Michael Crawford's Review of the Week

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Cap'n Crunch

Coheteboy is back today with a review of some unique figures - Cap'n Crunch and Jean LaFoote! Take it away!

Some of you might be thinking, "Toys based on Cereal?! This is ridiculous." and the rest of you are probably going, "IT'S ABOUT BLOODY TIME!" Personally, I fall in the latter category. Cartoon characters that represent our favorite cereals have been ignored for far too long. Tony the Tiger has been pushing his Frosted Flakes for as long as I can remember. Same goes for that Leprechaun from Lucky Charms. The honey bee from Honey Nut Cheerios? How about seasonal characters such as Boo Berry and Count Chocula? There are hordes of other great characters just waiting to be made in plastic. With most of us growing up with the sugary sweet cartoon characters (and now running the companies), the time has finally come to see some of our favorites on the spotlight.

In the past year we've seen a few cereal stars get the plastic treatment from Medicom's Kellogg's Vinyl Dolls to Kubricks to Wacky Wobblers. We've even seen many die-cast metal cars gracing the images of some of our favorite cereal spokesperson but we never really seen a regular scale action figure... until now!

The FunHouse Company has secured the rights to make a number of figures based on everyone's (mine especially) favorite: Cap'N Crunch. Funhouse has created the collector edition Cap'N, which is the version everyone will recognize, and one of his rivals, Pirate Jean LaFoote. LaFoote was probably created long before I could even eat solid crunchy cereals so I won't be providing too much info on that guy. But what I CAN do is let you know if either of these figures are for real or not.

Before I begin, it's probably a good idea to inform everyone that there are a lot more Cap'N Crunch figures being worked on as we speak, so this is just the beginning!

Packaging - ***
The packaging look reflects the stylings of the cereal box, which is probably the best way to go about it. The bold red color is a good contrast for the blue Cap'n figure inside, although that doesn't help Pirate Jean LaFoote too well. The card-back gives some background info on the individual character and that's always a good thing. Otherwise I wouldn't have known that Jean LaFoote is a crafty barefoot pirate in search of Cap'n Crunch's treasure! The packaging is very much like anything else out on the pegs so there's no new territory crossed here. It is a decent effort overall.

Sculpting - ***1/2
For being sculpts based on cartoon characters, Funhouse did a relatively good job with the property. The figure itself isn't too complicated but it does look very accurate to the character, which is what persuaded me to purchase the figure in the first place. Cap'n's expression is captured nicely but his arch villain Jean LaFoote, however, does not fair to well. LaFoote does not look like the cartoon depiction shown on the packaging, but if you're looking at him from a toy stand-point, it's not a bad one.

Paint - ***
The paint isn't the best but it's not horribly bad either. This might only be an issue found with my Cap'n but the paint around his eyes aren't very clean. Pirate Jean LaFoote is a little better but there really isn't too much to show for it.

Articulation - ** ½
Cap'N Crunch has seven points of articulation that include: neck, ball-jointed shoulders, and wrists. Pirate Jean LaFoote also has seven points of articulation: neck, ball-jointed shoulders, and hips.

Not a lot of articulation here but it's good enough for what they were shooting for.

Accessories - ***
Both figures come with three accessories each (four if you count the stickers). Cap'N's booty includes a treasure chest that opens to reveal STICKERS! He also comes with a telescope with a "C" painted on (I refuse to call it a 'Crunch-a-scope') and a treasure map.... with his face on it.

Pirate LaFoote also comes with a treasure chest full of.... MORE STICKERS!!! So what are on these stickers? There's one with the Cap'N Crunch logo, another one with Cap'N's face (he really loves himself), and another one with Cap'N's ship, The SS Guppy. LaFoote's treasure chest is cooler though since it has crossbones on it (Cap'N's has, you guessed it, a big "C" painted on). This old pirate also comes with his pet Squawky the Parrot, who sits nicely on his right arm, and his pirate flag.

I was hoping there'd be a bowl of cereal included with either of these figures since the accessories included don't really allow any possibilities of anything FUN. LaFoote can wave his flag while Cap'N spots him from 12 feet away.

LaFoote: Yaarr... who needs your stinkin' treasure, for I have me own! ...wait-a-minute... this here be no treasure! THEY'RE STICKERS.... with yer face on it!

Crunch: Haw Haw!

Value - ***
Considering that I recieved both figures shipped for $20, it isn't too bad of a deal. However, if you were to buy Cap'N Crunch or Pirate Jean La Foote seperately, that would run you $15 per figure shipped. That means getting multiples of the normal Cap'N figure would be pretty expensive since it's $5 shipping per figure instead of per order. For $20, I think I got a little less than what I paid for, but I'm happy to have a Cap'N Crunch in the house. Accessories of cereal and cereal boxes would have definitely made this a better deal.

Overall - ***
If Cap'N's the captain of your breakfast, then by all means, these toys are for you. And if he's not... well... then... what can I say, these toys aren't for you? Personally, I'm happy with my purchase, but I also laugh at myself for even getting these toys. But how can you NOT want toys of a character who uses his 'crunch-a-scope' to 'Crunch-a-tize' friends aboard his magic ship?

Where to Buy:
Pick these up at the Funhouse Company website, by thunder!

Figures from the collection of Coheteboy.