Diary of an up and coming sociopath

First, a belated review of my Master Shake figure. The pictures were taken with my cameraphone shortly before I remembered to clean the lens, and I took them at a low res, so they’re not so great. However, you should get a decent enough sense of what the stuff is like, and let’s face it, there are better photos out there.

The first thing I’ll look at is the Master Shake figure itself. It’s fair to say, Shake is the reason most people will be buying this set, and he’s probably one of the funniest characters in Aqua Teen Hunger Force as well, so it was a good choice to start with. Here’s a photo of Shake, so we’re all familiar:

Now, as you can see, Shake isn’t high on articulation. It’s true to the cartoon design in that respect, since it’s often unclear how Shake manages to perform even the most basic of functions with his stubby arms. The sculpt itself is utterly perfect. It’s hard to make a 3D figure of what is essentially a milkshake cup look interesting, but what it lacks in design flair, Palisades have made up for in show-accuracy. There’s nothing you could wish to change about Shake’s design, it is just how I imagine Shake would look in real life, and that’s the most rewarding aspect of the figure. The thick black lines and vivid colouring make it look almost as if the character has burst from the TV (or, if you’re like me, the computer monitor ;-)

Shake comes with 3 accessories. His rubber ring, which you can see pictured. It’s actually made out of rubber foam, and fits snugly around shake’s, er, midriff area, if you could call it that. His straw and hands can rotate 360 degrees, and the hands contain magnets to which the broodwich accessory can be attached. The Broodwich is probably the best accessory they could’ve made to go with Shake. Just looking at it makes me want to shout lines from the episode. The horns, wings and tail are nicely attached, not prone to breakage at all, and I can say that with confidence because I’ve dropped it several times. Partly because the magnet in the hands is quite weak. The Broodwich definitely needs to have its wings hooked over the back of shake’s hand for maximum security there. Shake also comes with Sunglasses (pictured in the mothmonsterman photo) which, unfortunately, let the package down a little. They look good when shake’s wearing them, however, the black paint on them rubs off onto Shake himself, marking the figure quite visibly and in an unacceptable way. It’s no huge loss, but it is something of a letdown to have the accessory damaging the main figure in such an obvious and preventable way.

Shake comes in a 2-pack with Mothmonsterman. It’s not the most inspired choice of villain, in my opinion. He’s an early one, that’s for certain, and maybe that’s why they chose him, but I’d have preferred a better character than him. I won’t be happy until I get a Robot Ghost of Christmas Past, really. The figure itself is a fine, detailed sculpt with basic articulation, but it’s hard to bring myself to be too enthusiastic about him. In my opinion, this set is all about Shake and the Broodwich and that’s worth the price of the set alone, Mothmonsterman is jsut an added bonus.

At £13, it’s probably a little steep, and certainly no-one but the hardcore fans would want to pay for this. It’s part of Palisade’s Adult Swim line of figures, and to follow in Wave 2 is what appears to be a Meatwad and Frylock double pack, which I’ll certainly buy based on the quality of this. I’d have maybe liked some more accessories for Shake, and some sunglasses which didn’t damage the guy, but besides those two minor dissatisfactions, there’s little to criticise. The Shake figure gets a 9/10, Mothmonsterman gets a 7/10 (because while it’s good, I am still unmoved by the character or sculpt) and the package overall rounds off quite nicely at an 8/10, with the inclusion of the Broodwich cancelling out the Sunglasses misfire.