Wednesday, October 3, 2012

A tribute to Action Figure Articulation: Gangnam Style

Oppa Beachhead Style!!! 
There's a dance craze that's sweeping the world called Gangnam Style - a rather ridiculous looking dance involving horses developed by a South Korean named Psy. Psy explains that Gangnam style is his way of poking fun at a rich portion of South Korean called Gangnam. Somewhere in his explanation there's something about meeting the girl of his dreams, etc....

Bottom line, ridiculous as it may seem, it's infectious and it's hard not to get caught up in it.

Anyway, because there's a new law in the Philippines that prevents me from reviewing anything lest I be accused of libel and spend 25 years in jail, I thought that I'd pay tribute to Psy and his Gangnam Style as well as to how far action figure articulation has come over the years.

But first, you probably should get acquainted with Gangnam Style:


TheTransformers:

Because your average Autobot and  Decepticon will not have mounting pegs at the bottom of their feet, actually getting these guys too stand on one leg proved to be quite a challenge. Of the three below, the least flexible was actually Optimus Prime who could not cross his arms across his chest.




The Star Wars Action Figures:

Winner! High articulation and the existence of mounting slots allows the new Classic line of Star Wars figures to easily master Gangnam Style. Though Luke Skywalker's lanky frame leaves much to be desired:





The Joes:

But in my opinion the true winners are the Joes. The availability of extra accessories, high articulation and mounting pegs makes them the masters of Gangnam style. Had I removed their rather bulky vests, they'd look even better:





The biggest disappointment though were the Marvel Universe figures. NONE of them could properly do the dance, mostly because none of them - including those I had earlier credited with high articulation - could cross their arms in front of them.

Beachhead Style wins!

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