Disney Afternoon

Disney Afternoon

Funko

Whoa!  A Funko acquisition that isn’t lazy and doesn’t suck?!  To be honest, I was obligated to buy these for Uncle Scrooge...and Darkwing Duck...and though they are waaay out of scale, I like Chip and Dale for their homage to Indiana Jones and Magnum PI...Sorry, Baloo, I love you, but I wasn’t a big Tale Spin fan.  You’re lucky to be along for the ride!  Until Launchpad gets here, Scrooge could use a pilot for his adventures.

These are solid, well-made figures that are technically in the four-inch scale.  Yes, either the Rescue Rangers were zapped by Wayne Salinski’s re-embiggen setting, or the others got shrunk to match.  Baloo should be a little bit bigger, but...The articulation varies character to character, and it good enough in keeping with the animated aesthetic.  

Scrooge fairs the best with accessories, coming with his cane and a classic money bag.  Darkwing has his gas gun, and Dale has a mini figure of Zipper...Baloo and Chip get nothing?  C’mon!  How about a shipping crate with Shere Khan’s business logo on it?  At least throw us a magnifying glass!

I have been sitting on these a while.  They just seemed to drop on retail without much warning one day.  They are great for the price (around $8) and can still be found at most Target stores and online (some marked down.)  I think I hesitated in posting these because Funko is notorious for getting a line out, then dropping it after one wave.  I didn’t want to get my hopes up for a robust DuckTales line.  Luckily I had Phat Mojo while I waited.  I waited and forgot and...well well well...there was a sequel!  Coming soon!

Around the same time that these came in, a collection of old Disney Afternoon Nintendo games were packaged together on PlayStation and XBox virtual stores.  I cant count how many runs I’ve made on the original Ducktales game.  The legendary pogo cane, the fun co-op option in Rescue Rangers, the variety of gadgets and bosses in Darkwing Duck...Capcom really made the best of these properties.  Except for...oh, sorry again, Baloo.  Your game got the short end of the stick.  Ducktales and RR even got sequels, also available here in this $20 package.  Not bad for a nostalgia kick!  Get it today before the rights lapse!

Mezco One:12 Popeye

Popeye

Mezco One:12

Happy 90th Birthday to the man with the spinach can!  To celebrate, let's take a look at the definite figure of the year for 2018: Mezco's One:12 ultra-realistic Popeye!

Like Scrooge McDuck, Popeye is an old favorite of mine.  I couldn't resist this figure.  Having done a Popeye line in 2001 (see my retro review here), someone at Mezco must really love this guy to take a chance on a single, high-dollar figure.  So far, it sounds like the action figure community as a whole is eating him up.  And everyone should, especially comic book fans.  Popeye is the prototype superpowered superhero.  I needed this figure standing side by side with the Man of Steel and sitting next to Luke Skywalker on the Council of Nine.  He's epic and deserves an epic figure.

Let's get the griping out of the way first.  One:12 is a pretentious way of saying "it fits with the standard 6-inch figures."  Want some more pretension?  How about going all Mego with cloth clothing...seriously?  Who prefers cloth clothing on scales below 12 inches?  I really hope that's not the detailing that pushed these figures up to the $80 mark (wait for it.)  That's right...$80 for a 6-inch figure.  I will not be making a habit of this.  Well, unless they bring out more strange properties that you don't see everyday...like Popeye!

The cost aside, he delivers.  Over 28 points of articulation, an interchangeable outfit, and a fair amount of accessories along with a unique sculpt that is either something of dreams or nightmares.  The ultra-realistic take with cartoony proportions is both strange and beautiful.  All the lines in the forearms and face and...ew...cloth clothing means you can look at Popeye's defined abs!

Accessory-wise, you get a couple of hats (captain's hat, sailor cap, stocking cap), 2 cans of spinach (one closed, one crushed open), an opening compass, a telescoping spyglass, a duffle bag, and a peacoat.  There is also a large, round base with interchangeable foot peg or flight stand.  I guess the flight stand is for those big uppercuts.  You also get a plain pipe and one with a little, pissed off smoke cloud coming out of it (plus several extras of each, because they are so small and easy to lose.)  There is a second head for the figure, but it only has a slight variance in some gritted teeth.  I would have preferred a battle-damaged look with some scuffing, blood, and a black eye like Bluto really let him have it before it was time to break out the spinach.

