Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty is a show that leaves me in awe almost every time I see it. Each episode embraces and celebrates crass toilet humor to a robust degree, and then it’ll turn on a dime and get so deep and so real that it can be difficult to keep up with the emotional roller coaster that the show is. We see the world through Rick’s tired, multiverse-weary cynicism, but we also experience all the outlandish wonder through the eyes of Morty, Rick’s much more naive and innocent grandson. And one of the more simple-yet-horrible-because-of-course characters is Mr. Meeseeks, released here as a 5-inch figure by Funko. Now that Funko has conquered the world with their POP! figures, they’re branching out once again into the action figure world. The 6-inch Funko Legacy figures from a couple years back were met with mixed results, as breakage was way too common a problem, so I’ve been approaching these Rick and Morty figures with a good deal of caution. So far, the results have seemed just fine, but I’m still wary.
The packaging is standard across the full wave. The only character-specific details are printed on the sticker applied to the plastic blister. I mean, it’s packaging. it’s fine. It protects the figure. But there is zero reason to keep it. Break that sucker right out of there.
The figure itself is an excellent representation of the character from the series. The animation style is simplistic, and the sculpt nails it perfectly. And there aren’t too many articulation cuts to spoil the sculpt and silhouette, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. As far as paint apps go, all we got is his hair, eyes, and eyebrows — that’s it. But that’s all that’s needed, so well done, I guess?
Mr. Meeseeks sports a big, goofy grin. You can almost hear him say, “I’m Mr. Meeseeks! Look at me!” like he does when he appears. Now, a huge missed opportunity was not generating different facial expression variants. Since Mr. Meeseeks is basically an army builder, I would have liked to have seen a few different expressions because it would be super easy to pick up them all. Outside of the titular Rick and Morty, Mr Meeseeks is the figure I wanted most from this first wave, so I still may buy more than one, just to sort of emulate the episode that features him.
The character exists to solve problems — simple problems. The lifespan of a Mr. Meeseeks is typically a few seconds to a few minutes, but when Jerry asks him to help his golf game, Meeseeks ends up having to stick around for much, much longer, and it’s hilarious. So, appropriately, Meeseeks comes with Jerry’s golf club and a pistol (which he also uses to try and solve a “problem” when he’s pushed too far by Jerry). So it’s awesome that he comes with these two accessories, but it would have been great if he also came with the push-button devise that is used to summon him. (It would also be nice if there were a Jerry in this wave to display with Mr. Meeseeks, but oh well. Maybe wave 2.)
Articulation-wise, this is where I get nervous. I had several Game of Thrones figures break on me, so if something feels like it doesn’t want to move, I don’t force it. His articulation scheme is as follows:
- Swivel head, wrists, ankles
- Swivel/hinge shoulders and hips
- Single-jointed knees and elbows
Everything moves fine except for his hips.They’ll move outward, but I get no forward/backward movement at all, and I’m too nervous to try to make it happen. This is true of my Rick and Morty figures as well. I’d rather have vanilla-posed display figures than broken figures, so given my track record with Funko, I just don’t want to risk it.
This is a 5-inch line, so if you’re a 1:12 collector like I am, they’re not going to integrate well. I do like that Funko is back at the action figure game, though, so I want to support it. And since I love the show so much, there was no way I wasn’t going to get these. The overall results are mixed, but I do love seeing them on my shelves since they’re good representations of the characters.
Mr. Meeseeks and the lot can be had here: