The Good: Adorable, Stable, Collectible value
The Bad: Ridiculously expensive now, Concept is incomplete in its base.
The Basics: The Pop! Vinyl Sharknado figure is fun and worth tracking down for those who love collectibles from d-rate movies!
There are a few ways my wife and I differ significantly. When it comes to media, I tend to go for drama; she loves comedy. We both love science fiction, but while I tend to be drawn to the cerebral and sometimes disturbing, my wife is enamored with science fiction that makes her laugh (ironically, she is a huge Game Of Thrones fan, so she loves her Fantasy dark and gory!). While I have filled our home with collectibles, my wife has not really gotten into collecting merchandise from the programs she loves (I'm getting her there!). When I was out at our local discount store on a bad day my wife was having, kismet converged upon us when they had a Pop! Vinyl Sharknado toy. The Pop! Vinyl Sharknado figure, as it turns out, is incredibly valuable on the secondary market to collectors of obscure and adorable Pop! Vinyl figures, but we managed to find it dirt cheap at the discount store, presumably, because some collector returned it because of its damaged box. Well, my wife doesn't abide by the whole "collectibles have to be kept in their packaging" ridiculousness (on that, we agree!), so it was a perfect fit for her and her slowly-growing collection.
For those unfamiliar with the Sharknado, the SyFy Network film Sharknado and its subsequent sequels involve the convergence of weather phenomenon and natural predator disasters when spouts of water bring sharks out of the deep and into the air. The tornadoes filled with sharks fall upon populated areas where the protagonist just happens to be and he has to kill sharks and stop the weather events to save the city or the world.
The Pop! Vinyl Sharknado figure is an adorable shark on a watery base with waterspout pieces embedded into its side and a tornado halo on the top of the shark!
Basics
The Sharknado Pop! Vinyl figure is a shark within a water spout only vaguely reminiscent of anything from Sharknado. The figure stands 4" tall from the bottom of the base to the tip of the dorsal fin. The Sharknado figure is 4 3/4" long and 3 1/2" wide.
This toy is a cool sculpt, even if it is pretty basic and more conceptual than representative. The Pop! Vinyl Sharknado figure is a generic gray shark figure with giant black eyes and an open mouth with big white teeth. The shark is, frankly, adorable. The teeth are not sharp, so the toy is fairly safe to be around people. The ventral fins look somewhat stuck on and Funko actually did an awesome job with the detailing in that the underside of the shark is an off-white color!
What makes the shark into a Sharknado Pop! Vinyl figure is the base, the translucent water spout pieces attached to the sides of the shark and the halo water spout on the top of the shark figure. Here is where the figure could have been more representative of the actual sharknadoes from the movies; the base is essentially choppy water. Had the base or any of the other pieces had fins or even painted on little sharks, it would have been more emblematic of the swarm of sharks from the movie. As it is, the Pop! Vinyl Sharknado figure is one cute little sharknado for the shelf!
Accessories
The Sharknado Pop! Vinyl figure comes only with its choppy water stand, no other accessories. No part of the water spout is detachable from the shark, so the figure remains a consistent, stable Sharknado. The Sharknado does not detach from the stand and keeps the figure perfectly stable there.
Playability
The Pop! Vinyl toy line was designed for collectors, not children. The Sharknado Pop! Vinyl figure has no articulation, even in its jaw. As a result, this is like a cute little ridiculous statue and it is definitely intended for display more than play.
Collectibility
The Sharknado is part of the Pop! Vinyl Movie collection, which is a pretty expansive collection. Despite my finding this Pop! Vinyl figure dirt cheap, the Sharknado Pop! Vinyl figure is one of the most expensive and has already appreciated in value. The fact that there was a bloody-mouth San Diego Comic Con variant did nothing to depress the value of this Funko figure, so one suspects that it is at its peak price point now. As more Sharknado films are released, it is likely this will continue to appreciate in value given it is one of the few Sharknado-themed collectibles on the market!
Overview
The Pop! Vinyl Sharknado toy is ridiculous and adorable and while it might not be my thing (or objectively perfect), it is surprisingly cute and it quickly has become one of the few collectibles my wife has come to treasure. That makes it pretty exceptional in my book!
For other fairly random toys, please check out my reviews of:
Boushh Star Wars Pop! Vinyl Bobble-Head
Wizard World Chicago Invader Zim (Old Man Disguise) Invader Zim Action Figure
12" Clockwork Man Doctor Who Doll
8.5/10
For other toy reviews, please check out the Random Toy Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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