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Packaging: ***
The boxes here are basically the same as
the last series listed in the review above, and again we get six
versions to choose from, each one representing the evolution of a
character or depicting a number of similar themed characters. So we
have a basic rectangular box with the top left and bottom right corners
sliced off at a 45% angle.
The graphics on the last set
bared the 30th anniversary logo, this being 2008, that is now gone, but
we do have a new graphic, letting us know the new set have ‘MAGNETIC
FEET’, no, this doesn’t mean you can stick them on your refrigerator,
what it means is the small plastic feet supplied for each ‘Chubby’ now
have a small magnet to stop them falling off, which is actually a
slightly better feature than it sounds… if you have the first set
you’ll know what I mean.
The back shows you the others available in the series, they are:
Stormtrooper/Clone Troopers
Jango/Boba Fett
Rebel Fighter Pilots
Luke Skywalker
Princess Leia
Ewoks
I
was originally just going to get the first three listed, but my eldest
daughter wanted Leia, my youngest wanted the Ewoks and my wife decided
she couldn’t be left out so she’d have Luke, though subsequently has
decided she wants Leia instead… but they’d arrived by then it’s too
late! I’m not getting a double when that would leave one missing from
the set! I’ll stop there before we get into a domestic. So, you
open the side of the box and slide out the plastic tray, containing the
three ‘figures’ alongside their accessory, should they have one. So if
handled with care everything can be put back again good as new. Sculpt: ***1/2
As
I mentioned in my first Chubby review, these take their lead from
traditional Ukrainian Matryoshka dolls that come in every design
imaginable from the classic sublime to the more contemporary ridiculous
so what you get is a large outer figure with sculpted elements on the
head and two smaller figures inside. The inner ‘nesting’ Chubby has no
sculpted detail, it’s all applied as stylised illustrated graphics, in
much the same manner as many designer vinyl figures (Mighty Muggs being the most mainstream version I can think of). Unless
you are in this for the complete set, most people will probably just
dip in and out picking up their favourite characters, for me the best
ones are those with the most complex ’outer’ sculpt meaning here it was
the Stormtrooper (a must have for me) and the Rebel Pilots that caught
my eye the most, but figures like Jango Fett and Boushh also have some
nice work on their respective backpacks, Jango’s comes pre-fixed to the
chest rig that has his front armour sculpted as well, where as Boushh’s
has to be slotted into a hole on her back, there’s also a small feather
top knot that you slot onto the top of Logray’s head-dress but that’s
it, apart from these few adornments they’re good to go straight out of
the box! The character breakdown for each set is as follows
starting with the smallest working up, NB- I’m pretty sure the middle
pilot is a Y-wing, but there’s no actual description on any of the
boxes!
Imperial Troops-
Clone MK 1, Clone MK 2 and Stormtrooper
Fetts-
Young Boba, Boba and Jango
Rebel Pilots-
A-Wing, Y-wing and X-Wing
Luke-
Tatooine, Bespin and Jedi
Leia-
Slave. Endor and Boushh
Ewoks-
Wicket, Chief Chirpa and Logray
All
have that cute ‘Chubby’ look, but it has to be said that when you see
Leia in her slave outfit. It may be the first time those original
adolescent urges are completely missing… unless you have a thing for
pear shaped women in bikinis.
Paint: ****
As mentioned above, most of the details here consist of ‘printed’
graphic illustrations, directly applied to, and indeed covering the
whole doll. Like most designer vinyl figs these graphics are
mechanically applied in a super slick, no slop, no over-painting ultra
crisp manner, all represent their characters very well whilst
simplifying them down to simple graphic shapes. But though simplified
there is still a ton of detail in here, with Boba Fett and Boushe
standing out as the two most complex in terms of their outfits, but all
show a great attention to detail. I’ll let my photo’s do the talking as
there are in effect 18 figures to cover here, but I can say none of
mine had any issues at all with quality of application.
Articulation: N/A
They’re basically like ‘Weebles’, but they don’t wobble… or fall down! Well,
I say that, both Jango’s and Boba’s sighting scopes can be swivelled
into the up or down position… but I didn’t think that really counted as
articulation as such!
Accessories: **
The only one that ‘truly’ has an
accessory is Luke with his green Lightsabre, but if you were to include
(which I don’t) all of the sculpted head-ware then they all have
something. Each one also has a small pair of feet that act as a stand,
but again they’re not so much accessories as an intrinsic part of their
design. These feet now have a small magnet concealed within them so
that they can stick to the base of your Chubby. This obviously means
that when you pick them up, the feet go with them, this was not the
case with series one, and this small mod makes them a lot more user
friendly! Luke’s sabre is good little representation of his
weapon, but the helmets are comparable to some of the best small-scale
replicas out there. Perfect geek desk decorations! I’ll be interested
to see if any other of Hot Toys licences will make it into the world of
the Chubby, TDK might be pretty cool! Fun factor: ***
Although
my kids had fun with them, they’re not exactly ‘designed’ to be played
with, but they’re still great little collectables and are priced at
just the right level to be ‘pocket money’ friendly. And though I don’t
know what distribution is like in the US, here in the UK you can pick
them up in larger Tesco’s, one of our main high street super markets,
as well as in plenty of online stores. My youngest daughter does
actually play with her Ewok set, but there again she can play with a
plastic fork for hours, so don’t let that influence you too much. These
actually do look pretty cute perched on you desk at work, meaning your
colleagues will think you’re weird but with an irreverent side, where
as if you have Hasbro 3 ¾ figures arranged in scene specific vignettes
from the movies your colleagues will just think you’re sad… I should
know, I’m there… ‘ahem’ I mean I’ve been there!
Value: ****
You can pick these up for between $10 to $12
in the US and here in the UK the RRP is £9.99 but you can find them for
between £7.99 to £8.99, there’s also a larger scale version of
Jango available for £34.99 at Forbidden Planet. Another online store in the UK, play.com has large scale versions of Boba and a Sormtrooper. I haven’t found these anywhere else so these might be exclusives to them. So
considering these are an import item and retail for about the same
price as a Hasbro 3 ¾ inch figure they seem like a cool deal to me. Things to watch out for:
Nothing
at all, my Vader had a small paint lift last time, but these are all
well packed with sheets of cellophane between the component parts, and
all arrived minty mint!
Overall: ***
For those people addicted to ANYTHING with a
Star Wars logo on it, this is just another way to let you line Uncle
George’s pockets yet again, as you will HAVE to have the set. For
others I see it as cute gimmicky line there to be dipped in and out of.
As I said above, but for family pressure I would have probably only
picked up the Stormtroopers, Pilots and Fett’s, but all lined up
together as the whole set they do look pretty cool. I’m probably gonna have to go back and try to get the rest of the first set now!
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ****
Articulation - N/A
Accessories - **
Fun Factor - ***
Value - ****
Overall - ***
Where to Buy -
You can try some of Michael’s sponsors below, links are on the home page-
Urban collector- $10.19
Andrews Toyz- $11.99
CornerStoreComics - $11.99 (I could only find set 1)
Entertainment Earth- they don’t seem to have the regular sets, but are advertising a special Blackhole Stormtooper version.
If in the UK Forbiddenplanet.co.uk has them for £7.99
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PHOTOS!
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