Help me figure out exactly what it is my son wants from Santa
December 12, 2011 9:18 PM Subscribe
Please help Santa figure out how to get my kid the thing he really really wants. It relates to a Super Mario game, which I know little about...
My son is five. His only exposure to the Mario games is via this very retro online version of what I think must be close to the "original" Super Mario Game.
What my son is requesting is basically a Mario playset. He wants the figures from this game and some blocks, etc. so that he can play Mario without needing to have the pesky computer involved.
The closest I can find to what he's asking for is this playset on Amazon, but the more I look at it the more I think it's not going to be right. In particular I'm concerned that the figures he really wants (the turtles, the little fuzzy things he calls "badgers", the round brown things) are underrepresented, but I don't know enough about the game (and the Wikipedia articles have been surprisingly unhelpful) to know what they're called to find them.
Can you help? I've searched eBay, I've looked on Amazon, toy stores, Toys-r-us, craft sites, you name it, but I'm really dealing with a case of I don't know anywhere near enough about this game to really know what I'm looking for. (And, truthfully, neither does he.) I can probably sort out painting some gold boxes, etc. for the "playset" part of it, but if you're able to point me in the correct direction on the figures (or say "yep, that set on Amazon has all you need") that would be super helpful.
Santa thanks you in advance.
My son is five. His only exposure to the Mario games is via this very retro online version of what I think must be close to the "original" Super Mario Game.
What my son is requesting is basically a Mario playset. He wants the figures from this game and some blocks, etc. so that he can play Mario without needing to have the pesky computer involved.
The closest I can find to what he's asking for is this playset on Amazon, but the more I look at it the more I think it's not going to be right. In particular I'm concerned that the figures he really wants (the turtles, the little fuzzy things he calls "badgers", the round brown things) are underrepresented, but I don't know enough about the game (and the Wikipedia articles have been surprisingly unhelpful) to know what they're called to find them.
Can you help? I've searched eBay, I've looked on Amazon, toy stores, Toys-r-us, craft sites, you name it, but I'm really dealing with a case of I don't know anywhere near enough about this game to really know what I'm looking for. (And, truthfully, neither does he.) I can probably sort out painting some gold boxes, etc. for the "playset" part of it, but if you're able to point me in the correct direction on the figures (or say "yep, that set on Amazon has all you need") that would be super helpful.
Santa thanks you in advance.
Best answer: They're koopa troopas, and the turtles with wings are koopa paratroopas. Here's a set of figurines on Amazon.
posted by Weeping_angel at 9:48 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by Weeping_angel at 9:48 PM on December 12, 2011
I would say just buy a couple of the sets that Weeping_angel linked to if you want higher representation of koopas and goombas. Most of the characters in the set in the OP are not going to be recognizable if all he has only played is the first game.
Sadly, Mario is not highly represented in the action figure world. This website has just about every action figure currently available related to the Mario games. You could order a couple extra koopa troopas or goombas on their own here without getting doubles of Mario.
posted by erstwhile at 10:07 PM on December 12, 2011
Sadly, Mario is not highly represented in the action figure world. This website has just about every action figure currently available related to the Mario games. You could order a couple extra koopa troopas or goombas on their own here without getting doubles of Mario.
posted by erstwhile at 10:07 PM on December 12, 2011
Best answer: The fuzzy brown thing is Monty Mole ( I played every level until I found "the badger" ).
posted by iconomy at 10:09 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by iconomy at 10:09 PM on December 12, 2011
I think it should that your son will probably still love the playset from the original post even if he doesn't know who all the characters are. What kid doesn't like more toys?
posted by erstwhile at 10:19 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by erstwhile at 10:19 PM on December 12, 2011
Weeping_angel seems to have the figurines well covered, so I was thinking you could re-badge him a box of duplo blocks as his Mario level-building playset. If you could find some appropriate stickers, you could turn brown duplo into the brick blocks, green into the plant ones, yellow into the bonus ? blocks, etc. Even if you can't find the stickers, you could probably make a cool Mario Playset box for him to keep plain duplo and his figurines in, by printing out some graphics and sticking them to a plain plastic tub.
posted by Joh at 11:45 PM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Joh at 11:45 PM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
Best answer: That's a pretty good playset right there. If you think he's going to want a few more "baddies" from the series, here are a few sets that you could tack on, depending on your budget.
