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Sculpting - *** Stripe sports a cool fur top, a nice way
to handle his famous feature. It's very well attached and doesn't look
simply glued on, although it is. This is a terrific example of how to
integrate fake fur with a plastic figure in an almost seamless way.
I am slightly disappointed with the detail on the furry torso.
The previous versions had lots of detail in the strands and layers, but
this time it's almost a smooth block, especially on the white chest.
Even the arms and legs seem slightly less detailed than previous
releases, but it's not as obvious as the torso. Add in some weird
air bubbles in the body as well, and you get a lower score this time
around. Those air bubbles indicate a manufacturing problem, never a
good sign. The head sculpts make up for it a bit though - once
again, they capture terrific expressions. Stripe might be cute, but you
just know he's evil underneath. And Haskins? What a smug little bastard. These
guys are fairly small, although they are considered a 7" scale. Each
stands about 3 1/2" toe to top of head, but the ears do add a little
height in certain poses.
Paint - *** The ops are
relatively clean, and the colors are consistent in coverage. There's
some minor blips with some of the edges, but that's just what they are
- minor. My biggest issue is with the same torso and chest I
complained about in the previous category. The thick paint appears to
be covering up what little fur detail there is, and those air
bubbles...it's tough to tell if they're a plastic manufacturing
problem, or a problem with the paint operation.
Articulation - *** Although the sculpted fur tends to block some of the joints, there's more articulation here than you'd expect. There's
a good ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders and hips, and cut
wrists. The ears are also ball jointed, and work surprisingly well.
Accessories - Bupkis As has been the case so far with all the Mogwai versions, there's no accessories. Thankfully, the price is a bit lower as well.
Action Feature - *** The
moving eyeballs haven't been a big favorite of mine so far. This time
around, they work much better, staying together in most poses and
actually taking a pose without slipping back. On previous figures, the
eyes tended to just roll around, with one not really tracking with the
other, and they didn't hold position. Both issues are better, but it's
still not perfect.
Fun Factor - *** Unlike some classic 80's flicks, Gremlins
is still one that plenty of parents share with their kids today. That
means most know who these are, and with both the cute factor and the
decent articulation, they make solid action figures.
Value - **1/2
Although there's no accessories here, I bumped the Value score up a
half star over the previous wave of the Mogwai style figures. Why?
Because I paid a couple bucks less each for these at Toys R Us, and
it's so rare these days for prices to drop. These were $13, rather than
$15.
Things to Watch Out For - Not a thing.
Overall - *** I love me some Gremlins - and these figures
do a terrific job of capturing the individual personalities of the
critters, whether in their Mogwai or Gremlin state. The articulation is
surprisingly good for the furry style of character, and size and scale
work well with other movie figures. I'm pleased with the slight
reduction in price with this series, but I'm hoping that the slightly
lower quality in sculpt and paint aren't indicative of an on going
issue.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ***
Paint - ***
Articulation - ***
Accessories - Bupkis
Fun Factor - ***
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***
Where to Buy - You may come across these at your local Toys R Us for around $13, or you can hit up these great sponsors:
- Big Bad Toy Store has them for $14 each.
- Urban
Collector has figures from the various series for around $15 - $17, depending on the character.
- Entertainment
Earth has a case for $190, if you have friends looking to go in together.
- or you can search
ebay for a bargain.
Related
Links - Other figures included the gremlined versions of the Phantom and Lenny, the Mogwai versions of Lenny and
Lenny, gremlined out versions of Lenny, Daffy
and Flasher. And don't forget that NECA started with these years ago.
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