I think it was early this year that we found out Super7’s line of ReAction and Ultimates! action figures based on The Simpsons was ending after just a couple of years. That meant Super7 was done after four waves of Ultimates! and four waves of ReAction figures. We had seen figures for a possible fifth wave and listings for another wave of ReAction figures, but they will never see the light of day. If you’re curious about my thoughts on that whole mess, check out my review of King Size Homer linked at the bottom of this entry. Safe to say, I was let down and really not surprised that Disney pulled the plug. Super7 took too long to bring figures to market and frustrated the fanbase with its character selection. And once the backlog was unleashed earlier this year, the quality took a nosedive as well which would have only further irritated Disney.
It is entirely my assumption that Disney ended the deal with Super7 largely over money in that they probably wanted more. They also apparently had another partner ready and willing to dive into The Simpsons in Jakks Pacific. Unlike Super7, Jakks is a company that specializes in low cost action figures and toys released at mass market retail. You have probably seen their figures based on various Super Mario Bros. licenses and Sonic the Hedgehog. The Simpsons is apparently their next mountain to climb and it’s possible that Jakks either wouldn’t do the deal with Disney or wasn’t willing to pay as much as Disney wanted without some kind of exclusivity over the license. For fans of the property, it basically just means we’ve swapped out one company for another. The approach of the two is very different and it remains to be seen what the finished product will look like for Jakks when it comes to selection, but for now we have a few figures we can look at and assess.
The Jakks approach for The Simpsons is a lot like their video game figures in that there are basically two lines: a 2.5″ line and a 5″ line. I don’t actually know what the measurements of the smaller line are because I have yet to buy any. They are small though and minimally articulated. It looks like this line will be how Jakks gets play sets into market as there’s already a Homer and living room set. The 5″ line is the one I’m more interested in as it’s a more fully articulated line of figures. The 5″ scale also has the added benefit of fitting in with the old World of Springfield toy line from Playmates that existed in the early part of the century. There’s also a third tier, a deluxe line, that’s starting to come out. These figures will feature more paint and come with dioramas and special features. I’m not sure about that line at this time as the price is around $25 for those and I’m not seeing the value, but maybe I’ll change my mind. There’s also a talking Krusty doll (I have it, it’s great for what it is) and a roleplay item in the form of Moe’s telephone. I might have to get that too, but it’s very much a “toy” and something I don’t need (not like that ever stopped me).
Wave One of the 5″ line contains four figures: Homer, Bart, Willie, and Otto. I have so far only managed to find the two Simpson boys, but I do hope to run into Willie and Otto at some point. The figures are sold in window boxes with the same licensing art across all of them. It’s fine and sturdy and if you’re an in-box collector the window is generous and provides for a good look at the figure inside. Each figure will retail for about $13 and it looks like the aim is to do a figure with at least one accessory. As a first wave, this seems like a solid approach to get two family members and two fairly prominent side characters. Otto was definitely more of a factor early in the show’s life, which I do kind of appreciate since it’s those long-time fans that are mostly likely to buy these. After Super7 failed to release any women in their main line though, I’m a little remiss that Jakks did the same. It looks like we won’t have to wait long though for such characters to arrive as Wave Two is set to include Lisa along with Krusty, Moe, and another Homer. I guess Marge will have to wait until the third wave.
Homer and Bart follow a pretty similar approach. Homer is around 5″ tall while Bart is a tick under 4″. You will likely notice right away that the scale is pretty far off for the pair. Bart is way too big, but it’s basically the same scale as what Playmates did. Toy companies have a tendency to make the smallest characters in a property bigger than they should be while the largest characters tend to be smaller than they should be. In the case of Homer, I think his size is perfect. His proportions look pretty good and I really have no complaints there. Bart, in addition to being too big, also doesn’t look proportional to me. His head is huge relative to his body and his arms and legs are too long. The arms and legs I can excuse since it’s probably to help facilitate articulation, but he’s not a great looking figure. I pretty much bought him because he’s, well, Bart!
Both figures feature minimal paint applications. There’s really almost none to speak of. On Homer, it’s possible the only paint is the black hair that zig zags around his head and the pupils of his eyes. His mouth and the white part of his eyes look like they may be separate pieces of colored plastic glued into place. It’s certainly the case with the eyes, while I’m less certain about the mouth. For Bart, his pupils are painted along with some of the parts of his shoes. And with the shoes, the only paint might actually be the white circles on the inside of his sneakers (something Super7 failed to paint) as the soles of his shoes are all white and there’s a little excess plastic around his socks which makes me think that too is a molded piece. It’s possible the blue is painted on and then the white circles over that.
