|
Packaging - ***1/2
The packaging fulfills the basic requirements - it's fairly attractive,
highlights the license, shows the rest of the line, is sturdy, and doesn't take
up *too* much room. These packages get a big plus though - each has unique
text about the character from the movie on the back! And not just a
sentence or two, but several paragraphs. That's a nice touch that we
certainly don't see often enough.
Sculpting - ****
It's Mickey, that's for sure! The head sculpt is right on, and I love
the smiling, bright eyed expression. That's the way you expect Mickey to
look, and he even captures the happiness in the face of adversity attitude of
Cratchit.
The hands are sculpted in two different
positions, and while his accessories aren't really intended to be held, several
still work.
The scale on these figures is also a great
aspect. Mickey stands at about 5", and the rest of the line is nicely
scaled around him. Characters look right together, and this line fits in
fine with the Peanuts and Rudolph lines. I always thought the Peanuts line
was too large, and I think they've done a great job getting these at just the
right size to look great, but not be over powering.
Paint - **1/2
This is the only category where I was somewhat disappointed. The paint ops
aren't terrible, but average at best.
It's particularly annoying on Mickey's face,
where the white of his eyes, black of his head, and tan of his face tend to have
real issues. The lines between these colors are fuzzy, unclean and there's
some bleed and over spray.
The colors are bright and consistent however,
and the detail work is decent. But you should pick your figures carefully,
looking at them closely to get the best possible paint jobs.
Articulation - ****
I was very surprised by the amount of articulation in Mickey, and it looks like
the majority of the line has plenty of joints.
Mickey has neck, shoulders, pin elbows, wrists,
pin knees, waist, hips and cut ankles. His hip joint is similar to the
split ball joint we've seen in other cartoon figures from Playing Mantis and
Palisades.
Ball jointed shoulders might have been nice, but
that's being mighty picky. With all this articulation there's a ton of
cool poses and possibilities for Mickey.
Accessories - ***
Mickey comes with his hat, scarf, coal bucket, lump of coal, pen/ink well,
and 'home sweet home' sign.
All the accessory sculpts look good, and the
paint application was fine. The hat has a bit of a tough time staying on,
as it's a very tight fit between the ears, and the coal is really the only
accessory he can sensible hold in his hands, but this is a good assortment for
the price, and all make perfect sense in the context of the story.
Value - ***
Seven bucks would be a perfect price for these, but at eight they still
aren't an awful value. Considering the high level of articulation, and
what can't be a cheap license (hey, Disney isn't known for 'cheap'), the price
isn't too far out of line.
Overall - ***1/2
I hadn't planned on being quite this enamored with this figure. I had
to really battle with my evil self in the store, trying to decide whether I
should spend eight bucks a pop on any of the other figures. I finally
decided I'd just grab Mickey for the review, and see how he looked outside his
plastic prison.
Sure enough, I'll be picking up the rest of the
line over the next couple weeks. I'd love to find them for $7 each or so,
and I'm going to do some shopping around, but they are some great figures and
will really look excellent on the shelf for the holidays.
|
