So I think everyone has heard about Funko‘s new line of My Little Pony vinyl figures, but if you’ve been living under a rock they’re solid vinyl with molded hair and a brand new sculpt, standing a little bit shorter than the Fashion Style size ponies. The first two out are Rainbow Dash and Derpy Hooves (Ditzy Doo, Bubbles, etc) and they’re available at Hot Topic and some comic stores that carry Funko products.

I’ve acquired both Rainbow and Derpy, and they both took turns modeling for a photo shoot. Look behind the cut for photos and my review.

Plastic Fantastic

I got mine today and I am… underwhelmed. I don’t own any other Funko items but the ones I’ve seen in stores (the POP! lines) and such led me to expect better.

First things first: I do like the sculpt, I appreciate that they used a different hair mold for Dash and Derpy, and I like the size. It’s the fit and finish that needs work.

Rainbow Dash gets the worst of it, her hair is full of paint errors and smudges. Her cutie mark’s registration is off (the red and yellow part of the lightning bolt is separated from the blue part and the white cloud.) The vinyl has an odd and visible texture that shows up every seam and mold flaw, including a divot on her display side cheek. Three seams meet on the side of her head near her ear. Her tail is actually two pieces and the seam is very obvious and not lined up that well, the mane is a bit better but still has a divot in the paint on top and a big seam. Dash’s eyes are purple rather than magenta and the airbrushing is a bit fuzzy.

Derpy Hooves (or Ditzy Doo, Bubbles, whatever you prefer) makes out a bit better as her hair is unpainted plastic. Unlike Rainbow her eyes are not airbrushed, at first I thought they were done with a brush but now I think they’re pad printed and the weird texture showing through looks a bit like faint brush strokes. Her cutie mark has been simplified to 5 vertically elongated bubbles instead of 7 round ones, I’m unsure why as the full mark should have fit easily. What was definitely different was that she was really freakin’ dirty when I took her out of the box. There were brown flecks all over her hair and small dirty smudges on her body.

My verdict is that the Funko ponies are ten footers. They look fantastic from ten feet away, but when you get up close the flaws start jumping out at you. I think a matte finish on the body would go a long way towards improving these toys, as well as better QC on paint and mold flaws. The prototype versions posted by fuwa fuwa on the Funko Funatics forum appear to have closer fitting seams, and although there’s only three pictures, I don’t see any of the divots that plague the retail versions.

Should you buy them? They do look good. If the flaws don’t bother you (or you can fix them) then go for it. If you’re expecting something in the vein of figma in terms of detail and finish, you will be disappointed. If you want a large pony with molded hair that looks pretty good, then this is your toy right here. ■