Even Balance Issues Cannot Thwart The Exclusive Invader Zim (Old Man Disguise) Figure!

The Good: Great sculpt, Good accessories, Decent collectible value
The Bad: Some balance issues, Vastly over-accessorized, Cannot hold any of his accessories
The Basics: The Invader Zim Wizard World Chicago Exclusive Invader Zim Old Man Disguise figure is one of the less expensive, though pretty cool, Invader Zim figures!


As space in our apartment frees up, I’ve been eagerly getting my wife new things so the place feels more “ours.” I’ve had so many collectibles around that have dominated our décor that as we find things she is interested in, it’s been pretty cool to find things that reflect her interests. Lately, we’ve manages to track down some of the Invader Zim figures for her and some of the hardest to find have been Invader Zim and Gir. So, I was pretty psyched when I discovered that the exclusive figure sets of Zim and Gir together were actually more readily available than the single figures. As a result, the first Zim figure that ended up in her collection was the Old Man Disguise Invader Zim figure set!

From Palisades Toys the Invader Zim toy line was augmented by the Wizard World Chicago Exclusive action figure set, Invader Zim Old Man Disguise, which is the two-pack that features both of the primary characters from Invader Zim.

Basics

The Invader Zim Wizard World Chicago Exclusive Invader Zim Old Man Disguise figure is a 5" tall hard plastic representation of Invader Zim as he appeared in the old man disguise in the episode of Invader Zim (reviewed here!) “Walk Of Doom.” This version of Invader Zim Old Man Disguise is made of hard plastic, save for the flower on the hat Zim is wearing and the hands of the figure, which are made of a softer plastic.

The Invader Zim Wizard World Chicago Exclusive Invader Zim Old Man Disguise and the accompanying Gir in dog disguise with its hood down are pretty impressive sculpts based on the two-dimensional representation of Invader Zim on television. Fleshed out well into the three dimensional figure, the Invader Zim Old Man Disguise figure is taller than the Gir figure, which makes sense. Zim has his mouth wide open, with his tongue going at a weird angle inside the mouth. Gir has his mouth closed, but has big wide eyes. The Invader Zim Old Man Disguise is sculpted accurately, which means that his legs are tiny and pointed without disproportionately large feet and his arms are also very thin with tiny clawed hands. Zim is wearing a flowered hat, a fake beard and a trench coat distinct to his appearance in “Walk Of Doom.” This version of the figure is clearly from where he is freaking out because his one eye is incredibly large, while the other is squinting. Gir is cool in his green suit, but unlike other versions of the figure, his head is visible and the green dog hoodie head is on the figure’s back.

On the coloring front, both figures were exceptionally easy to render correctly and Palisades Toys did an excellent job with them. Because they are based on an alien character and a robot character created with monotones, things like skin depth and shading do not apply. Instead, Palisades kept the figures appropriately with solid colors for the grays of Gir, the green of Zim’s skin and the blacks of both their extremities. On the coloring front, Invader Zim Old Man Disguise is perfect and his accessories match the level of detailing the action figure has.

Accessories

The Invader Zim Wizard World Chicago Exclusive Invader Zim Old Man Disguise comes with a stand for each figure (they cannot be mistaken or interchanged because of the way Gir’s has a “floating” cylinder to attach him to the stand, whereas Zim has a standard peg to plug the Zim figure into), the Mad Dog, IRKEN Vermin, obedience controller, and a lunch tray.

The Mad Dog is a 1 1/2” tall black and purple dog with an eye that looks puffy and gross. Its tiny legs barely support the mini-figure, so it tips over quite a bit. The hole in its ear looks accurate compared to the animated version of the menacing dog and it fits the coloring of the characters well.

The Irken Vermin looks like a little menacing sperm with an angry face and giant teeth. The 1 3/4" long vermin looks like it might be a match for Gir, but could be squashed by Zim’s boots!

The Obedience Controller is a 1 3/8” long device that is arguably the most disappointing accessory as it cannot fit into Zim’s hands.

Similarly, the 2 1/8” by 1 1/2" lunch tray accessory is cast in monotones and does not fit into Zim’s hands. Still, the peas in the tray are a nice touch!

Playability

The Invader Zim Wizard World Chicago Exclusive Invader Zim Old Man Disguise is a very problematic toy on the playability front. The figure has a disproportionately large head, especially with the hat, that makes it very top-heavy. It falls over exceptionally easily. Off his stand, it is impossible to get him to remain standing. On his stand, the Old Man Zim falls over occasionally. Gir cannot stand off his stand, but he is solid on it. Unfortunately, him being on his stand robs Gir of his articulation.

