Thinkway Collector's Edition Minions Dave

The Minions have been hot hot hot here in Singapore!
Even I have done 2 different blog posts on them, from McDonald's Happy Meal Minions to my own Minions paper creation.
However this is the minion I have been anticipating and wanting most.
The creme de la creme, the Mother of all Minions toys.
It is Thinkway Collector's Edition Minions Dave!

I have not seen these figures in Singapore and even if I have seen them, they were going at a whopping $180!
Luckily, I had a friend going to the States on business and I managed to convince him to help me bring this guy back. In the states it was selling for US$59.90.
Being a nice guy, he also agreed to help some of my colleagues buy. In the end he had to lug back 3 of these figures. Trust me these figures are not small in their packaging.

Thinkway is very good at electronic type of toys.
Their work on the Toy Story Signature Collection and Wreck it Ralph toys was very good. Hence I expected nothing less for this figure.
Thinkway also had another version of the minions produced (different sizes and functions) but this is supposed to be the most accurate version even coming with a certificate of authenticity.

I love the packaging.
With the see through packaging, you can see Dave clearly and it is impressive in size.
You also get to try out his electronic features. I don't really fancy this because who can resist not trying him out in the shopping centre and in the end damage the figure. But I understand the need to have it.
The orange background enhances the packaging.
Overall a visual treat.

The design of the Minion is simple so Thinkway had no problem capturing the likeness of it.
It is promoted to be a highly detailed deluxe film replica even coming with a certificate of authenticity so expectations are high. Overall good job.

I love the fact that they did not paint on the hair but sculpted it.

It is primarily an electronic toy, so there is some sort of underlying electronic skeleton which supports the electronic features. Think Terminator...yah same concept.
Covering the skeleton is a soft yellow rubbery skin. The lower part of the body is hard plastic, which is where the batteries and switch are found.

I love the jean overalls. It is made of real denim material which makes it so much more realistic.

I am pretty disappointed in the sculpting of the mouth. I thought it could be more detailed. I suspect it could be because of the soft rubbery material skin that make detailing difficult.
Another gripe is the painting. By promoting itself as the deluxe film replica, the paint ops is a disaster!
There are paint slop around the edge of the goggles and around the hair.

The electronic features are what makes the figure fun to play.
There are 3 ways to play with Dave.
1) Press Dave’s chin for voice and facial expression with moving head, and eyes!
2) Talk to him and he’ll respond! He even knows if you raised your voice. Basically he responds to any sound.
3) Quickly press Dave’s chin twice and Dave will sing a Minion song!

Overall Dave is a fun toy to play with. 
At S$180 it is not worth it. If you can get it at the US pricing, it is a must have if you are into the Minions.
A nice ending to my Minion collection and posts.
No more Minions posting I promise.

Check out the electronic features

Thinkway Toy Story Collection

Thinkway had done a great job for the Wall-E line and they have continued this with Toy Story. I am really looking forward to their Toy Story Collection series which consists of :
1) Buzz Lightyear
2) Woody the Sheriff
3) RC
4) Rex
5) Space Aliens

They are highly detailed and movie accurate.
I am eyeing Buzz and Woody. Amazingly, their packaging will also be movie accurate (for Woody and Buzz at least). Another good thing is that they will be in the range of 12". You can read more at Thinkway's website.
The only problem I foresee is the high possibility that Singapore's departmental stores will not bring these in. I am already seeing Mattel's Toy Story toys but not Thinkway. Maybe I would have to look at the speciality toy stores which will charge a premium...sigh.

Woody the Sheriff


Buzz Lightyear

Thinkway M-0

When I first bought my Thinkway Wall-E & Eve, I decided to leave out M-O (which was part of the series) as I felt that the scale was not movie accurate. M-O was almost the same size as Wall-E.
At that time, there was another Wall-E line running at a smaller scale (around 3 to 4") but it did not occur to me that I could buy M-O from this line and I would be able to have a better proportion between M-O, Wall-E and Eve.
When I figured that out, the figures became pretty hard to get.
Only recently, when I was at Simply Toys, I managed to get my hands on it for only $8. Yipee!
I have been impressed with Thinkway's Wall-E line and I think this figure is no exception. Sculpting is good for a mass market toy line. However I must admit the paint ops is a bit sloppy and M-O relies on stickers for some of his details, which feels and looks a bit cheap.
The figure comes with a base plus and 'transport vehicle', which he can sit on.

Overall, a nice figure to pose beside your other Wall-E figures.















M-O your best domestic help!

Little Plastic Man Top 10 Fave Awards 2008 - Number 10

Coming in at No 10 is Thinkway Wall-E & Eve!
For so many years, we have been bombarded with crap toys (except Cars) for Pixar's animated movies. Finally, a company was able to make a decent toy line for Pixar latest movie.
You can read my past review here.

Let us go over now to our roving reporter as he has a few words with the winning couple!

LPM reporter : How do you feel getting into the LPM Top 10 Fave Toys 2008 ?
Wall-E : Wallllllllllllllllll-EEEEEEEEEEEEE...
LPM reporter : Huh...Happy beyond words ?
Wall-E : Wallllllllllllllllll-EEEEEEEEEEEEE...
LPM reporter : Erh...Anything you want to say to your fans?
Wall-E : Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeva
Eve (Electronic hums)
LPM reporter : Whatever! Enjoy your win...

Wall-E & Eve with their Golden Little Plastic Man


Smile!

Thinkway Wall-E & Eve

I love Pixar's movies. To me, Pixar has hit home runs for all their movies.
The movie has not been release here yet, but based on the reviews I have seen on the Internet, I think Pixar has hit another home run.

I will usually pick up Pixar movie's toys (except for Ratatouille as I can't find them) no matter how crappy they are! (can't really complain as they are targeted for the mass market)
The only exception is the Cars movie's toys. However with Thinkway Wall-E line, I think I can increase the exception to 2.

I usually don't comment much on the packaging but I kinda like this one. It's attractive and shows the figures well.

Based on the pictures I am seeing on the Internet, Wall-E’s sculpting is excellent with details like the rubber tracks and hose behind his head. His paint ops is clean and he has the dirty and rusty look which I like. The only problem is that the paint on his head is rather flat hence making it more plastic than metal.
I like Eve's sculpt even though it's simple and clean (maybe that why I like it!). As Eve is primarily white, there is not much to say about the paint ops. Her white is the glossy kind and is matches well with her blue eyes.

Wall-E comes with 2 hunks of garbage and it can be fitted into his body.
Eve comes with a boot with a plant growing out of it, light bulb, transparent base, a rock with a section that fly off with a press of a button , and her blaster right arm. In the trailer, when Wall-E tries to get the attention of Eve, she uses her blaster right arm to blast a huge hole in a rock. I guess that answers the accessory for the rock with a section that fly off with a press of a button!

The best thing I like about these figures are the action features. Yes you heard it right, "the action features."
Wall-E's front and back can be opened. Well not too exciting I guess.
Eve on the other hand has 2 action features. You are able to pop open her chest by pressing a button behind. Inside you are able to store the accessories (boot and light bulb) which come along with her. The second feature is that Eve has 6 different eye expressions when you press down her head. It's so so cool (see picture below)

These figures will fit in nicely with the rest of the 6" figures. There is another Wall-E line running at a smaller scale. Around 3 to 4". These will fit in nicely with the smaller Star Wars figures but I still prefer the larger scale figures.

Overall, the figures are good especially for a mass market toy line. Well done Thinkway!!

Nice packaging


Wall-E






It can be quite depressing to be a rubbish compactor


Eve




The 6 different eye expressions


Love at first sight!


Accessories