Kids have great imaginations, so you don't have to worry about things being diorama perfect. If you really want to add something to the set that will make his day, might I suggest something like one of these? I can assure you that as a member of the original Mario Generation, that would have fleshed out any playset better than more of the same thing.
posted by Saydur at 12:17 AM on December 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
Kids have great imaginations, so you don't have to worry about things being diorama perfect. If you really want to add something to the set that will make his day, might I suggest something like one of these? I can assure you that as a member of the original Mario Generation, that would have fleshed out any playset better than more of the same thing.
posted by Saydur at 12:17 AM on December 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The new Books-a-Million in South Portland has a whole shelf of Mario stuff, including a set of figures. I can't remember exactly who was in it, but Mario, a Koopa, a ShyGuy, Yoshi... and a few others. I think there were six total. Here's a character guide.
posted by mikepop at 5:47 AM on December 13, 2011
posted by mikepop at 5:47 AM on December 13, 2011
You could also take what you need from a Super Mario chess set.
posted by Sassyfras at 7:11 AM on December 13, 2011
posted by Sassyfras at 7:11 AM on December 13, 2011
You could get him a bunch of Legos, and together you could make all the characters by hand. Use the scale 1 pixel = 1 block. My girlfriend's brother did this, it looks great.
posted by oceanjesse at 7:31 AM on December 13, 2011
posted by oceanjesse at 7:31 AM on December 13, 2011
Best answer: One thing we have encountered in our quest to find PLAYABLE Mario characters, they aren't really meant to be played with.
Target and Walmart do carry an official Mario line from nintendo, but don't waste your $$ on the little figurine set, try and look for the individual boxed Mario's and friends. They are the bigger size and not small, but their heads and arm haven't came off yet.
posted by Sweetmag at 7:54 AM on December 13, 2011
Target and Walmart do carry an official Mario line from nintendo, but don't waste your $$ on the little figurine set, try and look for the individual boxed Mario's and friends. They are the bigger size and not small, but their heads and arm haven't came off yet.
posted by Sweetmag at 7:54 AM on December 13, 2011
Best answer: The set from Amazon has the exact Luigi my son had. The head was falling off within a few hours play time. Good luck finding a quality Mario set...we have been looking for a year and can't seem to find one that will hold together.
posted by Sweetmag at 7:59 AM on December 13, 2011
posted by Sweetmag at 7:59 AM on December 13, 2011
Best answer: What you see graphics wise from that game is from Super Mario World, released on the Super Nintendo. Very different from the original Mario Bros. game (and Super Mario Bros., which is probably what you're thinking of anyway but I'm a giant nerd so I'll stop there).
That play set has the basic figures down pretty well. Daisy (the yellow dress wearing girl) isn't introduced until later. And Donkey Kong (the gorilla) wasn't in any Mario platforming games (which is the kind of game you're looking at in that demo) unless he's in one of the ones for Wii. He is in the Mario Kart and Smash Brothers series though. All of that is just a long winded way of saying that those two are definitely in the Mario universe but not in what that demo shows.
Also, in a set like that I'd assume that most of the baddies will always be under represented. There's essentially an endless supply of them. In anything that isn't the original Super Mario Bros. baddies that you've gotten rid of will sometimes respawn if you walk away from their point of origin and come back.
That's all probably more information than you need to know.
This set seems to be the same thing figure wise. It doesn't have the platforms the figures are standing on, the giant Mario face, or the way oversized as compared to the rest of the figures plush Piranah Plant. I'd have a problem with the piranah plant being wrong, but again I'm a giant nerd.
Here are some things I would consider to supplement the set I mentioned.