The Wizard World Chicago Exclusive Invader Zim Old Man Disguise has pretty limited articulation, which is also based in part on the limitations of the sculpt. This Invader Zim Old Man Disguise comes with only four points of articulation: torso, shoulders and neck. Only the shoulders are attached by hinged ball and socket joints, which allows for greater articulation and a decent range of motion. The neck joint and waist are simple swivel joints, so they basically rotate, without providing much else on the poseability front.

Collectibility

This figure seems to be one of the easier ones to find and it is one of the few Invader Zim action figures (from any series) that is still easy to find in the $30 range. That is about $70 less than the average Zim OR Gir figures, so this represents one of the best, most affordable ways to get a Zim figure for one’s collection.

Overview

The Invader Zim Old Man Disguise action figure is a good figure, despite not being able to hold any of his accessories. Fan might like the fan-favorite version of the character (“Walk Of Doom” is a very popular episode) and while it might be a better piece for display than play, it is still worth picking up!

For other Invader Zim toy and action figure reviews, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Invader Zim GIR from “Germs” plush
Series One Of Doom! Ms. Bitters
Series Two Of Doom! Almighty Tallest Purple

6/10

For more toy reviews, please check out my Toy Review Index Page!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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So Many Breakable Parts . . .Ms. Bitters Might Be Cool, But She’s A Tough Invader Zim Figure To Recommend!

The Good: Great sculpt, Good accessories
The Bad: Severe balance issues, Vastly over-accessorized, Poor collectible value, Very breakable
The Basics: The Invader Zim Series One Of Doom Ms. Bitters figure might have play problems, but it makes for a very cool display piece!


When it comes to the Invader Zim action figure line, I am impressed. I am entirely impressed by the sculpts and the accessory quality and, for many of them, the collectible value. Unfortunately, not all of them hold their value and the physics of the absurd and oddly-proportioned characters did not translate so well to the real world. Ms. Bitters is one of the figures that is severely breakable and is one that is much more likely to require collectors to replace theirs given how many fine parts it possesses.

From the Palisades Toys Invader Zim Series One Of Doom action figure set, Ms. Bitters is the primary version of the mysterious, possibly mystical or alien, teacher of Dib and Zim and a pretty neat, if problematically balanced, action figure.

Basics

The Invader Zim Series One Of Doom Ms. Bitters figure is a 7 1/4" hard plastic representation of Ms. Bitters as she appeared in most of the episodes of Invader Zim (reviewed here!). This version of Ms. Bitters is made of hard plastic, save for her glasses and eyebrows, which are made of softer plastic.

The Invader Zim Series One Of Doom Ms. Bitters is a pretty impressive sculpt based on the two-dimensional representation of Ms. Bitters on television. Fleshed out well into the three dimensional figure, the Ms. Bitters figure is so detailed that she has tiny grooves for her upper and lower lip hair! Ms. Bitters is sculpted accurately, which means that her legs are exceptionally thin and end in little black shoes. Her arms are also very thin with disproportionately large hands, though her elongated head is almost a quarter of the height of her body. Her pulled back bun is accurately textured and the sculpt is detailed enough to include the three buttons on her dress. She even has a very large, conical hump on her back!

On the coloring front, Ms. Bitters is exceptionally easy to render correctly and Palisades Toys did an excellent job with her. Because she is based on a character created with monotones, things like skin depth and shading do not apply. Instead, Palisades kept the figure appropriately with solid colors for her little black dress, disturbingly sickly green skin and gray hair. On the coloring front, Ms. Bitters is perfect and her accessories match the level of detailing the action figure has.

Accessories

The Invader Zim Series One Of Doom Ms. Bitters comes with a classroom playset, desk, work-infested apple, ink blot tests, name plate, and hall pass collar accessories. The Skoolroom Display Base comes in two parts and is 4 3/4" deep, 6 5/8” wide and a hair over 8” tall. The playset is a section of flooring, with a piece of wall from the Skool. The wall features a chalkboard with an image of a Normal Human Being and Zim for comparison and the letters of the alphabet above it. It has a single peg which fits either of the holes in Ms. Bitters’s feet and is essential for getting the figure with the tiny legs and poor balance to stand! This is one of the playsets that does not attach to the other playsets. However, all of Ms. Bitters’s accessories fit on the display base, which is nice.

The Desk is the main accessory for the base and Ms. Bitters. The desk is a monotonal lime green (with gray handles) desk that is 6 3/8” wide, 2 3/4” deep, 3” tall desk. It is blockish, has four drawers on the backside and looks pretty solid (though it is hollow). Most of the other accessories actually augment the desk more than they do Ms. Bitters (largely because she is not really able to hold any of them.

The Ink Blot Tests are three pieces of laminated paper, one of which is filled out and has all three of the results as “human slave.” The name plate is a 1 5/16” wide plate that sits on the desk and just says “BITTERS.” There is nothing extraordinary about that.

The Hall Pass Collar is a gray and black necklace that cannot possibly fit on any of the other character toys. There are green and red accents for the control lights. Ms. Bitters can cradle this in her hands, but not utilize it in any other way.

