{"id":5290,"date":"2010-05-06T02:27:37","date_gmt":"2010-05-06T07:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=5290"},"modified":"2010-05-06T02:27:37","modified_gmt":"2010-05-06T07:27:37","slug":"vault-review-toy-story-3-sparks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=5290","title":{"rendered":"Vault Review: Toy Story 3 Sparks"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday, I reviewed one of the first Lego sets from the upcoming Toy Story 3. And, as I mentioned then, I wasn\u2019t able to escape with just that one piece of movie merchandise. Lego and Mattel both had TS3 product on the shelf that day. I naively thought I could just look through the characters Mattel was offering. After all, I wasn\u2019t planning on buying any. But that\u2019s how they get you. Minutes later, I was handing over the cash for my new Seek \u2018N\u2019 Destroy Sparks. <\/p>\n

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I have very mixed feelings about this figure. Mattel seems to have accomplished the near impossible. They\u2019ve made a great looking and fun toy filled with infuriating disappointments. Sound confusing? Now you know how I feel.<\/p>\n

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I was instantly drawn to this character because of his retro look. Plus, the Four Horsemen\u2019s Outer Space Men announcement already had me thinking about Zeroids http:\/\/www.zeroidz.com\/Zeroids.html before I even found Sparks. I\u2019m not old enough to have had an original, but I did have plenty of similar robots growing up. I imagine most of have had something similar at some point. Maybe it didn\u2019t have any articulation or just made strange \u201crobot\u201d noises with flashing lights when buttons were pressed, but the overall look was there. Sparks is a homage to those old toy robots.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m going to start off with the one area of the figure that disappointed me the most: articulation. Sparks\u2019 articulation is very basic. He\u2019s got swivel joints for his head and shoulders and cuts for his wrists. His treads are molded, but with wheels underneath so he can roll around. Also, he has an action feature. Press the button on his back and you can make one or both of his arms shoot forward with telescoping action. <\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t sound bad. At least, not until you compare it to the bio that Pixar gave Sparks:<\/p>\n

Sparks will fly – literally – during electrifying playtimes with your new robot friend Sparks! This retro-inspired toy has flashing red LED eyes and a blaster cavity that actually spits out real sparks when he\u2019s rolled along on his sturdy rubber wheels. Sparks also sports telescoping arms with working pincers, and an elevator action that raises his entire body to new heights. Sparking action completely child-safe. Requires two AA batteries (not included).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That bio sounds awesome! If only Mattel had used it as a road map of how to make their version awesome. But they didn\u2019t. It\u2019s almost like Mattel decided to take away all the things that would have made this robot perfect. No sparks. No lights. No moving treads. No extending torso. No working pincers. This Sparks is a shell of his movie self.<\/p>\n

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I realize this is a movie line, and that movie figures are notoriously cheap. I also realize that if the figure did those things, he probably wouldn\u2019t have been $11. But you know what? I don\u2019t care. I would pay extra for a movie-accurate Sparks. But at $11, this robot should have at least had pincers that could open and close. They\u2019re one molded piece. That\u2019s irritating. <\/p>\n

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Despite his lack of articulation, Sparks has a great sculpt. Even though they don\u2019t move, the gears and joints are there for accuracy\u2019s sake. Also, the two cylinders on his back have scratches and nicks in them like he\u2019s been played with for years. I love those little details.<\/p>\n

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Paint wise, Sparks is mostly molded in the colors he needs to be. The only part you need to watch out for is the red on his visor and upper torso. Like most movie toys, the paint varies in sloppiness. The rest of his decorations: shoulders, upper and lower torso, and the lower parts of his sides over the treads are all stickers. I don\u2019t mind this so much. None of these areas would have come out nearly as nice if they were painted. Plus, the stickers help give him that vintage look.<\/p>\n

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All around, I do really like this guy. I am annoyed about his unarticulated pincers, but that doesn\u2019t take away from his great sculpt with a stylish, retro look. Since Sparks has an action feature, he\u2019s a couple dollars more than the standard TS3 figure. I paid $11 at Toys R Us, but he might be a few dollars cheaper at other retailers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday, I reviewed one of the first Lego sets from the upcoming Toy Story 3. And, as I mentioned then, I wasn\u2019t able to escape with just that one piece of movie merchandise. Lego and Mattel both had TS3 product on the shelf that day. I naively thought I could just look through the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[34,10],"tags":[2569,517,511,2560],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/vaultTN.jpg?fit=50%2C50","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-1nk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5268,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=5268","url_meta":{"origin":5290,"position":0},"title":"Vault Review: Lego #7789 Lotso\u2019s Dump Truck (Toy Story 3)","date":"May 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the week for Toy Story 3 toys. Don\u2019t believe me? Check your local Toys R Us. Judging from area reports, most TRU\u2019s got their initial shipments of Mattel and Lego toys for this upcoming movie. Sadly for my wallet, I was tempted by both. I have very mixed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lego"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3142,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=3142","url_meta":{"origin":5290,"position":1},"title":"AdventureVault Review: Lego 7595 \u2013 Army Men on Patrol (Toy Story)","date":"December 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4909,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=4909","url_meta":{"origin":5290,"position":2},"title":"Attack of the Show – Mattel SDCC Exclusives, Part II","date":"April 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Attack of the Show's Blair Butler returned to Mattel Headquarters for the second half of SDCC reveals including exclusives for WWE, Real Ghostbusters, Toy Story 3, and Avatar. Video Games - E3 2010 - AOTS Exclusive Toy Guru has said that they will reveal a few more items tomorrow via\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":625,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=625","url_meta":{"origin":5290,"position":3},"title":"SDCC Armchair Coverage RoundUp","date":"July 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Do you find yourself back at work on Monday morning after a long toynews binge? Not sure if you might have missed something important while you were reeling from another panel's announcements? It'sAllTrue.net has you covered. First, we'd like to thank everyone that kept checking in with us over the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Event Coverage"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31061,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=31061","url_meta":{"origin":5290,"position":4},"title":"Mattel Announces MOTU Classics & Ghostbusters SDCC Exclusives","date":"May 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Ghostbusters"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25223,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=25223","url_meta":{"origin":5290,"position":5},"title":"NYCC Armchair Coverage: Weekend Round-Up","date":"October 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5290"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5290"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5293,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5290\/revisions\/5293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}