Happy MAR10 DAY! We are in the midst of the great Mario renaissance. In just a little under one month, it is highly likely that the SUPER MARIO BROS MOVIE will become one of the biggest box office hits of the year. The final trailer for Universal Studios and Illumination’s film dropped yesterday on MAR10 day eve (aka when it was already MAR10 Day in Nintendo’s home country of Japan). And yesterday during a routine visit to Target, I noticed that the toys had finally arrived.
Now I think these toys (all manufactured by Jakks Pacific) are kind of in a weird place. Because they have to be close enough to the original designs (or at least most liked designs – lets say SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD designs) so that they don’t alienate the fanbase, but also stand on their own as original collectibles for the film. As someone who collects the MARIO KART Hot Wheels line, I was definitely interested. In the movie trailer, the characters seemed very close to their video game counterparts but it is interesting that the toys sort of magnify these differences.
12 INCH MARIO FIGURE
Check out the 12 inch Mario. I really wanted to buy this Mario, but ultimately did not and now I regret it. It’s almost got like a Chucky meets Mario vibe – in a good way. He’s pretty cool but the costume really speaks to transforming Mario into our world more than you might think. His shoes look real. His overalls are confirmed to be of a jean-type material and not dickies in nature. His shirt feels sort of a 1970s disco era flare collar which goes nicely with the deep red hue. The yellow buttons, which in the video game were just nice color “pops” are now firmly in the brass camp. His boots have ties and appear to be of construction work-boot, mostly reminding me of a Keen-style leather boot. I guess these details also mean that the movie will probably answer, “Why does Mario have white gloves?” since the realistic nature of his cinematic existence seems to beg that particular question. I can’t wait.
5 INCH SUPER MARIO BROS CHARACTER FIGURES
Next up are the individual figures that are about 5″ in height, a little bigger than a Star Wars figure but not as big as say a Marvel Legends or Star Wars Black Series figure. I showcased some of them at the top of this blog. At $23.99 at my Target in San Diego, I found them to be a little bit pricey. Still they were nicely detailed:
Movie Luigi is similar to Movie Mario in terms of style, generally leaner and more vertical (just like in the video game). But it is nice to see his Luigi’s mansion flashlight is now one a Coleman-style Halogen camping lights. I always imagined it to be that in the DS game but it feels a little more detailed here. And same with Toad’s outfit (sorry Toad was out of focus, my camera could not stop focusing on Rey of course). I like it and I appears to be more detailed and although it looks like his outfit as seen in many of the more recent Mario games, the commitment to vest and puffy pants almost gives me a Doki Doki-Panic style to the outfit (which as you may or may not know became the basis for Super Mario Bros 2 in the US) which, intentional or not, is pretty cool.
Peach also received a 5 inch version. I’m a big time Peach stan and I don’t know about this version yet. I already was not the biggest fan of Anya Taylor Joy’s vocal performance (but I love ATJ as you may have read in my previous blog about her Magik character and why she should be in the MCU). And now something about the face seems a little weird to me but I’m going to champion that Peach no matter what. I still think it will all come together in the movie and I love that umbrella.
Mario’s 5 inch is also very similar to his previously showcased larger version but it is kind of cool to see that he gets a plunger meaning that we are going to see some hardcore real world plumbing – which we’ve also seen in trailers, commercials and toys, including this one:
The van is basically an original creation. And I wanted to mention this because it shows how the movie is going to do the opposite of bringing Mario and Luigi and Toad into the real world. Instead the van is placing a real world thing into the aesthetic of Super Mario Bros. And I think the aethetic is on point. It has a geometric stylized design. I love the small wheels on the large square van. It gives the perfect kind of non-US design feel to a US based object (I hope that sentence made sense).
Anyway, it also has a playset inside of it that gives a clue to the real world connection to the Mushroom Kingdom. It looks like Mario will enter the Mushroom Kingdom through a sewer. It also showcases what could be like an intermediate world (maybe a video game Easter egg). Overall, I like that they are making this connection and bringing Mario from a stylized version of “our” world into the Mushroom Kingdom.
MUSHROOM KINGDOM CASTLE PLAYSET
The “Mushroom Kingdom” Castle was also on shelves. This thing looks so cool. The inside is even more detailed than the outside. It was very tempting. Almost purchased. But also wanted to note that in many incarnations (notably Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood and Japan – and this castle looks like a toy version of those castles) it is called “Peach’s Castle.” So it is kind of exciting that they are branding it as a “Mushroom Kingdom” Castle because that hopefully means that they are really leaning into the lore and world of the Mushroom Kingdom. The castle retails for just $29.99 in store! Which I think is a deal. The figures are 1″ and tiny but it is still a pretty cool playset.
SUPER MARIO BROS MOVIE 1″ FIGURES WITH QUESTION MARK BOX PLAYSET
Last there are these small figures which come in a question mark box, which folds into its own playset. Mario’s version is below:
I picked up the Princess Peach version and you can see how her version folds out into a rolling hills playset for the Mushroom Kingdom.
At $9.99 I think they are an ok option but when you think you can get that Mushroom Kingdom castle for the price of three of these, their value might decrease a bit.
As you can see below, I ended up buying three items. And overall it was quite a pricey haul (I picked up the van as well). But I’m excited. Less than a month to go before we see how this all plays (yeah I said it) out in the SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE.
No Scoops Club 