The most exceptional and detailed accessory for the Ms. Bitters figure is the Worm-Infested Apple. The Worm-Infested Apple is ¾” wide and tall, and 1” deep. The apple is a deep red with mottling that makes it look like an actual apple. Rather disturbingly, there are five ends of the worms, burrowing into the apple! This is really gross-looking, but fits the Invader Zim motif!

Playability

The Invader Zim Series One Of Doom Ms. Bitters is a very problematic toy on the playability front. First, the figure is incredibly poorly balanced, which makes sense given the physics of the figure. The body of Ms. Bitters is disproportionately tall relative to her legs, so it makes perfect sense that the thin legs would not hold her up. Off her stand, it is impossible to get her to remain standing. On her stand, though, she is fairly solid and that helps make her a great display piece, if not a very playable toy.

The Series One Of Doom Ms. Bitters has pretty limited articulation, which is also based in part on the limitations of the sculpt. This Ms. Bitters comes with only seven points of articulation: legs, wrists, shoulders and head. I was pleasantly surprised that the arms and neck are attached by hinged ball and socket joints, which allows for greater articulation and a decent range of motion. The legs and wrists are on simple swivel joints, so they basically rotate, without providing much else on the poseability front.

Collectibility

This figure seems to be one of the easier ones to find and it is one of the few Invader Zim action figures (from either series) that is easily found under $20. I’m not at all sure why Ms. Bitters would not have increased in value (as she is a pretty cool character), but this is an affordable, easy to find figure for fans of Invader Zim!

Overview

Palisades Toys made a cool Invader Zim action figure with Ms. Bitters, but given how easily the arms, legs, eyebrows and glasses can snap, it is a tougher figure to enthusiastically recommend, though it is neat!

For other Invader Zim action figure reviews, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Almighty Tallest Purple
Almighty Tallest Red
Hot Topic Exclusive Robo-Parents
Gaz

5.5/10

For more toy reviews, please check out my Toy Review Index Page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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An Impressive Companion To The Almighty Red, The Almighty Purple Figure Is Wonderful!

The Good: Great sculpt, Good accessories, Incredible collectible value
The Bad: Severe balance issues, Vastly over-accessorized, Cannot hold any of his accessories
The Basics: The Invader Zim Series One Of Doom included an Almighty Tallest Purple figure, to help one keep their Zim in line!


When I first discovered the Invader Zim toy line, it was when I randomly found the Almighty Tallest Red (reviewed here!) action figure at a local comic book shop in Michigan. Well, my ignorance of these toys completely fell away and I began immediately searching for more of these figures for my wife, who is a huge Invader Zim fan. Because her first figure was the Almighty Tallest Red, I figured the logical figure for me to hunt down next was the Almighty Tallest Purple!

From the Palisades Toys Invader Zim Series One Of Doom action figure set, Almighty Tallest Purple is the primary version of the co-leader of the Irken Empire action figure.

Basics

The Invader Zim Series One Of Doom Almighty Tallest Purple figure is an 8 1/4" tall hard plastic representation of Almighty Tallest Purple as he appeared in most of the episodes of Invader Zim (reviewed here!). This version of Almighty Tallest Purple is made of hard plastic, save for the antennae on the back of his head, which are made of softer plastic.

The Invader Zim Series One Of Doom Almighty Tallest Purple is a pretty impressive sculpt based on the two-dimensional representation of Almighty Tallest Purple on television. Fleshed out well into the three dimensional figure, the Almighty Tallest Purple figure is tall and has his mouth closed, with an irregular body shape and tiny extremities! The animators on Invader Zim designed for a specific sense of style, not for the practicality of future action figure releases! The Almighty Tallest Purple is sculpted accurately, which means that his legs are tiny and pointed without distinct feet and his arms are also very thin with tiny clawed hands. His back has a hump on it and he has almost no waist area. The Almighty Tallest Purple’s eyes are cast especially large with sockets implied to add a great level of detail.

On the coloring front, Almighty Tallest Purple is exceptionally easy to render correctly and Palisades Toys did an excellent job with him. Because he is based on an alien character created with monotones, things like skin depth and shading do not apply. Instead, Palisades kept the figure appropriately with solid colors for his purple robes, gray torso ribbing, and thin green arms and big green head. On the coloring front, Almighty Tallest Purple is perfect and his accessories match the level of detailing the action figure has.

Accessories

The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Almighty Tallest Purple comes with a simple “floating” stand cylinder, a Mobile Command Platform Thingy Base stand, Irken Soda, Irken Donut Bag, Tallest Red Punching Doll, Irken Burrito, 4 Irken Monitors with screen stickers, and connector tentacles.

