Toy OTD: Thinkway Wall-E Boxed Set: The Reject-Bots

As we continue into Wall-E's opening weekend, here's another cool tie-in from Thinkway Toys. I'm really impressed that Thinkway not only made their smaller figures so nicely, but that they made toys of the secondary characters! Unless George Lucas is involved somehow, peripheral characters are a rarity.

While the packaging isn't all that exciting, the proof is in the pudding - the figures themselves. The sculpts and paint work are extremely tight, with very few concessions made. It's great to see this level of faithfulness without creating safety or price point issues. The use of materials is also striking - check out Gopher's translucent head!

There's a surprising amount of articulation here, too. Paint-Bot and Massage-Bot are far more posable than you'd expect, and are jointed much like they are in the film. The character accuracy is so good, one might've forgiven less intricate figures, but Thinkway goes the extra mile, and meets the buyer more than halfway. Cool!

To top it all off, there's not just one, but two clear display stands for the hovering characters who can't stay upright on their own. Technically, Beautician-Bot floats too, but the figure sits upright just fine - Thinkway picked their battles well!

You can get this set for $20.00 + tax at Toys 'R' Us, or online for $20.00 + shipping at toysrus.com. Check in with disneystore.com if they're out of stock at TRU - The Disney Store doesn't seem to have any of the toys for sale right now, but they may become available again later (they have been on the site in the last week or so). Have fun collecting!

Toy OTD: Thinkway Incredibles Interactive Action Figure: Syndrome

Thinkway Toys has made talking, interactive figures since A Bug's Life (at least). Put a pair of them together, and they'll have a chat all by themselves! It's a super-cool feature - when you throw strong articulation, great sculpts, clever use of materials and sharp paint work into the mix, you've got a high standard to match.

You can either set the toy to sound off several phrases at the press of a button (or possibly triggered by your own voice), or adjust it to interactive mode so he can talk with Mr. Incredible, Dash, or both at once! The pre-recorded phrases allow for some enjoyable back-and-forth between them.

The articulation is of particular notice here because it allows for a good amount of posing without making the character look artificial or awkward. The cloth cape and vinyl parts are nice touches, as well. The ankles make balancing the figure a bit tricky, so a doll-type stand or a pegged base might have been a good accessory. "Zero Point Energy" sound effects or lights on the figure's wrist bands would've been awesome, but since (I think) this toy was partially assembled after opening, adding those features would probably have been prohibitively expensive.

I can't remember how much this toy originally cost - I think it was between fifteen and twenty dollars. Unfortunately, it's not available online at all right now, so warm up another eBay Favorite Search if you want to add this toy to your collection!

Toy OTD: Thinkway "Toy Story" Alien Lamp

This is one of my favorite Toy Story alien items - the sculpt is terrific, appealing and on-model. There's very little paint - the plastic is molded into the appropriate colors, which looks great! There's no branding anywhere to clutter up the design, and the base is simple and on-theme (making the buttons into craters is a nice touch, too). The head lights up and it talks when you turn it on. It's got my voice saying all of the phrases, so naturally I'm happy about that!

I guess this item didn't sell very well, because they were only made once (I don't remember how much these cost originally, but I think they were under $20.00). I can't find them anywhere right now, so I think an eBay Favorite Search is your best bet!