What smells like chicken fingers? Small Fry Buzz!

 The people at Pixar are quite smart. Knowing the risk to the franchise they would be taking if they made a fourth movie, they could either let the characters drift into the darkness like so many other Disney films, or they could do what they do best and get creative. They created Toy Story Toons which are a series of short films involving the Toy Story universe. The second short film was entitled Small Fry and deals with Buzz getting replaced with a fun meal version of himself while the real Buzz gets stuck in a meeting for abandoned fun meal toys. Personally, its my favorite of the series so far, so when I saw that Mattel was producing a Small Fry Buzz as an exclusive for D23, I had to get my hands on one.

Mini Buzz comes in some pretty awesome packaging. 3 boxes to be exact. The first one is a square box decorated with the Poultry Palace logo and the Toy Story toons logo. It also has some very realistic(and gross!) grease stains all over it. Once you open that one up, you find a design that I think many of you would recognize as a happy meal box. It looks just like the McDonalds happy meals i remember getting, just with a different companys logo. There's a word search and a maze on the box, but I'm not doing mine because it'd ruin the box.  Are we done yet? No? There is still another box?!? Anyway, the last box is the smallest and also the trickiest to open, with many people originally believing it couldn't be opened. Its a pink tray that holds buzz as well as cut-outs of a fun meal. There is a clear plastic dome that encases them. The trick to getting buzz out is to look for the taped edges on the pink tray and cut the tape, allowing you to dismantle and reassemble it as you please. However note that Buzz is quite tricky to fit back into his spot, though it can be done, you risk damaging him and the box.

 

Now on to the figure! Mini Buzz stands around 4.5 inches tall, putting him in great scale according to his appearances in the short. Though I don't have a picture, I have seen some collectors put Woody's hat on him, which fits perfectly, to recreate the short. His sculpt is dead on, which is somewhat surprising to me since it is a mass produced item by Mattel. From his big bubble helmet to his oddly proportioned body, this is Small Fry Buzz without a doubt. He even has the wheels on the bottom of his feet! The helmet is not removable and is permanently attached to the figure.

As far as paint applications go, he is quite a simple design. The figure in this review had one minor paint flaw on his hand, although this is my second. The first had his eyes and goatee thing painted off center, so if you're bothered by things like that(like I am) then you may want to take special care buying him.



Buzz has some articulation, though it is very simple. His waist can rotate, his legs can go forward but they can't go back very far, making posing him ice skating impossible. His wrists rotate, and his arms can move in and out as well as up and down. You have to get his legs in just the right position because the wheels combined with his top heavy design make standing a challenge.



Overall, I really like this guy. He's pretty much everything you could ask for in the character, which when you think about it, isn't a lot. His simplicity is his charm I suppose. Below I've included a link to Disneys site showing Small Fry.
http://video.disney.com/watch/small-fry-4c4830945c4af28bb89a6e29

The prodigal son has returned. Stinky Pete The Prospector toy review!

I have bought nearly every single Toy Story character available on the market. Most made by Thinkway, but a few other companies have contributed, such as is the case with Stinky Pete. Back when TS2 was released, the closest thing to a full sized Pete that was made for wide release was a beanie baby which I also owned and might still have somewhere. However a Japanese company by the name of Young Epoch made a few limited sets of Woody's Roundup dolls. There is a blac and white, vintage, and full color version of each roundup member. All of the dolls seem to run $200+ now, but Pete is the most expensive with the full color version sometimes going for $500 or more! I was lucky and found one for $350 shipped after hunting for the past 4 years. And with no further delay, here is my review!

 

 Pete's box is a major part of his storyline. Having been never bought by a child and kept mint in the box by Al, it is not until his goal of lasting forever is threatened that Pete decides to leave his box. Only the full color version tried to replicate the box, although it does have a few differences. Basically, because this is not a talking doll, any reference to his talking features have been removed and altered to be something else. The design and placement however remains the same. The box is not taped shut so you can removed the inner box where Pete is tied to for a better look. Its worth noting his axe is on the wrong side of the box. Also one disappointmen is that the inside is just plain cardboard, lacking the wood design seen in the films and oin the TSC roundup gang. At the bottom of the review, there are some comparisons between the TSC Woody box and Petes.

Pete has a few accessories along with him. First he has a removable leather hat. The hat is a little too flimsy to stay completely upright but if you mess with it, its possible to get it pretty close. Secondly, his pick axe. As this is tied in firmly, I did not remove it to examine it further, however it looks exactly like the one in the film and seems properly scaled to the doll. Lastly, he has a doll stand. This stand is much nicer than the thinkway stands as this one doesnt clip on to the neck and cause damage over time. The bottom is made of real wood and the top is metal that goes around the sides of his neck, keeping him in place.

For whatever reason, they also gave him a mouth that can be pulled open. There's no trigger for it and its hard to do with your fingers so its kind of a useless feature.

 The doll itself is quite nicely made. The sculpted parts are very film accurate, other than the moveable mouth which is easy to overlook. His paint is very clean, although i wish they had painted his eyes more film accurately instead of the old mickey mouse style eyes. He doesn't have a talking feature like the rest of the gang, so he is just a plush doll. The lush parts of his body are quite firm and the plastic parts are attached securely. His neck and hands can rotate 360 degrees as well. He seems to be in great scale with the Thinkway toys as well, which means he will serve greatly in any Toy Story Collection.

 

"He's mint in the box! Never been opened..."

 

I love this toy. He is a wonderful representation of the character and fills a huge gap in the collection. It is unfortunate he is so expensive and rare now, as so many people are missing out on a great toy.

Welcome!

Hi guys! This is my new blog! I plan on posting all kinds of Toy Story related news and reviews, so checked back weekly to see whats new! Any questions or suggestions, please contact me! And always remember, you've got a friend in me!