Buffy The Vampire Slayer

November 23, 2004

Buffy the Vampire Slayer had no shortage of monsters, demons or vampires. It also had no shortage of beautiful women, and by the time Diamond Select Toys is done, they’ll all have been immortalized in plastic, multiple times.

The latest edition to the line is Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins, or Anya as she was normally called on the show. An ex-vengeance demon, she became an integral part of the show, and always seemed to get to wear the skimpiest outfits. Nobody was complaining.

Tonight I’m reviewing two versions of Anya - Fear Itself and Once More With Feeling. There is a standard version of Anya, and you can expect to see at least one more version, as her demon self Anyanka. I’m betting there will be additional exclusives to chose from, if I know Diamond Select.

Emma Caulfield brought a light-hearted, goofy nature to Anya, and one of her more unusual quirks was her abject fear of bunny rabbits. In the Halloween episode Fear Itself, she went out dressed up in the scariest costume she could think of - a giant, cute bunny.

The episode Once More With Feeling was one of the best of the entire series, a musical. That it was done so well, and carried the overall story and season arc without being silly, amazed fans and critics alike. Ms. Caulfield was impressive in both singing and dancing, so it’s no surprise that episode was chosen for another version of the action figure.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can always reach me at mwc@mwctoys.com. If you enjoy this review, take a minute to check out my other site at Michael’s Review of the Week, and let me know what you think. Now on to the review!

"Diamond Select ’Once More With Feeling’ Anya and ’Fear Itself’ Anya"

This is actually not the first time we’ve gotten the Fear Itself Anya. Collectors should remember that Moore Action Collectibles already produced Anya in her bunny suit, but she was extremely limited and is now tough to find. Also, her bunny suit wasn’t removable, so this Anya has all that and a bag of chips over the original.

You can find both these figures at a number of on-line retailers (suggestions at the end of the review), and should cost you around $12 - $15. Technically, the OMWF version is a Tower Records exclusive, but you can find it through at least one on-line store that I have listed below.

Packaging - *** The style and color of these card backs is really starting to grow on me. Of course, it may simply be due to the fumes caused by a dozen different versions of Willow, but the earth tones and the use of specific pictures of each character on the front make these very attractive. I do wish they were easier to store for the MOCers, but that’s not a huge issue.

And if you’re one of those wimps that complain about clamshells being too tough to open, this package will tear open easy enough even for you.

Sculpting - *** If you thought Buffy and Willow were tough sculpts to capture, you haven’t taken a good look at Anya. Emma Caulfield who plays here is very pretty, but like most pretty women, doesn’t have extremely distinguishable facial characteristics. Still, Diamond (and Moore) have done a great job capturing her look.

The OMWF version has her hair up, a great look, and the detail work on both the hair and face is excellent. The FI version has her hair down, not too shabby of a look either, with sculpted blouse and blue jeans under the bunny suit. It would be tough to pick one version that I liked better, since the represent two very different looks, but if I could only have one, it would be the FI look. I think the body sculpt is better, but your mileage will vary. Another nice feature of the FI Anya is the amulet around her neck, which hangs loose although permanent.

The OMWF version is sculpted in the top and skirt from the episode, with a different pose to her legs. This version doesn’t stand well without the included stand, but the FI version can stand fine on her own.

Neither of the hand sculpts are intended to work with any accessories, but look fine for a number of poses. The scale of these figures - 6" - fits in perfectly with the past and present Buffy/Angel figures, so you can pose Anya with Xander, Spike or any of the rest of the Scooby Gang.

Paint - *** In the photos you’ll notice a number of stray paint marks on the OMWF version. This is a good example of something being easy to see with a close up photo, but very hard to notice in person. Of course, that might also be because I’m color blind, and the color of the sloppy paint is close enough to the flesh color to be difficult for me to see. But I suspect that most folks won’t notice it without looking very, very closely.

Still, the paint ops are a tad messy, with some bleed between colors and fuzzy definition at the edges. Overall, it’s not terrible, but a little below the kind of quality you might expect on the specialty market.

Articulation - Fi Anya ***; OMWF Anya ** The FI version of Anya is fairly articulated, with neck, shoulder, elbow, waist, hips and knees. You’ll have no trouble getting her to stand, although you’ll have to play a bit to find just the right position that does the trick. The arm articulation doesn’t do much for posing, but with OMWF Anya you have even fewer choices.

She only has neck and shoulders. Yep, only three points. I couldn’t get her legs or waist to turn, and while the dress would restrict things to some degree, not having any articulation adds to her trouble standing up. You’re going to be pretty much stuck with arms at her side, standing by the cash register.

Accessories - **1/2 Both figures include a display stand, a piece of the tile floor from the magic shop. The stands work fine, if a little plain. Both figures also come with a terrifying rabbit, painted exactly the same.

The OMWF Anya has part of the magic shop counter, and an old style cash register. Anya loved that shop, almost as much as she loved money, and perhaps more than Xander. Both accessories look great, and are in perfect scale.

The FI Anya includes the bunny suit I mentioned earlier. It comes in two pieces - the body suit, and the hood. It takes a little work and adjusting to get the suit to fit, and you have to be very careful to not damage the arms when you are trying to get the hands through the small sleeves, but with a little effort you’ll succeed. The hood fits alright, but the string is not the best way to keep it in place.

Value - ** I’m judging these at about $16, about $4 more than the regular version of Anya. That’s due to the somewhat exclusive nature of both figures, but it’s still a couple bucks above average.

Overall - FI Anya ***; OMWF Anya **1/2 The Buffy and Angel figure line has actually become a major line once again, with tons of figures hitting this year. Sure, they were tons of versions of Willow, Anya and Tara, but once Diamond gets this line profitable again, I suspect we’ll see even more of the other characters and perhaps even some monsters. One can always hope!

If you’re looking to only pick up one Anya, I’d stick with the regular version and pass on both these variants. She has the store accessories of OMWF Anya, and the upper torso and head sculpt of FI Anya. However, many collectors missed out on the previous bunny suit version, so the FI Anya does fill a real need.

But if you’re a completist, or just have the hots for Emma Caulfield, then you’ll want both of these and more. I certainly couldn’t pass them up...because I’m a completist of course. I’m way to old to have the hots for Ms. Caulfield. *ahem* And I promise, no Buffy stuff next week.

Where to Buy - The FI version may show up at Media Play or Suncoast, as they’ve carried some of the figures in the past. The OMWF Anya is a Tower Records exclusive, but at least one on-line retailer has her in stock:

 Time and Space Toys has both of these figures, plus a ton more. They are your one stop shop for just about anything Buffy or Angel! They have a special arrangement with Tower to supply OMWF Anya, along with the other versions.

 Alter Ego Comics has the regular version of Anya for under $13.

 Southern Island has the FI version for $15.

 Killer Toys has the regular version for $12, and the FI version for $15.

 CornerStoreComics has the FI version for $13