Because I am a hopeless geek, and even though those Telltale episodes mostly make me want to kick old ladies to death, my affection for the characters circa Hit The Road remains undimmed. So I got all nerdy-excited when I saw this post about Sam & Max figures over at Topless Robot. Only to find all they’re just more of those ubiquitous bloody designer vinyl figurine thingies that people with complicated haircuts buy. Do not want. On the other hand, this statue is brillig, but I’m not spending that much money on something I can’t even move the arms on.
Come on! We’re way overdue for some sort of awesome poseable action figure with sound effects and interchangeable hats, or a plushie Max with velcro blood splatters. I’ve waited so long, and my desk looks so depressingly bare since I moved my Bioshock Big Daddy figurine off it after reading one too many Ken Levine On Game Narrative interviews.
Related Stories:
Actually, $75 sounds about right for the larger fig, considering the tip of Sam’s gun is about a foot high.
That Symbiote stuff looks like ass, though.
“after reading one too many Ken Levine On Game Narrative interviews.”
I know the feeling, uh, but minus moving a big daddy figurine around because I don’t have or want one.
Unfair, Alec. The Sam and Max episodes were not dreadful by any means. I also hear that Season 2 was better than Season 1, though I never bothered to check.
At least Sam and Max have some kind of figurines. Why doesn’t Silent Hill? And why in the name of all that’s tackily plastic is there not a Death’s Head figure?
I would adore a cuddly Sam and Max.
The Telltale episodes are brilliant. Perhaps the pop comedy is too America-centric for you to dig it (you are a Brit, right?).
I had a Sam & Max pin I bought from the old Lucas Arts store, back when they were still making adventure games. I was working in a Barnes & Noble in Marin County, California, and I wore the pin to work on my shirt one day. (This was late 1990’s.)
While I was working the register, a guy comes up to pay for a book. He asks where I got the pin. I said “Oh, off a website.” I started to explain who Sam & Max were, but he stopped me by saying “Yeah, I know. I created those characters.” It was Steve Purcell. Way cool!
Wow Chris, that’s wicked! I’d love to meet Purcell.
Dislike Telltale all ya like, but they’re good for Sam & Max. Unlike LucasArts who just sat on the license and did nothings.
By the by, there’s an amazingly great hardcover Sam & Max book you can buy from Telltale and signed by Purcell. Really good quality printing, pretty much must have for any fan. Published by Telltale apparently, I can’t stress enough how cool of a book it is. Even if you dislike the games, you’ve gotta atleast admire that they love the name.
Id rather have Sam & Max sitting in a dust pile than getting made into a rubbish rehash.
I fell asleep finishing ep1.
Yeah, I’m sorry to say this (having bought two seasons in the vain hope that surely they’d get it right eventually), but the new Sam & Max games just don’t capture the sheer fun and random, but intelligent, sillyness of the cartoons, TV-series or the original game. They’re fine games by themselves, but they’re just not proper Sam & Max.
EDIT: But a plush Max with a big fluffy gun would be awesome.
But that’s just it, they’re not just making the games. They’re publishing the re-release of the old books, they put the original cartoon on dvd and have that for sale. Shirts and merchandise if you’re into that thing, they even got Purcell back into working on the fuzzy pair.
Look for yourself: http://www.telltalegames.com/store/samandmax-highway
Personally I always thought the show was stupid, but hell, that’s just me. Season 2 of Sam & Max however had a couple moments I really enjoyed. The games started out dry, and I didn’t really like the new voices at first, but after awhile they hit a good stride and I’ve grown to like it.
Plushies.
Not quite toys, but you can make paper cube-e’s of them here.
http://www.cubeecraft.com/character024.html
http://www.cubeecraft.com/character025.html
No, but the quality of the games is a completely separate issue from availability of merchandise. I could make sweet, sweet love to Telltale for releasing the comics and the TV-series again, even sweeter if they released the above mentioned items as well, but their games just aren’t good enough. The art-direction, voices and scripts are just poor for a Sam & Max game.