Packaging - ***
The boxes look good, the windows show off the figurine nicely, and they are
collector friendly. You can pull these out, display them for awhile
and put them back any time you like.
The only down side is that
there isn't a lot of text, and the boxes aren't the sturdiest. I
suspect lots of collectors are going to end up leaving these in the package,
so that's a pretty crucial area.
Sculpting - Homer **1/2,
Krusty ***1/2
There was quite a bit of difference in the style and quality of the Krusty
and Homer sculpt. Krusty has the
usual "Hey! Hey!" look, with his hands in the air. It does a
pretty decent job of capturing the look and feel of the character, in the
large headed style of the bobbler.
Homer also has the usual
oversized head that is the trademark of this style, but the sculpted look
isn't quite as good. His hands are also in the air, twiddling their
fingers in his usual manner. It appears as though the head sculpt was
intended to be a "Oooo, donuts" sort of look, particularly with
this hand sculpt. However, the lips combined with the very beady eyes
make it appear as though he's having a tough time blowing up the backyard
swimming pool.
Paint - **1/2
The paint ops are a tad iffy on these, particularly since they are so large,
and the paint work is fairly basic. Krusty has quite a few issues
around the nose particularly, with a lot of bleed into the whites of the
eyes.
Bobble Action - ***
The bobble action is so-so, particularly compared to some of the other
versions on the market right now. The head movement is somewhat
restricted due to the tighter fit of the head on the neck post. It's
not terrible - the heads certainly do wobble - but not quite as smoothly as
you might expect.
Value - *1/2
Most bobble heads on the market today are around $10, maybe $12, depending
on the license. These are $15 at Kaybee, and although they may be a
little cheaper elsewhere, that's still very high in this market. Ten
bucks each for these would have been far more appropriate.
Overall - **1/2
It's too bad that a Simpsons product had to break my long run of high
scoring reviews lately, but with the high price point and the less than
perfect paint application, not to mention the slightly off look of Homer's
sculpt, these just don't quite measure up. I'm
hoping that the next two in the series will improve on these issues.
Where to Buy -
I picked these up at my local Kaybee. Anyone know anything about
any on-line retailers? I couldn't find a single one...
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