The four food-related accessories are based on the snacks the Irken leaders are obsessed with in various episodes of Invader Zim. Sadly, not one of them fits in the grip of the Almighty Tallest Purple! The Irken Donut Bag and Irken Burrito both have the symbol of the Irken Empire silkscreed on the front of the accessory. The donut bag is a 1 3/4” tall box meant to mimic a bag of donuts. Out the top of the “bag” are brown chocolate donuts, though they cannot be removed from the bag portion of the accessory. The Irken Burrito is a 1 5/16” long cylinder that looks like a tiny sleeping bag or wrapped burrito. The white “wrap” has a blue Irken Empire symbol on it and only looks like a burrito based on the toy’s claim and the appearance of it, partially wrapped, in the television show! The Irken Soda is a 1 7/8” tall cylindrical cup with a straw sticking out the top of it. The straw is a wonderful finely detailed piece. Unfortunately, it cannot be held for long in the Almighty Tallest Purple’s hands to actually be held to his tiny mouth!

The Tallest Red Punching Doll is a neat little accessory. The 2 1/2" tall Tallest Red Punching Doll has a pin out its butt. The replica of Tallest Red can be attached to the Almighty Tallest Purple figure by removing the figure’s hand. It fits there perfectly and looks great on the toy.

The four Irken Monitors are purple and green and vary in size from 1 ¾” wide by 1 1/2" tall to 1 1/2" wise and 1 1/4" tall. The figure comes with four different stickers that fit the customized screens (I think that’s somewhat obnoxious; Palisades Toys could have just stuck them on prior to shipping, like the Monkey painting on the Robo-Parents’ wall. The stickers on the figure I bought my wife had lost their adhesive, which is an unfortunate thing and may make the Almighty Tallest Purple figures a slightly tougher sell to collectors. The figure comes with four connectors that allow one to connect the monitors to one another and the Mobile Command Platform Thingy Base. Sadly, they are terribly hard to balance and illustrate the serious difficulty with trying to translate something oddly animated like Invader Zim into viable merchandise that actually works in real-world physics.

For an added selling point, the Almighty Tallest Purple Series One figure comes with his half of the Mobile Command Platform Thingy accessory. Intended to interface with the half that accompanied the Almighty Tallest Red figure’s base, the Mobile Command Platform Thingy Base accessory is essentially a display stand that allows one to hold their Almighty Tallest Purple action figure and the monitor accessories in one place. This is a molded platform base 8” long at its straight side, 3 3/4” wide (at its widest point) and standing 3” tall. It is a gray platform with a gray railing that goes around the outside of the platform. There are six holes around the base that allow the Almighty Tallest Purple to be placed at more than one point on the platform. The Mobile Command Platform Thingy Base snaps together with the other half, which comes with the Almighty Reed figure.

Playability

The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Almighty Tallest Purple is a very problematic toy on the playability front. First, the figure is absolutely unable to balance on its own, which makes sense given the physics of the figure. The body of Almighty Tallest Purple is disproportionately small relative to his head and upper body, especially relative to the toothpick-like legs. It makes perfect sense that the thin legs would not hold him up. Off his stand, it is impossible to get him to remain standing. On his transparent stand – the 1 3/4" cylinder that connects to the bottom of the action figure and to any one of the six holes in the Mobile Command Platform - he is entirely solid and that helps make him a great display piece, if not a very playable toy.

The Series One Of Doom Almighty Tallest Purple has pretty limited articulation, which is also based in part on the limitations of the sculpt. This Almighty Tallest Purple comes with only eight points of articulation: torso, fingers, wrists, shoulders and neck. I was pleasantly surprised that the arms and wrists are attached by hinged ball and socket joints, which allows for greater articulation and a decent range of motion. The neck joint is on a ball and socket joint, which gives it an exceptional range of motion. The torso and wrists are on simple swivel joints, so they basically rotate, without providing much else on the poseability front.

Collectibility

This figure seems to be one of the harder ones to find and it is one of the many Invader Zim action figures (from either series) that is hard to find for less than $50 at any given time. Fans will pay a premium for this figure and one suspects that its value is near its peak; it may be a poor investment piece at the time, though it is a hard to find, wonderful toy.

Overview

The Almighty Tallest Purple action figure is a great figure to pair with the Allmighty Tallest Red, though it usually costs about four times as much as the other Irken leader figure!

For other Invader Zim toy and action figure reviews, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Invader Zim GIR from “Germs” plush
Series Two Of Doom! Hot Topic Exclusive Robo-Parents
Series Two Of Doom! Gaz

7.5/10

For more toy reviews, please check out my Toy Review Index Page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Allmighty Tallest Invader Zim Action Figure Renders Well A Problematic Animated Character!

The Good: Great sculpt, Good accessories, Fair collectible value
The Bad: Severe balance issues, Vastly over-accessorized, Cannot hold any of his accessories
The Basics: The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Almighty Tallest Red figure is an essential toy for Invader Zim fans!


