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Toy Story Cosbabies - regular and super sized!
"The
following is a guest review. The review
and photos do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Michael Crawford
or Michael's Review of the Week, and are the opinion and work of the
guest author."
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Jeff is back with another look
at some of those cute little Cosbabies - take it away, Jeff!
Cosbaby figures, you either ‘get’ them or you don’t, and that will
obviously influence whether you ‘like’ them or you don’t!
Since they first kicked off with the Pirates of the Caribbean set, the
licences they have encompassed have been diverse to say the least,
everything from Tim Burton’s Edward
Scissorhands and Mars
Attacks through to Michael
Jackson and the Disney
Classics. That last set, being based on cartoon characters
lent itself easily to this line of figures, as did the set from Pixar's UP. And now here
we are with Pixar's most celebrated characters to date (well some of
them) from the movie that kick-started it all for them in the first
place. Toy Story.
The characters of Woody and Buzz are now just about as internationally
recognised as it’s possible to get, and with the recent addition of Toy
Story 3, which quickly became the highest grossing animated movie of
all time (it’s now brought in over a billion dollars, and that’s before
the DVD has even gone on sale) it’s become one of the biggest
franchises ever. So its safe to say this little, one might even say
humble, group of toys is now fully deserving of the title icons!
I said when I reviewed the UP Cosbaby figures, that I really hoped it
was going to lead to many more collaborations between Pixar and Hot
Toys and I still hope it will. I desperately want someone to bring us
an articulated and fully accurate WALL-E, and a decent set of The
Incredibles figures would make me a very happy bunny indeed.
But right now we are looking at the latest set of Cosbaby figures, we
get a regular set of seven with a rarer chase figure making a complete
set of eight. Well, I say rarer but mine did come in a boxed case of 8
figures. I don’t know if this is how they are always packed, but if it
is it means the extra figure should be packed in the same numbers as
every other one.
This time there are also three rather impressive large versions as
well, something I don’t think has happened since that first Pirates of
the Caribbean set where there was a larger scale Captain
Jack.
So, could this set be the one to finally pop your Cosbaby cherry, I
have a feeling it will for many Pixar fans out there, and lets face,
there are few!
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Packaging - regular figs ***1/2-
large figs ****
The
smaller, regular sized figures come blind boxed, but because of the
nature of the designs of these figures the boxes are a little bigger
than they have been in the past. This is to accommodate their larger
hats and indeed helmets. In fact they are about a third bigger than the
usual single figure packaging. These are nice colourful little boxes
with a selection of images of characters from the movies on the front
alongside the movie logo. The sides have photos of the figure selection
available plus all the legal mumbo-jumbo and licensing information.
Inside are two small clear Vac formed trays that the figures are
sandwiched between to hold them safe and secure.
The larger
boxes aren’t quite as colourful, but make up for it in terms of overall
design and quality, actually managing to look pretty classy!
Designer
vinyl figures often go for clean unfussy packaging and these live by
that doctrine. They all measure 7” x 5½” x 5½” and have differing
textures and colour schemes. Buzz’s is gloss white at the top with
matte green at the bottom and has a spaceship shaped window on the
front with smaller angled bar windows on the sides, Woody has a brown
matte hessian textured top half with a golden yellow bottom half, the
front has a large horse-shoe shaped window while the sides have
sheriffs badge shaped windows on either side. Lastly there’s the Alien
box, this is matte textured lime at the top and reflex blue at the
bottom and has a rocket shaped window on the front and three alien eye
shaped windows on the sides. All the colours used on these larger boxes
are beautifully flat and dense and look to me to be special spot
colours… as I said, quite classy, the backs of them also have small
holographic stickers to let you know these are official Disney/Pixar
products!
It’s worth mentioning the interiors of these large boxes
as well, as not only are all three held secure by vac-formed trays but
they have rather cute printed backgrounds to boot. Buzz has an image of
the corridor he runs down at the beginning of Toy Story 2 in his battle
with Zurg, while Woody has an image of the other ‘Woody’s Round-Up’
vintage collectible goodies in Al’s haul, and lastly the Alien has a
whole legion of Aliens crowding around him.
