Packaging - ***1/2
Sturdy clamshells, attractive inserts with character specific graphics and
text, and a nice arrangement of the figures in the tray. What more could
you ask for? Oh, well, instructions would be nice, but you'll figure out
all three of these by looking at the basic photo on the back of the insert.
Sculpting - Penelope ****; Magilla, T&J ***1/2
Thank goodness these are all done in classic poses, capturing the feel of the
old shows perfectly. Penelope is particularly well done, because the
addition of Muttley, perhaps the most famous other character in the Wacky
Races, really adds to the appeal of the diorama.
Her set also is the only one with metal pegs on the feet. Both her
and Muttley have this feature, which made me far less fearful of breaking
them. The peg that holds the two tires together is plastic though, and
didn't line up particularly well. I ended up not even using it to hold
the stack together.
Penelope's hand is sculpted to hold the wrench, and she can do it fairly
well, but I left the included rubber band on just to make it less likely that
I'd be picking it up every five seconds. It's also worth mentioning that
Penelope is a lot hotter than either Kate or Shannon from the McToys Lost
line. I'm not sure if that says more about the Mcfarlane design team, or
me.
Magilla Gorilla is also in a classic pose, as Mr. Peebles desperately tries
to sell him to some poor unsuspecting fool once again. The hoop around
his waist attaches with a peg on one side, but the hoops over his left foot
are loose, and can be pulled right over the foot quite easily. Try not
to loose them too fast! The pegs for both Peebles and the 'for sale'
sign are quite large, and I couldn't get either to go flush with the
floor. I'd already broken the pointer, so I wasn't interested in
snapping a peg too.
Finally, there's Tom and Jerry. Of the three designs so far, this is
easily my favorite. Tom is chasing Jerry, pushing the throw rug up off
the floor behind him, reaching out with a cartoon style elongated left arm,
trying to trap him under the lid for a serving dish. But Jerry already
has the cheese, and you know this won't end well for Tom. There's even a
puff of dust added behind Jerry, giving the base some much needed visual oompf.
These are done in that general 4" scale, and I've included a shot with
a Family Guy Peter and WOS Homer to give you a feel for the size.
All three of these designs are great, but Penelope is the winner for
me. Too bad the rest of the categories couldn't keep her up at that four
star score.
Paint - **1/2
While these three don't have quite as bad of paint work as the other four,
they are still pretty weak in this category. Again, lots of stray marks,
poor cuts between colors, and slop from one area to the next. Some of
the colors are also inconsistent in coverage and finish, hurting the overall
appearance.
In this set of three, Magilla was the best, but I'm betting that which one
comes out good is a luck of the draw. If you are fortunate enough to be
able to paw through these on the peg, you might get a full set with adequate
paint work.
Articulation - T&J **1/2; Magilla **; Penelope *1/2
Each of the sets has enough articulation to allow some basic posing within the
rather restricted confines of the design.
Tom has a cut neck, cut shoulders, cut wrists, cut tail and cut right
hip. That means you can get his body and head in just the right spot,
with the left arm holding the lid to the back of Jerry (like on the insert) or
above his head. Add in Jerry's cut shoulders and cut neck, and you get
quite a bit more articulation than you'd first expect.
A quick note on Jerry: the cheese is actually part of his head sculpt,
attached permanently at the left ear. The hands and head can be posed
with the cut joints so that the hands appear to be holding it, but it's really
the ear that's keeping the cheese in the air.
Magilla also has a cut neck and cut shoulders, and each of the bananas can
turn and slide on the metal rod between his hands. This allows you some
freedom in the exact location of each banana, and just where he is holding
them over his head. He also has a cut waist, but the suspenders make it
fairly useless, and Mr. Peebles has a cut neck.
Finally, there's Penelope. She has a cut neck, cut waist, and cut
left arm at the glove. The right arm might have a cut joint at the top
of the glove as well, but mine is stuck solid. Muttley has a fairly
useless cut joint on his top right shoulder.
Accessories - Penelope **1/2; Magilla *1/2; T&J Bupkis
Let's start with Penelope. I'm assuming the base and anything that
attaches to it is part of the overall figure, but the two tires are actually
free standing, so they count as accessories. The wrench is also an
accessory, and it fits nicely in her left hand.
Tom and Jerry don't have any extra accessories - even the lid is
permanently attached to Tom's left hand.
Magilla gets a slight score for the two loose hoops that can be placed - or
removed - from his left leg.
Action Feature - **
All three of these have the silly little spring doo-dads. Tom, Jerry and
the rug mount on springs; Magilla mounts on one as well; there's a spring
inside Muttley where his body meets his legs. This feature makes them
bounce around a bit whenever you move them, but doesn't do much for me.
Fun Factor - **1/2
Kids who are lucky enough to get Boomerang from their local cable provider
should know who these guys are, and might like having some statues of
them. I suppose the springs make them a bit more fun that if they were
just static statues, but these are predominately designed for adults,
nostalgic for that time in their lives when bills weren't due, bosses weren't
complaining, and spouses weren't a pain in the neck.
Value - ***
I'm betting Meijers gets these in at ten bucks, but even at $11, they're a
solid value.
Things to Watch Out For -
It's all about the paint, man. Pick out what you can that has reasonable
paint work.
Oh, and be VERY careful getting Magilla out of the package. Between
the thin pointer, the thin loops, and the fact that the two loops on his foot
can fall off easily, there's a world of possibilities for problems when you're
taking him out of the tray. I managed to break the pointer, and that was
being very careful.
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