World of Nintendo figures

Star Mario, Blue Yoshi, Phazon Suit Samus, and Blue Pikmin

Jakks Pacific - World of Nintendo 4in figures

Jakks' World of Nintendo line is everything I wanted as a kid growing up with the video games.  The best we had in three dimensions back then were 2-3 in PVC figurines that I picked up at the local video rental shop.  They were great at the time, but these...this is the next level (articulation)! Close to 8 waves in and going strong, I understand they have to throw in some character variations now and then to cut costs and give new collectors a chance to nab the key players.  

Star Mario is a translucent version of series 1 Mario with a Star accessory, right?  Yes, but the plastic they used also has a pearlescent sheen to it to reflect prisms of color.  Pretty nifty!  Now Mario is ready to run through levels at lightning speed, toppling enemies and...oh, man!  The invincibility power just ran out as I slammed face-first into a turtle!

Light Blue Yoshi!  And he comes with *surprise* a blue egg accessory!  I'm not a huge fan of Mario's dino-pal, but for completion's sake, I will buy into the color spectrum.  So far, they have made the traditional green, pink, red, and this guy.  Okay, so Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was great...but these figures would be much more desirable if they were built so  Mario figures to ride on them.  Some high-tech display stands or, at the least, a rubber band are needed to turn cutesy into a beast of burden.

Phazon Suit Samus is another "dark" repaint, but with shinier black, metallic silver, and a bit of red.  This variation is from the game "Metroid Prime" that features increased defensive shielding, hyper mode, and the Phazon Beam needed to defeat Metroid Prime. Samus comes with color-matched morph ball accessory.  Samus and Link are two characters in this line that people feel are underscaled and should stand closer to 6 inches tall to Mario's 4 inches.  Gimme and Jakks a break...we're talking 3 different humanoid characters that all have different styles and proportions.  I mean, look at Mario's head, scale-Nazis, and suspend disbelief!

What's with all the black and blue this round?  Oh well...here is a Blue Pikmin from the 2.5inch scale line.  He's the only Pikmin produced thus far with a flower on his head.  This type of Pikmin is the only one to feature a mouth (to breath under water) which makes him extra creepy.  His head can turn and he comes with a tiny clear stand.