Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Action Figure Review: Luigi from World of Nintendo by Jakks Pacific

 
  Jakks is really getting the Nintendo heavy hitters out in this line! While series 1-1 had Mario (real name Mario Mario) series 1-2 has Luigi (real name Luigi Mario). Luigi first appeared in 1983 (just like me!) and has gone from being just a Mario palette swap and sidekick to being his own man. Seriously, Luigi has starred in plenty of games and has developed his own personality. Whether you want your Luigi teaming up with Mario, looking for a missing Mario, or hunting down malevolent ghosts, this figure should make you happy. Ready for a closer look? Then join me after the break...




The Facts:
Height: 4 5/8ths inches

Articulation: Hinged knees, ball jointed hips, swivel/hinge shoulders, hinged elbows, swivel wrists, and a swivel neck.

Accessories: 1-Up mushroom and a cardboard "?" block.

Non-Scalper Price: $7-$9 dollars.








The Positives:

* Luigi looks just like Luigi. Sometimes cartoon and video game characters look off when turned into a three dimensional action figure but Luigi doesn't! This guy is incredibly well sculpted! I love the expression on his face!











*Luigi certainly isn't as well articulated as well articulated as Bandai Japan's S.H. Figuarts Luigi, but he's also less than 1/4 of the price. Luigi has a decent a number of sturdy joints including a swivel neck (something that didn't work on Mario).












*I really like all of the little power-ups these figures come with! Luigi's secret accessory is a 1-Up Mushroom. It sits flat on the ground and looks pretty slick. The fact that it comes in a "?" box is also rather neat and fitting.












The Negatives:

*I love Luigi's vibrant colors but he has the same paint work problem as his brother: Many of the edges are messy. There's some sloppy work between his pants and shoes, around his hairline, and on the back of his overalls. There's nothing horrendous; just lots of little issues that add up.




     While Mario is the more popular of the Super Mario Bros., Luigi's figure is just a bit better. Not by much, though. I'm giving Luigi a Great rating as he is another solid toy in this lone. Jakks Pacific could really have a special thing going with the World of Nintendo line. If they can manage to keep these figures smartly packed (good case ratios), work on distribution (Wal-Mart doesn't carry these as far as I'm aware), and improve the quality little by little, they could have a line with some legs to it. It's interesting that these figures started showing up around the same time as Nintendo's Amiibos, but hopefully that helps them rather than hurts them in the long run. I'm definitely more intrigued by what Jakks can do in the future, particularly when introducing more secondary characters. After figures like Kirby, Princess Peach, Fox McCloud, and Zelda, the character selection could definitely become a bit more interesting, that's for sure.

I've reviewed all of series 1-1 of World of Nintendo and Samus and Diddy from series 1-2:

Bowser
Diddy Kong
Donkey Kong
Link
Mario
Samus
Wario
Yoshi

1 comment:

  1. I opted for the Figuarts Mario and Luigi (and I guess I'll keep going that route) but only because they're in the same scale as this series. Honestly, I'm still thinking of picking this up for the straight play value. Love what they are doing with this line.

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