Review of Earthworm Jim action figure

Introduction

I've always loved quirky cartoons, and God knows we have a plethora available these days - Adventure Time, Regular Show, Spongebob, etc. Back in the 90's, one of the best was Earthworm Jim, which lasted two seasons on the WB. It's a fairly basic but bizarre premise - Jim is your usual earthworm, just minding his own business, until one day a robotic suit turns him into a superhero. Along with his trusty side kick Peter Puppy, he battles evil villains such as Professor Monkey-for-a-head and Queen Slug-for-a-butt. It was some deep stuff, man.

It was also based off a series of video games, even more absorb in nature than the show.

Back in the mid-90's, Playmates produced a series of action figures based on the show, and they were excellent for the time. Mezco has picked up the now vintage concept once again, producing an Earthworm Jim figure based on the video games. No word yet on whether we'll get anyone additional, but let's keep our fingers crossed.

This guy is out now and is selling for around $15 or so, depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***1/2
I love the artwork on the card, capturing the feel of the show and the games. I'm not sure why it proclaims the toy is for ages 15+, other than the obvious avoidance of child safety laws.

It's not collector friendly of course, but I don't expect card back/bubble style packages like this to be, even when they are intended for the collector market.

Sculpting - ****
This figure is based on the game more than the show, although there's not a whole lot of difference. He is done in a six inch scale, coming in at about 6 1/4".

I like the dynamic pose for the legs, particularly since they aren't articulated. Even more important, he stands great on his own, a real problem for some figures that lack leg joints.

The sculpt has an appropriate amount of detail considering the style of the game, and there's some nice texture on his wormy skin. There's wrinkles and folds on the pack, and even the iris' are sculpted, not just painted on the eyeballs.

The right hand is sculpted to hold his blaster perfectly, while the left is done in a gesturing pose.

There's a few mold lines here and there, bot overall I'm very pleased with the funky expression and dangerous pose.

Paint - ***
Most of the paint work is solid, especially around the face and eyes. There's a little over spray of the white onto the skin, but it's pretty minimal, and the green is quite good.

The white suit looks great as well, but the blue straps don't have the greatest edge. Rather than the blue being on the sides of the straps, the white from the costume is. It's not super sloppy, but it's not quite right either.

Articulation - **1/2
The one category where this figure falls short is Articulation - but whether that really matters to you or not is personal preference.

The best joint is the true ball jointed neck. It can twist and turn, tilt and swivel, and take just about any pose you'd like.

There's post/disc ball jointed shoulders, pin elbows, cut wrists, cut forearms and a cut waist to round things out. Nope, from the waist down he's a solid piece.

Considering how thin and spindly the legs are, I have no issue with the lack of leg articulation. Joint junkies might not be as forgiving.

Accessories - ***
Jim comes with two accessories - his Plasma Blaster and a bendy version of himself out of the suit. 

The gun is more reminiscent of the game than the show, which leads me to believe that the license they acquired was for the former rather than the latter. No biggie though - the characters were all pretty much the same. The blaster looks terrific and fits in his right hand perfectly.

The bendy feature on the separate Jim works great, and doesn't seem likely to break under normal use.

Early on there were photos of two different worm accessories, each with a differing expression. Not sure if both made it to production and there's a variant to watch for, but it's worth keeping in mind.

Fun Factor - ***
Yea, it says they're for ages 15+, but that's probably to avoid all the costs and rigmarole of those child safety tests. He's actually a damn good action figure, better in many respects than most we see on the shelf.

Value - ***1/2
I remember when Palisades first started charging $15 a pop for collector themed action figures. How aghast we all were! Well, times are now that it's a decent value when you can get a low run collectors figure like this for $15 or even less if you do a little shopping around.

Things to Watch Out For -
I didn't have any sticky joints to contend with, but be sure you work the head loose slowly just in case.

Overall - ***1/2
I waffled around for a day or two on this one. Usually, the articulation has a greater weight for my overall, but because of the spindly legs I get the reasoning behind no joints. If the articulation was key, this score would have been dropped another half star.

But for me, the sculpt took precedence, and the value and accessories helped out. If we can get a Peter Puppy or Evil Cat in a similar style, I'll be one very happy camper.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth is also at $16.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I never reviewed the old Earthworm Jim figures, but you should hit ebay to check them out. And if you should happen to know where I can find the prototypes for the unproduced Playmates figures, please let me know - I've been searching for years!

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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