Groot

Is this Groot? I AM GROOT! JE SUIS GROOT! ICH BIN GROOT! ¡YO SOY GROOT! EU SOU GROOT! So yeah, he is Groot - he is, in fact, this Groot, the one from the three-pack with Thor and Rocket Raccoon. Normally it would be annoying that this is a straight double-dip of an existing toy, but it came out four years ago, and it was an exclusive; more than that, it was a Toys "Я" Us exclusive right at the end of their existence, the last one they ever released, so a whole lot of people never got a shot at it. It would be rude of me to be mad at other fans getting a chance at what I've already got. Besides, the accessories keep this from being a straight re-release. Instead of his game tablet, Teenage Groot has things no Groots before him have included: alternate hands! Since the beginning, Groot's thing has always been the ability to rapidly grow his limbs to incredible length, to grab (or impale) people far away, but the toys haven't followed suit. At last, this one does! He comes with one straight piece (which, at 4½" long, is nearly as tall as he is) and one that has curlier tendrils. They can both swap into either wrist, giving you plenty of display options. And then there's another hand, with the trigger finger extended to hold his angular space-rifle. Neat! It looks like something Rocket would have given him. It's tough to get the fingers onto the grip, but since the hand can just be removed from the figure, mine will probably stay on the gun from now on. This Groot's paint is a lighter brown than the last use of this mold, but the only new part of his body is the head. It's the same youthful appearance as before, and the upper edge of the head is a nearly identical shape (higher on the left than the right, hollow in the middle), but the cheeks are a little more rounded and there are more sprigs of "hair" growing out of it. It's a minor difference, but it does exist. Since this body is so small and so heavily reused, you can probably guess he's the one that has Korg's chest - big BAF pieces take up a lot of space in the package and in the budget. Even being nigh-identical to an existing figure, this Groot still has enough cool new stuff to not feel like a rip-off. And if you weren't able to get the old exclusive, even better! -- 05/07/22

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