Collin says :

Rizzo the Rat

accessories : pizza in box w/ removable slice, glove machine, table, cheese, hat, headset, drink, 2 plates.
articulation : 8. Neck, ball joint shoulders, wrists, midsections, hips.

By far the tiniest of all the Muppets toys, and appropriately so. Palisades isn't afraid to keep in scale and make teensy figures as a result. Rizzo is one bojillionth the size of the Kitchen playset, which I've actually taken up residence in. I had to make up a word just to make an accurate comparison. Of course, they also make up for the tiny size of Rizzo by including a plethora of movie-related accessories. (Kind of like how guys buy fancy cars for... certain reasons). Can't say I've seen the movie... but it doesn't mean I don't want to. I won't pretend to know where all of these items are coming from... all I know is that they fit PERFECTLY as extra food items into the Kitchen... and a messy kitchen is an unbelievably fun kitchen. At the moment, Scooter, Kermit and Beaker are poking through the empty fridge.

Rizzo himself is really excellently done. Sculpted to perfection, and given articulation where he needs it most. The ball joints in the shoulders don't even look bulky. He can sit, he can wave, he can wear his hat and his headset comfortably. I was afraid that a non-magnetized hat would quickly fall off, but the abrasive texture of the hat keeps it on his head just fine. Of course, fitting 14 points of movement into Rizzo would have made him look choppy, so the balance is kept really well here. The joints are delicate, so it's good that I didn't have to crack any of them. They're tight and move smoothly.

I have a minor face problem, though. The whiskers, which weren't featured in many of the prototype photos, are great. Made out of thick fishing line or something similar, cut at uneven lengths and crooked... how a rat SHOULD look. However, there's a big cut running through the nose to get them in there, and it's not well disguised. There's also a cut along the jaw and behind the eyes, and that doesn't bug me as much. Everything else is wonderful. The red jacket is removable as well (and as a case variant, comes in blue also... as well as a super-exclusive black that is addressed in the 'exclusives' section), and well-printed with his name. His arms are sculpted jacket arms, and they look kinda grimy. I don't know if this is on purpose, but his undershirt also looks soiled.

The textures throughout are, as always, thoroughly realized and interesting. It's great to see how far we've come from smooth forms being enough to represent figures, into really model-like and detailed artworks,

The accessories are, as I said. plentiful. They're very Muppets in Space specific, and I think I'd have liked to see more generic stuff for Rizzo, as a table with cheese and poison on it doesn't fit well into the whole display... and the empty poison plate just leaves something to be desired. Sure, they add to the chaotic, energetic display... and that's really enough for now.

For a character I'm not overwhelmingly fond of, and a figure I expected to dislike, Rizzo is impressive and another fun display piece. He'll fit anywhere in your shelves, and that's pretty neat. It's amazing they could do so much with so little.

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