Random Toy of the Day: Basketball Meets Superhero

The free figure.

One of the brilliant things about living in the DC metro area is how easy it is to get great tickets at reasonable prices to NHL and MLS games.  On the flip side, baseketball is more popular here than hockey and soccer, and so it's not quite as easy (or inexpensive) to get great seats on short notice, as we discovered two weeks ago, when my brother-in-law and his girlfriend drove down from Toronto (in a snowstorm, so it took them 12 hours each way!) to watch the Toronto Raptors take on the Washington Wizards.   We ended up way back in the 400 level, surrounded by glaring local fans (our guests may have been a little loud in their cheering, both throughout the game and when the Raptors finally won).

You might ask: What does this have to do with toys?  And the answer is that everyone at that night's game received a free action figure that very randomly portrayed one of the Wizards in a superhero version of the team uniform with a cape.

The particular figure that we received was Marcin Gortat, the goateed and mohawked centre (although the toy is missing the mohawk), and the box is covered in random biographical information and player stats.  We all received the same figure, so maybe others will be handed out at other games?  I don't know.

The front of the box.

The back of the box.

The figure has a simple four points of articulation: shoulders and hips, and has a simple fabric cape attached behind the neck.  Despite the simplicity in those areas, the sculpted details (including the facial features and a textured body suit) and face screening are surprisingly well done for a free promotional item like this.

Out of the box.

The back of the cape.

The view from the cheap seats.