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Disney Magical Collection
Briar Rose, Coda and Kenai
 
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Coheteboy is here tonight with a great guest review of three more of the
Tomy Magical Collection figures - Briar Rose, and Kenai and Coda from
Brother Bear. Take it away, Coheteboy!
The last time I reviewed Tomy's Disney Magical Collection for Michael, I focused only on the sets released stateside. It's been quite a while with no news on any more waves for the states, but it's definitely good to know that the line is still going strong in Japan. The
toy line began with half a dozen figures in each wave but has been reduced to about three figures each month (that's still 36 figures a year!).
Tomy has released a handful of characters from the animated classic Sleeping Beauty before, but here at last is a figure of Briar Rose (#106), which is the Princess Aurora in disguise to hide from the evil Maleficent, though she doesn't realize it. The two other figures are from Disney's 2003 animated feature, Brother Bear. Kenai (#104) is in his bear form (rather than his human form) and the young cub Coda (#105) both represent the rest of this wave.
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Packaging - ***
Every one of these figures are packaged with matching blister card and bubble. This year the cards made a color change to blue from the previous black look. It looks good and the back of the card features a small blurb about the character (in Japanese) as well as what's to come. The packaging is adequate, works and looks good but isn't anything special. But of course it's better to have a ton of figures than to have only a few with great looking packaging, I think.
Sculpting - ***1/2
Sculpts have always been pretty good all around for these Tomy figures and there's no mistaking who these figures represent. Briar Rose could have been a tad better but it's not too bad. She's definitely an improvement over the initial Sleeping Beauty figure which doesn't quite look like the character. Coda from Brother Bear has a great expression and it fits the character perfectly. Kenai, who is stuck in one pose is a little more disappointing because it doesn't quite look like the film but still looks pretty decent. You can really see the strands of hairs on these bears which is quite impressive.
Paint - ***1/2
Very much like the sculpts, paint has always been incredibly consistent in these Disney figures though you might find some bleed on occasion. The color selection are usually quite accurate to the character everything looks great here.
Articulation - Briar Rose ***; Coda ** 1/2; Kenai (no stars)
This has always been a questionable category for the Disney figures since you get the most basic of articulation with all of these figures. These figures are basically made for display purposes first and toys second. Briar Rose has the most points of articulation of the group with 5 points. She has articulation in the shoulders and legs and one extra in her right wrist/arm. Her neck is basically a stiff thanks to the molded hair.
Coda is next in line with only 3 points of articulation: neck and arms. Yah that's pretty basic and he can't do much but just sit there and look cute. Kenai has it even worse with ZERO points of articulation! That's gotta be by far the worst you can do to a figure. He's just a nicely sculpted PVC now. Hmm... that's a first for me; an action figure with no articulation!
Accessories - Briar Rose, Coda ***; Kenai *
The accessories are usually the strong point in the Disney figures but this batch is just a little bit less than average. Briar Rose fares pretty decently with a basket of berries and a squirrel. The squirrel can count as another figure though he's just a very tiny accessory.
Young Coda comes with a salmon and a rock base for him to sit on. The larger bear Kenai continues to disappoint comes with an oversized "love" totem that he so passionately rejected in the film.
The cost of these figures in import stores have raised from $8 to $10 so it's even less practical to keep collecting, but fans of the Disney characters will appreciate these nonetheless.
Value - **1/2
The cost of these figures in import stores have raised from $8 to $10 so it's even less practical to keep collecting, but fans of the Disney characters will appreciate these nonetheless.
Overall - ***
While there are many issues that weren't up to par, I still have to give them all a general score of three stars. They are what they are: nicely detailed Disney figures in plastic form.
Of course I would have preferred some articulation given to Kenai and maybe some better accessories, but it looks alright. It's really hard to dislike these figures too much since they are better Disney toys than you can find in the theme parks and stores!
Believe it or not, there are now over one hundred of these figures and there are more still to come. Coming up next are three figures from Pixar's Toy Story: Aliens, Rex, and Hamm.
Where to Buy -
Ebay and import shops are all I can think of here as Japan and the rest of Asia toy stores carry these figures.
SCROLL DOWN FOR LOTS MORE PHOTOS!
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Figures from the collection of
Coheteboy.
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