Review of Swedish Chef
Muppets Action Figure

Introduction

The Muppets franchise was developed into one of the best action figure lines of all time by the now defunct Palisades Toys. Fans loved the line, and a few years ago when Diamond Select announced they'd be taking their own shot at it, there was much gnashing of teeth and wailing of voices. The scale would be smaller, a big concern of those who had collected the earlier line, and no one believed they could live up to the expectations being set.

DST stepped up to the challenge, and created some really great figures in the first three waves. Unfortunately, a planned fourth wave of the Swedish Chef, Rizzo, Sam Eagle, Dr. Teeth, and Zoot, was shelved due to a lack of retailer interest.

However, they managed to come up with a 'deluxe' release for the Swedish Chef, got enough pre-orders, and voila - he's now shipping! Original MSRP was $30, but he's coming in around $23 or so depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***
They needed a box to hold all the goodies, and like most boxes, it's pretty collector friendly. They still used tape to keep some of the smaller items securely in their spot in the trays, and there's a couple twisties (and plastic ties) you'll need to cut.

The box is attractive though, and has a fifth panel front you can open to see the figure and the extras inside.

Sculpting - ***1/2
As I mentioned in the intro, this series is smaller than the old Palisades line, and DST always considered it on par with 6" or 7" action figures. Of course, Muppets are smaller than people - with a few expectations - so generally the figures are in the 3 - 5 inch range, depending on the character. The Chef is one of the taller 'normal' Muppets, and comes in at about 4 1/2" overall.

So this is a tiny guy, making the nicely sculpted details more impressive. The bushy eyebrows and mustache look great, and the internal scale is appropriate. I do wish there was a bit more texture on the 'skin' however, and there's a couple manufacturing issues, like the mold line around the hat and a couple weird air bubble holes on the nose. Some people think these are misaligned nostrils and I suppose that's possible, but whether they are messed up nostrils or a manufacturing glitch, they ain't right.

The hands are sculpted in a couple different grips, and they work pretty well with the accessories. The hat is not removable, but is well placed in its permanent position.

Paint - ***
From the neck down, everything is just about perfect. The shirt lines and pant pattern look great with only a couple minor blips, and the apron is clean and bright.

The hair and face, including the mustache, look excellent as well, with no bleed and no slop. In fact, if not for one issue, I would have given this guy a much better score. Unfortunately, the pink nose is over-sprayed onto the mustache, and it's pretty obvious even in hand. If yours avoids this issue, you'll be in a much happier place, but all the ones I've seen exhibit this issue.

One interesting note - they used a solid blue disc in the elbows, rather than a striped piece. Not sure how I feel about that (it's often hidden by arm poses), and you may have your own personal feelings about it.

Articulation - ***1/2
I don't know if they could get any more joints into a figure this small, particularly considering the character design.

The ball jointed neck could use a little greater range of movement, but there's some tilt and lean possible. The rotating hinge shoulders, elbows, and wrists work well together, allowing for most normal arm poses. The portly torso cuts off some cross body movement, but it's not unexpected.

The hands swap easily, but did tend to pop off while I was working with them. Easy enough to pop back on, and I didn't have any fear of breakage.

The rotating hinge knees and ankles have a good range of movement, even with the baggy pant sculpt, but it's the hips that really impressed. There's even more movement here than you'll ever need - he can do a full Van Damme split if you so desire.

Accessories - ****
If it were possible to give this guy more than four stars in this category, I most certainly would. They took the opportunity with the 'deluxe' release and hooked him up with a ton of kitchen goodies.

I mentioned swapping the hands earlier because there's one additional set. The grips on the four hands are slightly different, some more open, others tighter, and you can get them to work with most of the accessories. A couple are still a problem, but it's a reasonable all purpose solution.

