003-R
Playmates- World of Springfield- The Simpsons- Krusty the Clown
Release Date (approx): 2000
Current Price and availability: $17.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Simpsons-pl...-/230846413236
I have mixed feelings about Krusty and this line in general. On one hand, I love(d) the Simpsons and feel that their super long running TV show, which has been a constant for most of my life, is a perfect muse for the collectible toy market what with literally hundreds of characters to choose, but on the other it represents what was at the time, one of the most frustrating and hard to find toys lines that I have ever had the displeasure of trying to collect. I suppose the popularity had something to do with it, but the collector market at that time was riled up into a bit of a frenzy with limited stock and terrible distribution in Canada, So much so that I’m not entirely sure how Playmates is STILL a profitable company. *cough-better-not-lose-that-TMNT-licence* cough. The line was pretty neat in that they all were microchipped to interact and “speak” when placed on one of the play sets. In some cases I think what they said was dependant on the environment that they were placed in? But I can’t really recall for sure. This was at that time when talking toys were all the rage, Star Wars EP 1 comes to mind, but unlike EP1, THe World of Springfield featured all the original voice overs so it actually a cool gimmick.
When all was said and done, I was able to pick up the entire first wave with the 2 playsets and a few of my other favorites Comic Book Guy and Groundskeeper Willie. I picked Krusty to review as I hold the episode where he was framed for holding up the Kwik-e-mart and subsequent trial as one of my favourite Simpson episodes. I will hand it to Playmates as the sculpting is pretty great and I do love all the character specific accessories that are included; I just wish he had somewhere to put them.
Pros: Nice cartoon looking sculpt that is right off the screen, nice accessoires with a neat interactive sound feature. I could see another toy company attempting another line in the future.
Cons: These were super difficult to collect at the time and the articulation is somewhat limited.
