Diddy Kong

Hey, these non-Mario, non-Yoshi World of Nintendo figures are getting easier to find! Although he would never admit it, Diddy Kong is a Donkey Kong wannabe. His ambition in life is to be a videogame hero just like the big guy. And although Donkey Kong would never say it to Diddy's face, the kid has potential. He's fast, agile, and has the heart to be a world class videogame hero. He just needs a little more experience and, of course, exposure! Introduced in Donkey Kong Country, Diddy Kong was a replacement for Donkey Kong Jr. - Nintendo didn't approve of the redesign, so they said Rare could either go back to DK Jr's old design or just call him a new character, and the programmers clearly went with the latter. That's okay, because it allowed them to say that their DK was Junior all grown up, and that the original DK was now so old that everyone was calling him Cranky Kong. Fun! Despite being created by Rare, Diddy Kong wears a red baseball cap with the Nintendo logo emblazoned across the front - possibly to remind everyone who ultimately owns him. He's got that weird "single cartoon eye" thing, where there's no actual divide between the eyes. That must have been the thing to do in the '90s, because Sonic's got it, too. We can also assume that Diddy is a fan of Hardee's, because he's wearing a red tank top with yellow stars on it. Those are his only clothes: a hat and a shirt. In true cartoon style, he's not wearing any pants. This gives us a better opportunity to view his little vertical belly button and the fine coat of fur Jakks sculpted all over him (well, everywhere but the snout, ears, hands, belly and feet). Or maybe he's just foregone pants so he doesn't have to worry about cutting a hole for his long, curling tail to poke out. Diddy's articulation is pretty middle-of-the-road. He has a swivel neck, wrists, tail and ankles; hinged elbows and knees; and swivel/hinge shoulders and hips. He has no waist, although the upper and lower body are separate pieces. Because of the way his legs are designed, he can barely stand up straight, and it's difficult to have him walking on his knuckles and looking straight ahead instead of down at the ground. He's better than Bowser, but not as good as Link. Like the other 4" figures, Diddy Kong comes with a secret accessory. Can you guess what the secret accessory, from a game based on collecting bananas, hidden inside a box with bananas printed on it, might possibly be? That's right, a coconut! Sorry, I mean "a bunch of bananas." They have a fairly simple sculpt and no paint, but what else are you going to give Diddy? A barrel? A mine cart? Both way too big. Bananas it is! Diddy Kong is a pretty fun figure. He's better than some of the other World of Nintendo figures, but there's still room for improvement; that said, he really makes me want to get the big Donkey Kong figure now. -- 06/25/15

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