As I’m sure you know, many fans of World of Nintendo have been concerned by the lack of releases and the long gaps between releases this year.  The most recent wave was revealed quite a while ago and while two of the four figures showed up in several stores, the final two releases have been much harder to find.  It has taken me a couple of months of looking but I finally tracked down a new World of Nintendo figure at my local Meijer!  If you’re still out there looking for one, I would encourage you to keep looking as it may show up near you soon too.  With that said, this is an interesting figure to review because it is a new sculpt and it has taken so long to appear in stores.  Is the Hammer Bro figure worth the wait?  Let’s take a closer look and find out!

Box – We may have had a break in releases but the packaging art for Mario figures remains the same.  Hopefully one day we’ll see a shake up in the art style.I do want to credit Jakks for a pretty cool pose on the back.  It is not easy to achieve but it looks great and will probably sell some people on this figure!

Articulation – Many of the bad guys who get turned into figures do not have as nice of articulation as Mario or Luigi and that is the case with the Hammer Bro.  I found it difficult to achieve many poses beyond him throwing (or winding up to throw) his hammer.  While this is a little disappointing it fits the character and the type of actions a Hammer Bro takes in Mario games.  I would have liked more articulation in the elbows (which don’t bend all that much) and with the feet which are hard to make him look like he is running.  Either of these areas might have helped a bit with getting Hammer Bro into interesting poses but as it stands now, it is a standard figure for articulation.

Details – While the design of this figure is similar to the Koopa Troopa, I think Jakks Pacific handled this one well.  The Hammer Bro I purchased has minimal smudges and paint errors on it and the colors including the whites and yellows were applied well.  The back shell of the Hammer Bro and his helmet are the most striking parts and both look great.  While I wouldn’t say this is one of the best looking figures in the line, I do think Jakks did a pretty solid job and all of the ones I saw at my local Meijer were pretty high quality.

Accessory – Accessories that figures are designed to use have become more common in World of Nintendo and are a welcome change.  The hammer fits in with this trend as it can be placed in a hole in Hammer Bro’s hand to make it look like he is ready to throw.  The hammer fits in very snugly and I think there is a good chance that “paint rub” or paint transfer will occur eventually if you add and remove the hammer from his hand enough.  I am planning on leaving mine in his hand at all times to prevent this from happening but I could be wrong about paint rub.  If you run into any paint issues, please let us know in the comments below!  Overall, this is a solid accessory overall and is well made.

Closing Thoughts – While the posing options are somewhat limited, the rest of this figure is solid.  The design looks great and it is surprisingly fun to pose with other World of Nintendo figures.  Hammer Bro is a great addition to any Mario fan’s collection.  There isn’t anything revolutionary or terribly exciting about this figure but is still worth buying if you can track it down.  Jakks seems to be leaning heavily into Mario and that could mean we end up getting more classic characters like this in the near future.  There won’t be any complaints from me if that proves to be the case!