The lack of paint basically means these figures have a very glossy appearance. From a collector’s standpoint, it’s the thing that bothers me the most. Yes, I know, we’re talking about a very low price point here, but if just the heads were at least painted it would give these figures a much nicer aesthetic. The other issue that stands out for me are the portraits. Both characters have a hint of a smile that’s really only visible from the side or a 3/4 angle. From the front, there isn’t much personality to convey. The Simpsons are a pretty animated bunch and I would have liked some more personality. Something else that kind of bums me out is that the heads don’t feel like they’ll be easy to remove. If Jakks had planned it better, perhaps we could swap portraits with future Bart and Homer variants to create more expressive poses.
This line is a fully articulated one and Homer and Bart probably have as much articulation as one would expect of a Simpsons line. It’s also the same setup for both. There’s a swivel head, ball-hinged shoulders, biceps swivel, single-jointed elbow, wrist swivel and hinge, ball-jointed waist, ball-socket hips, single-hinged knees, and ankle swivels. Bart’s thighs can also swivel where they meet his shorts, though it’s tight enough that I wonder if it’s intentional. I was also able to get his lower leg to rotate at the knee which I only did because his lower leg was inserted backwards out of the box. Again, I’m not sure if it’s supposed to do that, but it did. Homer’s elbow range is a little less than 90 degrees, while Bart’s is a little more. The waist joint is mostly a rotation point, but there’s a tiny bit of tilt all around on the ball joint there. It’s decent and probably enough for this brand. The arms are a little ugly since both characters are bare armed, but what are you going to do? I suppose a more collector focused line would do swappable arm parts instead of joints, but that clearly isn’t what Jakks is going for. The only joint that’s really worth criticizing is the lack of an ankle rocker. I suppose a simple ball joint for the head would also be superior to what we have.
Both figures do feature a primary accessory. I suppose for Homer we technically have two. For Bart, it’s his skateboard which features a single peg at the rear of the board and purple wheels that really spin. The board itself is red plastic with stickers applied for the other colors. I always thought of Bart’s board as more orange than red, but it’s fine. Even though Bart’s right hand is a gripping hand, he doesn’t come with a slingshot or anything. For Homer, he has a pink box of donuts with an articulated lid. Inside the box, are eleven donuts which are non removable. There’s one missing because it’s separate and Homer can hold it. It has a big bite missing and it’s Homer’s favorite donut with the raspberry glaze. It too appears to be two pieces of different colored plastic glued together. That approach must be way cheaper than paint for Jakks to go through all of this trouble assembling tiny donuts.
Overall, I would say these figures of Homer and Bart are pretty much as expected. They look cheap and they feel cheap because they are cheap. Now, they don’t feel fragile or anything and they have a nice weight to them, but they definitely don’t feel like a true “collectible.” I’m far more pleased with Homer than I am Bart and it has everything to do with the scale and proportions on Bart. I’m tempted to buy the 2.5″ Bart to see if I like how he fits with Homer and maybe making that my way of collecting the Springfield kids. I like how Homer looks with the ReAction Hugo so it gives me optimism that He’ll look good with the smaller Bart.
If you’re looking to start another collection of The Simpsons action figures, these are currently showing up at both Target and Walmart and have been for quite a few weeks now. It actually took me awhile to find a Bart that didn’t have misaligned pupils which is what took me so long to get to them. Amazon is also selling the first wave and they can be found at other online retailers. The figures should retail for about $13 so it’s definitely an affordable line, but you also get what you pay for. I’m largely interested in this line and I do plan to buy more, but I’m not excited about it. It’s mostly a feeling of acceptance that is driving me to buy these as more than anything they just remind me of what I want from the brand. And that’s 5″ scale figures with more paint and more accessories. Not so much accessories in the form of “stuff,” but just in extra expressions via portraits and hands. I can pose Homer with his donuts, but his mouth isn’t open to bite into one nor can he just drool over them. These figures are very sterile, but The Simpsons should be anything but.
If these figures from Jakks Pacific aren’t really doing it for you, maybe you’ll like the stuff Super7 did:
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