Packaging - ***1/2
Sideshow gives us windows, and windows are always good. You can see just
what you're getting before you ever open it up. Of course, since odds are
you're buying on-line, that doesn't particularly help, but they tried.
The boxes are a tad plain, but I'm sure that's more FOX's doing than
Sideshow's. FOX is very tough on how such things can look, and often get
in the way of some pretty creative and attractive ideas.
Sculpting - **1/2
Willie is sculpted in a particular pose, probably his most famous. The
side of the box even shows the pose - one fist raised, the other clutching a
shovel, yelling at Bart or some other poor Springfield Elementary student.
I've included both photos of the side of the box, and of the Playmates World
of Springfield version for you to compare. As you can see, two people
doing the exact same thing can have very different interpretations.
The basic sculpt - the overalls and shirt, the scale of the head, arms and
body, the proportions of the face and hair - are all very good. You won't
get confused as to who this might be when you see it.
However, Sideshow's sculptor has done a couple things very differently.
First, he's altered the appearance of the beard in front of the nose, pretty
much dropping it entirely. Second, since only his back teeth appear in the
2 D drawing, he has skipped including any front teeth. (The WOS version
has a full set of chompers.) And finally, he went for the 'shifty eyed'
expression, but shifted the left eye waaay over, much more than you'd
expect. Finally, the hairs on his arms are cut into the arm, rather than
out.
He has the standard column base, but there's no sculptor credit this
time. I believe they dropped the credits with the release of Krusty, but
I'm not sure why.
Paint - ***
Most of the paint application is clean and neat, but he takes a hit in this
category for that weird left eye. He looks more like Mad Eye Mooney than
Groundskeeper Willie.
The rest of the work is solid though, and the colors match up well with the
rest of the series. No changes in yellow, thank goodness.
Design/Style - ***
I already slapped him around in both sculpting and paint for the weird left
eye, lack of teeth, and the way the beard was done. Here we'll talk about
the more 'artistic' value.
They picked a perfect pose, although it's one we've seen many times.
Perhaps a bare chested version, looking like he's yelling "Grease me up,
woman!" might have been a little more unique, but this choice is
understandable.
The one thing missing here is the shovel. There's no reason the shovel
couldn't be in his right hand, and in the comparison shot with the WOS figure
you can get some idea of how much better that would have looked.
Value - ***
At $35, these are right in the middle of the mini-bust market. These
are a little smaller than some of the $40 busts on the market, but they match up
with the source material well, and the Simpsons can't be a cheap license.
Overall - **1/2
After gushing over Krusty last month, I'll admit that Willie was a bit of a
disappointment. Actually, while I mentioned the teeth and beard as
negatives, I could have lived with those. I could even live without the
shovel. But the rolling, wonky left eye just freaks me out.
Where to Buy -
I haven't seen these at any stores, but your local comics shop *might* carry
them. On-line
options include:
- Sideshow of course. Willie
is new, and therefore $35. Most of the earlier busts, including Homer,
Marge,
Moe,
Lisa,
Comic
Book Guy, Bart
and Apu
are currently on sale for $25 each.
- Alter Ego Comics doesn't have
Willie, but they have the Lisa on sale for just $15!
- Southern Island doesn't have
Willie either, but they have the recently released Krusty (along with several
others) for just $21!
KEEP SCROLLING DOWN FOR THE COMPARISON SHOT!
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