With some new Hot Toys figures rolling in, it’s long past time that I get around to reviewing this pair of figures from Guardians of the Galaxy. Seriously, this pair has been on my shelf for so long that I forgot I never gave them the spotlight. So, in keeping with the theme of Marvel Monday, I thought I’d put off my return to the Legends Hobgoblin Wave just one more week in favor of these beauties. These figures were available separately or together in the bundle I’m looking at today. I’m going to kick things off with a look at the package and Rocket, and tomorrow I’ll swing back and look at his arboreal buddy, Groot.

Holy hell, that’s a big box. I mean, I’ve yet to buy a Premium Format Statue, so everything is relative, but still. It’s big! It’s not quite as big as Hot Toys’ Hulk, but it’s no slouch either. It’s taller than a regular Hot Toys figure box and more than twice as wide. Surprisingly, everything comes laid out in a single tray and that includes both figures, two stands, an alternate head and hands for Groot, alternate hands and feet for Rocket, Rocket’s gun, and a pair of potted Baby Groots. The deco is designed to match the look of the Star-Lord and Gamora boxes, and that makes me happy because I actually save these packages and my OCD gets aggravated when things don’t match. The star-field and grid background still remind me of the kind of 80’s cheese you’d see on a VHS tape sleeve or PC game box. Hopefully that’s intentional. The character art of Rocket & Groot is fantastic. The only complaint I have about the packaging is that the box itself is made of pretty light cardboard stock and for a box this big, it tends to get shelf worn pretty easy.

Rocket is a rather unconventional Hot Toys figure, what with him being so small and being a rodent. He features fully sculpted fur, which was a sticking point for me until I got him in hand and realized it was the right way to go. Doubly so since I’ve seen some rather dubious pictures of their flocked Chewbacca figure. Instead, there isn’t even the tiniest space on this figure that doesn’t feature some sculpted detail and that’s impressive. Rocket’s costume consists of his little orange jumpsuit, which is cloth and beautifully tailored. I imagine it’s hard enough to tailor 1:6 scale clothes, so I’m doubly impressed with all the little stitching on this smaller raccoon space suit. It’s also reinforced with all the plates, shoulder pads, and harness seen on the big screen outfit.

The portrait features Rocket with a rather fierce look on his little face. I like it a lot as it shows some wonderful little sculpted teeth and I think it captures his personality quite well. Although considering his size, it seems like HT should have ponied up for an alternate head. It doesn’t feel absent in this two-pack, but certainly in the single boxed figure. The wire whiskers are a great touch and the glossy paint on his nose makes it look appropriately wet. Hot Toys is no stranger to producing life like eyes on humans, but it turns out they can do some mighty fine peepers on a raccoon as well, because these look great.

The articulation feels more like a conventional action figure than a usual HT product, but that’s a given considering his size. I don’t usually go into detail on articulation with my HT figures, because the points are covered up and it’s not a sticking point with me on these figures. With Rocket, it’s pretty easy to see what’s there and he’s pretty much got rotating hinges all around and an extra ball joint at the base of his neck. The tail is a straight ball joint and it does have a habit of popping off when posing, but it just pops right back on again. The figure stands surprisingly well on his tiny little feet and appropriately enough, you can use the tail to counterbalance him.

It wouldn’t be a Hot Toys figure without extra hands, would it? No exceptions for raccoons! Rocket comes with a pair of relaxed hands, a pair of adorable little fists, a pair of hands designed to work with his gun, and a pair of feet. The extra feet remind me of the “action feet” that Sideshow used to include with some of their 1:6 Scale GI JOE figures as a substitute for articulation in the middle of the foot. Options are nice, but I frankly have no need for these.

Rocket comes with his trusty rifle, which is about as tall as he is. The attention to detail that HT put into this piece is almost ridiculous and in the few short years that the flick has been out, this weapon has become as iconic to me as anything in Star Wars. I should note that I found it extremely difficult to get Rocket’s gun-gripping hand around the grip and now that I have, I doubt I will ever take it off, even if I swap hands. Ah, but y’all know me and the fact that I don’t often use a lot of the extra hands and I can’t imagine ever wanting to display Rocket without his weapon.

I might as well talk about the Potted Groots here, because I see them mostly as accessories for Rocket. The original solicitation for this set advertised a Potted Groot as the Sideshow Exclusive for this set, but it does indeed come with two. One is just the stalk with the head and the other has his arms out like he’s dancing. These are beautifully crafted little pieces and I always have one of them displayed on Rocket’s base, even though the big Groot is behind him.

Speaking of bases, Rocket comes with the same style of figure stand that we saw with Star-Lord and Gamora. The only difference is rather than the crotch-cradle stand, Rocket features a transparent rod that plugs in and an adjustable gripping claw for the waist. This style of stand may seem like overkill for the little raccoon, but Hot Toys went this route for reasons that will be clear in tomorrow’s wrap up.

I usually talk financials at the end of a Feature, but I’ll toss it in here because it pertains mostly to Rocket. As part of the $360 set, Rocket’s price seems palatable to me, because in my head, I’m figuring Groot could be a $260 figure, but the $160 HT is asking for Rocket alone seems outrageous. At that price, he should have come with a second portrait and possibly even the Hadron Enforcer to sweeten the pot. It’s not a question of quality or craftsmanship, because that’s certainly all there, but when I consider that some of my first full sized Hot Toys were around $160-170, I just can’t see where all the money went. Maybe it’s a moot point, because I can’t imagine too many people buying Rocket without Groot and like I said, in my mind the two-figure bundle seems more reasonable, at least as far as Hot Toys prices are concerned.

Tomorrow, I’ll be back to check out Groot!