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REVIEW: D23 Exclusive Toy Story "SMALL FRY" Buzz Lightyear
Most Expensive Fun Meal, Ever...
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By David Yeh
Everyone knows that the Walt Disney Company is an organization that spans the globe. You’ll struggle to find a spot where the mouse hasn’t reached. Still, not too many know about D23 and the D23 Expo. D23, Disney’s official fan club puts on a Disney Convention every two years in Anaheim, CA, right across from the original Disneyland Park. Mattel, located in Los Angeles, has always been on hand with a few exclusives for the Expo. Last year they weren’t that memorable, with a Sheriff Woody similar to the Batsui and a metallic repaint of their Cars 2 character Finn McMissile.
This year, Mattel created some really great exclusives that may not be ready for mass market sale, but in my opinion, certainly deserve it. The popular Toy Story short, “Small Fry”, directed by Angus MacLane tells the story of what might happen if Buzz Lightyear was replaced by a pint-sized “Happy Meal” version of himself. Thinkway Toys has re-released versions of their main characters for “Hawaiian Vacation” before, but this Small Fry Buzz is the first time any Pixar short subject has received its own action figure.
Priced at $25, you’re certainly paying for the packaging, which if you really think about it, is packaged three times. We’ve all come to expect the shipper box, which we have here in a very fun “restaurant” kind of way and with the “Poultry Palace” logo abundant. Once you get through that, it’s a real gem of a box and something you don’t want to mess up. It’s a Fun Meal for the fictitious Poultry Palace, complete with mazes and word searches as well as a castle themed handle. This portion is glued together so you’ll need to cut away some tape on the bottom of the box to remove the meal.
Then comes the third packaging... it’s a kids meal with a side of fries, a drink, and of course, the free toy. I can imagine many fans leaving the tray of food with Buzz in their display but I’m taking it out, and displaying the fun meal box separately.
The little Buzz figure is nearly the size of most kid's meal toys today but a tad larger and definitely of higher quality. Buzz sports a non-removable space helmet, ball jointed shoulders, articulated wrists and he also has articulated hips, allowing him to sit. Unfortunately, there’s no other articulation so posing him as he moves in the short film will be difficult.
On the bottom of Buzz’s feet are wheels that act as roller skates, which is accurate to the character in the cartoon. Getting him to pose like he’s skating will be a challenge, however since his legs don’t stretch back.
Paint on this little guy is pretty simple but certainly clean for the most part. I didn’t notice any glaring mistakes but even if there were, he is a kid's meal toy after all so he’s not intended to have the most detail around.
When all said and done, it’s a small miracle that this figure even exists. Now if we can get T-Bone and the rest of the Kid's Meal creations from the cartoon, I’ll be extremely happy.
Review and Photos by David Yeh
