If you’re a long time reader, you may have noticed a pattern in what World of Nintendo figures I review.  For me, I’m looking for any characters I like and can’t get in Amiibo form or something that is at least a little different than what the Amiibo offers.  More often than not, it ends up being a Mario figure and that is certainly the case here.  Mario is my favorite Nintendo franchise and the Para Troopa has not been seen in Amiibo form yet.  That and he builds off of previous releases so well that I was excited to see him in Toys R Us.  With that said, I reviewed the World of Nintendo Goomba figure and it was a little disappointing, so it will be interesting to see how this one turns out.

Articulation – One of the pleasant surprises with this figure is that it actually has pretty good articulation.  The arms bend at the elbow like Mario and Luigi’s do.  Para Troopa’s head can swivel from side to side and can go up and down a little bit too.  This is uncommon in World of Nintendo figures so it is very nice to see.  Para Troopa’s legs are the only area that might have been stronger.  There is a swivel at the knees which is not terribly helpful and it would have been much nicer if they could bend like the elbows do. The legs can go up and back a little bit so you can get a decent running pose.  My criticism of most 4″ World of Nintendo figures is applicable here.  There is not bad articulation but there isn’t really that much posing to be done here.  The best look you can get is a running/walking pose which matches the Mario games well.

Accessory – Paratroopa does come with one of the most useful accessories yet.  The wings fit nicely into the holes in his shell and they can be moved to a more vertical or horizontal position depending on your preference as you can see in the pictures below.  If you don’t mind the holes in the back showing, your Para Troopa can always be a regular Koopa Troopa without wings in your display too.  The wings look fantastic and have nice sculpted detail.  Jakks Pacific really nailed that part of this figure.

Size Comparison – Another nice part of this figure is that Para Troopa scales well with other World of Nintendo figures.  He is a bit taller than the oversized Goomba, but well short of Cat Luigi.  I doubt Jakks Pacific is carefully making each figure to be in scale, but I do think Para Troopa fits nicely with the other Mario figures and will look great in any display you make.

Closing Thoughts – The only thing I didn’t mention was the paint/details in my review because honestly, there isn’t much to say.  It is a simple and well-executed paint job and really that describes this figure as a whole.  Other than inferior articulation at the knees, I can’t find almost anything that could be improved with this figure.  I don’t know how popular Para Troopa will be and you certainly need to be a Mario fan to want this guy, but if you decide to pick him up, you will be pleasantly surprised to get one of the Jakks Pacific’s most solid World of Nintendo figures.