ZOOT

THE MUPPETS REACTION FIGURES (SUPER 7)

Wow, two Super 7 in a week?  Sure, they’ve been getting close, but not like this.  This is, like, Gottlieb talking about the frequencies of kaiju arrivals in Pacific Rim.  When’s the first double event gonna be?  Actually, I reviewed Brett and Parker together two months ago, didn’t I?  Well, guess I played myself on that one.  Something I don’t much discuss here is The Muppets, which has had a surprising number of goes at the action figure world.  Obviously, Palisades set the standard with their line, but with them gone and the figures all being rather expensive, there are always other options.  Super 7, purveyors of the double event I was just discussing, did their own Muppets line under their ReAction Figures banner.  Today, I’m taking a look at Electric Mayhem’s resident saxophonist, Zoot!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Zoot was released in Super 7’s six-figure Muppets ReAction Figures line-up, which was entirely themed around Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem and hit retail in March of 2023.  The figure stands just over 3 1/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The general set-up of the figure is very much the standard, basic ReAction affair, in terms of size and articulation.  The sculpt proper does mix things up a little bit by being slightly preposed, so as to better work with his instrument, which I do quite like.  Beyond that, it’s an alright offering.  It’s a little soft on the details, which is I suppose the style.  I’m not sure that they quite captured his facial likeness; something about the shape of the chin and jaw doesn’t quite feel right for Zoot.  Near as I can tell, he seems to be drawing the most inspiration from Zoot’s Muppets TV incarnation, which is a bit of a design outlier.  Zoot’s color work isn’t bad, but some of the paint is a little sloppy, especially on the sunglasses.  Zoot is packed with his saxophone, which is a sensible inclusion.  It fits nicely and securely his hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My direct exposure to The Muppet Show as a kid was minimal, but I do very much remember the Palisades line.  One of my parents’ friends collected the whole run, and I was always fascinated with Zoot in particular.  I wanted one of my own, but never got one, which is my experience with almost all of that line, really.  When I saw this guy at Gidget’s Gadgets while vacationing with my family a couple of summers ago, it felt like a nice, lower cost alternative.  So, I bought him, and he sat off to the side for over a year, because I’m easily distracted these days.  He’s alright.  Fairly basic, nothing fancy, but that’s to be expected.