The Golden Compass

Action figures from The Golden Compass. I've never seen the movie. The one time I tried to read the book I find the prose turgid and uncompelling. Having said this, I must admit these are damn good figures, with fine modeling, nice accoutrements, and great animal side characters, whose scale fits in well with the Star Wars line. They could easily be retro-fitted into the cast of a better franchise.

Of this line, I bought three when I was in Florida at Toys'R'Us, for $2.99 apiece; they were Lord John Faa, Tony Costa (wasn't he on an '80's sitcom?), and one of the Tartar guards. They were on clearance, and these were the only three figures they had. Last Friday when I went to Hastings I found more figures there, and they were almost exclusively the other figures I didn't have; Lyra Belacqua, Lord Asriel, Mrs. Coulter, and Serafina Pekkala. These were $6.99 apiece. The strangest feature of the lot: besides having a tiny Golden Compass, Lyra came with an extra pair of hands, so she can be gloved on ungloved.

Haven't got either of the Polar Bears, or the cowboy dude, and probably won't unless I see them somewhere real cheap.

These figures were made by a company called Popco (www.popcoentertainment.com). This is the first time I've ever heard of them.