All the boxes are
built of good stiff cardboard as well, so the contents are well
protected, and lets face it, that is what a box is for!
Sculpting - regular ***1/2, large
figs ****
The selection here is…
Regular 3” versions-
1 Sheriff Woody
2 Buzz Lightyear
3 Jessie the Cowgirl
4 Emperor Zurg
5 Alien (smiley version)
6 Alien (Oooooooh version)
7 Army Man (regular with rifle)
8 Army Man (variant with binoculars)
Large 6” scale-
1 Woody
2 Buzz
3 Alien (with sunglasses)
I have to admit that at first I was surprised we got the two Army Men
in this selection over a possible Mr Potato Head, Hamm or Rex. But I
guess the more human proportions of the soldiers, plus the possible
licensing issues with companies like Playskool may have influenced the
decision.
The sculpting of Cosbaby figures is all about interpretation, but also
about keeping enough of the source material visible to make them
instantly recognisable, now while that has been more successful on some
sets than others, here it works a treat. But like the Michael Jackson
set, most of the ‘humanoid’ figures here get unique head sculpts rather
than just repaints of the classic Cosbaby head. For Woody and Buzz in
particular the heads are great Cosbaby representations of the
characters, but the one that jumped out at me and became a bit of a
fave is Zurg… I’m not even 100% sure why myself, but he just looks like
a cool little toy figure. Plus he looks great alongside my second
favourite Buzz.
Buzz has lots of cool details like his extended glider wings on the
back-pack and he even has his bubble helmet, something that was sadly
lacking on the Mars Attacks Martians, and all his details are well
observed, shrunk down and Cosbabied up to the max. My next faves are
the Aliens, these are identical except for the differing mouth
expressions, I think these are the coolest of the bunch and if I had
the cash to buy a 100 of them, they would make for one hell of a
display, verging on the small-scale pop-art installation. The head on
the Alien is pared down to an even simpler form than it had in the
movie and the feet are fused together to mimic their movie
anatomy as well. Woody and Jessie make for a cool little set on their
own, looking like some long lost collectible from Woody’s Round-Up that
wouldn’t have looked out of place in Al’s classic
collection. Both have their cowboy hats, though neither are
removable, both also have separate belts and Woody even has his
waistcoat and spurs sculpted as separate items, and both have the tiny
rings for their pull cords modelled onto their backs.
Lastly, for the small regular set we get the two Army Men. These, like
the Aliens, are identical in their sculpt but have different
accessories. One has a tiny assault riffle while the other has a tiny
pair of binoculars, the gun can obviously be held by the handle but the
bins have a tiny central handle under them that the figure grips. I did
find you could get the figure to hold them in a pose that approximates
looking through them, but it takes a couple of strategically placed
blobs of Blu-Tack.
The large scale figures are just that, as they are simply the same
figure but twice the size. The small figures measure in at 3” while
these are 6”. Of course a lot of the details are enhanced at this
larger scale giving us crisper tooling and sharper lines, but in
essence these big versions are pretty much identical in their sculpt
and construction, well, apart from the Aliens shades. He comes with a
trio of triglasses, these clip on behind the ears with small pegs and
have black painted frames on dark tinted lenses, and they fit
surprisingly well, considering he doesn’t have two noses!
I’m giving the large figures a deserved higher score, as the increase
in size means the quality of finish on the casting gives these a much
more high end feel, and the use of ABS plastic means they are nice and
light and can stand easily, even on one leg with a little practice.
If you plan to buy only one piece of ‘designer vinyl’ this year, make
it ‘designer ABS’ instead, and make it the Alien, ooooooooooh!
Paint
-regular ***1/2, large figs****
The paint on Cosbaby figures is always pretty crisp and accurate and
the small figures are as good as we have come to expect. So don’t
expect complete and utter perfection, but for $8.99 a pop, but you’ll
get pretty darn close. These are clean, unfussy and well carried out.
The large scale figures as you would expect are even finer in their
paint apps, with even better crisp painting and faultless division
lines. Of the large Cosbaby selection the Alien is my stand out figure,
he simply has a very cute and cool shelf presence (aided by those
specs), but Woody and Buzz standing side by side have quite an impact
as well.
