I managed to make it out to the movies this weekend, catching the much anticipated (by me, anyway) film adaptation of The Golden Compass. I am a fan of the books, and was very pleased by the line of toys, which I reviewed last week. After seeing the film, I’ve come to a rather unique conclusion – I like the toys better than the movie.
That’s not to say the film is bad. I’d give it a B, if you forced me to do such a thing as grade it. The effects are fantastic, and there’s some great acting from Nicole Kidman, Sam Elliot (hey, he’s always great!), and the newcomer Dakota Blue Richards. The bear fight alone is worth the price of admission. Oh, I thought it felt rushed, there was too much exposition and explanation, and they veer from the book on some key points, but it was a decent film.
The toys are great though, at least the regular releases so far. Tonight I’m looking at the two bears, which are sold individually, Ragnar (King of the Bears) and Iorek (our hero). Ragnar is voice by Ian McShane in the film, while Ian McKellen does Iorek. I wasn’t thrilled with his version of Iorek, but you just have to see that damn bear fight.
If you have any questions or comments, drop me a line at mwc@mwctoys.com. On to the review!
Iorek and Ragnar – the Golden Compass from Popco
These guys are hitting Toys R Us stores first, but I’d expect to see them at other retailers soon. The smaller figures are just $6 each, but the larger bears (with action features that the regular figures lack) are $10 each.
Packaging – ***1/2
The packages are decent, and don’t waste space, which is a big plus these days. The nice square shape also makes them easy for MOCers with storage. There is also some personalization too, which is a big plus for me.
Sculpting – ***1/2
The sculpting work is actually quite good, and can be better appreciated after seeing the movie. Let’s face it – these are bears, and the general sculpt isn’t all that difficult to capture. The trick is getting some of the personality of the two specific bears into the face and body sculpts, and they actually managed to pull that off.
There were two things I was particularly happy to see. First, the scale here is pretty good. Place them with the human figures, and you’ll get a pretty accurate representation of how they appeared on film in terms of size. I say pretty accurate, because even in the movie their size in relation to the humans altered from time to time. Gotta blame that CGI.
The other thing that impresses me is that their size in relation to each other is quite accurate. Ragnar is the bigger bear in the film, with a wider body and wider more grizzly like head. Iorek has a more traditional polar bear body and head, thinner and less square. They could have cheated – hey, these are mass market toys after all – and just used the same bear body for both with different head sculpts, but they didn’t.
The front paw sculpts aren’t my favorite, particularly the right paws which are flat. The armor isn’t exactly screen accurate (for example, Ragnar lacks the chain mail on his belly), so they aren’t perfect. But they are surprisingly good considering the price and the intended audience.
Paint – ***
There’s nothing about the paint to get excited about, but it’s decent mass market quality. Unlike the small figures, the bears don’t have a whole lot of small detail work. They’re white, they have eyes, noses and some paw details, but that’s about it. Even the armor is a consistent color, but they did manage to make it pretty realistic in appearance. The work is fairly clean, with only a few spots or sloppy cuts.
Articulation – **1/2
Unfortunately, the articulation is once again the weakest link. This was true with the regular figures, and it remains the case with the bears.
There are a couple high notes though. They have a ball jointed neck that works surprisingly well, and in combination with the jointed lower jaw, gives you a chance to add a lot of personality to the figure. Once you’ve seen the film, you might decide to customize your Ragnar too.
The four hips have regular cut joints, but the front hips are limited by the silly action feature. They aren’t designed to walk on all fours due to the front paws being sculpted in specific ways, once again for the silly action feature. That ends up hurting the number of poses you can actually do, outside of the upright fighting stance.
The front paws both have ball joints though, so you can exhibit at least a little creativity with the fighting pose.
Accessories – ***
Both bears come with small stands, and their armor. The armor is completely removable, although both come wearing the major pieces in the package. Most of it pops together to stay in place, but there’s actually a clear plastic chin strap to hold Ragnar’s helmet in place (which isn’t really necessary), and his arm pieces snap in place. The armor sculpts are good, and the metallic apperance is relatively realistic.
The bears are clearly more interesting wearing the armor, but making it removable adds to the fun. And since the bears aren’t always armored in the film, it matches the source material as well.
Action Feature – **
My feelings about 90% of the action features out there are pretty well known. I think action features on toys are to kids what a lot of options on cars are to adults. They might actually seem nifty, and they might actually make the sale – but the novelty wears off quickly.
For these two, you press a button on their back and they swipe with their arms. On it’s own, it’s harmless enough. It’s not particularly useful after you’ve tried it once or twice, and most kids will make their own version of a swatting action and just skip the button. But if it didn’t negatively effect the sculpt and articulation, it wouldn’t be a big deal.
Unfortunately it does effect both. Because of this action feature, the toy is actually less fun than had they just skipped it. And when the world is better without you than with you, that’s never a good thing.
Fun Factor – ***
These two would actually be more fun without the action feature, which just gets in the way. Without it they would have been more posable, and kids could have supplied their own ‘slashing’ action.
Value – **1/2
The six dollar regular figures are an excellent value, but the larger bears are really pretty much in line with the usual mass market pricing these days. You won’t feel ripped, because they have some nice size to them and the armor is well done, but you’re not going to be amazed by the price either.
Things to Watch Out For –
There’s really no issues. You might find that once you take the armor off, it’s a tad tricky to get back on, so small kids may need your help.
Overall – ***
The sculpts, paint and armor on these guys is quite good, especially when you consider that it’s a mass market line aimed at kids. Had they skipped the silly action feature and given us a bit better articulation, I could have easily seen these guys getting the extra half star.
Even with the faults, they both look terrific posed together or with the other humans from the regular line up. Considering how important Ioker is to the story line, you really can’t skip him. And while he’s a cool bear, it’s Ragnar that gets the better looking set of armor. He is King of the Bears after all! Pick up both, pose them in battle, and they’ll add quite a bit to your Golden Compass display.
Where to Buy –
Toys R Us is your best bet right now, but I think you’ll see other major retailers stocking them soon.
Related Links –
I covered the rest of the first wave last week, and I’ll have a review of the flying machine coming soon as well.
Comments: 1 Comment
One Response to “Toy Box: Iorek and Ragnar – A Tale Of Two Ians”Leave a Reply |
September 25th, 2009 at 12:52 am
I agree 100% with your review of these figures.
I’m a 30 year old in the UK, who still loves toys, but only to display! lol
I bought the two bears yesterday for 99p each and was disappointed at the inability to pose them better.
Also, I had a hard time with Iorek’s armour. So hard to get the forelimbs through the holes when removing and putting it back on. I’ll leave it on in future! As for Ragnar, I didn’t bother to try taking it off.
Thanks for the great review!
Murdock.