  

This figure was announced some time ago and has been at the top of my "must haves" for some time.  I am glad to have him and he is a great figure, but I do have to end this on a sour note.  Out of the package, I noticed some popped or missing stitching on one of the inside pantlegs.  I contacted Mezco customer service to ask about replacement parts (which they do have as an inquiry selection on their contact page.)  I bought this figure from Big Bad Toy Store, so they said it was their policy to have me return it there for a full replacement.  Really?  You don't have a tiny pair of replacement pants handy?  Instead of dealing with the return hassle and wait to get a completely new figure, I'm living with the defect.  I find that hard to swallow on a big-ticket item.  It should be perfect, and good customer service should make it right with as little stress to the consumer as possible.  Despite where I bought them, I have had excellent, direct replacement service with figure defects from Diamond Select Toys and DC Collectibles.  For shame, Mezco.  As I told their "customer service" rep, Popeye would be disgusted.  Pissed off, in fact.  He would probably give you one chance to make it right before he popped you in the mouth and your pants comically exploded into hundreds of tiny replacement pants.

The Fantastic Feats of Captain Strong!

DuckTales

 DuckTales

5-Inch figures - PhatMojo

Sometimes a line completely slips under my radar.  I missed the news from NYC Toy Fair in February about a fairly new company, PhatMojo, producing a line of DuckTales figures.  Very few pictures leaked out, and even then, they were promos and prototypes.  Then, last week, these started to hit Target stores.  They popped up on the Target website, but they bungled it by not allowing you to select individual figures from the assortment.  It would have been ordering blind!  And even though I wanted a complete set, I wasn't going to take the chance to end up with four Launchpad McQuacks!  After some time issuing my complaint about this process with online customer service, the figures showed as "in-stock" at my local store.  Now, I don't know if I have complained about it before, but I loathe my local Target.  Restocking and supplying toys is inconsistent and the place is always packed with awful, uppity southsiders. (Springfield peeps know what I'm talking about)  I took a chance, drove down on my lunch hour, fought the hoards, and came out on top!  A full set of figures and accessories!  They were so fresh in the system, that a nice store associate pulled them from the back for me.  So, there's one plus for my Target.  Even if once I got to the checkout, it took three more associates to get them to ring up!

 

The first wave hits all the key players.  The adult figure assortment includes Scrooge, Glomgold, Launchpad, and Donald Duck.  (So great to see Donald in this series as a lead, just like in the comics!)  The kids come in 2-packs:  Huey and Dewey together, and Louie with Webby.  Each figure comes with one or two accessories and tops out at 5 points of articulation.  I have already seen collectors online complain about the articulation and scale.  Chill, dudes...you aren't the demographic for these toys.  And even so, smaller size (some wanted them closer to 3.75 inch) and more articulation would not only make them as fragile as all get out, but would affect the overall look of the figures in relation to the show's aesthetic. 

Collectors also complain about the scale of the plane, the Sunchaser, and the Money Bin.  Chill, dudes...its not like you've had to sacrifice scale for play factor and budget with vehicles and playsets before.  (There's a little movie that's been around for a couple of years that has some toys based around it. Maybe you've heard of it...Star Wars?)  Yes, the plane is a bit shrimpy, and wish it could seat at least two figures and had some sort of joystick or steering yoke.  It has rolling wheels, spinning propellers, and includes a Launchpad figure (you can skip on the single-packed figure going this route)...which is fine for this size and price point.  It's funny that the box advertises assembling the plane as an action/fun feature.  It made me wish that, keeping in line with Launchpad's gimmick, it had some sort of spring-loaded, button feature to make it bust apart. (like the old-school TIE fighters)

The Money Bin is, of course, way under scaled.  What? You expected something like a $500, crowdfunded Jabba's sail barge that doesn't even fit Max Rebo's keyboard?  Chill dudes...it works fine for a display piece/backdrop and the pop-open interior is a key location with play value.  I think it was made more to display the smaller PVC figures, but the 5-inchers do fit on the "shelves." It will look even better filled with all the spoils from Scrooge's adventures.  I'm probably going to throw in a lot of Hasbro Indiana Jones artifacts to fill it out.  It comes with a lucky dime replica, which fits on a pedestal in one of the rooms.  There is a vault dial on the back that you turn to make the playset pop open, but that's it for features.  At $30, I wish it had included a figure or at least more treasure.  Still, it looks pretty darn nifty and I cant imagine having the figures without it.

In getting my crack at fresh cases, I have to note that there are some downsides when it comes to paint apps.  There are some areas of bleeding and sloppiness, as well as scuffs and imperfections.  Also, be careful with the joints on the smaller figures.  I had to give the kids a hot water bath to loosen them up or they would be stuck in place or broken.  Other than that?  Quacktastic!

 

I couldn't be happier to have these.  It's one of those lines (like an articulated Word of Nintendo/Mario line) that we could only dream about as kids.  Now here they are in full force.  If the line stopped here, I would cope, as PhatMojo has already delivered what others could not. (I'm looking at you, Funko.)  I do have my fingers crossed for one more wave with Magica De Spell, Beagle Boys, Gyro Gearloose, Gizmoduck, Fenton Crackshell, Mrs. Beakley, Gladstone Gander, Goldie O'Gilt...so many Duckverse figures on the wish list!

 

 





 

 

 

"Oh, by the way, Launchpad...you're fired."