When I started getting into the Neopets website and creating pets I never expected to get hooked on collecting the various pieces of merchandise. Chalk it up to clever marketing or really liking some of the species that can be found at the site but a few months after creating an account I started buying Neopet items. When they came out with the collectible figurines I didn’t really think much of them, they were a little on the small side and the suggested retail price seemed a little too high for what you got. I started seeing some of the less popular pets on clearance at Wal-Mart for $1.00 and grabbed a few of them. I never expected to see a Grundo there because they are one of the more popular pets in the Space Station so I was sure to snap him up. That’s when I noticed a boy about the age of ten or eleven shoving some plastic containers behind some other merchandise. I hung out in the aisle until he left then curiosity got the best of me and I had to see what he was stashing away. Low and behold, there were about ten different Neopet figures. It might sound cruel but I rifled through them and tossed the ones that I wanted into my cart.

Neopet Collectible Figurine Grundo

If you’ve seen the Grundo at the website you know exactly what this thing looks like. I’m not going to lie and say that he is the cutest Neopet but to know a Grundo is to love a Grundo. I was never really into them at the site until I came across one at the pound; someone created one of them and discarded it. It was hungry, low on hit points and borderline stupid so I chose him as my last pet [you can only have four pets at any given time] with the hopes of rehabilitating him then sending him back to the pound to a [hopefully] new owner. That was months ago and I still have him and guess what, he isn’t going back to the pound. For whatever reason I fell in love with that alien like creature and he gets spoiled rotten like the rest of my Neopets. If you are interested in learning more about the Grundo species you get check the website; just enter the word ‘grundo’ in the search box and you’ll get an Neopedia entry on them.

Since these were on sale for a dollar there weren’t any color options; the one that I ended up with is green - one of the basic colors of a Grundo. He’s got big bulging eyes and outstretched arms with a plump body. His head is tilted slightly to the side which gives him a cuter look than the ones that are staring straight ahead. From what I saw on Neopet fan and message boards there are several basic colors that this figure comes in; red, green, blue, white and yellow were the ones that people mentioned seeing or owning. He’s a little over an inch and a half tall so he looks perfect when he’s around other figures in the collection. This one shouldn’t be confused with the larger three inch high figures that are made of the same hard plastic. They have a higher suggested retail price and, duh, are twice the size. If you are going to try to buy these online make sure that you read the description of them carefully or you might end up with something completely different. This comes packaged in a thin plastic carton with a black base that he can be positioned on.

One important thing to remember about this is that it is a ‘collectible’ item; it will stand up to a lot of use and can easily be cleaned if it gets dusty or dirty but it will show scrapes or marks if it’s tossed around a lot. These are suggested for children over the age of three but I can’t see many kids under the age of six being into them unless they see someone playing at the Neopet site. This does not come with any type of TCG [The Card Game] cards or Rare Item Codes so please don’t believe people that are selling them online that are advertising them as having these perks. If you are planning on buying these to collect you better get a move on, Thinkway and Neopets have released other items since these were debuted and they are no longer actively producing this part of the figurine collection so once they are gone, they are gone for good.

Price

As I mentioned, I found these for one dollar at my local Wal-Mart. The best place to look for these is in the sale or clearance aisle but if your store is anything like mine, it will take a little bit of poking around to find them. When they were first introduced they sold for $2.99 to $4.99 - a little more than I was willing to pay for a simple little figure. When they dropped the price to one dollar I couldn’t pass them up. If you do come across them you can stock up on them and give them out as stocking stuffers around the holidays. The packages are small enough to fit inside stocking or you could buy a bunch of them and toss them in a box. Even though I am a Neopet addict, there’s no way I would pay more than a couple of dollars for these. The only way I’d pay the full price is if I was looking to complete a collection.

The Bottom Line

I can’t really complain about my Grundo. I would have liked a white one but hey, for a dollar I couldn’t be choosy. There is a three pack of Grundo figures that includes a Starry one but I haven’t been able to track that down anywhere online. If you are a fan of the Grundo species at the website then this is a great thing to keep your eyes peeled for. It doesn’t talk or have any movable limbs but it is nice to have if you are a Neopet addict. About the only downside to these is that they do get knocked over a lot. I have most of them on the top of my computer monitor and the least little bump and they start falling like an avalanche. I solved with by putting a little bit of poster putty on the bottoms of them to keep them in place. This doesn’t harm the plastic or the color of them, leaves behind no residue and it can be removed in a few seconds.


As always, thanks for the read!

~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~

© 2006 Freak369


Neopet related reviews ...

Hasbro Neopets Deluxe World Meridell Game
Hasbro Neopets Deluxe World Faerie Land Game
Thinkway Interactive Neopet Talking Shoyru Plushie
Thinkway Interactive Neopet Talking Uni Plushie
Hasbro Playskool Neopet Mutant Kacheek Interactive Game
Neopets Official Magazine • NeoPets Online

Neopet Collectible Figurines

Chomby, Scorchio, Uni and Shoyru

And the NP making editorials ..

Neopets: The Scams, Hacks, Cheats & Darkside of Neopia
The Dark Side of Neopets: Pant Devil, Dr. Sloth, Boo Brothers, Esophagor & Tax Beast!
The Neopets Primer: Getting Stared On That First Million!
The Neopet Primer II: Making The Second Million!
So You Want To Get Rich At Neopets? Quests, Quests & More Quests!
Spoil Your Neopet! Get Them Their Very Own Petpet!





Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): $1.00
Type of Toy: Action Figure
Age Range of Child: Whole Family