Super Mario Bros. Movie Wave 2

This post is following up to my post the other day, where I found these all new wave 2 figures for the Super Mario Bros. Movie line. This is, of course an extension of the first wave, as well as the deluxe Bowser figure which preceded that one.

I won't lie. Wave 2 delivers a rather weak blow, suffering from the same sort of fatigue which often plagues toy lines, specifically movie related ones. You have so many characters you can draw from, yet the line gets oversaturated with retooled repeat figures. In essence, the only "new" figure here is Kamek. It's a missed opportunity for Jakks Pacific to release Gombas, Koopas, and the most obvious omission, the Kongs, Donkey, Cranky, etc. It's this type of release strategy that often leads to a wave 3 and beyond not being released, because the second wave will peg warm based on its unappealing aspect. I certainly hope this doesn't become the case.

I specifically want to make note of, and reference back to my original photo of Kamek, because it very loudly punctuates one of my biggest issues with this line. When I got mine off the shelf, the figure was upside down in the box, and this showcased just how excessively large these boxes are for the toys inside. The wasted space is very present in the inflated price tag of $20.00 - $25.00 per basic figure. Literally 2/3 of the box for Kamek is dead space. While this isn't as bad with the other figures in this new lineup, this particular figure very much so echoes wave 1.

Getting the figures out of the box, they definitely have charm to them. They all look spot on to their big screen counterparts, and this absolutely captures the feel of a Mario Bros. line. What we are perhaps missing, so far, are some good playset backgrounds to interact these characters with.

Overall, the line is fleshing out, but not necessarily on a path that I would have opted to go. Again, there are many omissions here, and I really hope that this wave doesn't turn out to be a misstep that ultimately kills the line. I very much so want Donkey Kong, as well as some minions to accompany this series when it is all said and done.

Though, if it does get much larger, I am going to have to rework the shelf they are on.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.