Do a barrel roll!
As an action figure collector, there are few sweeter things than “completing a team” within your collection. That can mean a lot of different things, but for me, when I have figures of every character that is a part of a popular or prevailing team, or a group has been filled out on my shelf, I generally breathe a sigh of relief and then revel in the fact that something in my life is actually accomplished. Hyperbole aside, I love completing a team, and in a time when finishing the most basic group can take a matter of years to realize, rounding one out in successive waves within an action figure line is a rare treat.
The most recent team to see completion on my shelf is the original squad from Nintendo’s Star Fox. Jakks Pacific has been doing an awesome job with their World of Nintendo action figures, and Fox McCloud and crew have certainly reaped the benefits of being a popular portion of the line. Sure, the franchise doesn’t have the same nostalgic value as Mega Man, Super Mario Brothers, or Legend of Zelda for me, but I do enjoy the original, and like most Nintendo properties, the characters are certainly memorable.
The core Fox group only has four members: Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad, and Peppy Hare, so while it isn’t a large team to complete, it is still wonderfully satisfying to have all of these guys on my shelf. Fox started the release pattern, and then before I realized it, I found Peppy at Toys R Us, and I had my complete squad ready to take flight. It seemed a bit anticlimactic to feature these guys one by one because, to me, the sum is so much greater than the parts, so now that I have Peppy, he is my proxy for the entire group, but you will still find lots of pictures of everyone here.
Like I said, the crew at Jakks has turned the WoN line into one of the highlights of my active collection. Sure, I don’t collect all of the figures from every single series, but I get most of them and I really enjoy building out a section of my fandom that had long been missing until they took the reins. Mario and company get most of the attention (as they should, they are the money-makers), but Link, Samus, Fox, and others have been showing up in good numbers, so the line is actually very balanced. I love the look of my video game figure shelf at this point, and even though it will continue to grow, the Star Fox squad will be an enduring and important piece.
I chose Peppy to examine because he is the final piece of the puzzle, but also because he is a good representative of the group overall. The consistency between all four pilots in the WoN line is great, and I am very happy that everything from style to scale matches well. Because of that, I cannot really pick a favorite figure amongst the group – they are so evenly balanced that it is hard to pick a weak link, so the ability to admire all four as a single entity is great because every figure pulls its own weight. The team looks neat assembled with their coordinating flight suits, and even though there are only four of them, they are diverse in personality and aesthetics.
The good part is the differences in personality come out great via those aesthetics, and Peppy’s kind but worrisome demeanor is captured well. Fox is the steady leader, Slippy is the happy sidekick, Falco is the slightly stuck-up ace, and Peppy kind of keeps everyone grounded with his C-3PO-like nature. His face favors this to some degree, and while he is a bit more placid than the rest of the group, he still looks just like he is ready to tell you to “do a barrel roll” for the hundredth time, so I love it. I realize that these figures are modeled from their N64 and onward appearances (for the most part), but I think the looks are iconic for the franchise as a whole, and I am just glad Peppy got his is popped collar included.
Peppy’s articulation matches the rest of the crew pretty closely, and what is there is pretty functional. The WoN line does not have a set scheme like MOTUC or other collector lines, so articulation can really vary from figure to figure, but again, good consistency in points and movement hold through for this group. Now, none of the figures will really sit well, and while I can see that as a bummer since they are, you know, pilots, but I don’t think we will ever be getting any of the their ships, so it is a bit moot any way.
Finally, Peppy comes with an item cube as his accessory, which is kind of neat, if not very useful. The Star Fox guys don’t have as much need for practical accessories like Mario or Link, but even though Fox and Falco have the same ship model, the “bomb” token and this box add some diversity thanks to Slippy and Peppy. I suppose an attachable range finder could have been made for him, but past that, nothing else really makes any more sense to have than what we got. At any rate, I am not into these Star Fox figures for the accessories.
Woo-hoo! The Star Fox squad is complete, and I really could not be more thrilled. As the game series has always been more ancillary for me, my happiness for this is running pretty high, so getting this team done is a cool thing for collectors and the WoN line in general. The crew looks great together, and it gives me a lot of hope that some of the other teams currently in-progress will see completion someday, and those not started yet (hint, hint, KOOPA KIDS, wink, wink) will have a shot at success as well. The World of Nintendo line is quietly killing it right now, so I am excited to see what 2017 will bring us.
