With an intellectual property catalogue as diverse, prolific, and ubiquitous as it is, it is almost amazing to me that a classic Disney collector-grade action figure line is still something of a unicorn to me at this point. Sure, there are some companies who have made some pretty amazing figures based off of the classic Disney character roster, but nothing that I would call complete or expansive. Maybe there is thought that the license could not carry a collector market, or maybe the licensing price is too cost prohibitive, or both – but man, I would love to have an ongoing Disney line to collect.
Despite that the lack of concentrated focus, that has not stopped me from getting new Disney figures from time to time to scratch that collector itch, especially when it comes to the iconic characters. The Disney Store/site exclusive Toybox line has been trucking for a few years now, and aside from picking up the Chewbacca awhile back, I have most been ignoring it. I don’t mean that to sound harsh, but the scale is a bit in-between for me, and I have not been overly in love with the design aesthetic overall. I will admit that I did give the Mickey and Minnie figures a look back when they were released because I saw the potential, but at the time, I passed because of the style and the fact that none of the others in the “Big Five” were guaranteed to be produced.
Fast-forward a couple of years to present day, and well, here I am suddenly with both the Mickey and Minnie figures (and Pluto and Figaro). That is because a two-pack of Donald and Goofy was announced a couple of weeks ago, and I knew pretty much right away that I had to have them. Well, Robo helped push me over the edge as well, but I am pretty sure I would have gotten there on my own. Like I said, I have not been paying this line much attention, but there was something about this set, particularly Goofy, that caught my eye more than any other previous figures. These two did not look quite as stylized as what I was used to seeing, and I am such a sucker for these two guys that it just made for the perfect storm.
So, here I am sitting with Disney Big Five in Toybox form, and you know, I am actually pretty happy with it. I still don’t care for the Mickey and Minnie as much, and the argument could be made that there has been an aesthetic shift with some of the extreme design edge being reduced, but I do like them all together. Plus, Goofy is worth it for the price of admission alone, and I really do love this figure. Donald fits a bit in between Mickey/Minnie and Goofy, but aside from some blocky shoes and fingers, Goofy is a pretty damned faithful plastic translation. Maybe I am just glad to finally have a (mostly) classic Goofy as he is the one most often skipped over by lines like Hero Cross’ Hybrid Metal Figuration, but there is no denying the appeal of this figure to me on its very own.
Having these figures in hand, it is plain to see that they attempt to span the gap between a collector’s line and a basic action figure release. There is actually a good amount of articulation in these (though not as functional as I would like), but a limited range of accessories (none for Goofy and Donald), and some quality concerns here and there, I would call this a “middling” line. It is not bad to add to a shelf if you are good with the designs, but the regular QC and production quality issues keep them from being great. I cannot complain too much about the price point since $18 will get you the two-pack, but at the end of the day, these feel like they fit more in the $12-$15 range. I am not decrying them because I really do like these overall, but even as a two-pack it is hard to compare them to something like Marvel Legends when they are creeping around the same price point.
As mentioned, the amount of articulation is pretty good on these guys, and the points hover around the 12 to 15 number. This includes neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists (hinge and swivel, to my surprise), hips, knees (for Goofy), and ankles, so all of the important boxes are checked for me. Having all of these points help the figure move fairly well, I think again, Goofy benefits the most from this as Donald’s arms are somewhat limited and pre-posed. That said, the articulation construction and plastic quality makes these feel somewhat fragile at the joints, and range of movement is not as good as it could have been if a bit more engineering had been done. Again, I was not expecting ML level movement here, and you can get these into several reasonable poses, but I would have liked a bit more range here.
The paint is mostly good on these with the lines and transitions being clean overall. However, they have that paint that is prone to picking up smudges and scuffs. The matte quality of it makes for easy transference, I suppose, and both Donald and Goofy have some scuffs right out of the package. Nothing is too egregious, but I suspect that, if you get these figures for a good amount of play or posing, the issue will only increase, so be careful with handling, especially around the white areas. Fortunately, it looks like most of the joints are color-matched with their plastic, so that helps reduce any issues of the paint rubbing off and exposing a different colored plastic that often happens in instances like this.
These Toybox figures are certainly not without their issues, but I have to say, I like Donald quite a bit, and Goofy is just a hair shy of being a really great figure. If the aesthetic is something that you like (or can overlook) these can help you build out a Disney “Big Five” collection pretty fast with the previously-released Mickey and Minnie. Goofy is by far the best, but Donald is awfully cute, too, and I think that, at the very least, these look good on my Disney shelf. You can get these at the Disney Store (though at present, I would not recommend doing so, even if they are open due to the pandemic), but they are also available online, so that is the better bet right now.