Thank you, Mario! But our Princess is in another castle! Just kidding, Princess Peach is right here.
Yep, thanks to Jakks Pacific, you are no longer stuck with the consolation prize of Toad; you have finally made it past world 8-4 and you have rescued the Princess. That is, if you can find her! Series 1-3 (that is series 3) of the Jakks Pacific World of Nintendo line is starting to trickle out, and Peach is joined by Fox McCloud, a (big) little Goomba, and a pink Yoshi. So the line keeps rolling, which is a great thing, and we are well on our way to building a great Super Mario Brothers corner of the toy display. When the line started I wondered how long it would take to get to the Princess, and I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised we got her this early on. Now I just hope that this series starts hitting more stores in the near future.
Peach (originally known as Princess Toadstool or just plain “Princess) has been a part of the Super Mario Bros. world from almost the beginning. Too often just hostage object of Mario’s adventures, Peach is easily the First Lady of all things Nintendo, and she never really even had to break a sweat to do so. That is not entirely fair as she does get into the game quite a bit, but my favorite turn of hers came in Super Mario Bros. 2 when she was a playable and very useful character. In fact, I really like the overall format of that game and I would love to see an update to that style in a modern game.
Anyway, Jakks has delivered a pretty nice figure here, and she will fit right in with the rest of your World of Nintendo figures or, if you are collecting them, your S.H. Figuarts guys as well. That is the really nice thing about two different lines being produced in the same scale: you can mix and match to a certain degree, and figures like Peach do well in both camps. She is princess in a dress, so she is not going to be the most action-oriented figure due to her design, but I think she looks pretty great with the rest of the crew.
From an overall aesthetic standpoint, Peach looks great. This is what I would call her “current” look, and that fits right in with Mario, Bowser, and the rest. The silhouette is pretty much perfect and the colors and shapes are all true to the design. Her face sports the classic Peach look, and most of the paint applications are nice and clean, though her lips are little odd, and you can see that they are fully sculpted, but the red paint is just a dot in the middle. I will likely be fixing that myself, but I do wish the production figure was painted a bit better. Jakks has been pretty good with the paint in this line so far, but if anything has been a little sketchy, it is that there has been some bleed from time to time and the occasional bit of slop. Fortunately for me, this figure is nice and clean.
Now, I did elude to the fact that Peach is not the most action-oriented figure in the line, but she does have some useful points, and a couple I wasn’t expecting. She is a statue below the waist, but she does have hinge elbows, a twist waist, and, to my surprise, ball-jointed shoulders. Those last points are particularly useful to help give the figure some personality, so I am pleasantly surprised. She does have a twist neck as well, but it is rendered pretty moot due to her long hair.
Another point of surprise (to me anyway), is that Peach here actually has legs. I know that is odd to say, but I guess I was just expecting her dress to be a solid piece, but, as you can see in the slightly suggestive picture, she does have a pair of getaway sticks under there. Now, her legs are not articulated at all, but even if they were, the movement would be pretty pointless due to the plastic dress. The figure does actually stand on her feet, and, due to the dress, she does balance well. So, the legs were unexpected, but they serve their purpose and give a bit more to the design, so that is cool.
Like all World of Nintendo figures, Peach comes with a “Mystery Block” accessory, and (SPOILER ALERT!), she has her parasol. This has been present in a lot of art over the years, and while it is not particularly useful, I am actually glad we got something that is very character-specific instead of just a random piece. It comes in two pieces so that it can fit in the block, but once assembled, I don’t think it would be used in two pieces for any real purpose. The bottom of the handle splits so Peach can hang it from her wrist, so that is a nice touch.
Peach has got it! Jakks is quietly building out a pretty great Nintendo line, and Peach is a fine addition. She doesn’t move much and her lip paint is a little odd, but overall, I really like this figure, and she is obviously a critical addition to the Mario collection. We have most of the main cast, so hopefully we will start getting more of the secondary characters soon. You know, like the Koopa Kids? Wink, wink? Anyway, Peach lends herself to Daisy perfectly, so I am sure we will see her soon.
Peach and the rest of series 1-3 are popping up here and there, but nothing wide yet, so if you see her, get her!
Additional Links
