The New Day

MC Chris would be proud. My first exposure to The New Day was actually via popular videogame website Giant Bomb, where friends Xavier Woods and Senior Editor/guy-who-got-married-at-Taco-Bell Dan Rykert have an ongoing rivalry over games. It wasn't until more recently I properly discovered Xavier's tag team group The New Day, and have been a fan since. Despite working for the WWE, a company well known for, let's say, not really knowing what to do with non-white performers [arguably, nowadays, the white performers as well --ed.] The New Day have broken out with a variety of great antics in and out of the ring. They put on a terrific show and bring some much needed showmanship and over-the-top characters to the current roster. Nothing exemplifies this better than that time they emerged from a giant box of Booty-O's cereal during Wrestlemania 32, donning Saiyan armor and what appears to be Saiyan-inspired hair. That amusing outing led to the creation of today's terrific action figure set immortalizing this memorable event. Don't you dare be sour! Clap for your world-famous two-time champs, and feel the power! The box itself is exactly the same size as an actual cereal box you'd get at the store, and includes the same art on front as at Wrestlemania. The back features a pop-out unicorn booticorn mask with instructions, and the front opens with a window box to reveal the characters inside. Straight off the bat you can see that this is the trio in the same garb as at Wrestlemania, sans the cardboard armor, likely not included to avoid copyright issues. Otherwise, this is a great and accurate version of the box from the event and an amazing display piece by itself. The box opens at the top via tab and you can easily take the figures out of their plastic and put them back in, making this idea for your average collector like myself who wants to take these figures out for play and display, but ultimately wants to keep them in the box. A dynamic Superstar with plenty of brains - he's currently earning his Ph.D. in educational psychology in addition to his two bachelor's degrees in psychology and philosophy and a master's in psychology - Woods is far more intelligent than his off-key trombone bleating may let on. He's damn good in the ring, too, snatching multiple WWE Tag Team Championships alongside his New Day crew of Big E and Kofi Kingston. It was yo go re who brought it to my attention that Xavier's trombone, Francine, isn't just a wrestling prop to hit others with, but an instrument he actually plays and incredibly well! Making it all the more awesome an inclusion in this set, as both an accessory for Woods or a prop for your other wrestlers to beat each other up with. Xavier stands slightly taller than the others, at about 7", courtesy of his goofy Super Saiyan hair. This is a terrific sculpt, capturing not just the likeness, but also the tone of Xavier in "character" - all of the figures here are a blast! This is shared by the terrific paint, where all of the logos and different patterns on the clothing look absolutely perfect, identical to the costume in the ring. The face shares the great paint, with no overspray or issues. Mattel has hit this out of the park. Take special note of the way the lacing is actually sculpted into the back of the unicorn boots, an amazing touch that few would even notice. Articulation-wise, the Elite series boasts very good articulation and Xavier is no different, with a balljointed neck, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, hinged elbows, swivel/hinged wrists, hinged torso, swivel waist, balljointed hips, swivel thighs, double-hinged knees, and balljointed ankles. The latter are especially handy in keeping the toy standing in any goofy pose you want. It's awesome, and so are the other two in the group. As the veteran member of the team, Kofi Kingston provides his wealth of knowledge to his younger compadres, and it has paid off. Not only has The New Day become one of the most popular factions in WWE history, but ya boys have held four Tag Team Championships between their stints on Raw and SmackDown LIVE, including the longest reign in WWE history - an astonishing 483 days. Standing just over 6" tall, Kofi is just as impressive as Xavier Woods. To start with, although Kofi doesn't have a musical instrument accessory, he does have the same unicorn-horn headpiece that he wore after emerging from the Booty-O's box, which is removable but stays very nicely clipped to his head for display or play. The face sculpt here is great, capturing his personality as well as his likeness, and I'm amazed at how much detail the paint brings out. I'm especially impressed here by the detail on Kofi's tattoos (which I assume are completely accurate) as well as the excellent detail on his clothing. The unicorn-boots here are a great touch too, and it's worth taking a moment to admire the good work done on the hair sculpt; it isn't easy to capture hair like this on toys without it looking like claggy clay, but this stands out as the short dreadlocks and looks perfect. Kofi shares Xavier's articulation, giving him a lot of playability and poseability. Props for Mattel for making a solid and durable toy that will stand up to play, while also standing up in nigh whatever wacky pose you want to give him. The New Day love to have a good time. Good times come easy when you have a powerhouse like Big E on your team who is willing to wear a unicorn horn on his head. Incorporating the Power of Positivity, Big E revealed his fun-loving side, heralding The New Day's arrival with his booming voice and never hesitating to shake his hips mid-match – before crushing his opponents with a devastating splash, of course. Big E might be my favourite of the group here, with his hysterical look of open-mouth joy that I frequently share and delight in. Although he didn't wear one on the show, he includes a similar unicorn-horn headpiece to Kofi, which stays well on his head, but is easily removed. Big E is nearly as tall as Xavier with his hair, at nearly 7", and has the most delightful sculpt of The New Day. It makes me happy just to look at him, and looks perfect in nearly any pose. As with the others, the amount of detail on the paint here is incredible, with that fantastic unicorn emblazoned across his costume with no overspray or issues. The whole toy is superb, sharing that same great articulation and with really solid joints, holding him in any pose you want. This is an absolutely terrific three-pack, and if you're a fan you owe it to yourself to get this. It's a great MIB display piece as well as an awesome set to put on the shelf. Put the box in the cupboard with your actual cereal boxes and see if your girlfriend notices! The only thing that would make it better is cut-out Saiyan armor to put on your figures, and if you're crafty, you might be able to find some online to print out and add to the toys... -- 03/07/18

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