FIRST LOOK: PhatMojo’s DuckTales Collection

PhatMojo brings Disney XD’s DuckTales to the toy aisle with a fun assortment of action figures.

In case you haven’t seen it, the new DuckTales on Disney XD RULES. It’s a perfect update that reinvents Scrooge McDuck, his nephews, Webigail, and the rest of the classic crew by way of a stellar voice cast, gorgeous animation, and a unique style that feels very modern while drawing from Carl Banks’ original Scrooge comics in the 1930s and 40s.

Whenever I discover a property I really enjoy, my mind quickly goes to what a toy line should look like. Of course that happened with DuckTales, and now– less than a year since the show’s debut– PhatMojo has brought these characters to the toy aisle with a wide range of products including action figures, minis, plushes, and playsets.

I opted for the action figures, and there’s a lot to love here. They measure about 4″ in scale (which I’ll talk more about later), sport five points of articulation per figure, and feature sculpts that do an excellent job of translating the animated character designs into three dimensional plastic.

The first thing to note is the character selection. Rather than stretch the core cast of the show over multiple waves, PhatMojo has smartly included pretty much everybody in the debut assortment, so we get Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, Launchpad McQuack, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, and even Flintheart Glomgold. It’s a great lineup that ensures all the main characters are included, even if this toy line winds up being a one-and-done release.

Every figure includes cut joints at the shoulders and hips, which gives them some range of motion without impeding the excellent, stylized sculpts. All but Launchpad also feature ball jointed necks, which offer a great range of motion that makes the figures– especially the kids– remarkably expressive. And everybody includes two accessories, ranging from obvious choices such as Scrooge’s cane or Webby’s grappling gun, to episode specific gear like a can of Pep! soda for Louie or Glomgold’s gem from the pilot. We even get the golden Duck Idol from the opening credits!

Overall, the figures are well painted in bright colors that match the characters’ on screen appearances, and a somewhat matte finish which gives them a genuine animated aesthetic. Some samples I’ve seen are a bit uneven, with extra paint streaks scattered across the figure or uneven apps on the figures’ eyes, but between two Targets I visited I was able to find a complete set of toys with solid paint work.

As I said earlier, the figures are about 4″ in scale, save one glaring exception. I’m using Scrooge as the standard for that height, meaning he’s only slightly taller than Donald, while the four kids and Glomgold are much shorter. They scale up nicely compared to their on screen appearances, except Launchpad, whose figure is way too short. This is a common issue among “big guy” figures, especially in kid-centric toy lines, but in the case of DuckTales, it feels like there was a better solution available.

The adult figures are available single-carded, while the kids come in two-packs, what is essentially a deluxe SKU. I feel that had PhatMojo moved Launchpad to this larger, higher priced deluxe line, they could have gotten away with making him large enough to be in scale with the rest of the toys. I know I’d be perfectly fine spending a few bucks more to get the haphazard pilot standing tall above his buddies.

Scale comes up again in terms of the Sunchaser, the one vehicle in this series. The plane looks great, and features various parts that can be removed and reattached, which is fun… but it’s super small, and only able to fit one figure inside. For $25, it’s a solid deal, especially since it comes with a Launchpad figure identical to the single carded release, but as with the pilot himself, I would have been fine with paying more to get a bigger plane.

The mini figure line covers the same core cast in non-articulated form, standing about 2″ tall, and includes both a 5-pack box set and individual blind boxed figures. The smaller scale also brings Darwing Duck and Lena into the mix, which I’m hoping is a sign we’ll see them join the action figure line sometime in the future, as well.

I wasn’t really familiar with PhatMojo until now, but I have to say, their DuckTales line makes for an impressive debut into the action figure world. The sculpting is top notch, the figures feel sturdy, and the accessories are clever and character specific. That all comes together to make a very fun toy line, based on one of the best cartoons out there today. I’ve been eagerly awaiting DuckTales toys for almost a year now, and PhatMojo’s offerings did not disappoint!

The DuckTales collection is available now, exclusive to Target.