Toy Review: Disney Parks Character Figurines

Have you ever wished you could visit Mickey Mouse and his friends all the time from the comfort of your own home without having to visit a Disney park?

Oh, wait, you haven't?  Um.  Well, have you ever wished you could have perfect little figurines of Mickey Mouse and his friends that look just like how they appear in the theme parks?  Then you are in luck, my friend!  Feast your eyes on the new Disney Parks character figurine set:

The Fab Five are represented in all their glory in this great new line of figurines straight from the Disney Parks.  They're all around the 5" range, though Pluto is considerably shorter since he's down on all fours and Goofy is much taller than the rest.  Each one comes on its own removable stand with pegs that snap into their feet.  They also have a cardboard backdrop of sorts that showcases the character's "autograph" with Cinderella Castle on one side and Sleepy Beauty Castle on the reverse side.  The figures are made of a rubbery plastic, but the insane level of detail and overall high quality of the sculpts and paint application ensures that they feel like a notch above basic toys and more like collectable display pieces.  Let's take a look at each one individually, starting with the main mouse himself...

Mickey Mouse:

Mickey looks wonderful and he's definitely my favorite of the five.  The level of detail is outstanding here.  Every little part of his tuxedo is perfectly detailed and his pose conveys lots of personality.  There's a much greater level of subtle detailing here than you might notice at first, such as the fact that Mickey has a slight outline painted around his eyes and a his cheeks are a bit rosy colored.  He really is identical to Mickey as he appears in the parks.  A couple of compromises had to be made for the details on some of these figures, but Mickey is perfect in every way.  If you get only one figure out of this set, make it this one!

Minnie Mouse:

Minnie looks pretty great too, as expected.  She's nicely posed and she looks just as good as Mickey when it comes to the more subtle details, such as her makeup.  That said, her precarious pose means that she can't stand up on her own.  She either must be on her stand or leaning against something.  For that reason, she's probably my least favorite of the bunch.  But as far as the likeness goes, she's still excellent.

Pluto:

At first glance, Pluto seems a bit less impressive than the other characters because he is so much shorter and less detailed.  But, in reality, he's just as well made as the rest of the set.  There are tons of great little wrinkles and folds molded into his design, which really helps give him a high level of realism.  Of course, the same is true of all the figures, but it's especially prominent with Pluto.  He really looks like a miniature version of the real deal!

Goofy:

Goofy is probably the most immediately impressive figure of the bunch simply because of how much larger he is than the others.  That said, of the five I'd say Goofy probably looks the least like the actual mascot character.  His eyes look to be a bit smaller and narrower compared to the real deal.  But, really, that's an extremely minor nitpick.  He's still pretty much perfect.  You're only going to notice if you're directly comparing him to a photograph and I only bring it up because the others are all so dead-on accurate.  Goofy is still very charming and lovable regardless!  Off the stand Goofy tends to tip over pretty easily, but he does stand on his own.

Donald Duck:

Donald is just overflowing with personality.  His pose is wonderful.  He's also nicely textured, giving his body a somewhat fuzzy and feathery appearance.  The slight outline painted around the eyes is especially prominent on Donald.  Somewhat like Pluto, Donald has fewer details to capture, but he still looks wonderful.  Next to Mickey, Donald is probably my favorite figure in this line...even if it does kind of look like he's talking on a cell phone!

Overall, Disney has completely knocked it out of the park with this line of figures.  They are perfect recreations of their theme park counterparts.  If you want to have a reminder of Walt Disney World or Disneyland on your desk or just a representation of your favorite character, you really can't go wrong with any of these figures.  Of course, they aren't really action figures and have no points of articulation.  However, their poses do a wonderful job of conveying each character's personality and the level of detail on each is amazing.  They make wonderful display pieces.  Out of all the toys and collectibles I own, these guys are undoubtedly my favorites!  At a fairly reasonable $12.95 each, I give the Fab Five my highest recommendation!

(And, for what it's worth, even though Disney Store sells both a "Walt Disney World" and "Disneyland" version of each figure on the website, they are completely identical.  The only difference is which side of the card is facing forward within the packaging.  Even the packaging itself is the same otherwise.  If one version is out of stock, just look for the other one.  You can easily flip the card over if you prefer the other castle.)