Of course, only time will tell if any of these ideas end up sustaining the
line, but there are already plans for at least two more series and a boxed set
of Peter fighting the giant chicken. Priceless.
Packaging - **1/2
The card art is adequate, although not at the same level of some of the
other stuff we've seen Mezco design. It works, and does show off the
entire series on the back. But it's very light on text, and light on
character specificity.
Sculpting - Death ***1/2; Quagmire, Rufus, Buff Peter ***; Mutant Stewie,
Meg **1/2
I really, really want to love every one of these. I do. But I
can't look past the fact that some of them simply miss the mark.
Of the set, the one I thought I'd like the least from photos is the one I
like the most - Death. In person, this guy kicks all kind of butt, and
really reminds me of the character from the show. The sculpt isn't
perfect, but of the overall set he's the closest to the source material AND
the best 3-D translation.
I do wish they'd sculpted the interior of the cloak deeper, so that the
back isn't quite so obvious, but otherwise, the sculpt is terrific.
Quagmire, nekkid Peter, and Rufus are all solid sculpts, but not
fantastic. I was really looking forward to Quagmire, since he's such a
hilarious character, but something is just *slightly* off with the head
sculpt. It may simply be that his huge cheeks, chin and nose still
aren't huge enough. "In the buff" Peter is a fat, nekkid white
guy, and he pretty much looks like you'd expect. Since we've seen Peter
naked on the show a number of times, and specifically with these accessories,
it wasn't too surprising of a variant. The facial expression is a little
unusual though, but at least Mezco is trying to go for some variety here.
Speaking of facial expressions with variety, there's also Rufus
Griffin. Now here's a rather unusual choice for a variant so early in
the line, a character from one episode ("If I'm Lyin', I'm Dyin'"),
who wasn't particularly important there either. He's definitely unique
looking though, having starred in the classic film Black to the Future.
Again, he has a very dynamic and expressive sculpt, which is a real plus
for this line. I like the detail work on the 'fro, while the rest f the sculpt
maintains the same simple style of the cartoon. The hand sculpts are
done in such a way as to give you a pretty good variety of poses with the
basic articulation.
Oh, I think I may have forgotten to mention this, but I've also included a
picture of Peter's hoo-hoo. Or haa-haa. I always get that
confused.
Meg was the only real disappointment of the set for me. While the
facial expressions on every other character (with the exception of Death,
obviously), are very animated and dynamic - even more so than the show usually
is - Meg has zombie disease in a major way. She has an extremely blank
expression, compounded by a lip sculpt that makes her appear way over
medicated. She also has these Popeye forearms that I don't remember from
the show, but she's not all negative. Her scale is very good, and she
fits in nicely with the rest of the family, and the inclusion of clear plastic
lenses in her glasses is a very nice touch.
Now, Mutant Stewie got just as bad of a score as Meg, but you'll notice I
didn't say I was disappointed. That's because I wasn't expecting a whole
lot out of this guy. The first two Stewie's weren't my favorite sculpts
of that series, so I'm not surprised that this one isn't a whole lot
different. The head is actually very soft rubber, so that you can
squeeze it and squirt 'ink' out of his bottom. It's a cute idea, but it
means the sculpt is a tad soft, but at least the facial expression is
good. The legs are also very sturdy, and you won't have to worry about
wilting.
Paint - **1/2
While the sculpts were a bit all over the place, the paint ops were pretty
consistent. Too bad they were consistently mediocre.
The more I play around with these figures, the more I'm reminded of the
World of Springfield. I suspect that as they go along, people (me
included) are likely to cut them more and more slack for their failings (lack
of articulation, weak paint ops), because we love the show and the characters
so much.
Once again, they went with the use of a odd wash on most of the figures to
highlight or shadow various areas. I don't mind it too much, although
it's a tad much on some of the figures like Rufus. I can't complain too
much about it though, since it does do the intended job pretty well.
No, what bugs me is the sloppiness that seems to be on almost every
figure. There isn't a lot of small detail work here, since the style of
the show depends on bold colors over large areas. The lines between
these colors are often sloppy, and other colors are too thin or inconsistent
to cover the darker color below.
If Mezco can tighten up the QA around the paint application, they can bring
this line up to the standard you expect at this price point.
Articulation - Rufus, Death ***; Quagmire, Meg **1/2; Buff Peter, Mutant
Stewie **;
This isn't a line known for exceptional articulation, especially since the
figures are rotocast. Still, some of the figures have a few more joints
than you might expect.
Mutant Stewie, even with eight legs, has only one point of articulation,
his neck. Clearly, he's going to rank at the bottom of this category.
Buck naked Peter is right there with him though, with only neck and cut
shoulders. He can sort of hold his pillow in front of him, but with his
hands sculpted up and down and no way to turn them, it doesn't work quite
right.
Quagmire and Meg have similar articulation, with neck, shoulders and
waist. However, Quagmire's neck is actually a ball joint - very cool -
but has a bit of a limited range of movement - not so cool. He's another
figure just begging for cut joints at his sleeves so you could do something
else with his arms.
Rufus and Death are actually getting closer to decent articulation.
Death has neck, shoulders, wrists, and a cut elbow on the right arm. The
wrists and cut elbow really do give him a lot more posing possibilities than
the rest of the line.
Rufus doesn't do bad either, with ball jointed shoulders (the only one in
the series), wrists, and waist. Again, the arm articulation allows for
some great posing with the dynamic leg sculpt.
Accessories- Death, Nekkid Peter ***1/2; Rufus, Meg, Quagmire ***;
Mutant Stewie **1/2
For the most part, this series (and line) have some really great, unique,
specific accessories.
