Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Manufacturer
Moore Action Collectibles
Year
1999
Materials
plastic

Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

By David Rasmussen
3rd Jul 05

Yes. It has come to this. Articles for the sake of filling time and space (all together now). Articles for the sake of filling time and… yes, that was a bad pun from Airplane, let’s never do it again. With the exception of the few comics extolling the beauties of lesbian relationships in Buffy I have about as much interest in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and it’s spinoff Angel, as well as the rumored but never quite confirmed UK spinoff concerning Buffy character Giles) as I do in the national economy… I.e. none. But thankfully a family relation of mine does not feel the same way, and it is thanks to that person that I can bring you pointless Buffy toy reviews… because somebody has to.

This week, to kick off this series of Buffy/Angel reviews, it’s a review of Buffy from Season 1 versus Buffy from Season 2... Or so I’ve been told.
You know the drill. These figures sold like hotcakes smothered in smack when they hit, and all those many many Buffy fans (now deeper into hiding than your average JedI post Star Wars Episode III) were buying them up like crazy. Nowadays? Do they even do Buffy/Angel toys anymore since the series sputtered and gasped to it’s conclusions? Maybe, maybe not. Sure, you’ve probably heard the same weird ass rumors that I have, that there’s going to be a Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie starring that Spike character with the gang from Buffy starring in it as well, but really! It must be more than just a rumor because I’ve heard that Joss Whedon is talking about that movie more than his work on that X-Men comic he’s writing (or was writing for… he still doing that?) and considering he first got thrown out on his rear by MARVEL when he wanted to write Iron Man the Movie (which is supposed to star Tom Cruise) before he got a job writing an X-Men title you’d think he’d want to talk more about that since it took a lot of effort to get that job.
Anyway I guess there’ll be a revival of figure interest once the new movie hits… whenever that is.

But we’re not here to speak of the revival of the Buffy franchise with a new movie, we’re here to talk about the action figures of the early 21st Century. Starting with, yes, the one the series is named after : Buffy.
Season One’s figure is rather… well… conservative. There’s Sarah Michelle Gellar (sporting her rare rather normal look of that season) with rather normal clothes. Jeans, black jacket and white shirt beneath and a cross… and lots of bling in the form of rings. That goes bye-bye next season by the way. Armed with a crossbow (thankfully no “bolts” to have to account for), a weird knife and two stakes (always the first thing to vanish or go through somebody’s foot accidentally) that complete the weapons look of the figure along with a base for Buffy to stand on. Not bad for a 1st Season figure if I do say so myself.

Season Two, on the other hand… yeah.
Sarah Michelle Gellar’s character now looks the way you remember her from the middle seasons. Now she wears tight red pants and a little black top… yeah, last season looked normal compared to this season. Besides a trimmed down crossbow (not as bulky as last Season’s model) she now packs a weird blade/axe thing, a large axe, and (because you can’t get enough of the screams of despair and pain from stepping on these) two more stakes… to replace the others you’ve lost in the past, or that have maimed certain members of your family. One or the other.

Even the stands are completely different between Seasons 1 and 2! Last season’s stand was a cobblestone piece with a huge B on it, just in case your Buffy characters get bored and decide to steal a mini spotlight for a B Signal they can use this design as their inspiration for said signal. Season 2, on the other hand, why it’s the top of a grave! Complete with tombstone! (What does Sarah Michelle Gellar want on her tombstone… oh, meat lover’s eh?)

As for the figure? Well, everything is plastic. From the hair to the body… whether or not anyone’s actually accused the real Buffy of plastic augmentations is another story altogether. POAs? Hmm…
Season 1 Buffy sports 9 POAs, while Season 2 Buffy sports an increased 15! 15! Guess besides the clothes Buffy Season 1 also sports an even more stiffer appearance with less POAs than Season 2’s figure… yeah, POA up the wazoo on Season 2’s bod. And so bright colors too compared to the more somber body colors of Season 1’s figure. It just looks so glossy under the sunlight!

At the time this was coming out they were going for about $15-$20 or so... So yeah, good luck finding these for THAT price now that it‘s 2005 and Buffy is an extinct TV Series! At this point even if you can locate a Season 1 or 2 Buffy figure you’ll probably have to doll out… ? … lord knows how much they’re worth now! Must be worth abit though! And where will you find these anyway? Short of raiding the evil closet shrine of a Sarah Michelle Gellar fan(atic) and poaching his perfectly preserved MIB (mint in box) figures from the altar of worship that is. Of course that’ll lead to instant death so you should stick to Ebay.

