Thursday, February 12, 2015

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.

8 comments:

  1. Wow, that's pretty cool that everyone got one of these!

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    1. It's true! And we actually got even luckier - everyone on our floor got a free t-shirt as well!

      It had been ages since I've been at an event with such decent swag, so I was impressed.

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  2. I didn't know you were from the DC area. What part and is that your home town? I was born in Alexandria, VA. I have a lot of friends and family still in the area. That is so cool that they handed out these figures. I can imagine you were super surprised. How could you even tell who won the game from those seats. LOL. Just kidding.

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    1. LOL, you're not wrong - they don't even have speakers at the top level!

      I'm in Arlington (Roslyn), I'm not from here originally - my husband is on a three-year US-based assignment at work, so we're just passing through. We've been here for a year and a half, but it looks like we'll be relocated to Texas in a few months - we'll definitely miss this area though, it's been a great place to live and explore!

      Alexandria is gorgeous - I love the waterfront in old town there. :)

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  3. That is... just a fascinatingly bizarre figure. How delightful to just be handed one!

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    1. Heh, "fascinatingly bizarre" is a perfect description! :)

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  4. Once again my eyes went straight to the peen, lol. Anywho, I think his face is pretty good.

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    1. LOL! There was a couple in front of us who were thinking the same way - the woman took him out of the box, lifted him up, pointed to his lower section and said to her seatmate "Look at his package!"

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