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Toyfare
Exclusive Swimsuit Leela
Posted
07/18/01
Overall score - *** out of ****
(originally posted at the Comic Book Galaxy)
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Remember Radioactive Homer? He was the
first Simpsons Toy Fare exclusive. Now we have his counterpart,
Swimsuit Leela, the first Toyfare exclusive of the hit cartoon Futurama.
These were available through the magazine,
as usual. They've since sold out and are now shipping, but you
should be able to find one on ebay or through your local comic shop.
Packaging - ***
When it comes to Toyfare exclusives, this is one of the best packages
ever. Occasionally they give you colorful, appropriate boxes, and
that's the case this time.
The box is sturdy, with great graphics and
text. You can easily see the figure, and there's plenty of room
inside to store the accessories. Best of all, you can open it up
without any damage to the box.
Sculpt - ***
If you bought the original Leela, you've seen this sculpt before.
The head and body are identical - nothing new was done for this exclusive
in sculpting.
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Articulation - ***
The Futurama figures show off MAC's best attempts at articulation.
With tons of joints, this whole line is great in this department.
Unfortunately, the joints are very weak, and it looks like the arms and
wrists could fall off very easily.
Paint - **1/2
The paint ops on this line, and on this exclusive, are not quite what they
could be. This figure is better than I had anticipated though, and
the swimsuit lines are very crisp. The flesh tones are a bit thick,
and even lumpy in some spots, but overall it's better than I had expected.
Accessories - ***
She'd get more stars than that if this wasn't a repaint. She comes
with the two blasters, Nibbler, and sandbox for Nibbler. Also, the
same planetary base is included, but at least this is repainted in
completely different and attractive colors.
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Value - ***
It's been so long since I ordered this, I'm no longer sure what it
originally cost. I'm guessing $15, although the newer Toyfare
exclusives have gone up in price. Considering that includes
shipping, which is usually $3-$4, it's not a bad deal.
You shouldn't be paying more than that at
your local store, although with the original order sold out you may end up
getting stung.
Concept - **
This is the most basic type of exclusive, the
simple repaint. However, at least some repaints make sense, like the
Radioactive Homer. This one simply doesn't, since this outfit has
never been on the show, and it's not even in character for Leela to wear
something like this.
Surprisingly, Leela has a great butt.
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Overall - ***
It's pretty much a straight repaint, but changing the colors of the base,
and including all the accessories of the original helps this figure.
The packaging is great, and they made enough, at least for now. It's
a weird concept, since Leela isn't really the type to dress like this, but
considering MAC's track record with female action figures it's certainly
no surprise.
If you're a big fan of the show, this
exclusive is worth $15. I wouldn't go hog wild and sell the farm
just to buy one on ebay though. If they do skyrocket in price, wait
a few months and they'll drop off again.
I suspect this line will end up coming in
a close second to Playmates Simpsons line as my overall favorite for
2001. It's certainly my favorite MAC line, and I'm hoping we'll see
a second series soon.
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Figure from the collection of
Michael Crawford.
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