Popco Entertainment snuck their Super Mario Figure Collection totally under my radar, but I picked this fellow up at a Toys R Us a while ago, and see them all over Wal-Mart aisles nowadays. This vinyl figure is at the 5 inch size mark, but they also released a number of smaller Mario figures too. Can Luigi assert his superiority in the world of action figures like he has the world of games, or is he still destined to be the brother no one notices. Read on to find out!
Name: Luigi
Line: Super Mario Figure Collection
Manufacturer: PopCo Entertainment
Released: Early 2009
Price: Retail: $6.99-$9.99, Online: $7.99-$13.99
Scale: 5.00 in. (figure is 5.25 in. tall)
Accessories: None
Sponsor Listings: Amazon (Single)-$13.99
9 / 10 - Looks just like modern representations of the character; smooth and sleek stylings; great proportions and posture; number of small details like points on gloves, jean pockets, and raised suspender buttons; doesn't just rely on paint but sculpts things in; charming facial expression; a really boring straight up pose.
6 / 10 - The colors are just the right shades; accurate variation between hair and mustache color; nice attention to detail, such as the lighter brown the the bottom of his boots; very sloppy lines at gloves, bottom of his pant legs, and suspender buttons; a lot of paint is either too far inside or outside the sculpt lines; the emblem on his hat is really messy; eyes are bright and clean.
4 / 10 - Only two points of articulation, which isn't good, but neither is it terrible for this style of figure; joints feel very flimsy and susceptible to damage; right shoulders doesn't swivel well; hard to play with figure, even harder to find a cool pose; not representative of the action-packed games he stars in; wrist and waist swivels could have gone a long way; lack of articulation wouldn't be so bad if the sculpt were more dynamic.
5 / 10 - ]Instantly recognized and much-loved design; represents hours and hours of joy on a Nintendo; not much articulation to mess around with; hard to pose an already boring sculpt; no accessories (flowers, ghost backpacks, or a block anyone?); does look great on top of your NES; stale packaging; vinyl is susceptible to damage.
4 / 10 - Not a super expensive figure, but not a super nice one either; includes zero accessories; isn't particularly large or plastic-heavy; packaging is lazy and easy to throw-away; not a ton of fun and in turn not worth much money; Vinyl feels weak; being a few dollards cheaper would help.
Overall Score: 56 / 100 - This is a Fair Toy
Luigi looks great despite some biger paint problems, but unfortunately he isn't much fun and costs a little too much.
-The Articulated One (thearticulatedone@articulateddiscussion.com)
