The Super Mario Bros are red hot right now. The Galaxy movie is tearing it up at the box office, and the vibes are great. For me, getting new action figures is always great.
Jakks Pacific has been carrying the plastic torch for SMB for many years now. I enjoy collecting it, even though it can REALLY frustrate me at times, and I have a really fun collection thanks to what they have done. Many of the iconic characters have been released, with many more still needing to be done, and lots of great Mario variations have been realized along the way, too. Yeah, the movie line is center stage right now, but the regular line is still trucking along.
Like most assortments, this new wave is a bunch of re-releases and a new figure, this time in the form of Boomerang Mario. Yes, I talk loudly about getting characters like Roy(!!!), Morton(!!!), Rosalina, Wart, Mouser, and others, but I also like getting viable variants of the main characters. It has actually been a bit since we have gotten a new Mario variation, and this really good one, with a strong design.
This one doesn’t go back as far some like Frog Mario, or Cape Mario, but I really like the riff this one takes, and the helmet and shell motif allow it to stand out. I really like the shiny blue used here, and while this is instantly recognizable as Mario, I like the play on his classic colors. The boomerang is nice, too, and Mario can hold it well.
Now, the articulation in this line has never been over the top, and in fact, I suspect much of it is constructed at the factory rather than within the initial design. However, it has generally been functional, and many of the points and schemes have gotten better over time. I have to admit that everything works really well here, and I was surprised by a few of the points, like the knees and shoulders. You can achieve some pretty dynamic poses with this figure, and that is great thing for a line that doesn’t really focus on that.
Chalk this figure up on the win category for the SMB line. Hopefully we will see some new CHARACTERS soon, but cool variants are alway welcome, too. I do have to say that I think Jakks could easily get to one of my favorite Mario power-up suits ever, the Hammer Brothers suit, pretty easily with this, so I would LOVE to see that happen.
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