Review of Teeny Freaks

Introduction

For decades, companies have been producing tiny PVC figures, often sold in gumball machines at the local grocery store, or on an end cap at Target. Sometimes they are licensed (the Simpsons have been in just about every format imaginable), but often they are the product of the companies' imagination. Remember the Homies? I'm sure you do, as they were one of the more famous. But there were Zombie Planet, OMFG, Crazy Bones, and plenty of others done in this very miniature style.

Party Animal Toys has their own designs for several 1" tall mini-figure lines.  I've looked at their football players, Teeny Mates, before, and they also do baseball, hockey and other sports characters under that label.  They added a military series as well last year, and now they've gone for something a bit...different.

It's called Teeny Freaks. The concept is unique - one one side, the figure is a normal character, like a chef or a little girl. On the other, they show off their 'split' personality, some sort of fiendish looking freak. The tag line is "don't get on their bad side", and I'd have to agree.

There are twelve tiny figures in the main series 1, and I'm looking at four tonight - the Chef who is a Mummy on the flip side; the little girl who is also a little girl on her opposite side, but one that's a bit unusual; the heavy metal rocker who takes the heavy metal to a new level; and the sweet clown, who looks a lot like something from a nightmare on his bad side.

These come in blind bagged two packs, and there are also four 'rare' figures for you to hunt down. Expect to pay around $3 to $4 for a bag of two, which also includes two puzzle pieces. More on that in a minute.

Packaging - **
These are blind bagged, and regular readers know how much I hate that.  If these were a buck a bag, it wouldn't be so bad, but at this price getting extras is no fun. You'll need to find another collector to share with, or buy complete sets on ebay to avoid some of that frustration.

Inside the bag they do provide a nice collectors sheet that shows all the available figures in this series, including the rare ones and the odds of finding each.

Sculpting - ***
When considering these figures, it's critical to keep in mind their size. They are only about an inch tall, which makes their 'teeny' designation all the more appropriate. I've included a photo with He-man and a 4" Stormtrooper for reference, but you can also use the LifeSizer option on the photo above to get some idea of just how small these really are.

That means that detail work in both the Sculpt and Paint are going to be harder to pull off. What they've accomplished is solid work, considering the limitations of size.

Some of the split personality choices make complete sense. For example, the creepy version of the little girl and the weird clown are about as perfect as you can get. The clown is probably my favorite, in part because I'm still freaked out over Twisty the Clown, but also because the design is so well thought out. In one hand he holds a cute balloon animal - spin him around, and it's a venomous snake.  The other hand is waving - spin him around and it's reaching out to grab you. That's a great design.

Others seem a bit more...random. The Tom Petty-esque rocker turns around and is suddenly some sort of Terminator meets Cylon. While I get the 'metal' connection, it seems a bit forced.

And I'm at a total loss as to why the Chef (or is he a baker?) has an evil mummy on his bad side. Did King Tut have a thing for pastries that I'm unaware of?

But while some of the concepts might be a bit weird, they are all well done.  While not every design is as good as another, the level of detail is solid across the board, as long as you keep scale in mind.

Paint - ***
You can repeat what I just said about the sculpt quality, as it completely applies to the Paint section as well.

There's some slop, and in macro photos it will be obvious. They didn't have to include as many paint operations as they did - I doubt many would notice or care at this scale if the teeth on the Rocker or Evil Clown were painted, or if they added the dots to the Rocker's sunglasses, for example - and this extra expense is appreciated. When you view these with the nekkid eye, the slop, missed edges, and occasional stray mark become almost impossible to see.

Accessories - ***
Since these are itty bitty PVC figures, what could you possibly include? Party Animal came up with the idea of adding in two puzzle pieces with each pack. Collect all the figures and you can build the two sided puzzle, with a poster on one side, and a play mat on the other. It's a pretty nifty idea, considering these are aimed at kids.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
These are relatively cheap little figures, designed for kids to collect and play with. And in that vein, they are a lot of fun. By adding in the puzzle turned play mat, they give kids something additional to use with these figures, and they are small enough that they can easily collect a bunch without driving Mom nuts.

Value - **
These guys aren't cheap, but sadly, not much is these days.  A pair will cost you $4 direct from Party Animal, although I do think they run a little cheaper if you find them at a retailer.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.

Overall - ***
I love little collectible figures like this - it's like crack for any collector. The concept is interesting as well, putting them in that same realm with other creepy toys of the past.

I've also mentioned before that having some sort of conflict aspect to figures is critical to real 'play'. If there isn't conflict, there's no action. That means your average line has to have good guys and bad guys, otherwise there's not much for them to do. Here, you get a good guy and a bad guy with every figure - it's genius!

I think I might put the clown on my desk at work, and explain that if he's happy and sweet, feel free to talk to me. But if his bad side is showing...

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***
Paint - ***
Accessories - ***
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - **
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
Your best bet is direct from Party Animal at their site, where you can snag four bags for $16, or you can search ebay for a deal. I've seen some of the other lines pop up at Target and Toys R Us, so you might want to keep an eye out there as well.

Related Links -
I've looked at some of the other figures from Party Animal, including the Teeny Mates (football players), and the L'il Troops (military). Check out their main site for more info on their various figures in this scale.

Another line like this that you might want to check out is GoGo Crazy Bones.

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