Medicom's Gremlins Gizmo VCD review

Hobo Wan Kenobi

Sr Member
I've searched the forum and was surprised when I couldn't find anyone who has bought one of these Awesome figures.

Gizmo looks like he is based more on the Gremlins 2 design to me than the original movie. He comes in a very collector friendly wedged shaped slick cardboard box with a blister pack inside. The box opens from either side by cutting the 1 piece of tape that holds it shut.

Gizmo is 10" tall and 13 and 3/4" wide. The fur pattern is awesome as well are the glued on eye lashes. Both of his arms, hands, legs and feet can rotate back and forth. But the real kicker is his head and eyes. His head which is placed on a ball joint and has a wide range of movement and his eyes can turn left and right by holding and turning them both at the same time.

After playing with him for the past hour my overall impression of this little guy is that he is a must buy for any Gremlins, or movie replica collector.

I'm by no means an expert of the Gremlins movies. So of any of you guys and gals see something that I've missed please post it up.
 
Medicom does nice work but it's never cheap as it is all aimed at the collector market. Even their Metal Gear action figures are 50.00 and up. It looks really good though.
 
One small thing about your review, I bought this one myself. To turn the eyes you should feel the backside of his head, there is a small "knob" there (you can only feel it, not see it), you use that to move his eyes ;)

Great "toy", very accurate
 
Think this is the best Gizmo ever officially produced. First time I see this. (Has it just been released?) BUT...the colour of the brown fur is a bit off, IMHO... Plus, the nose and mouth part are a bit too smooth for my taste (again, In My Humble Opinion).

But overall, one seriously awesome piece!!!!
 
One small thing about your review, I bought this one myself. To turn the eyes you should feel the backside of his head, there is a small "knob" there (you can only feel it, not see it), you use that to move his eyes ;)

Great "toy", very accurate

That's awesome. I didn't know about the knob until now. Thanks man.
 
Medicom has some AMAZING pieces. They were always one of my favorite companies, I just wish I had managed to collect more of their items!
 
ive noticed on ebay the prices are insane on this guy, but noticed the christmas one not so much.

is there any difference between the two anyone know? if they are the same id just buy the xmas one and remove the outfit.
 
Thanks Hobo Wan Kenobi for your review. Your review made me finally buy a Medicom Gizmo - and here is my review. :)


As a huge Gremlins fan I had been looking for a good 1:1 Gizmo prop replica for some years. Yes, I tried to make one myself before and no, I don't want to show the results. :lol

However, I love the looks of Rick Baker's evolved Gizmo design from Gremlins part 2.

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There was only one Gizmo replica that I really liked, it is a private commision made by howard s studios.
Except the somehow arrogantly looking expression in Gizmos eyes I think it looks really awesome and it is the most screen accurate one I have ever seen. Plus it is posable. But it is not one of the affordable pieces. :(

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The Ronculus Gizmo statues are technically very well made, but to me none of them looks screen accurate. They look more like an artistic impression of Gizmo. The eyes are tiny, the fur hair is too long, the body is way too slim and the heads are too big, the tiny ears look off.
The bodies of the Ronculus mogwais are made from resin and fiberglass what makes them not posable at all.

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And then there is the Medicom lifesize Gizmo prop replica.
The official product pictures of this doll are awful and they were the reason why I was always reluctant to buy one.
On these images the replica's face looks off with all this long and fuzzy hair around the head and the obscured eyelids.

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In most of Medicom's official images Gizmo looks more like a cheap $20 dollar plush toy than a high end collector's prop replica.
When I saw the images, I always thought the replica didn't even have the right proportions. The belly looks too flat. The head seems to be way too big and seems to merge seamlessly into the body.
Medicom also never shows that the head is ball jointed and has a very wide range of movement.

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But after reading Hobo Wan Kenobis review and this post here it seemed to me as if the Medicom Gizmo could be better than I thought it was.

So I gave it a try and finally ordered one.


