Toy Story Mini Cosbaby (S) Series by Hot Toys

During a recent trip to Hong Kong my brother (who went there ahead of me) bought me a 1 box of Toy Story Cosbaby. I was intrigued because I have never seen one and excitedly opened it and got one of the Alien characters. Being a fan of Buzz Lightyear of which I saw is one of the characters being offered by HT I told my brother that I wanted to buy some more.

One measly box became a journey for us during our HK trip and at the end of the trip it proved fruitful. We kept on going back to a particular HMV store, buy 1 or 2, open them and kept going back for more. Even the sales people there were curious as to how we choose which box to get. And because we kept on going back I am now able to tell which box contains Buzz Lightyear and the secret version by simply feeling them (these are sealed blind boxes). The hardest to get was Woody and it took us on our last day of the trip (and my last box purchase at HMV Elements mall) to finally complete the set.

Package Contents:

Each box is sealed and contains one of 7 characters including Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie, Emperor Zurg, Army man (rifle accessory) and 2 Aliens (ooh and smiley version). The secret version is Army man with a binocular accessory. For more information you can check http://www.hottoys.com.hk/index.php?target=products&product_id=521.

Collector's Perspective:

Disney Pixar fans should definitely get these Toy Story figures. Hot Toys did a fine job creating what they call Cosbaby, mini cute figures of movie-based characters. I am practically hooked with Cosbaby because they are so cute. You can either buy the whole case that according to HMV gives you the complete set (secret version included) or buy a couple of boxes and try your luck. I find the latter to be more fun and thrilling because you never know which character you are going to get.

I mentioned that I am able to distinguish which is Buzz Lightyear and the secret version just by feeling the boxes. Here is how to do it:

1.) Buzz Lightyear is the heaviest amongst the characters so feel the weight. The difference in weight is substantial so you can immediately tell the box contains Buzz.

2.) The plastic package (inside the box) of Army man with rifle and Army man with binocular are the same. Shake the box and if you here a loose piece inside then that's the secret version. The plastic mould was designed for the rifle and since the binocular is smaller it wiggles inside the mould.

Good luck!

The items are not yet available here in the Philippines and I am happy to be the first one here (as far as I know) to have the whole set. It retails for about 68 HKD (Hong Kong Dollars) per box and 544 HKD for the case (8 boxes). I bought it at Toy Hunters, a Hot Toys dealer in Mongkok.

PhoTOYgrapher's Perspective:

As with all Cosbaby, cute is definitely a plus when it comes to PhoTOYgraphy. Because of what happened to me with the UP! incident (Carl's broken neck) I was careful to check each character's head piece if they can turn sideways. Given the time and resources I would probably do a table top shot creating a scene similar to the movie or get a good backdrop. The details are quite good so you can go macro or get a 50mm and use an extension tube to make these figures come to life. 

Some Issues:

1.) Since I had doubles of Army man, I was able to see some quality flaws. One Army man's hand is loose and can be pulled easily. This is not good since the hand is so small it can be misplaced. A remedy would be to put a little amount of blu tac in between to make it more secure. 

2.) The paint job is not consistent. We had doubles of Buzz, Jessie, Alien, Zurg and Army man and there are some inconsistencies with the paint job. However they are very minute and tolerable.

3.) I was wondering why Rex, Potato Head, Slinky and some of the others were not included in the series.

PowerPee's PhoTOYgraphy rating of Toy Story:

3.5 of 5

Gears used:

Canon DSLR

Canon 100mm f2.8 Lens

Benro A300 Tripod

3 pcs. Jinbei 180 watts (each), Softbox and Grid

Morris IR Trigger

Falcon Eyes Product Table