This might be my favorite figure from the wave.  I’m still undecided because there’s something about one of the other figures that’s causing some serious pangs of nostalgia because it’s reminiscent of my favorite childhood figure.  The thing you immediately notice about this Retro Collection The Child is how much bigger it is than its Vintage Collection counterpart despite the fact that they are supposed to adhere to the same relative scaling.  Were the small figures overscaled during the vintage Kenner run?  I don’t feel like they were.  I remember the Kenner Wicket being quite wee.  It was even shorter than Richard Pryor’s brother in Stir Crazy

Considering that the Retro Collection Mandalorian figure is a tad too short, that makes the relative scaling between the figures even worse.  If I were a smart man, I would have provided you a picture showing the two side by side.  I am not a smart man.  If you know any smart people who would like to provide photographs for Bantha Skull, please have them contact me at the email address of my other domain so Mr. Nomadscout doesn’t catch wise that I’m interviewing people.  It’s [email protected].  Back on point, I don’t think this oversized Grogu is any sort of wink toward the vintage era.  I think I’ve sleuthed the true reason for the gigantism. If there’s one figure a casual buyer is going to purchase, it’s Baby Yoda. If someone is only going to buy one figure out of a collection, the relative scaling is irrelevant, so you might as well give the product as much shelf appeal as possible.  Making Grogu a little bit bigger both presents better value and allows the “cuteness” to shine through a little more.  As I mentioned in the VC184 - The Child review, that release was little more than a Polly Pocket on a 6” x 9” card.

The Retro Collection The Child is the Hodor to the Vintage Collection’s Grogu.  I bet he has quite the grip.  Of course bigger baby means bigger pram, which, in true vintage fashion, sidesteps all screen-accurate deco for a solid gray.  It’s quite massive requiring the bubble to be stretched in two dimensions.  It’s much taller and deeper than the other figures in the wave.  It shows that larger accessories are technically possible on vintage style cards, but it requires compromises to the card art.  The character photo is relegated to only a third of the card.  This seems like a reasonable trade off, but collectors are not even remotely reasonable.  We’re collectively like Mr. Pitt demanding the impossible intersection of socks that are both comfortable and stay up.  If the upcoming Lobot figure came with Carbon Freeze chamber claw, but it resulted in a 1 point change in the name pill font, someone somewhere would throw a fit.

Overall I like this as a 3.75”-ish Baby Yoda collectible that is a little easier to appreciate than its Vintage Collection counterpart which requires a jeweler’s loupe to properly examine.