When I first saw the Hikari figures at Toy Fair 2014, I thought "Hunh, neat. I get it but I don't know if I need a ton of them." Well, I've picked up a few here and there and while it's cost-prohibitive to get a complete set thanks to super-low runs, having a few more of these gorgeous figures seems like a good idea. I picked up the Entertainment Earth Exclusive Ghostbusters Pink Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in part because I work there and I work with our exclusives. Hey, why not? I'll take one, it's neat. The glittery clear and pink figure looks way better in person than the photographs. I can't say I entirely know the best way to display it, but it does a nice job evoking the feeling of the "burning" deco without literally having burned marks on it.
The figure has 3 points of articulation - which is normal - and it's pretty beefy. It reminds me a lot of the original Kenner figure, minus it being chunkier and much taller. At about 9-inches tall it's a pretty sizable, jolly fellow that may be one of the most glittery things I own. This same sculpt has been used on at least 5 figures, with this one being the second-lowest run so far. The most colorful version is a swell Hot Topic exclusive with a rainbow deco, which I admittedly would very much like to have - only 500 were made.
These guys are basically for the kind of person who enjoys a statue or a bust, but wants something that won't shatter when it hits the ground. It manages to keep that higher-end (or moderate) price point while delivering even lower edition sizes, less realism, and cartoonishly great levels of creativity. Pink and glitter are not normally things I seek from my action figures, but it works here.
I like this figure as a display piece, and it strikes me as something you get to decorate your office more than a typical toy junkie's fix for a week. The articulation is acceptable, the price is high, and the colors are weird. The glittery, clear pink plastic gives off a different look depending on the lighting so you'll want to consider where it goes and how it's lit when you install it in your home or office. My initial reaction to seeing Hikari figures was basically "Hunh, I think I need some IKEA Detolfs for these." I still need to get some set up with some lighting.
Figures like this continue to challenge notions of toy collecting. Small runs, strange colors, and high price points don't allow most people to indulge their completism, nor would you necessarily want to at $60 each. These are definitely pick-and-choose figures,and given they stand up fine and look like older vinyl toys for the most part you're looking at a figure that's probably never going to appear at most toy haunts. The disadvantage of that is that it's difficult or impossible to make a Hikari Vinyl figure an impulse buy, which I guess will prevent us toy junkies from overindulging in the format. I hope we see Slimer next.
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