A Little Dancing Fun For Your Guardians Collection...
There have been lots of toys based on last summer’s epic blockbuster
Guardians of the Galaxy, but among the best (of course) are those from
Hot Toys. Your main source for 1/6th scale figures, the Hong Kong
company has created incredibly screen accurate figures of the main
characters like Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Groot, and
more. But that’s not all. Hot Toys went above and beyond their usual
offerings to create a unique ¼ scale collectible capturing one of the
most memorable and endearing character moments from the film, and of
course we’re talking about “Little Groot.” After full-size Groot’s
destruction during the crash of Ronan’s ship the Dark Aster, Rocket
carefully cultivated a twig from the wreckage and before the final
credits viewers got to see the fruits of that labor. A new sprout took
hold and Little Groot began growing like a potted plant... a plant that
loves to dance!
Little Groot comes in a really nice package, a small window box showing
off the adorable figure and its accessories. The overall theme of the
box is blue and yellow with technological details reminiscent of a
spaceship. On the front panel above the window is the Guardians of the
Galaxy movie title logo, and below is the name of the figure (“Little
Groot”), the Hot Toys logo, and a ¼/quarter scale emblem. Both sides of
the box feature the wraparound window and cool graphics, and the top
has the gold Guardians of the Galaxy symbol. The back panel is packed
with tech info, warnings, more logos, and the like. Getting your Groot
out couldn’t be easier as the figure sits in a plastic tray along with
the two accessories.
Little or Baby Groot is a pretty simple character, little more than a
stub of a tree with a head and rudimentary arms, all growing in a small,
plain pot. But as always it’s all in the details that make it a
standout character and a fun little collectible. And as usually, that
starts with an incredible sculpt by the team at Hot Toys (and
specifically Joseph Tsang). Little Groot stands approximately 5 inches
tall in his pot, which would translate to a bit more than a foot and
half tall in real life. The pot itself is appropriately plain with a
flat exterior, rounded lip at the top, and four notches in the bottom.
At the top you can see that Groot grows in a bed of rocky dirt. The
figure itself really looks like it’s comprised of dendritic fibers and
tendrils. The roots come together to a definitive “waist” that flows
upward into a long torso, at the top of which branches out two arms that
end in what look like three-fingered hands. Groot’s head is huge in
comparison and features the iconic flat face with no nose, sunken round
eyes, and upper portion that looks like dreadlocks. The sculpt is
really intricate with all of the tree root and branch details, random
sprigs and leaves, and even a slightly textured surface like new bark.
The paint applications on Groot are great, and honestly even better in
person than I could capture in photos. Just as in the sculpt the pot
and soil are appropriately plain so the eye goes right to the figure.
The base is an off-white/grayish color (just like in the film) with
light hints of brown, while the dirt is a starker cement gray. Groot
himself is mostly a rich brown with dark shadowing and highlights of
bright green on tendrils, tips of shoots, and fingers. Also just like
onscreen, his eyes are pitch black orbs that really catch the light.
After re-watching the iconic scene I suppose there could have been more
green in the final product, but that’s a personal preference and he
still looks great.
Besides looking cute, what is “baby” Groot best known for? Dancing, of
course! Everyone knows the iconic scene in which he dances to the
Jackson Five while Drax glances over, and that range of movement is
attempted in the Hot Toys ¼ scale version. Rather than articulating the
figure, which would have broken up the narrow limbs and textured
surfaces with ugly joints, Hot Toys went with a bendable endoskeleton so
that you can manipulate him into various poses. While you may want to
go nuts and yank and pull Groot in all directions, there is a small card
that comes in the package with very specific notations. He bends
forward and backward at the “waist” approximately 30 degrees; likewise
each arm can be elevated at the shoulder up to 45 degrees (so straight
out). The warning is that moving the body or limbs past those
benchmarks could result in damage to the figure. You might be able to
get a bit more movement past that, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Lastly,
Groot’s head is mounted on a traditional ball joint that’s well hidden,
and so he can look all around and up and down.
Little Groot didn’t have any accessories in the film, and there’s no way
for the figure to hold anything or swap out hands, so Hot Toys went in
their other usual direction and provided collectors with additional
interchangeable heads with different facial expressions. The standard
Groot head on this figure has a wide but closed-mouth smile and the most
adorable eyes. What we’ll call head #2 is “blah” Groot with mouth
closed and completely horizontal, and an overall blank expression (what
one might wear while pretending you weren’t just dancing). Finally,
head #3 is the most joyous with a huge open-mouthed smile that reveals
some tiny baby Groot teeth! The heads are very snug on the ball joint
so make sure to pose and swap them carefully.
Hot Toys’ 1/4th scale Little Groot, with articulation and
interchangeable heads, retails for about $45 and is available now. It’s
a great addition to anyone’s Guardians of the Galaxy collection, and a
must have for Groot fans. At that price it’s way more affordable than
all of the other larger-scale Guardians figures and statues, and there
aren’t a whole lot of quarter scale options from the film anyway. Now
this isn’t the only collectible representing baby/little Groot (and it
ain’t the cheapest), but it’s by far the best looking and most detailed.
And while it doesn’t dance on its own you’re welcome to add some tunes
and set him up in fun poses, or “freeze” him with the blank face ‘cause
he stops whenever people are watching!
To buy action figures, take a look at BigBadToyStore.com, TheToySource.com, Toynk.com, BriansToys.com, ToyWiz.com, MonkeyDepot.com, EntertainmentEarth.com, Amiami, HobbySearch and Hobbylink
For hobby miniatures and all your gaming needs, visit MiniatureMarket.com.
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