I have to admit that I was very surprised by what I received - in a positive way. I would call this one of the most underrated Gremlins prop replicas out there.

First of all, Gizmo is smaller than I thought it was. This makes all the details on him (like the eyelashes) look very subtle.

The body sculpt closely resembles the Rick Baker Gizmo design from Gremlins part 2. The bubble shaped belly and the tiny butt are the cutest things I've ever seen. Everything on this replica is well made and very detailed - look at those tiny fingernails. What really surprised me was that the brown fur looks way lighter in person compared to the images I had seen.

There are a few tweaks that had to be done though. First of all I used a comb and reshaped the fur, especially the facial hair. There is this long and fuzzy hair around the lower face area that needs to be straightened and flattened. I had to free the eyelids from the fur by combing the hair away from the eyes.

I also cut the very long hair around the ears (cut it down approx. 1/2 inch, took away more in the lower ear area, took away less in the upper ear area), darkened the nose and reshaped the ears a little bit. I used a hairdryer to heat the ears up a little and bent and held the tips of the ears down until the material cooled down. You have to overdo the bending a little bit as the ears tend to go back to the initial shape to a certain amount. This works really well and gives the ears a more accurate curved look.

This is how Gizmo looks like after these minor modifications. I like this prop replica a lot and I think it is a must-have for Gremlins and Gizmo fans. Even if you don't want to mod anything else: restyling the fur will give you a very screen accurate prop replica that is well worth the money.

Would love to hear what you think.

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I am very interested in getting one of these so I looked on ebay. I saw two different Medicom VCD Gizmo versions. One version is running $650 and up and the 2nd version adds 3D glasses, is from Japan and runs $350 and up. My question is what is the difference in the 2 gizmos to cause a $300 price difference?
 
There are three versions available:

Medicom first released "Gizmo", then "Santa Gizmo" and the latest release is Gizmo with 3D glasses and three fur-balls. The first two versions have been discontinued which makes them searched for by collectors I guess.

Gizmo is always the same in all three releases, so just look for the cheapest one you can get.

I don't know where you are from, but if you buy from Japan, import taxes will most probably apply.

Have you seen this one on Amazon.com? It is pretty moderately priced at $350 shipped: Medicom Gizmo 3D Glasses Version
 
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Thanks for the incredible review, Emmet. I am so tempted. Been wanting one since I was a kid first watching the movie. ;)

Has anyone ever accurately replicated the box he is transported home in?
 
Thanks. Hard to believe no one here has given it a shot. Maybe I will have to be the first. ;) If you have more reference I would be forever grateful.
 
Always loved the Medicom Gizmo, but just can't see myself spending that kind of cash. That said, it certainly looks worth it if you've got the money to spend. Also, I've never seen the Howard S Gizmo before. That guy is so talented.
 
Always loved the Medicom Gizmo, but just can't see myself spending that kind of cash.

I know, it took me almost three years to convince myself to finally spend the money.

On my hunt for a screen accurate Gizmo I have seen a lot of stuff, unfinished resin kits offered for not much less - and you end up with a semi-accurate statue that doesn't move.
Or look at the Ronculus statues - they sell around $300 - but Gizmo is more than just a lot of hair. :D

Howard's Gizmo is the best one out there by far, but someone who owns one said on sideshowcollectors.com it cost "a fortune".
It is sure worth the money as it is a highly accurate hand made piece.

But if you look at the details and the accuracy Medicom has put into their prop replica, I would at least say the price is fair.

You probably can't tell from the images but Gizmo looks incredibly real in person. He makes me smile every time I see him. That is so worth the money. :)
 
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But if you look at the details and the accuracy Medicom has put into their prop replica, I would at least say the price is fair.

You probably can't tell from the images but Gizmo looks incredibly real in person. He makes me smile every time I see him. That is so worth the money. :)

Well said!
I had immediately bought two back then. And I never looked back. By far the best Gizmo for that price range!
 

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