Review: Princess Peach

Princess Peach

Banpresto

I thought I’d kick off the inaugural review by looking at a toy that appeals to both my daughter and me.  One of gaming’s most famous females, Princess Peach!

One day the kingdom of the peaceful mushroom people was invaded by the Koopa, a tribe of turtles famous for their black magic. The quiet, peace-loving Mushroom People were turned into mere stones, bricks and even field horse-hair plants, and the Mushroom Kingdom fell into ruin.

The only one who can undo the magic spell on the Mushroom People and return them to their normal selves is the Princess Toadstool, the daughter of the Mushroom King. Unfortunately, she is presently in the hands of the great Koopa turtle king.

Princess Peach first appeared in 1985’s Super Mario Bros, as a perpetually misplaced royal in distress.  However, by Super Mario Bros. 2 Peach (or as she was known then, Princess Toadstool) was made a fully playable member of the cast, and could more than hold her own in certain situations.  The princess has been portrayed in several different types media in the last couple decades, and in spite of being continually captured, has been shown to have a can-do attitude and a level head, even while those around her can be distracted by flights of fancy.  Except for that time she was an enthusiast of Milli Vanilli’s music, but we don’t talk about that.

Our Princess here (she’ll always be Toadstool to me) has a wonderful sculpt, with a cheerful, almost expectant expression on her cute face.  The figurine stands 3 ½” tall, which is just a bit too short to go with my old Toy Biz Mario Kart 64 Mario, as Peach is shown up to a head taller than her chosen champion.  You can however, fake it fairly well.  The word figurine from earlier should clue you in to how many moving parts there are – none.  However, it’s hard to be too mad about that - after all, she has no legs under her dress, and her head would be almost impossible to move even if it had a joint due to Peach’s large, cartoony hair.  Since Her Highness’ arms seem to plug into the main body I suppose they could have let them swivel up and down.  Although Princess Toadstool been seen doing more strenuous activities lately (racing, tennis, soccer, and bare-knuckle brawling), this version of Not-A-Queen will have to revert to form by standing around waiting.

What she lacks in movement, Princess Toadstool “Peach” makes up for with a nice paint job.  There is very little to no slop on ours, and her crown is even a nice golden color, to contrast with the yellow of her hair.  Her eyes are particularly well done, and even have six little eyelashes around them.

She-Who-Must-Be-In-Another-Castle comes equipped with a small display case, as do the other figures in this line.  It’s composed of a small, transparent cube, and a green baseplate with her name on the front.  I suppose if you’re really into displaying figures you might like it if you get all four characters (Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser) – but I like to have my toys a bit more sociable than that.

Toys based on video games have really propagated in the last few years, that to companies like NECA, Jazwares, and McFarlane – just to name a few American companies.  With Nintendo’s Mario being one of the most well known characters in the world today, it’s somewhat surprising it’s taken this long to figures of some pivotal members of the rest of the cast.  In any case, Princess Peach Toadstool seems to be a hit here at Casa 2GT.  My daughter may not play video games yet, but she can recognize a princess when she sees one – and the plumber who tags along.

Mouseover!

Welcome to 2nd Generation Toys!  My name is David Graham, and I have loved playing with toys for over thirty years.

Why?

It's a question that comes to me now as I begin playing my own child's toys.  Why do we give, play with, display, modify, and even destroy toys?  For hundreds of thousands of years, boys and girls have played with sticks and dolls all over the world.  Sure, nowadays in western society there is a huge market geared towards selling toys with tie-ins to movies, television shows, games and more - but that's very much aimed at certain companies selling their toys.  Toys in general have done well without them.  No company ever ordered a three season cartoon show to sell a yoyo.

Tops yes, but not yoyos.

Getting back to my point, why do we feel drawn towards acting out with sticks and swords?  Why do we make up stories about our dolls and horses?  Why do we set up armies and use kung-fu grip?  Why do we cook food that can never be eaten in ovens that will never be hot?  What primal urge is sated when holding a miniature person in our hands and lording our total control over their circumstances, and even actions?

These are all part of the same question that I asked before, and I hope that you might join me as we seek insight into all these facets of inquiry.  Along the way, we'll look at toys current and past, both mine and my daughters, and what is it that she and I actually like about them.  What makes a good toy, how safe or dangerous really are they, and what makes them fun?

Thanks for coming along!