Battle Beasts Series 3
Item No.: #62 Manufacturer:Hasbro Includes:Grey spear named "Gourmenia," seven more figures Action Feature:n/a Retail: est. $13.99 Availability:ca. 1987 Other: Japanese name "Bupink"
In early 2012 it seemed as if Battle Beasts were really, actually going to make a comeback so I decided it was time to finish up my set. I hadn't picked up any new ones since 1988 or 1989, so I was off to eBay to buy a few comically oversized collections, which quickly and surprisingly cheaply finished up the collection minus a couple of weapons and Pillager Pig here, who just plain didn't show up on eBay for quite some time. Most of the figures cost me $3 or $4, this one was closer to $8. I figured, what the heck, I wanted to finish up my rubsign beast set and this was it! It was also my main motivation for buying the figure - I already had all the ones I wanted, and a few I didn't mind having, which is a weird thing that happens to me (and others) when buying some older toy lines. You got what you wanted - and then you decide to go ahead and buy the rest.
Pillager Pig was more or less an important symbol of closing the book on a toy line I loved as a kid and wanted to complete - Laser Beasts prevented that from happening, but the US-released rubsign figures were relatively cheap and somewhat common, so waiting for this porker to show up on an online trading or auction site was a nail-biting experience. As of when I write this review several are up for grabs, so I don't know what makes the weird ebb and flow of vintage figures on eBay behave as it does. It's not like there's a limitless supply of these things, and when I finally got this one he was pretty much a mess. The rubbery plastic is tough - but not impossible - to clean. I suggest trying the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser product, which is a foam chemical thing that basically sucks the dirt, grime, and markings off of these soft figures (and soft vinyl figures) with little or no damage to the paint. That's my helpful tip to you.
A 2-inch figure that doesn't do much is a strange thing to have as a sort of a "last figure" to track down, but hey, that's what collecting is all about. The pig has yellow painted eyes and red painted armor, with the figure cast in a pale pink shade of plastic. A yellow panel on his chest shows a few open vents, presumably for cooling his hot hog bloodlust. (Note for new band name: Hot Hog Bloodlust.) He has hooves for feet, and a rather placid expression for a beast holding a bladed spear in his hands. Small wrinkles can be seen around the eyes and nose, and the ears are adorables. A few spike-like protrusions on the armor make him look really cool, and also serve as an unfortunate reminder that this line didn't get picked up for reissue repaints so they could do him in some crazy heavy metal black and silver armor. It's actually a pretty nice sculpt.
I didn't grow with this guy and he was never high on my wish list, it just worked out that I got to a point where this was literally the only rubsign U.S. release I didn't have, so I went for it. If you like pigs, he's a great little figure and doesn't take up a lot of room or have gas problems like a real pig might. This is one of those figures that seems like it would be a wonderful canvas for figure customizers, were it a bit more common. He's jointed at the shoulders, stands well, and has no problems holding his weapon. As toy figures go, he brings everything a decent figure needs to the table without any fancy features. It's no wonder Battle Beasts are still some of my favorite toys over 25 years after their first release.
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