Of course the question is why bother? Does Buffy figures have an appeal outside of the “box” (fan base)? If you are a Buffy fan then you probably already bought your figures already, unless you are a late in life Buffy fan or didn’t want to spend the money back then. Odds are if you can find them, and find them at a lower price than their original $15-$20 starting price, you might be tempted to buy them. Now that is, of course, if you ARE a Buffy fan. What if you are not? What then?
Hmm… while I am not a Buffy fan (though I have memorized enough information on the series to survive my next harrowing encounter with a dark minion of Buffy-dom) I guess if you are a fan then having these won’t hurt you any… except if the price is too damn high, then stick to comics and DVDs. Okay. I think I bored you more than enough with the endless reviewing. Breakdown time.

Buffy 1999 to 2000 figures Breakdown
What’s Hot?
Ok. Yes. If you ARE a Buffy fan (born again, born late, or just dabbling in your 27th Willow/Tara hentai fic) then you might be buying the figures… that is of course if you didn’t or couldn’t buy them the first time out back in the day for one reason or another. Sure, if you can buy them at a reasonable (I.e. marked down) price AND you are a Buffy fan then I guess you’ll be buying them… if you can buy them.
HOWEVER anything more than $20 on each figure is the domain of the die hard fan(atic) and way out of the range of the casual fan. Yeah, sure $20-$30 or so dollars is not much -- like hell, yes it is.
For $20-$30 you can get a figure you actually like better, or a good priced video game, or a DVD, or something like that. $20-$30 or (heaven forbid) higher for a Buffy figure is an instant turn off for casual fans to say the least.

Bottom line is that Buffy figures are for Buffy fans, and unless you can find them for under $15-$20 then they’ll never find an appeal to the casual dabbler of the series. Then again I might be wrong. Maybe the series dabbler MIGHT want at least a few figures… but even then that dabbler will only stick to the figures of the one or two characters he/she loves about the series and that’s it.

What’s Not?
Nothing I suppose. Sure if you are a Buffy fan you should have no problem with the figures, but then again that’s only if you are a Buffy fan. I don’t have any problem though with the whole spiel because they’re actually solidly made, these figures, and in that respect there‘s nothing to complain about with the figures.
Then again Moore Action Collectibles is a good company from what I can see of the product they put out so what else would you expect from them?

Moments to Remember?
I sought cheerful moments from the figures, and was ignored. They stared straight ahead, neither offering excitement or diversion… makes me wish they make that technology from Angelic Layer already so I have something interesting to say about the action figures I’m reviewing.

What to Ignore?
You can steadily ignore my next several weeks of Willow/Tara jabs throughout the reviews… because I will probably harp on that more than I should for some reason… maybe it’s just because…

Overall?
A Season 1, let alone a Season 1 AND a Season 2 Buffy figure? Good luck finding that! Top character of a series beloved by endless hordes of fanboys and girls? Expect to not see these (at least in terms of original release) anytime soon, and if you do I’m expecting to see a large price tag attached to them DESPITE the fact they only came out a few years ago. Go figure.
Buffy, like other series of such large fanbase caliber like Xena, Hercules, Babylon 5 and so on and so forth will have figures that are not exactly the easiest to get ahold of but I suppose if you are a fan then it’s just par for the course that you’ll be hunting for these figures.
Of course for the rest of us non-fans, we who just like good figures? Hmm… sorry, the figures aren’t that special. That’s the thing about action figures like these, their appeal is kind of limited (I don’t see Buffy figures having a wider reach of fandom past fans of the series itself) so interest is kind of specialized. But still, if you are a new fan and you’re digging into older collectibles of the series then these Moore Action Collectibles might be right up your alley. Amongst the MANY MANY other things that will probably be right up your alley -- like next week’s review!

Next Week
For the ladies out there (I hope) I’ll be looking at TWO variant Spike figures from the year 2000… because these figures will go up in price once the movie starring the guy comes out, that’s why… maybe.
Let’s see, we have original Spike or extra creepy Spike with vampiric constipation… you decide. After that we court three more 2000 era figures with Xander, (the Wizard of) OZ and Giles (he who was supposed to have a UK spinoff but nobody ever talks about said spinoff).
That’s all in the next two weeks though so stay tuned.

-- David Rasmussen 3rd Jul 05