Review of Stephen King, Milhouse, Brett Hart
Celebrity Simpsons action figures

Introduction

The Celebrity Simpsons series from NECA has a lot of figures in every wave - a lot.  The third series boasts a whopping 11, way more than I like to cover in a single review.  I've already checked out Penn and Teller, GITD Mr. Burns, and Magician Lisa. Tonight I'm going to cover Bret Hart, Stephen King and Milhouse, leaving Leonard Nimoy and the 3 members of R.E.M. for the final review next week.

King and Milhouse are from the same episode - "Insane Clown Poppy" - while Bret Hart is from the newer "Old Man and the Lisa".  As episodes go, I liked the latter quite a bit more than the former, largely because of the interactions between Lisa and Mr. Burns.

You can find these guys popping up at Toys R Us, or hit one of the online retailers I have listed at the end of the review. Expect to pay around $13 or so each.

Packaging - ***1/2
I'm tempted to bump this up to the full four stars - I'm really liking the amount of personalization for each character. There's a run down of the specific episode on the back, as well as the full line up shown in little photos. There really isn't much more you could ask for, at least not in mass market card back/bubble style packaging.

Sculpting - Milhouse, King ****, Hart ***
Of the three, Hart is my least favorite. I'll admit it - part of that is because I'm not a big fan of wrestling. I'm glad I picked him up, simply because I love adding to the World of Springfield display, but if I had to skip one he'd be it.

And it's not just because of my lack of wrestling enthusiasm. I'm not really digging the smiling, no teeth expression either. I think something tougher, like the art on the front of the card, would have suited him better.

Milhouse is my surprise. He looks terrific, and I like that they've scaled down the kids just a bit from the WoS versions. While the adults are the same, the kids are slightly smaller here, and it's a much appreciated change. It's not enough to make them jarringly inappropriate on the shelf, but they do fit in better with the rest of the adult characters.

But of the three, my clear favorite is Stephen King. I've been a huge fan since I read The Shining in high school. And yes, it was when the book was first published. I've read everything he's done since, and while some have been much better than others, he's remained a consistent favorite. Getting the Simpson figure of him is icing on the cake. And did you hear that they are doing a 9 part series for Hulu based on 11-22-63?

I particularly like the clear plastic lens on King's glasses, similar to what we saw with Penn. While it's obvious that the musical celebrities are becoming more of the theme (almost the entire 4th wave are musical stars), it's great that someone like King was high enough on the list to make it in this  assortment.

Paint - Hart **1/2; King, Milhouse ***
Of these three, Hart is the only one to have real issues. There's lots of slop around the edges of his uniform, and plenty of stray marks.

Milhouse and King both look good, with much cleaner cut lines and edges. There's still a little inconsistency to some of the finish, and they aren't completely free of errors, but the work is a solid B.

Articulation - **1/2
No surprises here - neck, shoulders, waist, all simple cut joints. The neck is pretty useful with King and Milhouse, but as I've said before, cut wrists would go a long way to adding a few more poses.

Accessories - Milhouse, King ***; Hart Bupkis
This line is not going to be known for it's accessories - that's pretty clear.

But we did get a couple extras here with Milhouse and Stephen King. Sadly, Mr. Hart comes up empty.

King has a basic book, no title or printing. It does fit nicely in his left hand, however.

Milhouse technically has two accessories. There's his huge, feathered hat, which fits perfectly on his large noggin'. They've also included a small black stand with two foot pegs, necessary if you intend to keep him standing with that big head and even bigger hat.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
Like World of Springfield before them, these really aren't a 'play' sort of figure. Instead, the enjoyment here is putting your favorite celebrity with the rest of Springfield, filling in those holes and adding to the collection.

Value - Hart **1/2; King, Milhouse ***
There aren't many action figures on the pegs in the $13 range any more. That's particularly true when you get above the 4" scale. Getting a line like this - that covers both a major license like the Simpsons AND the likeness of a famous celebrity - for that price is pretty sweet.

An accessory or two, and Bret would have made it to an above average score as well.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing!

Overall - King, Milhouse ***1/2; Hart **1/2
Originally, this series was intended to cover 25 of the greatest Simpsonized celebrities - it even says so right on the front of the package. Wave 1 included 5, wave 2 included 7, and now wave 3 has 9 more. That's already 21, and they've announced 9 more in the fourth wave, due later this year. I'm betting that they are counting each full band as one 'guest', which means they are still well below the 25, but catching up fast.

Clearly the line is doing well for them, and it's great to see some truly classic celebrities making it into plastic form. Hopefully they can skip the self imposed 25 character limit and keep things rolling.

Now bring on Weird Al!

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - Milhouse, King ****; Hart ***
Paint - Hart **1/2; King, Milhouse ***
Articulation - **1/2
Accessories - Milhouse, King ***; Hart Bupkis
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - Hart **1/2; King, Milhouse ***
Overall - King, Milhouse ***1/2; Hart **1/2

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has them by the case.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've covered all the new NECA figures so far, done usually in parts. This wave 3 has already had part 1, with part 3 to come. Wave 2 was in part 1 and part 2, as well as first series in two parts, here and here. I've also looked at the new Simpsons Lego mini-figures in two parts, here and here. I have a full listing of my past Simpsons reviews here, as well as a long feature on the World of Springfield here.

Discussion:
Want to chat about this review?  Try out one of these terrific forums where I'll be discussing it!

Enjoyed this review? Be sure to head back to the main page to find thousands more just like it!