Death takes the top spot again with his dog, complete in cloak and with an
articulated neck, scythe, and Patriot Ale. He can hold both of the
latter accessories in his hands, and the dog looks terrific in his matching
outfit.
In the buff Peter has three very funny and very show specific
accessories. He has his pillow, and it's been made out of a very soft
rubbery material, so it actually feels 'pillowy'. A very cool
touch. The pillow is shaped just right to sit in front of his belly and
cover up those private parts. He also comes with his magical clam, and the 'relationship'
videotape.
Rufus also does well here, because of his very cool guitar. The
guitar can fit over his head and arm if you're careful without removing the
strap, which is what I'd recommend. Put the right hand all the way in
the air, and press the arm in toward the body, and you should be able to get
the strap to slide right on over.
Now, in my messing around with mine, I did manage to pop the back peg out
of the guitar. I'm not sure it's SUPPOSED to come out, but perhaps, and
once it does, it makes it even easier to put the guitar on and take it
off. Proceed at your own risk.
He also has a record and album cover, which fit together nicely. But
the guitar is really the stand out for him, and it's one of those accessories
you can use in many different ways.
Meg didn't do so great in some of the other categories, but didn't do too
badly here. She has two purses, so I suppose it was a little tough for
them to come up with ideas. It would have been nice if either of the
purses could actually go over her head and shoulder, but you'll have to
finagle them on to a single arm.
She also has a signed photo of her nudist next door neighbor who stole her
heart, and the pig who stole her kiss in the closet. Ah, those cruel,
obnoxious high school kids. The pig looks terrific, but I really wish he
could actually stand up.
Quagmire has the largest accessory in his blow up friend. She looks
accurate, I guess, or so I'm told. I mean, I wouldn't know myself.
Uh, anyway...the paint ops on her are some of the worst of the bunch. I
don't mind the googlie eyes, since that's part of the joke...I'm
assuming...but the sloppy paint lines end up making her look like a little
cheap toy instead of a life size cheap toy.
He also comes with the same Patriot Ale, a reuse of the bottle of
beer. Knowing Peter and his friends, this won't be the last time we see
that bottle.
Mutant Stewie gets stuck with the short stick again, although not so bad
this time around. He has three of his little mutant offspring, and there
is actually some difference in facial expressions. he also comes with a
big pile of the eggs, again done in rotocast plastic. Sometimes the
rotocast works, sometimes it comes off looking very dollar store.
Stewie's pile of eggs is one of those dollar store situations.
Fun Factor - **1/2
These aren't really toys for kids, any more than the show was a cartoon for
kids. Adult themes make for adult laughs, but not a real fun time for
the under ten crowd.
Value - Mutant Stewie *1/2; the rest **1/2
I'm going to assume you're paying about $11 - $12 each for these, sort of
an average price. The closer you can get these to ten bucks, the happier
you'll be, trust me.
Poor Mutant Stewie just can't win though. He's a tiny figure, with
only a handful of accessories (hey, just compare to all the stuff the first
two Stewies came with!), all for the same price of something as cool as
Death. You're going to feel ripped at anything more than $6 or so, and
he really should have been a pack in figure with another one of the characters
from the episode Da Boom.
Overall - Death ***1/2; Rufus, Quagmire ***; Naked Peter, Meg **1/2;
Mutant Stewie **
Like I said earlier, I really, really want to love these. Yes, I
think the show is hilarious, and please don't write me to tell me what an
idiot I am, and why the show is overrated, etc. It makes me laugh, and
that's just fine.
I suspect these will grow on me, and I'll get softer on them over
time. I hope so, because I actually like series 1 better than series 2
in general right now. Death is the true standout, but I'm disappointed
that we ended up with a chase of the coolest figure.
If I were only going to buy a few, I'd obviously pick up Death, Quagmire
and Meg. Hey, you have to have Meg to finish out the family! The
three variants are less important, but at least the Rufus Griffin is well
done. And yes, technically Rufus isn't a 'variant' since he's not Peter,
but a unique character. The other two...meh.
I'm looking forward to the upcoming series, and in particular the two pack
of Peter and the giant Chicken. There's some great material here for
Mezco to mine, and if they can just get a few of the quality issues under
control, this could be a fantastic line.
Things to Watch Out For -
No problems here - nothing likely to break, nothing tough to figure out.
If you do pick these off the pegs, pay extra special attention to the paint
ops though to get the best possible versions.
Be careful putting the guitar over Rufus' shoulders - you might break the
strap or pegs if you're not. As I said, one of the pegs popped out for
me, but I'm not sure if that was intentional or not.
SCORE RECAP:
Packaging - **1/2
Sculpt - Death ***1/2; Quagmire, Rufus, Buff Peter ***; Mutant Stewie,
Meg **1/2
Paint - **1/2
Articulation - Rufus, Death ***; Quagmire, Meg **1/2; Buff Peter, Mutant
Stewie **;
Accessories - Death, Nekkid Peter ***1/2; Rufus, Meg, Quagmire ***;
Mutant Stewie **1/2
Fun Factor - **1/2
Value - Mutant Stewie *1/2; the rest **1/2
Overall - Death ***1/2; Rufus, Quagmire ***; Naked Peter, Meg **1/2;
Mutant Stewie **
Where to Buy -
You can get these at a number of online stores right now, and some specialty
stores, like Tower Records or Media Play, may get these in soon. Online
options include:
- OMGCNFO.com should have them in any
day, and always have excellent pricing.
- Krypton Collectibles
has the full set of six for just $62.
- CornerStoreComics has the
set for $65, or the individual figures for $11.
- Killer Toys has the individual
figures for $12, and the set for $65.
KEEP SCROLLING DOWN FOR MORE PHOTOS!
|