Let's talk food - there's a ton. First, the one item that is a little confusing. There are four lumps of bumpy brown food, hollowed out on the underside. I've heard various ideas of what these are supposed to be - coconut shells, or food overflowing from the pots - but I suspect they are lumps of Swedish meatballs. There's a youtube compilation of some of his skits, and one has the meatballs in one of the exact pans this figure comes with, using the exact shaker this figure also comes with, and while he may have used both that pan and shaker at other times, this tends to lead me to believe the lumps are supposed to be meatballs.

Other food includes six vegetables and fruits - two carrots, two apples, and two onions. These represent some of the 'talking' food on the show, each with its own little face.

I mentioned the pans, and there's a bunch, along with a set of pots. There are five silver pots of different sizes, and four frying pans, including the very large one I mentioned earlier. There's also a flat griddle, a rolling pin, the large shaker, and his famous wooden hammer. "Smirk der bird".

But wait, there's more!  He has a wooden fork and spoon, a silver spoon, a ladle, two different spatulas, a cleaver, and last but certainly not least, his tennis racket!

You can't have all this stuff without any place to put it, and they provide a large table.  To keep him company, there's a chicken, perfect for sitting in large frying pan.

Fun Factor - ****
If you can't have fun with this figure, you can't have fun. Plenty of posability, and enough accessories to outfit a kitchen. Some of these extras may even be usable with the Palisades version, although most will be too small.

Value - ***1/2
Regular readers know an average score in this category is **1/2. That score means it will not affect my Overall either up or down.  Anything over that will boost the final score, anything under will detract.

And yes, this figure is well worth the $23 I paid. If you want to know how many accessories to include with your next action figure release, please use this guy as your yardstick.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. The hands are very hard plastic, so be careful when inserting or removing any of the accessories. Otherwise you should be good to go.

Overall -****
How is it possible to get four stars overall when you didn't get four stars in most of the categories? Simple. Be outstanding in the areas where you did get four stars, and leave an impression of the whole that is greater than the parts.

That's exactly what this figure did. I have my nits - I'm not thrilled with the holes in his nose, and that paint on the mustache is annoying. But the articulation is solid, the accessories fantastic, the price point excellent, and thus this becomes a terrific example of Aristotle's quote "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts".

Hopefully the Chef sold well enough to warrant the rest of wave 4, especially Zoot and Dr. Teeth. The band just can't be the band without them.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ****
Fun Factor - ****
Value - ***
Overall - ****

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- has him in stock for $23.

- Entertainment Earth also has him for $23.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I reviewed wave 1, wave 2, and wave 3 earlier. I've covered lots of Muppety goodness over the years, but much of it was in the beginning, back in the early aughts. The last Muppet review I did was the Rainbow Connection Kermit, and that was 13 years ago. Before that, we had Uncle Deadly, Frog Scout Leader Kermit, Palisades wave 7, Cabin Boy Gonzo and Rizzo, Super Grover, Palisades' wave 9, Sweetums, the Backstage Playset, Mini-Muppets series 3, the retailer exclusive versions of Animal, Super Beaker, Palisades' wave 8, exclusive Tuxedo Gonzo, Mega Camilla, Ghost of Sam Arrow, Adventure Kermit, Mega Gonzo, Sideshow's Muppets busts series 4, Palisadies' wave 6, Pigs in Space Playset, Mini-Muppets Christmas Carol set, Palisades' series 5, Mini-Muppets wave 1 & 2, Vaudeville Statler and Waldorf, Koozebane Kermit, Sideshow's Busts series 3, Palisades' wave 4, Mega Animal, Super Scooter, Kitchen Playset, Sideshow's mini-busts series 2, Mega Beaker, Palisades' wave 3, Crash Helmet Gonzo, Electric Mayhem play set, Palisades' wave 2, Sideshow mini-busts series 1, Invisible Spray Fozzie, Tuxedo Kermit and Vanishing Cream Beaker, Muppets Labs Play Set, Palisades' wave 1, and Miss Piggy. *whew*

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

Discussion:
Want to chat about this review?  Try out one of these terrific forums where I'll be discussing it!

Enjoyed this review? Be sure to head back to the main page to find thousands more just like it!

Please share with your friends!

This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.