The ReAction line came out of a great idea - making the unproduced Kenner ALIEN prototypes - and branched out to dozens of other licenses... to varying degrees of quality. Some were good, some were OK, and some were so badly assembled they broke out of the packages and remained unreviewed here. A license that was in the oven for quite some time was E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Funko's final offering before handing over the whole deal back to Super7. There's also an Entertainment Earth Exclusive E.T. with glowing finger, and I hope you enjoy it because that was one of my pitches. I got the Elliot, E.T., and Gertie set because they're sized to go with Kenner Star Wars from 40 years ago - which is the point. They're pretty good, although $30 may sound expensive it isn't too bad when you consider the set was run at only 5,000.
As with other figures in this line, it walks a line between what you'd have seen in 1982 and what's considered acceptabel for today. I'd say these ones are more modernized compared to the real vintage-era peers, because the human kids have whites on their eyes, painted shoe and hair details, and stripes. So many stripes. The poses and expressions say 1982, but the deco and general quality are consistent with modern figures out of a smaller collectible company. Which is to say, pretty good.
Seemingly tall if you ask me, Elliot is about a head shorter than most 3 3/4-inch adults. Well, maybe half of a head. The pose is 100% vintage Kenner, although the hands are a little strange. Both look incapable of gripping an accessory, but the baggie of fake Reese's Pieces has indentions so a figure may grasp it. It works. Elliot's head is molded in flesh color with brown hair and eyebrows, plus some of the better human eyes I've seen paint on an action figure of this scale. And I mean ever. They're bright, they're white, and they're on straight - these are things some previous ReAction toys have struggled with.
You get 5 points of articulation on a slender frame that feels a smidgen tall for a 10-year-old, but to make him tiny would probably make him an unsatisfying toy. Also, it's not like Kenner was too concerned about scale back in the day. He has no problems standing or sitting, and while he does seem a tiny bit flat he looks acceptable. He'll fit in on most toy shelves.
The selling point is E.T. itself, but I don't know how accurate it is as there are multiple heights listed for various forms of E.T. from the movie. I'll assume it's basically in the right ballpark, and say that the sculpt is better than a vintage figure deserves and looks like a decent modern release with 5 points of articulation. Our plant pal from beyond the stars has articulated v-crotch legs, so odds are you won't be moving them much - this is very much in line with strange body types from the 1980s. The arms swing forward at an angle, so they can block E.T.'s face. The face has a wonderfully sculpted expression and big, bright eyes - I wasn't expecting this. The skin texture is great, fingers are extended on the hands, and everything basically looks as good as you might hope a 3 3/4-inch scale - and possibly a bit bigger than scale - E.T. would be. The hands can hold the faux Speak N Spell without too much fuss, and the right hand looks like it's more in line with traditional gripping hands for other accessories. This is the E.T. you can introduce to Walrus Man and Hammerhead. It's pretty cool.
The last figure in the set is Drew Barrymore's character Gertie, who is shorter than Elliot but probably not short enough to be a tiny young girl. She sees basically eye to eye to E.T., so at least the set seems to be sized appropriately to itself. She holds her surprisingly well-painted doll with no real fuss, Like Elliot, she has no problems standing or sitting - and has the weird squared-off corners on her legs when you swing them forward. Her striped shirt is a marvel of tiny low-run figure craftsmanship, and her expression is painted on quite nicely. The shoes are similarly finely decorated, and react to black light. The quality here is good overall - Funko really improved the deco but the sculpting is on par with what we've seen earlier. The engineering is pretty good, and the figure - so far - holds together quite nicely. It's a good set, and the glossy blue overalls look fantastic. She even has tiny foot holes for retro figure stands. It's going to look good if you collect this kind of stuff, and won't stand out too much from real actual very old action figures.
Formerly the #1 grossing movie of all time, E.T. hasn't been able to keep up with new generations - ever since the re-edits for the anniversary, it seems it has continued to lose favor in popular culture. History has favored so many other films from that era that the relatively peaceful and slow-paced flick may be too charming for modern audiences, but the old fogeys who loved it as children are probably about ready to pick up this action figure set. I think I got my money's worth, but I'd pay $20 for just E.T. It's neat. If you like this format, don't skip this set - odds are it's going to be in short supply down the road and it's not like there's going to be much call for this kind of product from future generations of fans and collectors.
16bit.com is best not viewed in Apple's Safari browser, we don't know why. All material on this site copyright their respective copyright holders. All materials appear hear for informative and entertainment purposes. 16bit.com is not to be held responsible for anything, ever. Photos taken by the 16bit.com staff. Site design, graphics, writing, and whatnot credited on the credits page. Be cool-- don't steal. We know where you live and we'll break your friggin' legs.
RSS 
