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Once upon a time, some unhappy dockworkers
battled a great war with some unhappy shipping company CEO's. The
reasons for the battle were murky, and of little consequence to the little
toy collector, but he was greatly effected by the results.
Toys that he wanted very badly were kept
hostage. And there was much gnashing of teeth and wailing of voices.
In particular, the Muppets series 2, one of
the most anticipated lines of the fall, was delayed in shipping to
stores. Finally, after weeks of delay, the figures are finally hitting
the shelves. This series includes four figures - Fozzie, Gonzo, Floyd,
and Crazy Harry. There's also a variation of Floyd, wearing a blue
jacket (with other very distinct paint op changes) that's packed at one per
case.
The figures are retailing for $7-$9
depending on what retailer you pick them up at. The second playset,
the Electric Mayhem stage with Animal, is also hitting some stores right
now.
I reviewed the first series and first
playset several months ago, and I also have a Muppet
Figure Archive of all the various figures and variations.
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Packaging - ***1/2
The same as series 1, the packaging is based on the Muppet Show 25th
Anniversary theme. It plays off the colors and designs of the shows,
and has terrific photos of the other characters in the series. There's
a nice bio card on the back, and the series number is on the right side,
making it easier to find the figures on the pegs.
I didn't include a packaging
picture this time, simply because I wanted to focus more photos on the
figures, not because I don't think the packaging looks great.
Sculpting - ****
The first series had some minor sculpting issues, but I can't find a single
fault here. Some folks find the size of Floyd and Fozzie tough to
accept, but these are scaled based on the puppets themselves, and that can
be tough to tell on the screen at times.
The detail work is absolutely
amazing. The skin texture, the hair, the folds of the cloths -
everything has been shown meticulous attention.
Another important detail of the
sculpt is the hands. All four can hold and pose with their various
accessories. This is particularly important with characters like Harry
and Floyd, whose accessories are such an integral part of who they are.
While every figure comes with a
stand (a practice I believe is endind with this series, or perhaps series 3)
they don't need them. All four stand fine on their own, and the
sculpting doesn't interfere with the posability.
Paint - ****
Some people have reported slight issues with the paint ops. I was
fairly picky when selecting these on the peg, but there was only one case
there and I had no trouble pulling out a perfect figure of each.
The excellent sculpting is
highlighted by the excellent paint ops. All the detail in the sculpt
could be lost with poor paint work, but here it's highlighted and
accentuated. The bright white of Harry's teeth, the gold stitching on
Floyd's jacket and even the dark wash on Gonzo's fur add realism and depth
to the figures.
The paint ops on the
accessories are also worth noting. I'm particularly impressed with the
work on the gun powder keg, but all the accessories are well done.
I found no signs of clumping,
bleed or sloppy lines. Palisades paint ops really are raising the bar
for other companies.
Articulation - Harry, Floyd ***1/2; Fozzie, Gonzo ***
The articulation score depends on the figure, as the amount and usefulness
varies.
Harry and Floyd come out on top here, with neck, ball jointed shoulders,
elbows, wrists, waist, hips and cut ankles. Both can hold plenty of
positions, and the articulation works extremely well for both with their
particular accessories.
Fozzie and Gonzo come up slightly shorter. Fozzie has neck, ball
jointed shoulders and hips. Gonzo has neck, ball jointed shoulders,
hips and ankles. Even though Gonzo has more articulation, he doesn't
score quite as well since I had some trouble getting his feet and legs in
just the right position to stand on his own.
Accessories - ****
Once again, Palisades comes through with a terrific offering of extras with
each figure.
Fozzie has his rubber chicken, Groucho glasses, microphone and microphone
stand. I'll include his hat here too, since it's removable. Like
the previous SDCC version of Fozzie, the
hat is held on with a magnet. This one doesn't seem quite as strong as
the previous magnets, but it still works great.
Crazy Harry has two sticks of dynamite, the standard cartoon style bomb,
a keg of gun powder (that opens), and his plunger. The plunger works
with a spring action too, and fits perfectly in his hands. The paint
and sculpting on the keg really stand out as well.
Floyd has his trademark bass, guitar strap, amp and hat. Like
Fozzie, his cap stays on with a magnet. The guitar is hooked to the
amp with a thin wire, and some folks have had issues with them
breaking. I haven't had that problem with either Floyd, but you should
still exercise some care when moving it around. The variant Floyd (it
even says that on the UPC!) has the same accessories, in just a different
color scheme.
I'm going to take a minute to say that I like the colors of the variant
Floyd much better than the regular Floyd. The white bass looks
terrific, and the lighter color of the amp looks even more realistic.
Too bad that's the slightly harder one to find.
Gonzo comes with the largest and most intricate accessory - his firing
cannon. He also has a great cape, and two 'stops' for either wheel of
the cannon. There will be an Electronics Boutique exclusive version of
this figure that includes a crash helmet as well.
The cannon looks terrific, and even fires pretty well. You won't be
killing the house pets with him, but he catches a little air. The
stops fit under the wheels, pretty much as you'd expect.
The cape deserves a special mention though. It's extremely well
made, and looks great on him. They used an elastic thread to hold the
cape on his neck, so that it stretches out over his head, and snaps tight
around his neck. That's a new one, and is so much better than the
usual 'tie it around his neck and it keeps falling off' string. Nice
work!
Value - ***
I paid $9 each for this set. At that price, they take a slight hit on
the value. Not much though, considering the current price of McToys,
or even some of the basic comic shop figures. Find these at Toys R Us
for $7 or $8, and you can add another half to full star.
Overall - Floyd, Harry ****; Fozzie, Gonzo ***1/2
If I had to pick a favorite out of this set, it would have to be
Floyd. The level of detail, and the great design, really stands
out. Crazy Harry is also great, and there isn't a bad thing I can say
about either one.
Gonzo and Fozzie are not quite as nice, but still
exceptional action figures. The sculpting on both is excellent, and
while the articulation is a little lower, they still kick the crapola out of
most of the action figures out there. Palisades is doing a wonderful
job with this license.
Where to Buy -
Right now, more on-line retailers have these than bricks and mortar
stores, but they are starting to pop up. I have seen them at the
Musicland family of stores so far - Media Play, Suncoast and Sam Goody all
have them here. Toys R Us should get them soon. On-line:
- Electronics
Boutique is your best bet - they are shipping them, and they are only $8
each plus shipping. They also have the pre-order up for the exclusive
Gonzo. They have a special Muppet store under the 'action figures'
tab. (MROTW Affiliate)
I've added a photo at the bottom for a scale comparison
between Fozzie, Floyd, Bunsen and Dr. Teeth.
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Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford. |