On a recent trip downstate, my wife and I were visiting a comic book shop and when she saw the action figure of the Almighty Tallest Red from Invader Zim and there was no hesitation when I asked her, “Would you like me to get that for you for a future gift?” She enthusiastically told me “yes!” With its green and red colorscheme, I figured the winter holidays were a perfect time to gift it to her, so I did!

From the Palisades Toys Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom action figure set, Almighty Tallest Red is the primary version of the co-leader of the Irken Empire
action figure.

Basics

The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Almighty Tallest Red figure is an 8" hard plastic representation of Almighty Tallest Red as he appeared in most of the episodes of Invader Zim (reviewed here!). This version of Almighty Tallest Red is made of hard plastic, save for the antennae on the back of his head, which are made of softer plastic.

The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Almighty Tallest Red is a pretty impressive sculpt based on the two-dimensional representation of Almighty Tallest Red on television. Fleshed out well into the three dimensional figure, the Almighty Tallest Red figure is tall and screaming with an irregular body shape and tiny extremities! The animators on Invader Zim designed for a specific sense of style, not for the practicality of future action figure releases! The Almighty Tallest Red is sculpted accurately, which means that his legs are tiny and pointed without distinct feet and his arms are also very thin with tiny clawed hands. His back has a hump on it and he has almost no waist area. The Almighty Tallest Red’s mouth is cast open in a scream with a finely detailed, striped, tongue and a row of sharp teeth on both the top and bottom of the mouth.

On the coloring front, Almighty Tallest Red is exceptionally easy to render correctly and Palisades Toys did an excellent job with him. Because he is based on an alien character created with monotones, things like skin depth and shading do not apply. Instead, Palisades kept the figure appropriately with solid colors for his red robes, gray torso ribbing, and thin green arms and big green head. On the coloring front, Almighty Tallest Red is perfect and his accessories match the level of detailing the action figure has.

Accessories

The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Almighty Tallest Red comes with a simple “floating” stand cylinder, a Mobile Command Platform Thingy Base stand, Irken Slushy, Irken Popcorn, Irken Chips, Irken Burrito, 4 Irken Monitors with screen stickers, and connector tentacles.

The four food-related accessories are based on the snacks the Irken leaders are obsessed with in various episodes of Invader Zim. Sadly, not one of them fits in the grip of the Almighty Tallest Red! The Irken Popcorn and Irken Burrito both have the symbol of the Irken Empire silkscreed on the front of the accessory. The popcorn is a 1 7/8” rhombus shaped “box” meant to mimic a bag of popcorn. Out the top of the “bag” are white shapes that resemble popcorn, though they cannot be removed from the bag portion of the accessory. The Irken Burrito is a 1 5/16” long cylinder that looks like a tiny sleeping bag or wrapped burrito. The blue “wrap” has a white Irken Empire symbol on it and only looks like a burrito based on the toy’s claim and the appearance of it, partially wrapped, in the television show! The bag of chips is an unopened bag of potato chips, with a drawing of a chip and the word “Chips” silkscreened on the bag. The 1 5/8” tall, 1 1/8” wide and 3/8” thick bag does not actually fit in the hands of the Almighty Tallest Red’s hands. The slushy is a 1 7/8” tall cylindrical cup with a straw sticking out the top of it. The straw quality mimics the quality of the Almighty Tallest Red’s tongue and is a wonderful quality of fine detailing. Unfortunately, it cannot be held for long in the Almighty Tallest Red’s hands to actually be held to his screaming mouth!

The four Irken Monitors are purple and green and vary in size from 1 ¾” wide by 1 1/2" tall to 1 1/2" wise and 1 1/4" tall. The figure comes with four different stickers that fit the customized screens (I think that’s somewhat obnoxious; Palisades Toys could have just stuck them on prior to shipping, like the Monkey painting on the Robo-Parents’ wall. The figure comes with four connectors that allow one to connect the monitors to one another and the Mobile Command Platform Thingy Base. Sadly, they are terribly hard to balance and illustrate the serious difficulty with trying to translate something oddly animated like Invader Zim into viable merchandise that actually works in real-world physics.

For an added selling point, the Almighty Tallest Red Series Two figure comes with his half of the Mobile Command Platform Thingy accessory. Intended to interface with the half that accompanied the Almighty Tallest Purple figure’s base, the Mobile Command Platform Thingy Base accessory is essentially a display stand that allows one to hold their Almighty Tallest Red action figure and the monitor accessories in one place. This is a molded platform base 8” long at its straight side, 3 3/4” wide (at its widest point) and standing 3” tall. It is a gray platform with a gray railing that goes around the outside of the platform. There are six holes around the base that allow the Almighty Tallest Red to be placed at more than one point on the platform. The Mobile Command Platform Thingy Base snaps together with the other half, which comes with the Almighty Purple figure.

