Review of Simpsons Ultimates Wave 2 Action Figures
Krusty, Bartman, Hank Scorpio, Duffman

Introduction

Super7 has been working with the Simpsons license for a couple years now, both with their ReAction line of figures, and with their much larger and more expensive Ultimates. The second wave of the Ultimates is just now shipping, including Duffman, Krusty, Bartman, and Hank Scorpio. They have two more waves planned, and then things change.

Turns out, Super7 no longer has the license. While I expect we'll see the final two waves of Ultimates, I don't think any more ReAction figures will be hitting stores. Instead, by the fall of this year, Jakks is planning releases of figures in multiple scales and styles.

It will be interesting to see what they end up doing with the license, but until then we still have a few more Ultimates to receive, and for the completists out there, it will be a line you can actually finish! Assuming of course the high price tag - $55 each - doesn't drive you away.

Packaging - ***
These use the same style of boxes as the first wave, with an interior window box covered by a sleeve. The sleeve is a bit flimsy, and you'll have to cut some things - like plastic ties - to get everything out. And get it out you should, as these are fun figures to work with.

One difference though, at least with my figures. The first series came in outer brown shipping boxes with the figure names on them. This time, there was no outer brown cardboard box, but that might be because Big Bad Toy Store didn't get them that way.

Sculpting - ****
Each of these figures come with multiple heads with very unique expressions, as is the norm for Ultimates from Super7.

Let's start with Krusty. The standard head has the wide smile, open mouth expression that was his usual look for the kids. You can almost hear him saying "hey, hey!" He also comes with a screaming portrait, and a depressed, cranky version. It's this last one that I really love, that really sets him apart on the shelf.

Then there's Bartman. Again, he has the standard head he comes wearing, a smiling face showing off his pearly whites. Then there's a closed mouth look, this time with slightly closed eyes. Finally, there's a scared look, as if he's gotten himself into something a bit too much.

I'm bummed there isn't a normal, maskless Bart head. Since you can remove the belt and the cape and have a standard Bart body, a standard head would have been a great addition to create the normal look. And no, you can't simply pant one of these heads yellow - the edge of the blue mask is also sculpted.

Hank Scorpio's three expressions include stoic and unsmiling, screaming, and pissed off. All three have turtle necks, literally, since he's wearing a turtle neck sweater. My preference here is a toss up, but I suspect I'll go with the angry head sculpt on my shelf.

Last but not least, there's Duffman. He tends to be a happy dude, so there's one with a simple smile, and one with an open mouth smile. They all have permanently attached glasses and hats. The third head is pretty specific, from the episode with Handsome Moe, who drives up and says "See how you like a sticker on your face!" and then slaps a Duff sticker over his mouth and nose. This one has the sticker, sculpted in plastic, which attaches with a post that goes into a O shaped mouth. You can remove the sticker, as show in the photo below, although I'm not sure that's a great idea.

Paint - ***1/2
The paint work on this line is excellent overall, with plenty of clean lines and consistent, bright colors. I had very little issue with any rub marks or scratches, and the paint seemed capable of holding up under normal handling and swapping of hands/heads.

The eyes were generally straight and even, although the side eye expression on the angry Hank seemed just a smidge off. My only real problem was with one of the three Bartman heads, where several of the hair spikes were already showing wear on the tops.

Articulation - ***1/2
All the figures are extremely well articulated, and in fact, these are easily the most posable Simpsons action figures ever produced.

All the ball necks have a good range of movement, even with the higher collar on someone like Krusty. The rotating hinge shoulders, elbows, and wrists allow for plenty of arm poses, and swapping the hands was fairly easy. Likewise the ball hips, rotating hinge knees, and rotating hinge ankles can take shallow to deep stances, as well as sitting and kneeling poses. The feet can remain flat on the ground as well, thanks to the rocker movement in the ankles.

Everyone has some sort of rolling waist or chest joint too, allowing you to break up some of the straight lines in the torso with most poses. You can also add a little more movement the poses of Bartman and Duffman, as both have cloth capes with wired edges that can be posed.

Accessories - ****
With two extra heads with every figure, you knew this category was going to be four stars. But most of the figures have lots of additional goodies to boost it as well.

