Review of Celebrity Simpsons - Aerosmith action figures

Introduction

A couple weeks ago I started my look at the fourth wave of Celebrity Simpsons from NECA by covering Weird Al, Tom Jones, Buzz Aldrin, and Elvis Costello. Like the last couple series, this wave also contains a a famous band. Tonight I'm going to go outside my norm and cover all five band members at once.

The episode in question was early in the series, just season 3. Called "Flaming Moe's", it included the first celebrity band to ever appear on the show, Aerosmith. All five members were on the show: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer, and Brad Whitford. NECA included all five as characters in this fourth series, and this is most likely the last band we'll see them do.

This fourth series also includes a Homer variant, an Otto variant, and a Marge variant, and I'll be covering them quite soon.

These have just started shipping, and I haven't actually spotted them on any local shelves yet. I'd assume Toys R Us will have them eventually, but if you're like me and need them now, there's some excellent sponsors at the end of the review that have them in stock. Expect to pay around $13 - $15 each, depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***1/2
When these started, the bright red packaging was a nice change of pace from the usual yellow, and Homer applauding the star is a nice touch. There's also a terrific amount of character personalization with each one, including a great episode synopsis on the back for the specific show the celebrity was on.

Obviously, it's the same for all five here, but they do each get their own large character photo, and usually these write ups are different from character to character.

Of course, it's not collector friendly - you'll have to tear it up to free the figure. Still, if you're careful you can keep the card back intact, and display the reverse side with the figure.

Sculpting - Tyler, Perry **1/2; the rest ***1/2
It came as a surprise to me, but the three sculpts I liked the best were Hamilton, Kramer and Whitford. They look like their on screen versions, they are done in very appropriate poses, and they stand great on their own.

Then there's poor Tyler and Perry. And yes, every time I say their names together, I hear it too.

Steven Tyler is a very dynamic, energetic singer, even by rock standards. And yet, they chose the least dynamic pose possible. Characters like Penn and Teller got more exciting poses, and even Weird Al is doing something more than standing stock straight. I'm assuming the were going after this scene, but something like what you see on the insert paper of the package would have been preferred. What we got doesn't even seem to go with the rest of the band members. On top of it, he has trouble standing, always a pet peeve for me.

Joe Perry has a better pose, but suffers from toppling syndrome as well.  He also has some atrocious hair - I know it's gotta be big, but it has almost no detail, making it look like a giant lump of plastic on his head. In person it's particularly wonky, since it is extremely thick from front to back. Check out the very first photo of the group to see him from that angle, and you'll understand what I'm talking about.

Paint - Perry **1/2; the rest ***
The overall paint quality is similar to the previous releases. It's not going to win any awards, but it's solid B work.

For most of the figures, the biggest issue is dirt and crud in the actual paint. These clumps are pretty obvious, and I don't think I had a single figure that didn't have one or two.

On the plus side, four of the five figures have great eyes, with clean whites and tracking pupils. The one exception to that is poor Joe Perry, who has a weird walleyed look that does nothing to improve the appearance of his sculpt.

Articulation - **1/2
There's nothing new or special about the articulation here, and with two of the figures - Tyler and Perry - their ability to stand is questionable.

All the figures have a cut neck, cut shoulders and cut waist. Because of the long hair on most of the band members, the neck articulation is limited. On some, like Joe Perry, it's completely useless. On others, like Kramer or Hamilton, it still functions well enough to have value.

The shoulders and waist allow you to get a good pose with the instruments, and for most of the figures, allow you to get that perfect center of gravity. Unfortunately with Joe Perry and Steven Tyler, that's not the case. Both of these figures have trouble staying upright, and you'll have to warm the ankles and feet to reposition them, then quickly cool them to keep them in that spot long term.

Accessories - ***
Generally with this line, if they have one accessory, I'm giving them a B. All five of these guys have really one accessory - Steven has his microphone, the rest have their instruments (minus the drums, of course), which garner them all that score.

The poses are all designed (with the exception of the already complained about Tyler) to work with the accessories nicely, 

The guitars are easily removable, but there are posts and slots on the straps/backs to hold them in place. The drum sticks are also removable from Joey's hands.

Had they swung a drum set for Kramer, that would have been fantastic, but it's not really all that appropriate it to the show. Besides, you'll want to pose him off to the side with your WoS Krabappel figure anyway.

Fun Factor - ***
All of the Celebrity figures are a ton of fun, particularly if you have the old World of Springfield figures for them to hang out with. However, bands like this are even better, since you can set up all sorts of cool group displays.

Value - **1/2
This wave is going to run you around $15 each, which is a reasonable average for 5 - 6" figures on today's market, particularly ones that are geared towards collectors or fans of a particularly license like this.

Things to Watch Out For -
If you're grabbing them off the shelf, watch for those crazy eyes. Otherwise, you should be good.

Overall - Tyler, Perry **1/2; the rest ***
The final five celebrity figures have been announced as part of wave 5 - Stan Lee, Adam West, Matt Groening, Lenny Kravitz, and Tom Petty - and that makes this the first celebrity ensemble to ever be on the show, and the last one to be made into plastic. That's a bit of a bummer, because as much as I love Aerosmith, I'm disappointed we won't be getting the Ramones.

Still, it's a solid set with only a couple issues for me. A better pose for Tyler and a better hair sculpt and better eyes on Perry, and these would have been one of my favorites. Even so, adding them to the musical Simpsons display is much appreciated.

I still have three more figures to cover from this wave - Grunge Homer Simpson, Rock Camp Otto, and Working Woman Marge. I should have that final trio up sometime in the next couple weeks.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - Tyler, Perry **1/2; the rest ***1/2
Paint - Perry **1/2; the rest ***
Articulation - **1/2
Accessories - ***
Fun Factor - ***
Value - **1/2
Overall - Tyler, Perry **1/2; the rest ***

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has them in a case of 24 figures for $275.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I just covered the first four figures in this wave in part 1, with a part 3 coming soon.

I covered wave 3 in three parts - here, here and here. I covered series 2 in two parts, here and here, as well as two parts for series 1, here and here.

And you'll want to hit up my full list of all kinds of Simpsons related reviews right here.

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