Playability

The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Almighty Tallest Red is a very problematic toy on the playability front. First, the figure is absolutely unable to balance on its own, which makes sense given the physics of the figure. The body of Almighty Tallest Red is disproportionately small relative to his head and upper body, especially relative to the toothpick-like legs. It makes perfect sense that the thin legs would not hold him up. Off his stand, it is impossible to get him to remain standing. On his transparent stand – the 1 3/4" cylinder that connects to the bottom of the action figure and to any one of the six holes in the Mobile Command Platform - he is entirely solid and that helps make him a great display piece, if not a very playable toy.

The Series Two Of Doom Almighty Tallest Red has pretty limited articulation, which is also based in part on the limitations of the sculpt. This Almighty Tallest Red comes with only nine points of articulation: waist, torso, fingers, wrists, shoulders and neck. I was pleasantly surprised that the arms and wrists are attached by hinged ball and socket joints, which allows for greater articulation and a decent range of motion. The neck joint is on a ball and socket joint, which gives it an exceptional range of motion. The torso, wrists, and waist are on simple swivel joints, so they basically rotate, without providing much else on the poseability front.

Collectibility

This figure seems to be one of the easier ones to find and it is one of the few Invader Zim action figures (from either series) that is easily found under $20. I’m not at all sure why Almighty Tallest Red would not have exploded in value (especially considering the display base connects to the more expensive Almighty Tallest Purple figure), but this is an affordable, easy to find figure for fans of Invader Zim!

Overview

Palisades Toys got a lot right with this action figure and for anyone looking for an Irken action figure will find this to be a cool representation of the invaders!

For other Invader Zim toy and action figure reviews, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Invader Zim GIR from “Germs” plush
Series Two Of Doom! Hot Topic Exclusive Robo-Parents
Series Two Of Doom! Gaz

7.5/10

For more toy reviews, please check out my Toy Review Index Page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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About Fifteen Seconds Of Fun On Christmas Day: The Robo-Parents Are Far Too Breakable!

The Good: Great sculpt, Good accessories
The Bad: Severe balance issues, Terrible breakability, Poor collectible value
The Basics: The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Robo-Parents figures are the most breakable in the line and are a strangely tough sell (otherwise) for Invader Zim fans.


Merry Christmas! My wife’s holiday has been a mixed blessing from me. I was happy to be able to present her with, among several other things, THREE new Invader Zim figures from the old Palisades Toy line! Unfortunately, in a “First World Problems” type way, her holiday turned from gleeful to slightly disappointing (though she stayed completely grateful for all she got the entire time because, well, she’s a classy woman who is grateful to get any gifts!) when the Robo-Parents I picked up for her had a Robo-Parent Dad whose head snapped immediately off. You can believe she was insanely gentle with opening her Almighty Tallest figures as a result!

The Robo-Parents, which were the Hot Topic variant version from the Series Two Of Doom set from Palisades Toys are exceptionally breakable and I can only assume that fans either avoided them as a result or have broken so many of them that they are harder to find. Unlike the Gaz figure (reviewed here!), the Robo-Parents are exceptionally easy to find in their primary release, but significantly more difficult for those trying to track down a Mint In Package Hot Topic variant set, which contains the living room accessory set.

Basics

The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Robo-Parents figure two-pack includes both of the Robo-Parents utilized by Invader Zim in the classic Nickelodeon television series Invader Zim (reviewed here!). This version of the Robo-Parents is made of hard plastic, save for their hair and the mother’s tutu, which are made of softer plastic.

The Robo-Dad is 7 1/2” tall and includes the robotic father with the black spiky hair, big glasses, and a pipe in his lips. He has clawed hands and two feet connected to a single leg stalk with a wheel between them.

The Robo-Mom is 7” tall with bright blue overalls, bright blue hair and a pink tutu around her waist. She looks mostly human (stapled face aside) with dish gloves and obvious mechanics exposed at her waist. Her robotic components are most obvious from the wheels in the place her feet should be!

The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Robo-Parents are pretty impressive sculpts based on the two-dimensional representation of the Robo-Parents on television. Fleshed out well into the three dimensional figure, the Robo-Parents figures are unable to stand, but come with adequate support stands. The Robo-Parents are sculpted accurately for the neutral expressions on their faces, which means that their necks are exceptionally thin (and breakable) and the arms are similarly thin. Palisades Toys paid attention to thins like the way the eyeballs bulging out and the staples on both parents’ faces.

On the coloring front, the Robo-Parents are exceptionally easy to render correctly and Palisades Toys did an excellent job with them. Because they are based on characters created with monotones, things like skin depth and shading do not apply. Instead, Palisades kept the figures appropriately with solid colors for all aspects of them. On the coloring front, the Robo-Parents are perfect and their accessories match the level of detailing the action figures have.

