Toy OTD: Memory Lane Peanuts Figure: Pig Pen

Memory Lane has made some nice, affordable Peanuts swag recently - here's another good example. The company already gets points simply for making a tertiary character. There's a fair amount of Pig Pen merchandise out there, but a fair amount of time usually goes by before another piece shows up!

Like most Peanuts merchandise, this figure is based primarily on the character as he was drawn in the late eighties/early nineties. It looks good, and it's a style that the most shoppers will be familiar with, but I have to say, I am hankering for more retro-styled products. Fortunately, more seems to be on the way!

The appeal of this figure is still strong, but in general there's not as much effort here as I would like. The facial expression is a bit bland, especially when you consider how expressive Schulz's characters can be. The sculpt is so symmetrical that it drains more personality from the toy, as there's no pose of any kind to support it.

Still, there's some neat things about the figure, too. The plugged-in hair is one of the best ways to mimic Pigpen's fly-away 'do that I've seen in a toy. Dependable higher-end manufacturers like Dark Horse and Medicom have each interpreted in in their own manner, but I think they're less successful.

Another neat feature is the facial 'dirt' can be washed off, only to re-appear when dry. The downside is that it looks much fainter than the rest of the painted 'dirt', and makes Pigpen look far less grubby. I think that (in general) there could've been a lot more dirt applied.

Articulation is about standard - neck, shoulders, 'wrists' (actually elbow rotations) and possibly waist and hips. There's some minor balance issues that I think a pegged display base would've prevented. Thankfully, not many accessories - just a clear plastic 'dust cloud', which is a great enhancement to the figure's display. The blister card packaging isn't dazzling, but its colors and fonts are on-theme with the toy, and the blister allows for clear viewing.

You may want to do a fair amount of homework before you spend - not only are there multiple facial variants from this line, but there's also at least a couple of holiday versions as well. If you're set on this one, though, you can buy it at snoopn4pnuts.com for $19.95 + shipping. Enjoy!

Toy OTD: Hungerford Pig Pen Vinyl Figure (1958)

These are some of the most appealing Peanuts items! Very simple sculpts complement the original designs. The paint work is usually fuzzy on toys of this era, and this is no different. I do like that quality in period toys, even if I'm more critical of it on modern ones.

This Pig Pen is unusually tidy, mainly because his unruly shock of hair has, by necessity, been tamed by the sculptor. Whether it was a conscious choice or a techincal limitation, his 'dirt' is not painted but scupted, rendering it far less noticeable.

Several characters were made in this line - I know of Charlie Brown, Sally, Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Pig Pen and Snoopy. Some are more common than others, but most (due to their age) are pricey these days. Finding them in good shape is also difficult, as the vinyl sags with age and the paint wears off easily. Expect to pay a hundred dollars or more for any of the characters, the rarer ones going considerably higher - I think I paid around three hundred for this one, but I'm not sure.

If you're a super-hard-core Peanuts fan, you can buy this set of eight figures (including Pig Pen) on eBay, but you're going to need at least six hundred dollars to even get in the game - whew!