The first wave of Who Framed Roger Rabbit ReAction Figures by Super7 were released in 2022. As you can imagine it was a big surprise to me, as well as many others. The interest in them was an even bigger surprised to Super7. This is the first series of figures released since 1988, and while they certainly keep the nostalgic feel of toys from that time, the figures are detailed and the character selection expanded on. Five figures were released in the first wave - Roger, Jessica, Judge Doom, Smarty and Stupid. Many people wondered why there was no Eddie Valiant but he's hot on the case of the big rabbit frame-up in Wave 2, along with a lovestruck Roger and Psycho weasel. (Now Available for Pre-Order)
Lets take a closer look...
After lots of confusion over his absence, Eddie appears in Wave 2. He is one of the main three characters, so naturally he is a necessity for this series. Since the first wave was such an unexpected announcement, it was revealed by Super7 owner Brian Flynn that Wave 1 was supposed to include Eddie as the sixth figure. Due to the uncertainty of the figures' success, and since it had been so many years since the movie was released, the wave was shortened slightly. According to Super7, the first wave did so well that a second wave was already being planned with Eddie included. I could maybe see a concern with making a 3¾ action figure of someone in a suite seem exciting, but I think collectors are more focused on completing a series these days. The first plus is that the profile definitely looks like actor Bob Hoskins. Like Judge Doom, they found a way to keep from using his likeness on the card. It might be the only drawback but the cards still remain sturdy and impressive. Eddie is a little shorter than Doom and Jessica, showing that they are paying attention to scale where they can. He is in his familiar brown suit but I love the messy tie and shirt collar which really fits his demeanor. His accessory is the punch mallet he used to defeat Judge Doom at the end of the film. It fit in his hand perfectly without issue. He has the standard five points of articulation with foot peg holes and stands on his own just fine. What I did notice is he sits down so perfectly that it would be incredible if they made a Benny the Cab vehicle - which was brought up as a possibility by Brian Flynn. While Wave 2 was a bit smaller, it's great to finally have the main characters together in the same format.
Judge Doom and the weasels got a lot more attention than I expected when Wave 1 was announced. This lead to people calling for all five weasels to be made. I'm happy to say we are more than halfway there. Psycho is my favorite of the group - with that manic laugh and crazed glare. He has a set of jagged teeth matched with his spiky hair. They could have cut corners and made the hair a big plastic mohawk but they went the extra length to make each spike an individual piece. Much like Stupid weasel, Psycho also has a hanging tongue. His outfit is a bit simple - a white straight jacket. It might not be as long as it should be but had it been longer his legs might not have been able to move. He has standard five points of articulation with peg holes in the feet and stands up very well. He doesn't come with any accessories which might be one drawback but he can hold Eddie's punch mallet if you want to have him posed with it.
If you saw my last review I mentioned that there were many possibilities for variants when it came to some of the characters. Roger has so many expressions that he could be remade and have some parts reused. This lovestruck Roger appears to use the same body and legs of the original figure released in Wave 1, but has a new profile and arms. The head has his ears forming the shape of a heart. Roger's eyes are also replaced with two big red hearts. His expression is very coy, with a big grin and upturned eyebrows. The legs move fine and there are peg holes in the feet even though he stands easily on his own. His hands are actually clasped together and up by his face. I think this is a first for an action figure because it does limit the articulation to less than five points. The arms don't really get any movement since the hands are together. This might be a drawback to some but as a variant this really is such a fun figure. He stands alongside Jessica very well and they look great together. I've seen a lot more comments from people who seem to prefer this version.
It's a dream come true for me that we have these figures. I wasn't able to get more information if there was a Wave 3 but with two weasels to go I'm really hoping we get them at the least. There were listings on other toy sites that a toon version of Judge Doom with a sawblade hand was coming in this wave but he wasn't even on the back of the card and wasn't officially announced. With Comic Con in the near future there could be hope to see what the future holds for this series.
As I mentioned last time, there's still a few figures that can be made if these continue to sell. I'm very surprised how many people want to see a Dolores figure. Since the likenesses aren't being used on the cards, I'm not sure what that means for other human characters. She is definitely one I'd love to have, maybe along with Marvin Acme. As for more toons, we need two more weasels (Wheezy and Greasy) and they can't forget Baby Herman. I think the series might stop around there but I do think they can make more Roger variants. I even think there's a great option for them to make the weasel spirits by reusing the 5 sculpts of them all cast in a blue glowing plastic.
