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The Ghost of Christmas Past is an important milestone in the Figura Obscura line, as it is the first time we have revisited a theme and done a second release to start a “series within the series.” While we did previously announce our plans to release additional “Gods of Ancient Egypt” deities in order to build out that sub-series of Figura Obscura, the Ghost of Christmas Past is the first time we actually have a second distinct Figura release from a series now in hand. This spirit joins last year’s release of the Ghost of Jacob Marley as two characters from Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol.” In fact, we even teased that this was coming on the final page of the booklet that came with old Marley last year, stating that “the Ghosts of Christmas shall return.”

While the design of the Jacob Marley figure was fairly straightforward and true to many of that character’s depictions, when it came to the Ghost of Christmas Past, we had some decisions to make – starting with what gender we wanted to present this character as.

As we have stated earlier in this article, this ghost has been seen as both a male and as a female, and the description in the book gives ample points to support either choice. In the end, we chose to make the character female to create some variety in the line and within this little subset of figures we are creating. The Ghost of Christmas Past would be only the second female Figura Obscura released, with the first being the Bastet figure that was available earlier in 2024.

Examining the description of this spirit further, there were a number of key elements we decided to use in the design of this figure, starting with the indistinctness of its shifting form. The text refers to how the quantity and placements of the ghost’s limbs seemed to change as Scrooge first looks upon it. Interestingly, this is something that very few adaptations of the story really use, probably because a character with “one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now a head without a body” is just bit too off-the-wall to depict on screen! We, however, saw this as a way to do something interesting with the figure, and so we decided to give the ghost 4 arms. Two of these arms plug into a new back adapter that is hidden under the ghost’s dress, so you can display the spirit with either 2 or 4 arms (or 3…or 1…or none at all!), depending on the look you wish to achieve.

The three faces that come with the figure also embrace this idea of an ever-shifting appearance for this strange spirit. The figure includes her main face with very beautiful features and another that is corpse-like and decayed. A third option shows a transition between these two extremes, as if Scrooge was seeing her visage change and shift before his very eyes.

In the original story, there is a jet of brilliant light coming from the head of the spirit. We decided to depict this by painting the inside of the ghost’s crown as if light was shining within it. We did discuss the possibility of adding “light up” electronics to this figure, but realizing that an addition like that would hamper some of the swapabilty of the toy, we elected to leave it off.

Examining the description of this spirit further, there were a number of key elements we decided to use in the design of this figure, starting with the indistinctness of its shifting form. The text refers to how the quantity and placements of the ghost’s limbs seemed to change as Scrooge first looks upon it. Interestingly, this is something that very few adaptations of the story really use, probably because a character with “one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now a head without a body” is just bit too off-the-wall to depict on screen! We, however, saw this as a way to do something interesting with the figure, and so we decided to give the ghost 4 arms. Two of these arms plug into a new back adapter that is hidden under the ghost’s dress, so you can display the spirit with either 2 or 4 arms (or 3…or 1…or none at all!), depending on the look you wish to achieve.

The three faces that come with the figure also embrace this idea of an ever-shifting appearance for this strange spirit. The figure includes her main face with very beautiful features and another that is corpse-like and decayed. A third option shows a transition between these two extremes, as if Scrooge was seeing her visage change and shift before his very eyes.

In the original story, there is a jet of brilliant light coming from the head of the spirit. We decided to depict this by painting the inside of the ghost’s crown as if light was shining within it. We did discuss the possibility of adding “light up” electronics to this figure, but realizing that an addition like that would hamper some of the swapabilty of the toy, we elected to leave it off.

For the figure’s dress, which is described as “a tunic of the purest white; and round its waist was bound a lustrous belt”, we once again worked with the CJESIM team. Interestingly, the simplicity of this dress proved to be one of the challenges, as there was the temptation to make the soft goods more elaborate. In the end, a simple design using a semi-sheer fabric to reinforce the ghostly look of this spirit ended up being the right direction for this character.

The next pieces to consider for this figure were the accessories. While Jacob Marley was loaded with pieces thanks to his chains, cashboxes, and keys, there were very few things mentioned in the story that would make sense for this ghost to include - a sprig of holly and a gold extinguisher being the only two items referenced in the original text. Both of those items are included, and Eric also added a second extinguisher that was part of a staff. While not necessarily accurate to the original text, it created a more “action figure-like accessory” for this release while still feeling totally appropriate to the character.

Finally, we once again decided to include a diorama-like accessory piece with this release. The Victorian street lamp and base could be from the scene in the park when Belle releases Scrooge from his promise of marriage, or perhaps near the schoolhouse where he spent his days as a boy. Regardless of how you use it, it provides another cool diorama piece that is great for action figure photos and displays of Figura Obscura or other toy lines!