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Llewellyn
Sinclair and Cooder
 
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During August, September and October, Playmates
ran a special mail away promotion for the World of Springfield action figure
line. You see, they had cancelled the All Star Voices line of figures,
but had three of the figures all signed, sealed and ready to deliver.
What to do with them?
They assumed Hank
Scorpio would be a popular enough figure to sell with wave 10. But
the other two - Cooder (Jim Varney) and Llewellyn Sinclair (Jon Lovitz) were
likely to be far less popular on the pegs. As it was, there was a ton
of wave 7, 8 and 9 figures already clogging things up. But out of
both, an idea was born.
To help clear the pegs of old figures, and
find a way to get these two figures to the collectors, they put together the
mail away. All you had to do was buy any two figures (or playsets)
from wave 9 or previous after August 15th, and before October 31st.
Send in the UPC's, receipts and five bucks, and they sent you these two
figures.
That's a deal you can't beat with a stick,
no matter how big. It helped clear out the inventory in many stores,
and was successful in it's goal. However, it is important to note that
these two figures have the lowest run of any WOS figure to date - I'm not
allowed to divulge the actual number yet, but some day. Suffice to
say, they are likely to remain highly popular with collectors.
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Packaging - *1/2
Okay, a plain white mailer box isn't the most exciting thing in the
world. Still, they are very well packed, it's very sturdy, and you can
rest assured your figures will get to you unharmed.
However, it's not much to
display for the MOCer's, so I'm sure they aren't going to be particularly
happy with it. Still, that's to be expected with a mail away.
Sculpting - ***1/2
The sculpts on both these figures are nicer than average. Sinclair has
more detail than we often see, particularly with his unique pants, sandals
and top. Cooder has a great face, and a lot of detail was put into the
hair.
The hands on both figures are well sculpted for holding
particular accessories, and the hand-on-hip pose they gave Sinclair is
appropriate and well done.
They also took the time to give both actual expressions,
with half lidded eyes and slight mouth contortions, rather than the simple
open eyed zombie look.
Paint - **
This is still an area that hurts the line. My Cooder had some paint
missing on his hat, and the lines around his shirt and vest are fairly
sloppy. Overall, neither figure is quite as neatly done as I know they
can do.
Some folks may also be disappointed to see that this is not
the older shiny plastic, but the newer, dull finish.
Articulation - **1/2
No surprises here - neck, shoulder, and waist.
Accessories - ***1/2
There's a terrific number of new accessories here, and it's actually
surprising to get any with mail away figures.
Cooder has his tackle box (new), money (reused), set of rings for the
ring toss game (new), and oversized comb (new). Yes, it's really
supposed to be that big - it's one of those oversized joke combs you give to
your bald uncle, proving just how witty you really are.
Sinclair has a newspaper showing a review of a play (presumably his, and
new), a script for "Oh, Streetcar" (new), a business card for Ayn
Rand School for Tots (reused), and a pen (new).
To get four accessories each, almost all new, is really quite outstanding
for mail away figures. They are all very appropriate, and fit well
with the characters.
Talking Feature - ***
There aren't many lines yet - Cooder has a couple in Burn's Manor and Main
Street, and Sinclair has a couple in Dr. Nick's and in Main Street.
However, the couple lines they picked are great,
especially Sinclair's. And the voicing by Varney and Lovitz is so
great, that it helps make up for the lack of current lines.
Cooder's lines at Burn's Manor: "I didn't scam
nobody!", "You lost your money fair and square."
At Main Street: "Three rings for a dollar! Who's ready, whoooo's
ready?"
Sinclair's lines at Nick's: "Hellllloooo, I am Llewellyn
Sinclair", "I have directed three plays in my career, and I have
had three heart attacks."
At Main Street: "Tonight, you will all be transformed from dead-eyed
suburbanites into white-hot grease fires of pure entertainment!",
"I am not an easy man to work for; while directing Hats off to
Channukah, I reduced more than one cast member to tears!"
Value - ****
I consider these two figures free. If you bought two regular
figures, you probably spent $10 plus $5 for shipping, so at worst you're
talking $7.50 each. But since I tossed both figures in my bin for
Toys For Tots, I couldn't get much of a better value.
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Overall - ***
As figures, these aren't quite as nice as Scorpio. Using them as
mail away offers was a smart idea, and as such, with this many new
accessories and such a cheap price, it boosts the overall score up a half
star.
Where to Buy -
What? You didn't send away for these? Well, that's not
good - now you're going to have to resort to a dealer or ebay.
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Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford. |
