"Hey, how do we make a cuter/cooler Star Wars figure than Lego figures?"
I'm guessing that's how the Mighty Mugs line from Hasbro was born. Or maybe they were trying to make it up to collectors that have been really turned off by the lame Galactic Hero figures.
I've been very impressed with this line ever since seeing them debut last year at the 2007 San Diego Comic Con in Hasbro's Star Wars case. So when I finally came across them at retail this passed weekend, I was super excited to be able to pick one up. There were only three left at the store, one Vader and two Boba Fetts, but I figure I'd start with one to see how I liked the figure, before investing in the whole line. And out of the two characters that were there, I figured Darth Vader could stand alone better than Boba Fett. I'm sure that statement alone could spark a million arguments, but I was going mainly on accessories and Boba Fett only comes with his jet-pack backpack.
The figure stands a towering 6" tall and has a removable helmet, cape and lightsaber. I'm a huge fan of this particular lightsaber, as it looks like a baseball bat that Vader spray-painted red since it gets fatter on the end than it is by the handle. The figure's left foot has a Mighty Mugs logo stamp and the right foot has a peg hole, I'm guessing for a figure stand that this figure did not actually come with. Probably something that was cut from production to keep costs down after the mold was made.
The box design is actually better than any other packaging I've ever seen come out of camp Hasbro. This was definitely done with the collectors in mind, I was very tempted to keep this thing sealed in the box. An odd gripe to add in here, but when opening the top of the box to get the figure out, I was upset by the two inner flaps having two sided tape on them that almost destroyed the cover flap when pulling it open. This apparently was done to keep the tape off of the outside of the box, but ultimately had a negative effect when opening the box.
The price of this at 10 bucks is probably one of the best values when it comes to vinyl figures. You can pretty much collect the whole line as it stands right now for what some of the higher priced collectible vinyls would run you.
Display-wise, I have to say it's hard to do. I put him up on my desk and he was there for all of four minutes before I had him back in my hands playing with his helmet and making him scowl at the rest of the office. And by doing so I mean pushing down his helmet so that only the smaller white spots in his eyes can be seen, giving a sort of pouty look to him. Having the helmet set back on his head where it's meant to be looks good in the drawing on the box, but in real life the smaller spots are too white, making it hard to figure out which ones are supposed to be focused on as his eyes.
There's a ton of detail painted on, which for a figure with such a simple body design is pretty refreshing. I like that so much attention was paid to adding such nice touches, even the helmet has a gray paint-ap going directly down the middle. But you also get all the standard red, blue, silver and white doo-hickeys that Vader is normally spouting on his chestal area. I like to think that some of those buttons are some sort of synthesizer so he can make up songs while waiting for all the Empire generals to get done talking about who has more orange and red squares on their uniforms. In that design I made up the sounds only play straight in his helmet headphones, he doesn't want to be rude.
I'm totally going to do my best to get the rest of the figures in this line, Boba Fett, Chewbacca, Darth Maul, Han Solo and the Storm Trooper. And I hope that the Mighty Mugs line isn't limited to Star Wars figures, I'd love to have a Mighty Mugs Cobra Commander some day. WINKFREAKINGWINK Hasbro.
Find him for sale here and for auction here.
I'm guessing that's how the Mighty Mugs line from Hasbro was born. Or maybe they were trying to make it up to collectors that have been really turned off by the lame Galactic Hero figures.
I've been very impressed with this line ever since seeing them debut last year at the 2007 San Diego Comic Con in Hasbro's Star Wars case. So when I finally came across them at retail this passed weekend, I was super excited to be able to pick one up. There were only three left at the store, one Vader and two Boba Fetts, but I figure I'd start with one to see how I liked the figure, before investing in the whole line. And out of the two characters that were there, I figured Darth Vader could stand alone better than Boba Fett. I'm sure that statement alone could spark a million arguments, but I was going mainly on accessories and Boba Fett only comes with his jet-pack backpack.
The figure stands a towering 6" tall and has a removable helmet, cape and lightsaber. I'm a huge fan of this particular lightsaber, as it looks like a baseball bat that Vader spray-painted red since it gets fatter on the end than it is by the handle. The figure's left foot has a Mighty Mugs logo stamp and the right foot has a peg hole, I'm guessing for a figure stand that this figure did not actually come with. Probably something that was cut from production to keep costs down after the mold was made.
The box design is actually better than any other packaging I've ever seen come out of camp Hasbro. This was definitely done with the collectors in mind, I was very tempted to keep this thing sealed in the box. An odd gripe to add in here, but when opening the top of the box to get the figure out, I was upset by the two inner flaps having two sided tape on them that almost destroyed the cover flap when pulling it open. This apparently was done to keep the tape off of the outside of the box, but ultimately had a negative effect when opening the box.
The price of this at 10 bucks is probably one of the best values when it comes to vinyl figures. You can pretty much collect the whole line as it stands right now for what some of the higher priced collectible vinyls would run you.
Display-wise, I have to say it's hard to do. I put him up on my desk and he was there for all of four minutes before I had him back in my hands playing with his helmet and making him scowl at the rest of the office. And by doing so I mean pushing down his helmet so that only the smaller white spots in his eyes can be seen, giving a sort of pouty look to him. Having the helmet set back on his head where it's meant to be looks good in the drawing on the box, but in real life the smaller spots are too white, making it hard to figure out which ones are supposed to be focused on as his eyes.
There's a ton of detail painted on, which for a figure with such a simple body design is pretty refreshing. I like that so much attention was paid to adding such nice touches, even the helmet has a gray paint-ap going directly down the middle. But you also get all the standard red, blue, silver and white doo-hickeys that Vader is normally spouting on his chestal area. I like to think that some of those buttons are some sort of synthesizer so he can make up songs while waiting for all the Empire generals to get done talking about who has more orange and red squares on their uniforms. In that design I made up the sounds only play straight in his helmet headphones, he doesn't want to be rude.
I'm totally going to do my best to get the rest of the figures in this line, Boba Fett, Chewbacca, Darth Maul, Han Solo and the Storm Trooper. And I hope that the Mighty Mugs line isn't limited to Star Wars figures, I'd love to have a Mighty Mugs Cobra Commander some day. WINKFREAKINGWINK Hasbro.
Find him for sale here and for auction here.
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(Liz): I think Sam took all the good words and I agree with all of them. I especially agree with the part where he says we're going to get the whole set. In fact, I think we should get several sets. We can have a set for when we are entertaining guests, a set for laundry day and a set to keep under our pillows in case of intruders.
Liz: "Did you mention that he's a lot like a Be@rbrick?"
Sam: "Why don't you do it?"
Liz: "It's too late."
__________________________________________________________
(Liz): I think Sam took all the good words and I agree with all of them. I especially agree with the part where he says we're going to get the whole set. In fact, I think we should get several sets. We can have a set for when we are entertaining guests, a set for laundry day and a set to keep under our pillows in case of intruders.
Liz: "Did you mention that he's a lot like a Be@rbrick?"
Sam: "Why don't you do it?"
Liz: "It's too late."
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- Plastic/Material - 5/5
- Poseability - 3/5
- Packaging - 5/5
- Design - 5/5
- Playability - 3/5
- Price (value) - 5/5
- Overall - 5/5
3 comments:
I saw the Han Solo one of these and loved it. Great review. I can not wait to get the Darth Vader one.
The Han Solo one kinda reminds me of you...
can you buy me a darth vader one so I can add it to my Darth Vader shrine?
Oh how much are they?
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