ReAction JAWS Shark Figure

[Hedji]

I'll buy these. Wish Brody looked a bit better, but for whatever reason I can deal with the soft likeness on the JAWS stuff a bit more.

^ It's funny you should say that. I love these, but I don't think they are miles above the maligned Trek figures in terms of likeness. I think it's that we're more used to seeing Trek merchandise and actors reproduced as figures than we are these guys. That's not a knock on these figures - I think they look just fabulous. But I see a more narrow gap in accuracy/quality/whatever between these and the Trek figures than others do.

[Hedji]

I ordered from them once, no problems. fb10 = 10% off.

How do you get that discount? I just liked their fb page.

[palitoy]

^ It's funny you should say that. I love these, but I don't think they are miles above the maligned Trek figures in terms of likeness. I think it's that we're more used to seeing Trek merchandise and actors reproduced as figures than we are these guys.

I think it's more a factor that the Jaws characters have more visual markers (glasses, hat, beards, mustaches) than the Treks that really help fill in the blanks with the likeness (cause clearly they don't have the likeness rights here either). Your eye hits them and it's tells you who the character is. That's why they are a win, at least to me. They are soft but if I take Quint off the card, people would still get it.

In the Trek line, Spock seems to be the one people think looks best, pointy ears, eyebrows and the haircut are a big factor in making it work. However, if I took a magic marker to McCoy and added some stubble I'd have an action figure of me in a Star Trek outfit.

Probably why I like the Uni Monster stuff, they have the rights to the makeups and it works. I know some monster purists who don't love their generic flavour but that hits all the right keys for me.

[Gorn Captain]

If I can get a set for $40, I'm totally in!
How often do you get a change to buy Jaws collectibles?

[MEGOMAN]

I may have a hard time not paying attention to these!

[Hedji]

I think it's more a factor that the Jaws characters have more visual markers (glasses, hat, beards, mustaches) than the Treks that really help fill in the blanks with the likeness (cause clearly they don't have the likeness rights here either). Your eye hits them and it's tells you who the character is. That's why they are a win, at least to me. They are soft but if I take Quint off the card, people would still get it.

Agreed!

[GlobalObserver]

How do you get that discount? I just liked their fb page.

Just enter the fb10 code during checkout.

[Iron Mego]

I think it's more a factor that the Jaws characters have more visual markers (glasses, hat, beards, mustaches) than the Treks that really help fill in the blanks with the likeness (cause clearly they don't have the likeness rights here either). Your eye hits them and it's tells you who the character is. That's why they are a win, at least to me. They are soft but if I take Quint off the card, people would still get it.

In the Trek line, Spock seems to be the one people think looks best, pointy ears, eyebrows and the haircut are a big factor in making it work. However, if I took a magic marker to McCoy and added some stubble I'd have an action figure of me in a Star Trek outfit.

Probably why I like the Uni Monster stuff, they have the rights to the makeups and it works. I know some monster purists who don't love their generic flavour but that hits all the right keys for me.

I think these heads are miles above the Trek, and many other ReAction figure heads, simply because they aren't hydrocephalic. We've got nice square jaws here, not that sloped forehead look from previous lines. Also, the bodies look a little different, not the super broad shoulders from before.

[ZICA]

That shark does look fantastic and the figures do seem better but Funko still needs to work on nailing the vintage Kenner aesthetics, and one area they can start with is the proportions. See the quick Photoshop revision I did below. The hands need to be slightly smaller and less chunky as well but I didn't take the time to make those changes.

[Hedji]

Yes the T shaped torso is evident in their sculpts. Doesn't diminish my enthusiasm one bit. I think unless Funko can improve exponentially , people will just have to make peace withe the fact that like Mattel and other vintage lines, the Kenner look was unique to Kenner, and we may never quite get it again. I'm okay with that. They set the bar too high with Super7s ALIEN, and even their logo is a Kenner homage. So people expect Kenner style, but it ain't happening. But see, my old Tomy Trons, Mattel Flash Gordon, and Mego Black Hole don't look like Kenner either, and I don't love them any less for what they aren't. I love these Jaws figures for what they ARE.

[Hedji]

Plus, with a heat gun and some patience, you could make Quint fit right in with your old C B McHauls.

[Werewolf]

I guess it's a subtle thing. To me, it just feels like they didn't put the effort into the Trek as they did the Jaws figures.

Saw them in person at Target and was really disappointed. They just look so bland, generic and phoned in. As far as I could tell, except for Uhura which they didn't have, they even all shared the exact same body mold. I'm still going to pick them up eventually. But they could have and should have been a lot better. The Jaws stuff still isn't Kenner good. But it's getting very close and you can really see the care and effort that went into them. I do wish they'd start molding the heads in color and stop painting the skin tones. Kenner rarely did that and it ruins the retro glossy look.

[Hedji]

Me too. The lack of gloss on these is like the baggy suits on FTC figures.

Who knew it was so difficult to make cheap, low end toys?

[Iron Mego]

Yes the T shaped torso is evident in their sculpts. Doesn't diminish my enthusiasm one bit. I think unless Funko can improve exponentially , people will just have to make peace withe the fact that like Mattel and other vintage lines, the Kenner look was unique to Kenner, and we may never quite get it again. I'm okay with that. They set the bar too high with Super7s ALIEN, and even their logo is a Kenner homage. So people expect Kenner style, but it ain't happening. But see, my old Tomy Trons, Mattel Flash Gordon, and Mego Black Hole don't look like Kenner either, and I don't love them any less for what they aren't. I love these Jaws figures for what they ARE.

^This!

[ZICA]

Yes the T shaped torso is evident in their sculpts. Doesn't diminish my enthusiasm one bit. I think unless Funko can improve exponentially , people will just have to make peace withe the fact that like Mattel and other vintage lines, the Kenner look was unique to Kenner, and we may never quite get it again. I'm okay with that. They set the bar too high with Super7s ALIEN, and even their logo is a Kenner homage. So people expect Kenner style, but it ain't happening. But see, my old Tomy Trons, Mattel Flash Gordon, and Mego Black Hole don't look like Kenner either, and I don't love them any less for what they aren't. I love these Jaws figures for what they ARE.

That's all well and good but the fact remains that Super7/Funko were initially trying to replicate the vintage Kenner aesthetic, which is blatantly obvious from the first round of figures they chose to do and the way they promoted the line. The fact that they had actual prototypes (or at least images) to work from made getting the Alien figures right fairly easy. When they don't have good reference material it makes things much more difficult for them, and it shows in the finished product.

Obviously the line is doing well because they keep cranking out more and more, but they haven't been able to maintain what was suppose to be a significant feature of the line, which is the vintage Kenner aesthetics.