Accessories

The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Robo-Parents come with two two and a quarter inch in diameter plastic stands, living room sofa, spoon, and toothbrush. This figure also comes with a section of the living room for building Invader Zim’s house. The stands are 2 1/4" in diameter at the base and each one is stable enough to hold a “floating” support for either of the Robo-Parents. The supports have a peg that fits into the back of each parent. This allows either of the Robo-Parents to be supported and look like they are levitating off the ground. The stands are supportive enough and wide enough at the bottoms to actually support these tall figures in a solid fashion.

The spoon is a monotonal green spoon that is 2 1/8” long and fits perfectly in the Robo-Mom’s right hand. The toothbrush is a brown and white plastic toothbrush that fits in the Robo-Mom’s left hand. Neither of these accessories fits the Robo-Dad’s hands.

The sofa is a surprisingly solid 5” wide purple sofa that neither figure can actually sit on (they don’t have the articulation). However, it perfectly fits the décor of the living room portion that the Hot Topic exclusive Robo-Parents come with.

For an added selling point, the Robo-Parents Hot Topic exclusive figures comes with the living room to Zim’s house. This is a molded base 4 3/4” long, 7 5/8” wide (at its widest point, on the back wall) and having a 7 1/2” tall back wall. The wall features the painting (a sticker) of the monkey and the base is molded to have the red and yellow checkered floor. The base also has a tiny table (it looks like a bar stool). This is a nice way to help enhance one’s Zim’s house they might be assembling!

Playability

The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Robo-Parents is a very problematic toy on the playability front. First, the head of the Robo-Dad breaks off exceptionally easily and it is hard to believe the mom’s neck and the pipe would not be far behind. Second, neither figure can stand on their own without their stand. Off their stands, it is impossible to get them to stand. On their stands, though, they are entirely solid and that helps make them a decent display piece, if not a very playable toy.

The Series Two Of Doom Robo-Parents have pretty limited articulation, which is also based in part on the limitations of the sculpts. This Robo-Parents comes with only six points of articulation for the dad and five for the mom. They have joints at the wrists, shoulders and head (with the Robo-Dad having an additional swivel joint at the waist). These are not the most poseable figures in the line.

Collectibility

This figure seems to be one of the easier ones to find and it is one of the few Invader Zim action figures (from either series) that is easily found under $20. I’m not at all sure why Robo-Parents would not have exploded in value, given that they break obscenely easily, but this is an affordable, easy to find figure for fans of Invader Zim!

Overview

Palisades Toys had the principle right with the Robo-Parents, but the execution is far too fragile to make this set one to hunt right down to buy.

For other toy and action figure reviews, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Invader Zim GIR from “Germs” plush
Twilight Edward Cullen Barbie Doll
Galadriel Entranced from The Fellowship Of The Ring

4/10

For more toy reviews, please check out my Toy Review Index Page!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Whether She Is The Taster Of Pork Or Not, The Gaz Series 2 Of Doom Invader Zim Figure Is Pretty Cool!

The Good: Great sculpt, Good accessories, Fair collectible value
The Bad: Severe balance issues, Vastly over-accessorized
The Basics: The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Gaz figure might have play problems, but it makes for a very cool display piece!


As those who read my many, many reviews might have figured, my home looks pretty much like Geek Central. I have a ton of toys as décor, exclusive DVD cases, and statues of genre characters and situations pretty much everywhere. My wife’s interests are, sadly, far less represented in our home decorating, not because of my lack of interest in her things, but because most of the things she has an interest in are not extensively or interestingly merchandised. Add to that the thirteen years I have on her were spent with me acquiring crap and she was hopelessly outnumbered when we moved in together.

But, on a recent trip downstate, we were visiting a comic book shop and when she saw the action figure of the Almighty Tallest Red from Invader Zim and there was no hesitation when I asked her, “Would you like me to get that for you for a future gift?” The enthusiastic response of “yes!” told me that I had finally found an interest of hers that had a product that she wanted to start collecting. Being, however, a cunning giftgiver, I went online to start buying up other figures from the collection and I made sure that the first one I presented to her was not the one she knew was forthcoming!

So, for our housewarming party, I gave her a Gaz figure. From the Palisades Toys Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom action figure set, Gaz is the primary version of the Goth sister of Dib and a pretty neat, if problematically balanced, action figure.

Basics

The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Gaz figure is a 3 1/8" hard plastic representation of Gaz as she appeared in most of the episodes of Invader Zim (reviewed here!). This version of Gaz is made of hard plastic, save for her blockish purple hair, which is made of softer plastic.

The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Gaz is a pretty impressive sculpt based on the two-dimensional representation of Gaz on television. Fleshed out well into the three dimensional figure, the Gaz figure makes it hard to swallow the idea that she ever complained about Dib having a big head! Gaz is sculpted accurately, which means that her legs are tiny and end in little black pyramids and her arms are also very thin with disproportionately large hands. Her skull necklace is sculpted on and this version of Gaz is sculpted with her eyes closed. The three-d effect of her eyelashes with the closed eyes is actually very cool.

