Preamble: As with some ReAction figures, all 5 joints on this figure were stuck when I opened the Gremlin thanks to the paint on the joints preventing movement. The toy would have broken had I not loosened the joints (and removed the limbs, reassembling the toy) using boiling water. You should not be asked to do this with any toy to get it to function, but I did, and the end results are good - just be prepared to have to do some work on him.
Despite the frozen joints on the Cinema Gremlin, I wanted to make it work - and thankfully, it's doable. Some figures' limbs will not budge, so it's a gamble - this one paid off. The figure shares the same basic body as Stripe and the Bandit Gremlin, but sports a popcorn bucket and one of those most hilarious comedy props in the 1980s, 3-D Glasses. (See also: Swedish Chef in The Muppets Take Manhattan, Billy Zane in Back to the Future.) Add glasses to anything and it's automatically better.
The figure itself is skinny, so you'll want to be careful to not twist the plastic and break a limb off if the limbs are stuck. If you drop it in boiling water, fish it out with tongs, and gently twist the limbs (or pop them out) your problems may be solved in an instant. Provided you don't burn yourself. If you get a good set of joints, you're rewarded by a symbol of the lunacy from later in the movie where the creatures invaded a movie theater to watch cartoons and generally tear the place apart. The arms can swing freely, and the legs rotate fairly well. They may pop off, though - so be careful with this one.
The detail of this 2-inch terror is quite good, with a red mouth sporting white teeth. This kind of detail is right on the mark with what LJN gave us for the first movie's toys, but with more stripes and cleaner paint applications. The Funko figure has much straighter paint and a generally better look - the feel, well, your mileage may vary.
A popcorn bucket cannot be held by the $10 figure, but it adds to the package in a pleasing way. You're not getting a lot for your money, but it's a better value than the Mogwai in this line. Provided you can put up with some QC nightmares - Funko's factories painting the joints on these things is something of a trial to fix - you've got a decent retro figure of a classic movie creature. If you've got ten bucks, I think you'll enjoy it.
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