so cool, I just love it! Not only am I a huge fan of this movie but I also adore Brandon Lee! I wish Funko had also made a version of the Crow with his trench coat that included a small crow bird! They could have also made a shirtless version of Eric Draven that comes with his guitar, along with other characters from the film such as Sgt. Albrecht, Top Dollar, Funboy, and Sarah. That would have been a really cool series to see!
Here is a closer look at the figure itself which, along with the packaging and "ReAction" logo, is styled after the original Star Wars Kenner action figures from 1978.... because retro stuff is cool! :) This Eric Draven figure comes with the decorative rod (lighting rod) that he swiped from the Church roof during his climatic fight scene with Top Dollar at the end of the film.
Above is the back of the card. This figure was released as part of a "Horror Series" which I find odd as The Crow movie wasn't a horror film. There were a couple of scenes involving eyeballs that were a bit gross, but to me that doesn't make this a horror flick. The film is certainly stylized to have a dark, gothic look, but if that qualifies The Crow as being a horror movie then so were the Batman / Dark Knight movies! In any case, I'm very happy to finally add this awesome little figure to my collection!
The Crow POP figures by Funko, 2014 and 2024
On the left is the original Crow Funko Pop figure from 2014. On the right is one of the two more recent figures from 2024. I didn't end up buying the second figure from 2024 as it was in the same pose as the 2014 figure, just a re-sculpted version with a revised design. You can see it on the back of the box below.
These little Funko POP figures are really cool. I like the way they styled his hair for the newer figure. The flames are shaped like the crow, which is based on a scene from the Brandon Lee film. It's funny that there have been so many additional Crow movies, yet the original Brandon Lee film is always still the best one. You can't remake an awesome movie like that, it's untouchable!
In 2018 I met James O'Barr, creator of the Crow and author/illustrator of the original "The Crow" graphic novel which was also published as a series of comics books. I'm on the left, and Mr. O'Barr is on the right. Mr. O'Barr was very kind and singed my copy of his book, as well as The Cow Reaction action figure which I had brought with me. I also bought one of his original, one of a kind illustrations which I keep hanging up next to my display of Crow collectables.
WWF Wrestling, Sting 6 inch action figure by Toy Biz, 1999
Here is an awesome Toy Biz action figure from 1999 based on the WWF wrestling character Sting, who quite obviously based his character on the Crow, specifically Brandon Lee's film version of the character. It's a total rip-off. I really don't know how they got away with this? I hope James O'Barr, the creator of The Crow, was cut in on the licensing for Sting merchandise!
Not only does Sting have essentially the same hair style as Lee's version of the Crow, but he also dresses the same in a black leather trench coat (but with wresting tights and boots instead of leather pants and black leather boots). He also has similar face makeup. Normally Sting has white makeup on his face with black details, just like the Crow, but this figure has a red face with black details as it's a variation of the original figure that had the white face.
The figure shown above is "New World Order (NWO) Sting" from the "Smash N' Slam" series of figures. It came with a WWF logo base to stand the figure on, although the post on the base is to wide for the hole on the bottom of the figure's foot. I have the figure standing in front of the post for the photo.
Here's a back view of the doll jacket to show the detail, such as the inset shoulder sections, which is quite impressive for a 6 inch figure.
By the late 1990's I had stopped watching the wrestling TV shows. Yet, I thought this figure was cool because of the resemblance to the Crow and because it has such an awesome "leather" doll jacket. Here again, just like when the original G.I. Joe dolls were introduced in 1964, we have a very macho, manly event, in this case wrestling (in G.I. Joe's case it was the army), and the toys that are being made to represent it have doll's clothes! This is such an oxymoron, I just love it!!! It shows how hypocritical people can be. That is, in order to be macho and manly it's not okay for boys to like dolls, but apparently it's okay for their action figures to have doll jackets, because dolls aren't cool, but action figures with doll jackets are. Huh? How does that make any sense? LOL
I've also seen wresting action figures with doll T-shirts, doll wresting tights, and doll pants, but don't call them dolls... no no, these are "action figures". How silly! Add to this that the same year the above Sting figure was made, Toy Biz also produced an 9 inch doll version of Sting with removable jacket and costume, which is actually a lot cooler looking than this action figure. Toy Biz was also producing their 9 inch dolls of the Marvel superheroes at the same time, so the 9 in Sting doll likely has the same type of doll body.
Here's the 6 inch Sting figure next to the Mego 8 inch Spider-Man for size comparison.
A closer view of Sting's face.
This figure has an awesome action feature that doesn't work with the jacket on.
If the arms are placed out in front of the figure like this....
...and the legs squeezed together (I put an elastic to hold them together for the photo) then the arms open wider and Sting's head tilts back, as though he's doing some kind of barbaric yell. This type of action feature was first seen on Kenner's "Super Powers" action figures that were based on DC Comics superheroes, and produced in the mid 1980s.
The Sting figure also has scorpions on both sides of the outfit that aren't visible unless the jacket is removed.
