Any kid of the 1980s and early 1990s knows what it was like to get your hands on the most sought after action figures based on the biggest cartoons of the decade, such as He-Man and the Masters of The Universe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Real Ghostbusters and more. There was nothing like holding one of those barely 4 inches tall figures in your hands and making it act out as many of your favourite scenes as its five joints would allow. Now as 30 and 40 something year olds, toy companies like NECA, Diamond Select and Super7 are releasing many new collectors toys based on the cartoons we loved, and in turn showing us what we could have had all those years ago. Super7 have already dipped into TMNT, Thundercats, Disney Classics and The Simpsons, and now are unleashing the Animaniacs to their Ultimates range.
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For those who remember the cartoon, Animaniacs was one of a number of similar series that worked like a TV based comic book, with numerous characters all appearing in their own short cartoon stories each week, while a wrap-around segment held the whole thing together. Unlike many others though, Animaniacs had the bonus of being executively produced by Steven Spielberg under his Amblin Entertainment banner. The original series ran for five years between 1993 and 1998, and became one of the best known and loved cartoons of the 90s.
While there were a select number of bendable figures released, along with some mostly static plastic toys featuring the characters, along with the likes of Tiny Toons and other shows with huge ensemble animated character casts, there was never really anyone willing to put money into developing a decent set of action figures to go with the show. With the series being revived in 2020 for a successful run, which led to an instant renewal for a second season, it just seems like we really need those amazingly detailed action figures we were deprived of almost three decades ago.
Now Super7 have added the Warner Brothers, and the Warner Sister Dot, as well as megalomaniacal lab mouse The Brain and his dim-witted side-kick Pinky to their ever expanding Ultimates range, and once again threated the wallets of middle-aged nostalgia hunters across the globe. All in proportion and with almost impeccable screen-like accuracy, this range have multiple points of articulation and being the first wave will no doubt go on to become a serious collectors item in years to come. However, as always with these figures, there is a hefty year long wait for their release and a chunky pricetag that comes with the territory for toy collectors.
Each of the five characters that make up Wave 1 of the range comes with additional heads bearing many comical expressions, along with the now obligatory collection of various alternative hands to allow you to create pretty much every scene you wish your toys of the 80s could do. As well as that, the characters come with a range of accessories specific to their on screen character appearances, which in this case includes The Brain’s Electromagnet, test tubes, mallets sticks of dynamite, school chalk boards showing maps of the world and more. You can check them out in all their glory in the below images.
The range can be bought individually or as a complete Wave from Super7 direct or through other toy outlets with an expected release date of Winter 2022. Expect more figures in the Animaniacs Ultimates range to be announced next year.
