REVIEW: Toy Story 3 Slinky Dog

From: Mattel

Price: £3.50

Accessories: None

Recently found at half price in Tesco was the tempting offer of owning a Toy Story 3 Slinky Dog. I thought “Great!” and grabbed one, since I’m quite fond of the character and a fan of the late Jim Varney who was his voice actor on the first two Toy Story outings. 

The trouble is, I realised why the figure had taken a price slump after setting it free from its packaging prison!

The photos shown are not me messing around with a toy skit. This is how the figure in its unbalanced assembly normally slumps down to, and it’s suggestively like something else. Can you guess?

I will say on the plus side that this looks accurate the Slinky Dog design with floppy ears, a springy tail and a proper slinky in the middle. As seen in the photos, there are notable many other flaws to the figure. The dog lead is growing out of his head, for one! The loop where the dog lead could and should be is left static, but does provide an optional alteration via some string. However, the wheels at the bottom of Slinky Dog are small and the feet have no weight in them causing the toy to constantly collapse.

How Mattel let this figure pass quality control is beyond me. I have to say as a Slinky Dog fan I’m pretty disappointed. Overall this toy does not do the character justice and not worth purchasing, unless for use as a model that collects dust. Shame. 

REVIEW: Toy Story 3, Twitch, basic asst

From: Mattel

Retail: around $7.99/£5.99

Accessories: None

First toy review in a long time… And this time round it’s not a Transformer! 

Toy Story 3 – the awesome threequel to the movie series introduced some very cool and well researched characters. The newer characters mainly consisted of Lotso-Huggin’ Bears gang. Even though they were the ‘baddies’ they had their individual charm and connotations that teased the viewer, (especially if they were a kid of the 80’s).

Twitch the insectoid warrior was the toy I wanted to rush out and buy after seeing the film. What did it for me was the cheesy Masters of the Universe homage and the fact that I actually owned a Buzz-Off toy back in 1984. Of course, the insectoid warrior theme has echoed in other toys I have owned – TMNT’s Baxter Stockman (1991) and Transformers’ Waspinator (2000). Pixar chose a good theme for a villain character in this.
What Mattel have done is genius, by making a movie accurate figure and within budget. The large and authentic-like Buzz Lightyear, Lotso, Woody, Rex etc are quite costly, but Twitch is only under 10 pounds sterling. Like a Blink Angel from Dr Who this toy only has to just stand there and look good. No gimmicks necessary!

I am aware of the other and more expensive versions of Twitch, but this basic toy suffices. A toy like this doesn’t need any more fancy detail than it already has. I think the basic figure itself based on a ‘basic figure’ in a film is satisfactory.

The first flaw that isn’t much of a throwback with me is the exclusion of the staff accessory. I can see that being an issue possibly, considering the staff is clearly illustrated on the box bubble illustration. It is like bad advertising and owning a 90% complete figure. Imagine He-Man without a sword or Popeye without a can ‘o spinach… The staff can easily be substituted for a twig or paintbrush maybe … . Still, a figure isn’t a bad figure because of a missing accessory..

The second flaw is the stiffness of the joints and lack of articulation. Again for me not a big deal as it takes me back 1984 when my Masters of the Universe figures were not exactly super-posable and a little stiff on the arms and legs. For me, this downer actually adds to the homage and makes this 80’s child quite happy. 2010 standards may not approve...

Twitch is a good all-round ‘accurate’ toy of the character represented in the movie Toy Story 3. He is tough, sturdy and lasting enough to survive the Caterpillar room of any Daycare centre. The stiff joints and omission of a staff weapon are a letdown, but not major flaws. Twitch does a good job of standing still and looking hard, just as he did in the movie. For us older collectors he is also a great desk ornament and workspace guardian.

There’s no messin’ with this musclebound mantis. Twitch RULES!

Buttercup: Pegwarmin' Pony

It's probably me, but I've seen multiples of these from the basic figure assortment pegwarming everywhere.

Buttercup - the Moomin / Unicorn fusion is either unpopular, over produced or just unlucky to find owners. What do you expect from a lesser established character from the Toy Story-verse?

I've seen multiples of these at ASDA, Toys R Us, and Tescos. I may personally pick one up, especially if these end up reduced in Bargain-bin Pergatory. The Moomin homage is definitley a plus side.

Have a heart, give this Moomincorn a home.