|
Packaging - **1/2
Hey! It's the same box! Actually, I don't have too much of a
problem with that, since the thing works fine.
It's definitely not collector
friendly, although you can see the playset and the figure nicely.
These are the only toys I open up that require a screwdriver though.
Sculpting - ****
Both of the packed in figures are excellent, and both of these playsets
have terrific detail.
The Krusty Burger has some
great sculpting, with excellent details on the various fast food machines
and displays. The pimply faced teen has a great head sculpt, and is
actually done in great scale. The hat is removable by they way, and
is sculpted to fit tightly.
Muu Muu Homer has the usual
Homer sculpting, but he's sooo fat. The only real flaw here is that
his lower body is actually Casual Homer. Well, sort of Casual Homer
- he has shoes rather than being barefoot, so it is a slight re-sculpt. While the underwear under
the dress is pretty funny, those skinny legs don't quite look right.
But it's a minor flaw, and understandable as to why they did it.
The Kitchen is a work of
art. Not only are there great details, like the notepad above the
phone, but the refrigerator opens, both top and bottom! Not only
that, but they positioned the foot peg in front of the frig in just the
right spot so you could fit Homer there with the door open, looking in!
Stickers - ****
The stickers are great, and plentiful. The Krusty Burger has the
monitor, windows, doors, menu, cash register, etc. Unfortunately,
some of the Krusty Burgers (like mine) doesn't have the stickers on the
small accessories like the fries, burger boxes and cups. You can
tell this since a cup and a box are sculpted into the back counter, and if
they are missing the small stickers, so will the other accessories.
That screw up costs them a half star here.
But the Kitchen makes up for
it, with interior stickers on the frig showing all that healthy food that
Homer loves so much. The curtains should have had the proper
pattern, but otherwise the stickers in the Kitchen are exceptional.
Paint - ****
I couldn't find a problem with the paint ops on either of the pack in
figures, or the playsets. Very nice work, with good color choices
and lots of contrast.
Articulation - **
SSDF, baby. Neck, waist and shoulders on both figures.
Accessories - ***1/2
I've been really happy with the accessories in the last few playsets
and waves. Sure, some are simply reused, but we do get new stuff
every time, and the new accessories are always very accurate.
Homer and the Kitchen come
with a bag of Much Ado About Stuffing (reused), hat (new), and scale (new). Homer fits
perfectly on the scale, and the hat fits great.
The Teen and the Krusty
Burger come with a tray (new), burger box (reused), fries (reused) and cup
(reused). They lost a half star here as well for the lack of
stickers on mine.
Talking Feature - ***1/2
The talking feature on these two playsets gives us lines for characters
like Bumblebee Man or Bleeding Gums Murphy, figures that had few or no
lines up til now, so they were pretty important.
The Kitchen really stands
out, with a total of 136 lines. It isn't the most of any playset so
far, but it's close. Of course, as additional figures are released
we may see the number of lines at the Krusty Burger increase.
If you would like a complete
list, check out the Phrase
Database at the Simpsons
Collector Sector.
Value - ***1/2
Since I picked these up at the $20 price tag, which has been the price for
two years, I'm a happy camper. We'll see prices go up to $25 at some
point this year, probably sooner than later, and of course that will be
too bad.
Overall - ****
This is the best set of playsets produced so far. While there might
be individual sets I like better - both the Comic Shop and Kwik-E-Mart are
still at the top of my list - there hasn't been a wave of two this good
before.
|
