Scooby-Doo! 50 Years

Growing up one of my favorite cartoons of all time was none other than Scooby-Doo. I would be in a trance watching the show afternoons after school, so much at times that my mom would knew how to punish me good...by taking away Scooby!

I did not know that 2019 was the 50th anniversary of the Scooby gang. I also did not know that a line of action figures celebrating 50 years were going to be released as Walmart exclusives either. When I finally found these a few months ago I quickly snatched up a few of the twin packs. Priced at $5.96 I couldn't pass these up, regardless of how good I thought they would be. 

Now that it's Halloween I finally sat down to open and photograph the figures and I realized I forgot to pick up Shaggy! I almost decided to forego posting this until I got Shaggy, but after all...it's Halloween so here we go!

Frightface Scooby and the Black Knight

Scooby-Doo chases ghosts and ghouls with the rest of the Mystery Inc., but he'd much rather keep busy with a "Scooby Snack!" His best friend is Shaggy, and you can usually find both of them either running away from a monster or snacking on double-decker sandwiches in the back of the Mystery Machine.

The Black Knight is a large, black suit of armor that is rumored to come alive at night when the moon is full. Despite being made out of heavy metal, the Black Knight moves very quickly. You never know where he is - until he is right behind you!

There are two different two figure packs that feature Scooby. I chose this one for the frightface "action" feature. This version comes packaged with the Black Knight, although you'll notice he's actually not black.

Scooby overall has a nice sculpt. His paint apps are all applied pretty good, from his black spots to his nose and collar. Surprisingly his legs feature more articulation that I would have imagined. They rotate a full 360 degrees where they attach to the body. The "elbow" and knee joints are pins and allow for about a 45 degree range of motion. His hips are a little wide, but this almost natural. His tail is not articulated.

On the back of his neck is a little tab that slides up and down. This activates his frightface feature, where his eyes extend from his head and his tongue sticks out. I find this to be a nice touch as Scooby often had a real animated face in the cartoon.

I found the Black Knight figure to be rather boring. I looks like a suit of armor, but it has no real character. The only paint apps are the yellow on the face and the red crest on top of the helmet.

The Black Knight is more articulated than some of the other larger monster figures in the series. He has points of articulation at the shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. This articulation however is limited outside of the shoulders which give a full 360 degrees. The hips are partially limited due to the armor's skirt, but I could pull off a walking pose...imagination required of course.

Daphne Blake and the Wolfman

Fashionable, curious, and a magnet for trouble! Her tendency to plunge into scary situations has earned her the nickname "Danger Prone Daphne," as every choice she makes seems to put her in harm's way!

A supernatural looking creature with frightening fangs, the Wolfman uses his super strength to scare everyone in his path.

When I first ran across these figures at Walmart I could only find the Shaggy and the two Scooby sets. The packs with Daphne and Velma were no where to be found. I don't know the ratio of the figures in the case, but since my initial find I have now found both of the ladies on multiple occasions. 

Daphne comes dressed in her iconic purple dress with pink leggings and a green scarf around her neck. The face sculpt seems to be modeled after her more modern cartoon appearance versus the classic Hanna Barbera cartoon I grew up with. Her right hand is sculpted in a manner with which she can hold something, but as far as I can tell none of the figure packs come with accessories.

The shoulders, elbows, helps and knees are articulated. At first I thought her right arm was assembled backwards as there is a large piece of plastic that hinders the movement at the elbow. I'm still not 100% convinced this wasn't assembled wrong. Her dress also hinders the hip movement, not allowing a sitting motion. I know the figure fits in the Mystery Machine van that is sold separately, but I guess she has to stand inside the van since she can't sit? 

The Wolfman is has that classic look from the cartoon which I love. The oversized coat, tattered pants and the pale skin/face all look great. Not sure why his feet are yellow though when his hands are white?

The only articulation you'll find on the Wolfman is in the arms. His right arm moves up and down while the left arm has a full 360 degrees of motion. His legs don't move and combined with his small feet make him hard to stand, especially if his arms are raised. This makes him more top heavy and adds to the tendency to tip over forward.

Velma and Frankenstein's Monster

Velma is the resident whiz kid of Mystery Inc. Her hyper-analytical mind deciphers clues almost as fast as she can say "Jinkies!" Although the group tries to stick together, Velma often ends up wandering off by herself, searching for the next clue. While Scooby-Doo's weakness is snacks, Velma's weakness is her glasses. Without her black-rimmed specs, she's lost!

He's tall, dark and gruesome. Frankenstein's Monster has jet-black hair and sunken eyes that are offset by sallow green skin...and a scowl.

The character of Velma always got on my nerves, from her smart comments to her losing her glasses and being rendered as utterly useless. This figure, like Daphne, seems to be modeled after her new animation model over the classic. The paint apps on this figure are a little more limited, as the little bows that were molded in her brown hair were not painted. Her eyes are painted on the blue lenses of her glasses. While it works in animation, I can't but think it looks odd on the figure.

Velma is the smallest figure of the Scooby gang, however she sports the same articulation as the other figures. Her skirt too hinders her leg movement, but at least each leg moves independently of each other. Just like Daphne, Velma's right hand is molded to hold something. There is a small hole in her fist, but she didn't come packaged with any type of accessory. Hmm?

Frankenstein's Monster is the best of the monster figures I've purchased thus far. He's big, solid and looks fantastic. His overall sculpt is awesome and his paint apps are spot on. I love his how legs and feet are a little mangled looking.

Articulation is very limited on Frankenstein's Monster. His arms can rotate a full 360 degrees and that's it. I would have liked it if his head moved or even his waist, but for a $3 figure you can't expect too much.

To this day I still enjoy Scooby-Doo and I'm glad that I picked these up. I still need to grab Shaggy and possibly Fred and the Mystery Machine van. I'm not sure where I'll display these in my office, but I'll find a place eventually. Overall for $6 these are fun, yet simple figures. They seem pretty plentiful at Walmart stores in my area so I'm sure you can find them where you live if you are interested in picking them up for yourself or for your kid.