This one is a set of 4 baddies. It has another flying goomba (which is what the set you and I mentioned both have) and another Bob-omb (the bomb looking dude), as well as the goomba you see at the beginning of 1-1 in the demo and a Boo.Not sure on the size of these though and the page says it won't get there for Christmas. Alternatively, there's also a set that only has the figures not in those sets we mentioned. The seller has a lot of other stuff too but slow shipping probably rules them out.
You could drop around $200 and get a 42 piece set. Not that I expect you to do that, but it's too awesome to not show you. And yes, all those ones that appear to just be a color change really are in the games in those different colors.
eBay also has that 18 figure set a few times at a lower price than Amazon.
Bowser is the main baddie in most of the games. I don't know why he isn't in that 18 piece set. He's here or on Amazon. He really is bigger than the other characters, so getting a bigger one isn't a big deal and if anything makes things more accurate.
Having the piranha plant would be amazing. But the best I can seem to find is this one that looks like it originally came with candy. I wonder if it's from the same series that my mushroom came from? If that's the case then you can maybe find one in World Market.
Feel free to hit me up for more information if you feel the need.
posted by theichibun at 8:36 AM on December 14, 2011
That play set has the basic figures down pretty well. Daisy (the yellow dress wearing girl) isn't introduced until later. And Donkey Kong (the gorilla) wasn't in any Mario platforming games (which is the kind of game you're looking at in that demo) unless he's in one of the ones for Wii. He is in the Mario Kart and Smash Brothers series though. All of that is just a long winded way of saying that those two are definitely in the Mario universe but not in what that demo shows.
Also, in a set like that I'd assume that most of the baddies will always be under represented. There's essentially an endless supply of them. In anything that isn't the original Super Mario Bros. baddies that you've gotten rid of will sometimes respawn if you walk away from their point of origin and come back.
That's all probably more information than you need to know.
This set seems to be the same thing figure wise. It doesn't have the platforms the figures are standing on, the giant Mario face, or the way oversized as compared to the rest of the figures plush Piranah Plant. I'd have a problem with the piranah plant being wrong, but again I'm a giant nerd.
Here are some things I would consider to supplement the set I mentioned.
This one is a set of 4 baddies. It has another flying goomba (which is what the set you and I mentioned both have) and another Bob-omb (the bomb looking dude), as well as the goomba you see at the beginning of 1-1 in the demo and a Boo.Not sure on the size of these though and the page says it won't get there for Christmas. Alternatively, there's also a set that only has the figures not in those sets we mentioned. The seller has a lot of other stuff too but slow shipping probably rules them out.
You could drop around $200 and get a 42 piece set. Not that I expect you to do that, but it's too awesome to not show you. And yes, all those ones that appear to just be a color change really are in the games in those different colors.
eBay also has that 18 figure set a few times at a lower price than Amazon.
Bowser is the main baddie in most of the games. I don't know why he isn't in that 18 piece set. He's here or on Amazon. He really is bigger than the other characters, so getting a bigger one isn't a big deal and if anything makes things more accurate.
Having the piranha plant would be amazing. But the best I can seem to find is this one that looks like it originally came with candy. I wonder if it's from the same series that my mushroom came from? If that's the case then you can maybe find one in World Market.
Feel free to hit me up for more information if you feel the need.
posted by theichibun at 8:36 AM on December 14, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks to everyone for your help. Here's a photo of my son playing with the finished set on Christmas morning. (My father in law built the set - here's another view that shows the tubes). We ended up getting both the 18 piece set (sans playset/bags) plus a 4 piece set, and we edited it a little, pulling out the duplicate Marios and Luigis. He's super pleased with it.
Somebody should shake Nintendo and tell them there is a market for this, though. I mean, I can buy an Angry Birds playset, why not a Mario one?
Thanks so much for all your help!
posted by anastasiav at 7:26 PM on December 29, 2011
Somebody should shake Nintendo and tell them there is a market for this, though. I mean, I can buy an Angry Birds playset, why not a Mario one?
Thanks so much for all your help!
posted by anastasiav at 7:26 PM on December 29, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Weeping_angel at 9:36 PM on December 12, 2011