*~*Introduction and reason for purchase*~*
I have two sons aged 7 and 8 and both are big fans of Super Mario and all of the corresponding characters that are involved. I would say that my younger son Zak is probably a bigger fan and though has gone on and off different brands of toys etc over the years, Super Mario has been consistent in his life and he enjoys the characters through regularly playing on the wii.

When we were on holiday last October in Mablethorpe, we were perusing a local toy shop where we came across several of the Super Mario figures and as both boys were desperate to spend holiday money on a toy of some sort my elder son Kieran purchased Mario whilst Zak bought Luigi.

My review will now discuss Zak's choice Luigi..



*~*Appearance*~*
The Luigi figure my son picked is 5 inches in height and has a solid and robust appearance to him, being somewhat bulky as opposed to the more 'slim line' action figures available such as Spiderman. Dressed in his 'uniform' of blue dungarees with yellow buttons, brown boots, white gloves, green long sleeve top and matching green cap with his trademark 'L' emblazoned on the front on a white circular background.


*~*Price, packaging & availability*~*
My son spotted this figure at an independent toy shop where it was priced at a quite reasonable £7.99. I say reasonable as this particular toy shop is one we often frequent on our holidays but as the prices are so astronomical it's a case of just looking and buying cheaper elsewhere. When I saw the price I was very surprised at how cheap it was and agreed that Zak could buy it from there if he wanted. If interested it can be bought from large toy chains such as Toys 'r' Us, as well as online from Amazon where it's priced at £8.15 and it's general RRP is around the £8 mark.

Luigi and all of the other Nintendo related characters come housed in a moulded transparent packaging with a cardboard backing. The cardboard is a bright red colour so even if the character doesn't attract your (or your child's) attention then the packaging certainly will. Because the plastic surrounding is completely see through Luigi can be seen clearly which is good rather than been semi hidden in a cardboard box so you can see just what you are getting for your money.

The packaging may be attractive but is neither child friendly or adult friendly to get into for that matter, even with sharp scissors I still found it difficult to open and once the cardboard was removed the plastic packaging was quite sharp around the edges so please be aware if purchasing.


*~*Who is he?*~*
Luigi is best known as the mustached, tall slimmer brother of Mario, the italian plumber, best known to Nintendo fans around the world as Super Mario, where he helps to rescue Princess Peach and generally save the world.


*~*Suitability*~*
I was very surprised to see that this figure is aimed at children 7+ as on inspection there are no small parts or anything that I would class as hazardous enough to classify it for 7 year olds. The packaging is about the most 'dangerous' thing and that can be said about many children's toys these days.


*~*Playability*~*
Both of my sons love to play with action figures and create their own little stories which I love to see as it's putting their ideas through imagination into play, rather than just sitting staring at the TV in a trance (not that I have anything against the telly!). I'd seen both the Luigi and Mario figures whilst perusing Amazon a few months previous for some Birthday and Christmas present ideas so knew the second that they spotted them they would want one or more.

I was quite surprised that Zak chose the Luigi figure as he normally prefers Mario, but he seemed keen on wanting Luigi so I let him buy it out of his spending money and as it turned out my other son Kieran then decided he wanted to buy Mario so knew they could swap if they wanted to.

The figure itself is about as aesthetically pleasing as it can get because lets face it neither Mario nor Luigi would win in the 'hunky italian stakes'! Luigi features a large round nose with large flicked mustache perched beneath, his (quite large) ears just stick out from underneath his green cap with his brown hair having a wavy effect that flicks out at the back in small peaks which is touchable. The packaging advertises this figure as being poseable and whilst it is it is very limited with only the arms moving from the shoulder area upwards and downwards and with the head having minimal movement. Luigi's white gloved hands are gripped in a fist position and even these don't move which is a shame as if there was a slight space between his hands he could at least grip on to something or even 'hold' something.

The figure has flat brown coloured boots which are around 1 1/2 centimetres in length so at least the character is stable and sturdy when stood upright and doesn't fall over easily - much to the pleasure of Zak who likes to line him up alongside other figures on his drawers on a night before bed.


*~*Recommended?*~*
My children like to play battles with their figures - they are boys after all - but they are quite respective of their toys and are not rough with them and still have things from when they were much younger which are still in very good condition so I was quite surprised by something that happened to this figure not long after buying.

'Mario' and 'Luigi' were sliding down a rope slide (this is where the space in the gripped hands would have come in handy as pointed out by 8yr old Kieran) when Luigi hit the ground and his head promptly came off!! I was in the room at the time and witnessed the fact that the toy didn't hit the ground with much impact and the head had been sturdily fixed on before his descent so was quite appalled by the quality at this point and thanked heaven that they both were over 7 as recommended.

The actual toy has since been mended by my husband who managed to glue the head back on though now obviously it doesn't move but Zak still loves playing with him though is scared that some other part of Luigi will drop off next so is extra careful! The quality was deceptive from my point of view as it looked the part but wasn't up to being played with which seems daft given that it is supposedly an 'action figure' so I would have thought it would have been made a little bit more robust.

Having said that, we've had no problems at all with the Mario figure so I'm beginning to wonder if it was just a 'duff' one we happened to pick and if it had been from a shop nearer to home then I wouldn't have hesitated to take it back and complain, as I know two other people with this figure who have had no qualms with it whatsoever. I'm still not sure where the 7+ age bracket comes from exactly as there really are no sharp parts or even small pieces that could come off (with the exception of the head incident and even then it's not small) so if you have children under 7 that are are fans of Mario and Luigi then I would actually recommend it as ours was simply a bad experience.


*~*Conclusion*~*
This isn't the most exciting action figure out there as it's movements are quite limited but my son(s) adore it and it is in constant use which is always a good sign so is popular with my children. The plastic figure is easy to hold, has plenty of detail and looks authentic just like the Nintendo game character so I'm going to award this 4 stars.