And you thought that Wario was going to be MIA from the first World of Nintendo assortment, didn’t you? We have a First Look premier ready for you and we even have a whole day to celebrate. That’s right, it’s Wario Wednesday!
So, first and foremost, you can rest at ease a bit — Wario IS coming to the first series of Jakks Pacific’s World of Nintendo line. He did not ship with the initial cases being found at Target and Toys R Us, but our friends at JP have told us that Wario will be hitting the stores by early November, so you can probably start the hunt very soon. I know that a lot of collectors have been looking forward to him, especially after getting the great Bowser, Yoshi, and the rest of the initial offerings. Rest assured, this mean little Mario doppelganger will be causing mischief in your figure display before you know it.
So, while you are impatiently stalking your local Target, I have some good news for you, Wario is, in my opinion, very much worth the wait and he is most certainly on-par with the stronger offerings of this line thus far. I have all of the Mario-related figures (save for Mario himself), and I have been pretty impressed with what Jakks has provided in this first wave. In fact, I dare say that Bowser is one of the best figures I have purchased this year, and judging by the reported scarcity of the figure, others tend to agree. Indeed, after some initial reservations about he possibilities of this line, discussion on the forums show that it is being embraced, and with good reason — these are fun figures that are a great representation of the characters.
Wario continues that trend with a great sculpt and some pretty decent articulation. I mean, just looking at the pictures you can see that Jakks did a great job in capturing the look and personality of the character, and I cannot think of any aesthetic change I would make to better represent Wario. He has always had a very strong character design, and since he has become a fan-favorite in games like Mario Party, Mario Kart, and Smash Brothers, capturing the character is important as a lot of fans know him quite well. His grin is instantly recognizable and very iconic, so I am glad to see that represented well here. Even though I am more of a Waluigi fan, Wario has a great look that complements a lot of the other characters well.
Wario is a little more limited in his articulation than most of the other figures in the first assortment, but that is primarily due to his, um, large carriage. I think articulation is one of the great surprises that has come along in this line, so even though he doesn’t have as much as, say, Yoshi, they still built in points whereever possible. If you are counting, Wario has a swivel neck, ball shoulder, elbow hinges, swivel wrists, and swivel ankles. So, for a character that doesn’t really require a whole lot of intricate posing, you certainly do have some options. I have read some huffing and puffing about the lack of leg articulation, but while it would have been nice, I think it would have been very difficult to do given the character design; they probably would have destroyed the aesthetic in the process. So, unless you are really bummed that Wario cannot sit, I don’t think there will be a problem. Personally, unless some karts are ever made, I cannot think of why he would have sit down, and given his girth and stubby legs, he would probably have a difficult time getting back up if he did.
Wario stands just a hair taller than Yoshi, and, to my eyes, that is about perfect. I know his height has fluctuated between being just as tall or taller than Mario, but I think he looks better being bigger overall. He certainly needs to be much wider than Mario, so if that is to happen, he needs a bit more vertical space in order to retain his proportions. He certainly is not tall, and when lined up with the rest of the gang, he fits in just fine for me, but your opinion on that will vary depending upon what source you are a slave to for scale.
Like the rest of the carded figures, Wario comes with a “secret accessory,” and if you are not looking at the pictures, beware because !!!SPOILER!!! he comes with a coin. This is one of the most prevailing artifacts of the Mario world, so it is good to have it. It is fairly basic, but it maintains the color scheme well, though I am sure people will be split on whether it should be yellow or gold. If the latter is your preference, I see an easy paint job in your future, but I have no problem in keeping mine the original color.
You know, for a character that I have never really loved, this Wario turned out great and I very happy that he is indeed still coming to the first wave of the World of Nintendo figures. I find that he represents the overall line very well and I’m pretty excited for what the future holds. I want this line to go as deep as the Micro Land series is apparently going, and the Koopa Kids would be a dream come true.
There are a TON of Mario characters for Jakks to make, and that doesn’t include the other properties like Metroid, the old NES titles, and, of course, The Legend of Zelda. I know we got a Link in this assortment, but one based on the original title would be absolutely AMAZING.
Prefer a video review? Here’s a quickie from FwooshTube with a comparison to the Jakks Mario.
*Thanks to the guys at Jakks Pacific for sending Wario along for a First Look. Be hitting those stores — Wario is going drop any time now!
Additional Links
