When the character of Wario was introduced into the Super Mario Bros. world, I did not really think much of him. I mean, I got the joke: he is reflection of Mario gone awry, completed with an upside-down “M” to a “W” and the gentle pun that “wa” (from warui) means “bad” in Japanese. A funny little concept, but Wario was certainly not a substitute for the almighty King of the Koopas — Bowser. However, several years later, the concept of an evil doppelganger was extended to Luigi as well, and in something as seemingly benign as a Mario Tennis game, something amazing was born: Waluigi. Yep, as Luigi often does over his brother Mario, Waluigi arrived on the scene and instantly became superior to Wario in every way. It’s a fact.
Oh, but he gets a lot flack, you say? Well, I say “Waa!” very much in Waluigi’s style because he is hilarious and a much more entertaining character than he is given credit for. Sure, his greatest strength is his comic relief, but he is perfect for the role, and I think he pulls that off much more successfully than Wario does as a legitimate villain to Mario. I don’t have anything against the latter per se, but Waluigi has provided me with much more entertainment over the years, even if Nintendo feels the need to not let him into one of the core SMB titles. His antics in the Mario Kart series alone are enough to hold him in beloved esteem.
Obviously, I was pretty stoked when I found out he was coming to plastic in the World of Nintendo line. Jakks Pacific has done an admirable job of getting many of the core SMB characters out there in the 4-inch line, so it really only seemed a question of “when?” he would be coming to my collection shelf. Much like in the game series, Waluigi had to wait quite a bit of time since the release of Wario, but he is shipping now, and I am happy to report that, overall, he is a pretty nice figure. I don’t personally find him as strong as the Bowser Jr. we looked at yesterday, but I still consider him a great addition.
The character likenesses in the WoN line (at least within the Mario sect), seem to be improving as the line goes on, and that has boded well for guys like Junior, Tanooki Mario, and now Waluigi. I really like the look of this figure and it captures Waluigi’s personality and stature quite well. Let’s face it, Waluigi is known for being tall, clad in purple, and saying “Waa!” and this figure does a nice job of accomplishing all three of these things. The aesthetic qualities and sculpt are all very nice and his lanky build adds a new shape and look to the WoN collection.
Just as Wario take’s Mario’s stalky statue and ratchets it up several inches in the waist line, so does Waluigi’s take on Luigi’s more lanky makeup. Waluigi is really tall and really skinny, and this figure accomplishes both of those things and scales with the rest of the characters in the line pretty perfectly. His limbs are particularly skinny, and it is often a challenge to blend articulation into such things, but the sculpt is not broken up much here. His shoes with the up-turned toe are faithfully rendered, as is his purple costume with patented upside-down “L” on the hat and gloves.
Waluigi’s head sculpt and expression are obviously the most interesting part of the figure, and to my eyes, Jakks has done a great job here. The gnashed teeth and exaggerated and wide-eyed expression put the trademark “Waaa!” at the tip of the tongue, and his up-turned mustache is faithful, too. His hat comes all the way down to the tops of his eyes, so you kind of have to have him posed just so, so you can get the full effect of his look. Now, Waluigi follows Wario’s precedent with a bright pink nose, and while I admit that it has always been kind of a disturbing trait, it comes across as convincing as ever here. His pointed ears complete the look of this impish bastardization of Luigi, and it all comes together in an appropriately comical way to make for a very nice-looking Waluigi figure.
Now, while I do rather like the look of the figure, I have some nitpicks with the articulation scheme and the overall usefulness of the points that have been included. WoN has always had a bit of an odd articulation history with different and often awkward joints that don’t always get the best functionality. I am not sure if the articulation is planned, or if the points are given to the factory in instructions and then done there, but it has always been a moving target from figure to figure. For example, I rather like Bowser Jr.’s scheme (aside from his neck), but Waluigi isn’t nearly as successful. His shoulders, elbows, and knees are all pretty standard as far the type and cut of the joints go, but the range of movement is pretty limited for all of them.
The shoulders don’t move in or out very well and that leads to the arms hanging in a bit of a strange neutral pose. The elbow and knees are both okay, but again, the range is pretty limited from front to back. The biggest offender to me, though, is the complete lack of ANY ankle articulation, something that is pretty important, especially for a tall figure. Because this is missing, you are pretty much limited to one pose with partially bent knees. It is definitely the most iconic stance for him, but I am kind of bummed that you can’t get any variety here, even if you wanted to.
Finally, like all figures in this line, Waluigi comes with an added accessory: a coin. A boring old coin. Yeah, it is fine, but it seems like any time there isn’t an obvious object to include with a character, the line defaults to the coin. After the awesome Bobomb with Bowser Junior, this one feels like a letdown. I hope that Jakks will get creative with future accessory releases because Waluigi doesn’t have much to do with this, so it will likely go in a box.
Overall, I am big fan of Waluigi, and I am glad to have him in my collection. To paraphrase Larry David, Jakks did a pretty, pretty, pretty . . . pretty good job with him, but due to the articulation scheme, I don’t find him to be as successful as some of the other recent offerings. There is no arguing the fact that he looks good, though, so I like the figure overall and he will always be good for a laugh on my shelf. At any rate, this is the type of character that I want to see Jakks continue on with in terms of selection, so keep going deep into that SMB roster, guys. There are lots of little baddies, Koopas, and Super Mario Bros. 2 villains still to get.
