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Groot

Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3
by yo go re

We keep getting all these trees, and we soon won't be able to see the forest!

Grown into a more mature tree, Groot uses his new body changes and more advanced skills to help build Knowhere and protect his family.

One of the problems with writing a superhero team-up book is that no major developments can happen in your stories. Like, if you're in charge of JLA, you can't suddenly decide to have Flash grow a big, bushy beard and get a new girlfriend - that has to happen in Flash's main book. The same thing is true in the MCU: no character development outside your main series. That's why "Sapling Groot" can become "Baby Groot" and eventually "Teen Groot" in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but he'll remain "Teen" through Infinity War and Love and Thunder, and can only become "Theme-Park Walkaround Costume" Groot in the Christmas special.

Instead of being the Build-A-Figure for this series, Groot is sold by himself - he's in a larger box than the rest, and doesn't have any pieces of Cosmo, although she is a GOOD DOG, so he's really more of an adjacent release than part of the first series. But hey, he's nice and big, it's kind of to be expected. James Gunn has said he wasnted to make it clear that the Groot who who was in Volume 1 was not the same individual as the Groot who was in the rest of the movies: this wasn't Wolverine regrowing his body and still being "him," this was Groot II, with his own experiences and personality.

Part of that is why his body looks so different now. This Groot only stand about 7½" tall, as opposed to the BAF's 9", but his limbs are already much thicker. He's not a clone of old Groot, he's a different individual raised in different circumstances, so there's no reason he'd need to be a perfect copy. The bark on his body still imitates anatomy - wooden pecs, wooden glutes, etc. - it's just bulkier all around. The sculptural detailing on the wood is done intricately, lots of creeping thin lines following the curves of the body. While there are a few random leaves sprouting from his body, the top of his head is flatter than before, without the small twigs covering his scalp.

The brown of Groot's body is a warm, reddish shade, with a few darker areas painted on. There's some green painted on him - possibly moss, possibly new growth - but it's almost entirely on the front of the toy. Excluding the head and the shoulder-flaps, there's just a single stripe of green back there.

Despite being a digital creation, Vol. 3 Groot looks like he could be a person in a costume. He's built like the Michael Chiklis live-action Thing, so he could easily have been a practical effect with some digital enhancements (like the early Iron Man suits).The figure has swivel/hinges at the ankle, knees, wrists, elbows, and shoulders; swivel thighs, biceps, and shoulder flaps; balljointed hips, chest, and head; and a hinged neck. The elbows may have swivels going up into the upper arm, but it's a tight fit, so don't expect much more than a hinge.

The figure has alternate fists to replace his open hands, plus something that we'd technically qualitfy as a spoiler: a big pair of wings that can plug into his back. Yes, like Swamp Thing, Groot can fly. Or at least glide. And yes, all the toys show the wings, but that doesn't make them not a spoiler. If it's something the narrative doesn't want you to know before it comes up, it's a spoiler, and we definitely weren't supposed to know about the wings until they happened. They certainly don't look very aerodynamic, but since they're removable (one is molded onto a backpack, the other slots into it, and then the whole thing plugs into Groot's back), if you don't like 'em, you don't have to suffer them.

We've had several Baby Groots, including one with a Rocket Raccoon, so it's kind of coming full circle to have this Groot include a Baby Rocket. It's a single solid piece showing a raccoon sitting cutely on his butt, but there's nothing really "Baby Rocket" about it, particularly the size: compared to the humans in the line, this is the size of a full-grown adult raccoon. Perhaps a small adult, but an adult nonetheless. Honestly, a true Baby Rocket would need to be about the size of the Orb from the first movie.

Groot is fine, but as long as we were getting spoiler-y accessories for him, there's something else that would have been a lot cooler. We won't say what, since it's still a spoiler, but if you've seen the movie, you know; it was basically in the same scene, just earlier. Honestly, we'd have much preferred to not get the wings, and then also not have this cost $39.

-- 05/13/23


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