Over the past few years I've been looking at action figures from Fresh Monkey Fiction's "Naughty or Nice" line of Christmas-themed toys. Wave 3 arrived in January of this year and for the first time included reindeer. They made four basic deer, and anyone so inclined could order two of each along with a pack of heads to round out the team (and if you wanted to get one extra, the head pack included one with a red nose, as well). That's in addition to a couple alternate versions of the deer (one of which I'll be getting around to in a later review), some optional accessories (which I decided I didn't need) as well as new variations on Santa and Krampus. The deer were around $45 each, which is about what I'd expect given the size.
Or rather that's what I'd expect it to cost if it were produced by a larger toy company. I continue to be impressed with Fresh Monkey Fiction's ability to produce collectibles that don't feel like they're priced at a premium despite being made in lower production numbers by an independent company.
I'd probably have sprung for the full set if I had more display space, but my shelves are a bit cramped as it is. Still, I wanted a couple to accompany the Christmas figures from earlier waves - because they're essentially variants of the same toy, I'll review them together.
I don't have much to say about the packaging - it's functional, which is all I really care about. The design is fun as a throwback to what now counts as vintage (because I'm old), but unless you're keeping these in box to resell them (which honestly might be a pretty good investment), you're going to toss the package as soon as you've pulled the deer free.
Depending on where you draw the line, the deer either come with several accessories or they come apart. The deer comes with a removeable harness and a halter. In addition, the antlers pop out (you'll need to remove them to get the halter on), so technically you could display them sans antlers, if you want to make any of the deer male.
I should note you'll want to be careful with the halter - the plastic bits are thin and break easily (I damaged one on a third figure in this wave - more on that in a future review). My advice is to decide whether or not you want to display with the halter, set up the toy, and leave it.
You're probably going to want to use the halter, though - it looks good. Same goes for the harness, unless you shelled out an extra $20 for a saddle (I did not).
The articulation isn't anything groundbreaking, but they checked off all the essential boxes. The head is ball-jointed, as are the neck and tail. The knees are ball and pin, which opens up a lot of possibilities a simple joint wouldn't have permitted. The other leg joints are more constrained due to the sculpt, but - again - it does what you need it to do. I might have liked another ball joint in the mid-section under the harness, but I don't think its omission is a problem.
The deer look good. I like that they produced these with a variety of different fur colors to make them distinctive, and - while part of me thinks they should just have come with alternate heads rather than selling a separate pack - if the choice was between that and raising the price to $50 each, I appreciate the compromise.
Beyond the obvious, there's not a lot to say about these. By design, these are a bit understated - they're essentially oversized accessories, rather than characters in their own right. That's not a criticism, mind you - I prefer this approach over one where the deer might have been exaggerated or heavily stylized - but it does limit the discussion somewhat.
I didn't end up buying any of the figures from Wave 4, which includes some Santaurs (Santa centaurs), along with a sleigh (the pictures look great - I just don't think I have the space to display it). They've also teased Mrs. Claus for a future wave, but it looks like that's being delayed. I'd also love to see Befana, Gryla, Perchta, and other folkloric holiday characters. Fingers crossed, I suppose.
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