On the coloring front, Gaz is exceptionally easy to render correctly and Palisades Toys did an excellent job with her. Because she is based on a character created with monotones, things like skin depth and shading do not apply. Instead, Palisades kept the figure appropriately with solid colors for her little black dress, bright pink leggings, gray sleeves and bright purple hair. On the coloring front, Gaz is perfect and her accessories match the level of detailing the action figure has.

Accessories

The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Gaz comes with a two inch wide plastic stand, a slice of pizza, baseball bat, can of Poop cola, Game Slave, Game Slave 2, and Professor Membrane accessories. This figure also comes with a section of lawn for building Invader Zim’s house. This stand is a simple black oval disc that is 2” wide and 1 1/2” deep. It has a single peg which fits either of the holes in Gaz’s feet and is essential for getting the figure with the massive head to stand!

The Poop Cola is a 3/4" tall cylinder that looks like a little soda pop can, complete with molded on pop top. It is, however, far too wide in diameter to allow either of Gaz’s hands to actually hold the can. While this would have been an ideal accessory for the figure, given how Gaz is frequently seen with Poop Cola, the accessory is not able to effectively interface with this figure.

The baseball bat, however, which is not iconic to Gaz, is a 2 1/2" long Blast-O baseball bat that fits into either of Gaz’s hands. This is adequately detailed and looks like the bat from the television show!

Gaz is often seen with Pizza, so it makes perfect sense that she would come with a single slice of pepperoni pizza. The 15/16” long wedge is incredibly detailed for this style of figure, complete with molded crust, pepperoni, and texture for the cheese. Its three colored detailing fits well with the rest of the figure. This accessory fits in either hand, but is ideal for the left hand.

The laptop computer Gaz comes with may be the Game Slave 1 she tosses in the trash and Palisades Toys actually made a hinged laptop computer, which is pretty cool. Detailed to include the keyboard and the words “Game Over” on the screen, the laptop computer does not easily fit into either, or both, of her hands.

Similarly, the Game Slave 2 that Gaz comes with does not fit her grip. The bright pink computer is not hinged, either, but looks fairly cool regardless.

One of the key selling points of the Gaz figure on the accessory front is the Professor Membrane monitor figure that the toy comes with. Professor Membrane was frequently seen in Invader Zim as a distant person on a floating monitor with antenna and jet propulsion, is embodied that way as an accessory with the Gaz figure! Attached to a clear plastic stand that allows the monitor to look like it is levitating, the Professor Membrane accessory is a very detailed monitor with a sticker of Gaz’s scientist father on it! This compliments the figure exceptionally well and is perfectly stable.

For an added selling point (as if one needed one for a figure of Gaz!), the Gaz Series Two figure comes with the front yard to Zim’s house. This is a molded base 6 3/8” long, 8” wide (at its widest point) and having a 1 1/2” tall fence around the green yard. There is a gray sidewalk and this also includes the front step to Zim’s house. There are four holes for the defensive gnomes, which come with the Human Disguise Invader Zim figure. The third part of the house comes with one of the other Series Two Of Doom figure. The only real drawback of this accessory is that it lacks additional pegs so Gaz could actually stand on this “playset” without her stand.

Playability

The Invader Zim Series Two Of Doom Gaz is a very problematic toy on the playability front. First, the figure is incredibly poorly balanced, which makes sense given the physics of the figure. The body of Gaz is disproportionately small relative to her head, so it makes perfect sense that the thin legs would not hold her up. Off her stand, it is impossible to get her to remain standing. On her stand, though, she is entirely solid and that helps make her a great display piece, if not a very playable toy.

The Series Two Of Doom Gaz has pretty limited articulation, which is also based in part on the limitations of the sculpt. This Gaz comes with only seven points of articulation: legs, wrists, shoulders and head. I was pleasantly surprised that the arms are attached by hinged ball and socket joints, which allows for greater articulation and a decent range of motion. The legs, wrists, and head are on simple swivel joints, so they basically rotate, without providing much else on the poseability front.

Collectibility

This figure seems to be one of the easier ones to find and it is one of the few Invader Zim action figures (from either series) that is easily found under $20. I’m not at all sure why Gaz would not have exploded in value (as she is my favorite character), but this is an affordable, easy to find figure for fans of Invader Zim!

Overview

Palisades Toys got a lot right with this action figure and for anyone starting an Invader Zim action figure collection, this is a great place to start!

For other action figure reviews, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Sydney Bristow from the Alias episode “So It Begins” action figure
Justice Wave 3 Wonder Woman
Cordelia from Angel

8/10

For more toy reviews, please check out my Toy Review Index Page!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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