Back in 2008, I heard the exciting news that McFarlane was planning a third line of LOST
action figures, and it would include Desmond Hume, the frazzled
Scotsman at the heart of what is widely considered to be the show’s most
epic love story. That’s only one part of what makes Desmond such an
appealing character, but I feel certain that the McFarlane figure would
have alluded to it, either in the background of the figure’s base, the
special prop included with the figure or one of the sound clips
accessible at a touch of the button on the base. Unfortunately, due to
lack of interest and lack of awareness – the figures received very
little marketing and a lot of fans didn’t even know they existed until
the fifth season, when they were featured in LOST Untangled, a
series of goofy videos promoting the show – the line of action figures
was cancelled after only ten figures and one play set. I never got my
Desmond action figure, but thanks to Bif Bang Pow!, I do have a Desmond
bobblehead.
The most disappointing thing about this Desmond
right off the bat is that these bobbleheads do not have sound chips.
Some of Desmond’s appeal is simply the musicality of his accent, and we
get no hint of that here. The figure also fails to include any sort of
reference to Penny Widmore, the love of his life. Granted, this might
have been a bit complicated to incorporate, but it could have been done.
Perhaps a copy of Charles Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend, the book
containing the letter in which Penny reassures Desmond of her undying
love, could have been resting atop the disk drive. Or we could have
gotten Desmond in the penultimate scene of The Constant, with a
full shaggy beard, a bright blue shirt and an enormous smile, and in the
background a bright red telephone. However, the sculptor decided to
focus on Desmond as we first see him, stuck in a bunker punching numbers
in a computer. (Actually showing the numbers on the computer screen
would have been a nice touch too, but this bobblehead doesn’t fare so
well in the intimate detail department.)
Desmond stands on a
neat square base. It’s flat and dark gray, the same color as the
computer desk that takes up half the space upon it. The top of the desk
is off-white, and the computer and disk drive are mostly off-white as
well, with gray accents. The front of the base has “DESMOND HUME” in
raised white letters, while the back shows the word “LOST.” The angle is
such that the back of the computer desk rests between these two sides.
Hence, we’re seeing Desmond at a side glance, which is a little odd, but
it works.
At a quick glance, a fan would definitely be able to
tell that this is supposed to be Desmond. His hands hover over the
keyboard, and he stares ahead of him. He wears brown shoes and a khaki
jumpsuit with a Dharma Swan station patch on his chest. On his face is a
stubbly beard and mustache, and his brown hair is wavy and almost
shoulder-length. His eyes are deep brown, and his mouth is set in an
enigmatic smile. Frankly, he looks a little too serene to be the crazed
man who introduces himself by holding a gun to John Locke’s
head; the expression seems more in line with what we see from him
throughout much of season six. Still, I’m sure that Desmond did have a
peaceful moment or two during his time as doomsday computer attendant.
The
costume and the setting make this unmistakably Desmond, but of all the
bobbleheads that have been produced thus far, I think that the likeness
here is the least exact. For one thing, Desmond is a swarthy guy, and
here, his skin tone is much too pale. For another, his facial structure
just doesn’t quite seem to capture the essence of Desmond. I don’t get a
sense of his personality when I look at it, and I don’t think his face
looks all that much like Henry Ian Cusick. It’s passable, but since
Desmond is one of my very favorite characters, I was hoping for
something a little more precise.
I still think it’s a great
bobblehead, and I’m glad to have a Desmond figure of some kind to make
up for the lack of one from McFarlane. With that company’s attention to
detail, I suspect the action figure would have been much more exact, and
being able to hear some of his famous quotes in that Scottish accent
would have helped it to seem more fully Desmond. Nonetheless, this is
Desmond at an important junction in the show, and because of the
computer, it’s one of the largest in the collection, so it stands out
and would look great on a computer desk. Whenever you are feeling
frustrated with the headaches your computer is giving you, you can look
up at Desmond and just be grateful that you can leave your terminal for
more than 108 minutes at a time without having to worry about the world
imploding. Kinda takes the pressure off, doesn’t it?
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