Again, let's start with Krusty. He has seven extra hands, designed to work with various other accessories or specific poses. One is sculpted with a glass containing some liquid (they let you imagine what that is) in his grip. He has his much needed microphone, as well as a pie and a box of Krusty-O's. The detail work on the label for the cereal is very nicely done, and looks great. The best extra is one I hadn't expected I'd like - his cloth bathrobe. It fits great, and works perfectly with the one sullen head and glass holding hand. I wished we'd gotten a right hand with a cigarette, since that would have really completed the look, but I get why they decided against it.

He also comes with a whole 'nother figure, Mr. Teeny. The chimp is wearing his trademark hat and skates, and is nicely scaled with the rest of the line. He only has one point of articulation however, at the neck. Thankfully, he stands great in the sculpted pose.

Up next, Duffman. He also has the two aforementioned extra heads, as well as the 'sticker' that can be removed from his face. He has nine extra hands, in various Duffman poses, plus one wearing the Duff beer 'number one' foam finger. He has a seven pack as well, from this famous scene.

Like Krusty, Duffman has another character - Suds McDuff. This party version of Santa's Little Helper is sculpted in a sitting position, and has just the one point of articulation at the neck.

Next up, Bartman. Along with the two additional heads, he has seven additional swappable hands, including one sculpted gripping some bills. There's the necessary skateboard, as well as a slingshot sculpted so he can be posed shooting it with both hands. And there's a Radioactive Man comic as well.

Tying in nicely is the bird and bird's nest from the episode Three Men and a Comic Book. At the end of the episode the valuable comic is destroyed by SLH, and then used by a bird to line their nest. This accessory is really a great addition, and I love super specific items like this.

To go with it, Bartman also has a second Santa's Little Helper, this time holding the comic in his mouth as he prepares to shred it. He's more articulated than the other two extra animals, with his neck and all four legs jointed.

I mentioned earlier that the belt and cape on Bartman are removable. The belt actually came on mine upside down, and I photographed it that way so you can see. The buckle should be the other way, but you can unbuckle it and reattach it the correct way. I haven't tried it yet, but it doesn't appear to be glued.

Finally, there's Hank Scorpio. He has the two heads, plus five additional hands to go with the two he comes wearing. One of these is holding a cup with "World's Greatest Boss" on it. There's a small, gray grenade as well, that he can hold in one hand.

But his large accessory is the flame thrower. There's the fuel tanks for his back, the hose that attaches from the tanks to the wand, the wand, and a large flame effect that can be attached to the end of the wand.

Compared to the other figures, he's definitely lighter in this department, although the extra heads keep his score high.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
These figures are a lot of fun, and I like this wave quite a bit more than the first. Hank is still an odd choice, but with the accessories and articulation, you'll have a ton of fun posing and re-posing these over time.

Value - **
The biggest issue here is simple - they're expensive. All Super7 Ultimates are expensive. They have plenty of extras, but it's still hard to convince fans to fork over $55 a figure, or $250 for a single wave.

Things to Watch Out For -
As I mentioned earlier, the belt on Bartman is upside down. I haven't tried switching it yet, but it should be doable. Let's just hope it sits right on his hips.

The only other issue is with the turtle necks on Hank. I had one break off from the head when I was swapping them. Nothing a little glue didn't fix right up, but be careful anyway.

Overall - ***1/2
While the price on these is more than a lot of collectors will want to spend, they are really well done, with a ton of great extras and some very useful articulation.

There's also good news and bad news for these figures. And it's the same news. It seems Super7 no longer has the Simpsons license, and it's been taken over by Jakks Pacific. They'll be releasing new figures at the end of this year in several scales.

The bad news for the line is obvious. The final two waves they solicited will be shipping soon, so you will get Kang, Kodos, Mr. Burns, Ralph Wiggum, King Size Homer, Devil Flanders, Radioactive Man, and Drederick Tatum before it's over. That's 17 characters, including the never before seen Poochie from the first wave and Tatum from the last. That means a lot of collectors will either give up now, or never buy any of these with such a short number produced.

However, that's where the good news comes in if you are interested in getting these. The prices on the first two waves are already well below retail on ebay, and I expect we'll see the final two waves get clearanced out as well. I also think picking these up will make a great addition to your Simpsons collection, and will be quite desirable in the long term, especially Kang and Kodos.

In the group photo I included a WoS Krusty and Bartman, in case you were wondering about scale.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has them in stock for $55 each. Use my link and get an additional 10% off, plus free shipping!

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I reviewed the first wave, which included Poochie, Deep Space Homer, Moe, and the robot versions of Itchy and Scratchy.

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

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