Review – Pop! Vinyl Santa Claus

Last year I reviewed the Pop! Vinyl Heat Miser and Snow Miser toys for Christmas (review here) and now, since it’s Christmas Eve, I thought we should all take a few moments to take a look at the Pop! Vinyl Santa Claus that was released last year. I bought this toy a year ago, but since it is inspired by the Santa Claus from the Rankin-Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer* the toy will never go out of style. After all, we’ve been enjoying that Christmas special for decades now.

No One Likes a Skinny Santa

Part of Funko’s Pop! Holidays series (Amazon.com search*), Santa Claus is like the other Pop! Vinyl toys in that it’s a stylized, roughly 3.75-inch tall toy with a single point of articulation (the head swivels at the neck). That’s not a lot of poseability options — especially since Santa’s arms obstruct any real head movement — but I don’t care since these toys are meant more display and decoration than they are intense play.

Another Great Sculpt

The artists at Funko really capture the feel of their subjects, and Santa Claus is one more incredible sculpting job in a long line of excellent designs. There’s not a lot of tiny details in the sculpt, but the toy is clearly recognizable and the texture of the beard, hair, and fur-lining on the coat are all nicely done. And I can’t see how anyone wouldn’t love those big eyes.

Paint

As with the other Pop! Vinyl toys from 2011 Santa Claus has some messy paint here and there. And it’s not just my copy of the toy; Newt posted his own review of the toy today over at Infinite Hollywood and his also has some paint issues. Fortunately, it seems as if Funko has been working on their paint apps because the newer Pop! Vinyl toys have much nicer and cleaner paint. And Santa’s paint problems aren’t even all that obvious once he’s displayed with the other Pop! Holidays toys(Amazon.com search*).

Closing Thoughts

Is there a better toy to review on Christmas Eve than Santa Claus? Probably not, and while this isn’t the greatest Santa Claus collectible out there it is another fun design from Funko and it’s a toy that I could see anyone, even those who don’t collect toys, buying and displaying at Christmas. So enjoy the pics and keep your eyes open for Pop! Holidays toys (Amazon.com search*) later this week; there’s a good chance that some of these will go on clearance once Christmas is over.

Philip Reed is now deciding whether or not to review another Pop! Holidays toy before December 26th.