Packaging - **
These packages have the same issue I have with most of the Disney specific
lines - they are simply way oversized. It's done to be cute, and the
skull and crossbones design is cool, but at the expense of space and the
environment.
As an interesting side note on the skeletons in the ride - they didn't
have plastic life like skeletons back in the 60's, and so they used the real
thing, which were sold as research skeletons. Many of the originals
are still in use today in the ride.
Sculpting - **1/2
This is a tough call, although on first inspection you might think a poor
score is obvious.
But these figures aren't designed to look like real people, they are
designed to look the animatronic characters at the attraction. These
are characters built originally almost 40 years ago, and sport a design and
style of that period. It wouldn't have really made much sense to make
these figures look more modern or realistic, since that's not what they are
trying to resemble.
Even with that being said, there's a lot less detail here than you expect
at this price point. They do look like the characters, but lack many
of the specialty market touches, like texture on the clothing, small details
sculpted into the body, and the attention to small features that makes a
specialty market figure stand out over a mass market one.
And these are most certainly specialty market. These are designed
primarily for nostalgia, although some kids who enjoy the ride will also
enjoy these.
Of the two, I prefer the Captain's sculpt. His face does have some
personality, and there's more detail in his hair and beard than in other
areas of either sculpt.
The lady lacks that sort of detail, especially in the face, and ends up
looking very zombie like. There's almost no detail in her dress, although
the sculpted stockings are a nice touch. Neither hat is removable,
which was a bit of a disappointment.
Scale is between 6 and 7 inches, but they are a little more bulky and
chunky than many other figures in this range. Both figures stand great
on their own, and have hands sculpted to hold various accessories.
Paint - **1/2
The paint ops are fairly clean and consistent, but not without their issues.
There's a fair amount of wash used on the Captain's body, which doesn't
work particularly well, since there's not a lot of detail to catch it.
Some of the smaller details are a tad sloppy, and just as there's no use of
the sculpt to differentiate between 'materials', there's no difference in
finish either.
The skin tone on the Lady is a little inconsistent, but the red of her
dress and hair doesn't suffer from that problem. Again, everything is
the same finish, and the paint work does nothing to alter the zombie
appearance.
Articulation - ***
The articulation is surprising good, considering some past efforts from
Disney. They really have made quite a bit of progress with their
in-house toys over the last year or so.
The Lady has a neck joint, which might even be a ball joint. But
it's relatively moot, since the hair makes turning the head in any direction
almost impossible.
She also has ball jointed shoulders (which work quite well) and hips
(which don't work quite as well due to the stiff skirt. There's pin
elbows and knees, along with cut wrists and waist. That's more than I
expected from the figure when I saw her in the package, but the neck joint
is a bit disappointing.
The Captain suffers from the same neck issues, and between the beard and
the hair, there's no turning the head. However, he's got great ball
jointed shoulders, reasonably decent ball jointed hips (they're a little
restricted, but do have some lateral movement), pin elbows and knees, and a
cut waist and cut wrists. You can get him to hold quite a few poses,
and the joints are solid and tight.
Accessories - ***1/2
Neither figure is short in this category, and both sport plenty of goodies.
Both figures have a fairly detailed base, taken right from the
ride. Both have several pieces, like the cannon, cannon balls, and
mast on the Captain's base. Both bases do seem a little small, scale
wise, but not so much as to ruin the appearance. Both of them have
much more detail and realism than the figures themselves.
The Captain also has a sword, telescope, two flintlock pistols, knife and
tankard. All look great, and fit in his hands nicely.
The Lady comes with detachable pieces, like the lantern and barrel, along
with a tankard, rope, knife, pistol, musket, and a little red purse.
That's a ton of stuff, and it all fits in nicely with the ride
itself. This is easily the best feature of the figures themselves.
Value - **1/2
Surprisingly, the price isn't too bad - $12 each. Let's remember,
this is the Disney store at the park, where you'll pay $10 for a hot
dog. This price point actually matches up pretty well with the general
specialty market, and these figures are outfitted with enough accessories to
make it palatable.
Fun Factor - ***
Your kids may not like the character designs, but there's no doubt that the
cool accessories and solid articulation make these quite a bit of fun.
And with pirates all the rage right now, you could do a whole lot worse.
Things to watch out for -
Not a thing really, other than keeping track of some of those tiny
accessories.
Overall - **1/2
You know, this was a weird review for me. When I sat down to write
it, I was sure I was going to rag on these guys. I was already to tear
them up, and figured they'd be lucky to get **1/2 overall by the time I was
done.
And yet, once my kids and I started to play around with them, they
started to grow on me. They still ended up at **1/2, but it's damn
close to ***. The sculpted on hats hurt my overall score, as did the
issues I had with the paint.
The real key here is whether you have any sort of nostalgia for the old
ride or not. If you couldn't care less about the ride, then these will
look like poorly sculpted figures, with little to interest you. But if
you appreciate the nostalgia of the line, then you might enjoy these quite a
bit. These aren't at the level of quality of the recent Disney Heroes
in terms of sculpt and paint, but they still have a few things going for
them, and show a definite improvement over the Disney action figures of a
couple years ago.
SCORE RECAP:
Packaging - **
Sculpt - **1/2
Paint - **1/2
Articulation - ***
Accessories - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ***
Value - **1/2
Overall - **1/2
Where to Buy -
You best hit Disneyland or Disney World!
Related Links:
Let's not forget that there's some pretty cool movie toys out there from
NECA, including the 18" Jack Sparrow,
and the first series of smaller figures.
And if you like Pirates in general, check out the Mez-itz
Pirates, the Mega-bloks,
or if you're looking for a more realistic pirate, how about Blackbeard
from Sideshow?
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