World of Nintendo: Goomba, Princess Peach, and Fox

The Nintendo train keeps rolling!  Jakks Pacific has yet another wave of five inch figures out in stores.  Which new faces do we need to look out for?

...those ones.  The picture, up top.


You have no idea how happy I am that this toyline keeps running along!  It may not be full-steam ahead, since Target shoved them off to the side and no one but Toys R Us stocks the larger figures (WHERE IS THE METROID?!) but at least these are showing up at Meijer (my local grocery store).  That's...three places, for me.

Come on, stores: Order these figures!  You think Nintendo things don't sell?  Are you crazy?  Don't make me come over there!  And look at your toys.  'Cause I will!  And I probably have.

...why don't we get to the review, eh?

GOOMBA!  The first enemy encountered in the first Super Mario Bros game.  Usually small, the Goomba has changed size and shape over the years.  This one is particularly big, though I think they were kinda big in Mario 64.  Perhaps this works?

Far be it from me to call the shots on how big Goombas should be.

Each World of Nintendo figure comes with a "secret accessory", that is usually pretty obvious, depending on who it is.  I wasn't sure about the Goomba, so his actually was a mystery!

...it's a coin.  There are sooo many items in the Mario Bros games!  I wish they would take the chance to give him something a little more interesting.  On the other hand, if you're buying a lot of Goombas, then I guess you get a lot of coins!  So that makes sense, in terms of army building.

The Goomba doesn't do much:  He has a swivel "waist", if that's what the middle section is.  Also his feet sorta twist at an angle, allowing you to get a cool mid-waddle pose, though it's hard to photograph (looks better in person).  I kinda wish they had added something else, just to spice him up.  Maybe a button on the back that opened his mouth, or perhaps made his main body out of a softer plastic so you could squish him down when Mario inevitably smashes him.

He looks great and certainly gets the job done, but I still feel like they could have done something.  I wouldn't let that stop you from getting a giant Goomba, though.  He'd make a good toy or desk accessory.

By the way: The Goombas with the holes in their heads are from K'Nex, the slightly darker hole-less ones are from Figuarts, and the one with the suction cup on his chin is an old McDonald's toy (the only Goomba I had, when I was a kid).

Next in line is someone I hope will get a Figuarts toy, at some point.  Princess Peach!  Or Toadstool.  Depends on how old you are.

Peach doesn't have a whole lot going on, but much more than I thought she would.  Her arms are on disc hinges, allowing them to move outward (and a tiny bit inward, if you push 'em).  Her elbows have hinges allowing for 90 degrees, but sadly she is lacking a bicep swivel, so you can't get her hand to her mouth in that classic "Oh!" expression.

Amazingly enough, the dress isn't a chunk!  It's...kinda weird.  Just Peach's naked legs and some pink hot pants.  No articulation, except at the waist, and her legs go down slightly past her skirt, which makes her teeter-totter around a tiny bit (not enough to make her look crooked while she stands).  Not the chunk I expected, but pretty much the amount of articulation I expected.

Her neck can also turn, but her hair gets in the way.  The hair is rubbery and you can push it over her shoulder, but it's a tight fit, and you'll be bending the neck peg, slightly.

Peach fits in perfectly with your Figuarts Mario and Luigi, so she's a great stand-in until Bandai adds her to the Figuarts collection.  I doubt they'll be able to get her to do much more, but I expect they'll at least give her arms some more range.

Not that this one is a disappointment!  It certainly does way more than I expected.  Just...could have used a bicep swivel.

Peach comes with an umbrella that you can clip on to her open hands.  It's a tight fit, so you can actually get her to do a couple things with it.  I wish they had given you an option to open it too, but it's nice as it is.

I have no idea when Bandai will do a Figuarts Peach.  This one is inexpensive, looks great, and moves more than you'd expect!  I wouldn't hesitate to pick one up, if you see it.

Our last one is Fox McCloud, from Star Fox!  I'm not much of a Star Fox player, but I do love Smash Bros, so I decided to get him for the Smash collection.  He looks like he's based on his original look, from the SNES or N64 days.  Meaning: There's no fuzzy details on his fur, like he has nowadays.

Doesn't mean he isn't nicely detailed!  The paintwork is smooth and he is unmistakable as Fox.  I like the "smooth" look to his face, making it look like he pops from the older games.  I would still like to see a more modern version, at some point.

His articulation is good, for a toy, but a little lacking for a guy who likes to pose things, like me.  I'm able to have fun with him, but I would have liked some wrist swivels and some outward movement for the legs.

The socket on the leg could use a cut at the top, allowing the leg to move outward.  Also: The knees swivel, but it's not the same as a thigh swivel.  The pants are sculpted to fold down over the sides, so when you turn the knee, you can't bend it very far, making the swivel knees nearly useless. 

I don't mind so much, because he still functions as a toy, and that's enough to have fun with.  Any kids looking for a Fox to work with other "Smash" figures will not have to look any further.

Fox comes with...a tiny Arwing.  I knew he wouldn't come with his pistol, since his hand was closed into a fist, but it still seems like an odd choice, when he could have come with something he could use.  On the other hand: Perhaps a more modern version of Fox will come with the pistol?  If that's the case...then yeah, I kinda like the tiny Arwing.  It's like a model, for Fox!

Overall: His limitations irritate me when trying to pull off cool poses, but then he's a lot of fun for my hands, when I'm just playing with him.  He'll be great for kids or collections, honestly, but a little stiff if you want to pull off Smash toy comics.  If you're a fan: I'd get 'em.

The World of Nintendo toyline is filling out nicely!  Granted, I'm skipping a few here and there (like Mario and Luigi, since I like the poseability of the Figuarts line), but the WoN ones would have been bought in a heartbeat, in the absence of the Figuarts versions.  If you're only buying World of Nintendo, then you're getting a collection that every Nintendo fan my age would have killed for, back in the day.  Most of these look like they pop right off the artwork for the game (or right out of the game!) so I can't find many reasons to skip these, if you're a Nintendo fan.  Presently reviewed figures included. 

The only problem appears in the distribution.  As I said in the beginning:  These are at Toys R Us, but they stock them infrequently (at mine) and are stuck on the deluxe Donkey Kong and won't put out any others (I'm looking at you, Metroid).  Target has them, but they regulate them to an endcap now, and only put out a few of the five inch figures.  My local Meijer has them, which is a grocery store in my neck of the woods (might be some in Ohio too...?) so stores like that might be a good place to check...but they still won't stock the deluxe figures either.  I don't know what it is with those.  They're a steal, at the price and size of the figures!  At the very least, everyone needs Bowser.  It's just too bad barely anyone will stock him.

Buy 'em if you see 'em!  I don't know how well this line is doing, but if it keeps going, we're gona keep seeing more and more awesome stuff we've always wanted.  We just need to keep buying the product to let them and retailers know that...Nintendo is popular? 

...man, what world am I living in where that needs to be said?