Oo-OO-oo!
Sometimes a scrap of information can be important to a current trend and yet you can manage to be absolutely oblivious to it until it smacks you in the face with its supreme obviousosity. I had initially believed that the immortalization of Scrooge McDuck and his nephews in two distinct forms — Funko’s Pop Vinyls and Herocross’ Hybrid Metal Figuartion — was due to the more recent Ducktales cartoon. While that may be partially so, this year also marks the the 30th anniversary of the original Ducktales.
30th??
That can’t be right. I was just watching Ducktales after school just a couple of days ago. That hyper-catchy theme song with its repeated “Ducktales…oo-OO-oo” just started airing a short while ago, right?
But no, it was a bit more than a couple of days ago. Ducktales debuted in September of 1987.
But wait, there’s more! 2017 also marks the 70th anniversary of the creation of Scrooge McDuck himself.
Ducktales was a chance to finally get a steady stream of new adventures featuring characters I had loved most of my life. Huey, Dewey, and Louie had ingrained themselves early on as constant foils for their obstreperous and psychotically angry uncle Donald in various Disney shorts, and Scrooge McDuck was, of course, the main character in 1983’s Mickey’s Christmas Carol, a yearly favorite. Putting these elements together into a syndicated cartoon was a golden idea, and turned into a big hit. Since my Pop! Vinyl purchase patterns seems to be along the lines of “buy what tweaks me,” I preordered these as soon as they showed up.
Pop! Vinyls distill a certain essence of character down into a highly stylized and “cute” aesthetic. They are one of the few things I buy that exist solely as display pieces, so my only need is for them to exist in a hazy void of stylization and verisimilitude. I can’t explain why I like them, only that I do.
This is a very well done set, with some well-appreciated details that makes them stand out. Uncle Scrooge’s #1 dime is a nice touch, and the little glasses resting on the tip of his nose are well done as well.
I appreciate that Huey, Dewey and Louie were given different body sculpts. It would have been extremely simple to just have the same head and boy in three different color schemes, but, though they share a head (triplets, you know), their arms are positioned differently, giving each of them a unique personality.
Huey’s arms are folded, Dewey’s hands are on his hips, Louie’s are folded in front of them. These small little touches give each of them a distinctness that gives you a bit of insight into their character, without the need for three vastly different facial expressions. You get that Huey is resigned, Dewey is defiant, and Louie is conciliatory.
Webby is the only character here who was created specifically for the Ducktales cartoon, no doubt to provide the necessary “ew, a girl” quotient for the triplets, before accepting her into their ranks. She’s carrying a very well-done miniature stuffed animal of herself.
If you’re a Ducktales fan, Disney fan, Duckburg fan and a Pop! Vinyl fan, this is a great set of figures, and deliver exactly what you’d expect. I’m counting down the days I can add the Hybrid Metal versions to my collection as well.
You can pick these up at Big Bad toy store here.