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Mini
Simpsons
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The latest Simpsons item - and the latest gum
ball machine hit - are new miniature Simpsons figures, each housed in a
plastic dome.
There's eight in the set - Homer, Marge,
Bart, Maggie, Lisa, Santa's Little Helper, Patty, and Selma.
They aren't cheap though, costing a buck
each. You should be able to start finding them in vending machines
near you, although the first reports were coming in from Pizza Huts. I
know there are also some folks on ebay selling complete sets already at
pretty good prices, since you'll probably have to buy at least 15 or 20 of
them to get the eight unique figures.
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Packaging - ***1/2
I'm giving these some major props on the packages because of the sturdy
nature. The exterior plastic ball is very solid, and unlikely to end
up breaking or opening up easily.
There's also an insert with
each showing all the figures. The interior container is great, with a
black base that the figure is glued to and a plastic dome. You've seen
this style of container with other small collectibles like thimbles.
Sculpting - **1/2
It's a pretty mixed bag here. The two worst - and they are really bad
- are Selma and Patty. They tried to go for a smoking facial
expression, and ended up looking like anteaters.
The scale is also way off, with Maggie, Bart and Lisa huge
compared to the adults. A couple of the figures are pretty nice, and
Santa's Little Helper is easily my favorite of the set. Marge is nice,
and you can use her as the perfect size to go with the WOS scale Kong
Homer. Even her pose works great!
Paint - **
The paint ops aren't awful for something in this scale, but there still is
an awful lot of over spray and slop. Yes, I understand they are tiny,
but so are Homies and the paint ops there are far superior.
Articulation - Bupkis
Nada. Not surprising in the least bit though, and I won't be hurting
the overall score because of it. I did think it was important to note
though, in case you were wondering.
Accessories - Bupkis
Again, nothing here, no surprise, but worth mentioning if you were
wondering.
Value - **1/2
Homies are fifty cents, so paying a buck is a bit of a problem. But
the domed display cases raise the price, and I suspect they are just as
expensive to produce as the figures. Also, since these are licensed,
I'm not particularly surprised they are more expensive than average.
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Overall - **1/2
I wish the paint ops and sculpts were better, particularly with Selma
and Patty, but overall it's a pretty cool little set of PVC's. The
buck cost is a bit of a concern, but if you can find a dealer selling the
whole set for less than $15 or so, you're getting a good deal.
Where to Buy -
These will be in those same vending machines you find Homies and
others. I've heard Pizza Hut already has them on the floor, but I
bought my set from a dealer on ebay for $9 plus shipping. I'd
suggest watching for something like that.
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Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford. |
