Even though it's only September, I feel it's always time for my favorite Christmas movie Gremlins, because it's a good time. Funko and Super 7 teamed up with the forces of justice to bring me Billy Peltzer, a Kenner-style 1980s figure which, admittedly, would have been pretty retro were it released in 1984 along with the movie - the final days of Star Wars were in 1985, and the influence of a 3 3/4-inch 5-jointed simple figure would be gone shortly thereafter. As the only human in the entire wave, Billy doesn't have to bring much to the table - and thanks to his size, he's the only one that feels worth the ten bucks. A Mogwai is a bit pricey at that price.
The quality of this piece is pretty good - no broken limbs or stiff joints get in the way of me enjoying the design. One of the things I love is the specificity of the design. Most old Kenner figures were meant to represent the figure from the entire movie - so you might get a figure from the first appearance on-screen, or something like 1983's Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight Outfit) which is sort of a pastiche of the elements seen in the first 30 minutes of the film. Billy comes to you from later in the movie, and while not "battle-damaged" you can see signs of a fight - his hand is bandaged, and his sweater is torn with holes in it. The costume is represented well here, with a red jacket sporting painted buttons - admittedly, that's not very retro.
The figure sports the same stiff ReAction pose with a slightly bent tube-like elbow, standing upright with the hands fairly straight. Interestingly, the hands weren't designed to grip anything - much like the original Boba Fett's left hand, it's just made to look like a hand since there's no accessory for it to carry. He can sling a backpack over his shoulder, though, and it fits nicely. The limbs mostly swing around nicely, and the figure stands well. My only complaint is one that's common on some of the ReAction figures, and that's a bizarre backside on the hip joints.
The square gap is, to say the least, ugly. In modern Hasbro and classic Kenner figures, they usually do a good job moving around where the cuts go to avoid it looking like his butt is a nutcracker. I assume the sculpting was done prior to the joint cutting, and rather than continue to refine it they said "this works great! Next!" They really did make a great looking figure on the whole, and those of you who won't open the figure will love it. He can stand and sit, plus he'll fit in your favorite vehicles - well, maybe. I had a Y-Wing Scout Bomber on my desk, and he sits in there perfectly.
Since Billy is the size of an action figure and the various Mogwai are the size of loose change, I can safely say that this one feels like a swell deal. If you've enjoyed other ReAction figures, this is on the positive end of the scale. He performs toy functions admirably while looking like the source material and the inspiration behind the concept of this product. If you see it for ten bucks or less, go ahead and grab him plus a couple of the monsters.
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