Toy Story Collection - JESSIE

[JeffSaylor]

Thinkway Toys takes on the "Yodeling Cowgirl"...

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Lookie lookie, it’s Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl! Straight out of Woody's Roundup and into your home, this deluxe movie collectible is part of Thinkway Toys very popular TOY STORY COLLECTION. Jessie, played by Joan Cusack in both Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3, provides the voice in this pull-string doll as well, although the recording of it doesn't do that great of a job portraying that.

With a price point of $49.99 retail, Jessie is "lovingly" recreated using Pixar's digital data and comes with a certificiate of authenticity signed (reproduced) by John Lasseter, a removable hat, and display stand. Her pull-string allows her 33 different sayings but she tends to mouth off even without.

I wish I could say that Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl is a perfect translation from screen to toy but it just isn't so. In fact, she doesn't look all that different from the many other Jessie doll releases that have come before it. She does have hair made of yarn, which many other versions do not have, but even with the yarn, it is far from perfect. The hair tends to stick out in the back instead of falling naturally downwards. It's also not quite long enough either so it makes for a not-so-perfect look.

The face is decent, but also not 100% accurate to the screen. Her head tends to look a bit more squashed than it should be but that could be a problem from the factories rather than the design. I also don't notice any difference between the face sculpt of this Toy Story Collection Jessie and the cheaper models. This one just has more film-accurate hair.

Being a rag-doll, there are no points of articulation, but you can turn her hands. The neck, on the other hand, is stiff as nails. Doubtful mine has the ability to turn her head but yours might be able to? The included stand is provided to keep her standing, but it's not adjustable so you can't pose her squatting lower or anything of that sort. I understand the direction Thinkway was going with this but it's frustrating too when you want to pose your toys in familiar scenes but are not able to.

Like many other Toy Story Collection toys, Jessie is equipped with state-of-the-art electronics. Pull her string for some regular dialogue, but she also responds to the sound of your voice. If Jessie senses nobody around, she will eventually go to "sleep".

For the money, this is the most film-accurate Jessie doll you can find and though it's still not perfect, it is the closest thing there is. It is understandably difficult to pay $50 for Jessie where the same money got you Buzz Lightyear, but that's the way things are sometimes. You could get the next version of Jessie down for $35 that features plastic sculpted hair, and oddly enough, the overall look of it is more film-accurate than the yarn. But if we're going for aesthetic, you want the Toy Story Collection Jessie.

Review and Photos by David Yeh

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