The thing about the whole look of ‘vinyl’ style figures is the aspect
of ‘perfection’ they strive to achieve, not only in the
casting/fabrication but also in the immaculate paint apps, making you
feel like you are holding a fully realised 3D illustrated, then
rendered item in your hands. And as such these really do the job!
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention another cool little detail, both the
large and small versions of Woody and Buzz have ‘ANDY’ written on the
soles of their right foot, and yes they remembered to put the ‘N’ the
wrong way round on Woody’s, a cute touch!
Outfit-
N/A
All clothing is sculpted.
Accessories - Army Men *** Army
Men chase **1/2
Apart from on the Army Men
this is a barren category, and they just have one item each. The
regular has a tiny rifle and the chase version has a little pair of
binoculars. The paint on the Army men is a nice solid dense green on
both the figures and accessories, and they even remembered to paint the
small casting rings on their backs, another cute touch.
Articulation
- ***
The classic Cosbaby figure
always has the same articulation, but from time to time some need
specific sculpting/engineering to suit the physiology of a given
character, so here only three have the regular articulation of push in
ball jointed appendages on all their primary limbs. They are Woody,
Buzz and Jessie, all the others have variations of fused feet of
skirted legs. But all can stand OK and with a little manipulation you
can insure that no two displays are the same, which is pretty sweet for
a bunch of 3” figures.
The larger scale figures have all the same articulation as the smaller
counterparts except Buzz’s helmet can be taken off to pose the head and
neck into different positions, this can’t be done with the small-scale
Buzz. And the large Alien like his small counterpart has his feet fused
together.
Value
- regular **** large scale ***
The small figures will run you to $69.99 for the set (for some reason
Sideshow don’t have the chase figure available again, unless they chuck
one in with the full set when ordered complete?) or you can get them
individually for $8.99 each. The larger figures are $45.99, which I
have to admit does seem a little on the steep side, but I’m guessing a
Disney/Pixar license is far from a cheap thing to invest in, so you
gotta claw that outlay back somehow.
However, If they had been in the $25 to $35 bracket I think they would
seem like a much sweeter deal, so they lose a whole star in this
category. If it wasn’t for the fact they looked so cool, and the
detailing on both the casting and painting wasn’t so strong, then they
might have lost even more. But even at the slightly lofty price they
make for some very cute shelf fodder.
Overall-
***1/2
The Toy Story characters are to Pixar what Mickey and Donald are to
Disney, so these were a great way for Hot Toys to continue with the
Pixar Cosbaby line. And let’s face it, the fact that these are ideally
suited to characters in human, or at least near human form, it wasn’t
going to work with Cars, Nemo or Wall-E, but I do hope we might get the
Incredibles, Monsters Inc and maybe even Ratatouille represented
further down the line, but who knows? Until we see sequels to these
movies we might just get the newest releases given the Cosbaby
treatment. As it is I could even see another set of Toy Story figures
being an option, but I guess that will all be down to how well this set
do at retail as well.
I’m
awarding both sets, large and small the same score. I think the quality
of paint work and the clarity of the sculpting was far finer on the
large figures, but this is offset by the fact that the small figures
are a good pocket money collectible, while the larger figures have
quite a hefty price tag. I did toy with giving the large figures just 3
stars, but the final quality was just too nice for that!
Plus, how often do you get to say ‘I have a large Woody’ in polite
company and get away with it…exactly! It’s worth buying him just for
that!
Where to buy
The full ‘official’ set of seven characters are available from Sideshow
for $69.99 on pre-order
or you can select your favourite for $8.99 a pop. However if your
favourite is Woody, Buzz or the Alien then you can upgrade to the uber
version, where Sideshow are asking the RRP of $45.99.
I
couldn’t find them with any of Michael’s sponsors, so your other port
of call will have to be
eBay where prices for the complete set of 8 figures is
between $70 to $100, with individual characters fetching between $9 to
$24 depending on rareness or desirability.
The
large figures are also being sold as a set of three for between $145 to
$220 or individually for between $40 to $70… as always, shop around!
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This product was provided free for the review by the manufacturer.
Photos and text by Jeff Parker.
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