Dancin' Homer (Simpsons (Jakks Pacific)) Review

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Dancin' Homer (Simpsons (Jakks Pacific)) Review

Dancin' Homer
Simpsons (Jakks Pacific) (Jakks Pacific)Jakks Pacific has shown a willingness to work with different scales for their licenses. With Mario and Sonic, they've done 2.5" figures and playsets, basic 4" figures, the occasional 5" subline, and even figures larger than that. So far, their Simpsons line is only in the 2.5" and 5" scales, but unlike their other major licenses, I've been willing to get both scales because of how much I love the series. That said, the latest 2.5" wave isn't easy to find at retail, though I managed to find Homer first, and then everyone else sometime later.

Unlike the past two waves, the Simpson variant here isn't Bart, but Homer, and in his "Dancin' Homer" outfit. At 3" tall, Homer stands out for not having a stiff pose or a blank stare like most of these figures do; the legs are spread, the left arm is bent at the elbow while the right arm isn't exactly straight down, and the face bears a more excited expression than just a smile. The portrait looks great, and although the cap isn't removable, it looks pretty nice on him. The outfit and colors are good as well, though they didn't bother painting the suspenders on the back due to his cape covering it. I get Jakks likes to use colored plastic to cut down on paint, but I expected a little better here. The usual joints are here with a swivel neck, swivel/hinge shoulders, and "sit-down" waist, and while the head and arm movement works great with the pose, it'd be nice if Jakks could make the waist turn as well, something that would work better with the sculpt.

Moving onto the other adults in the wave, next up is Principal Skinner, and considering all the kids we're getting in this scale, getting some school faculty makes a bit of sense. Skinner has a stone-faced expression befitting his personality, and yeah, it's a little odd to look at him dead-on, but the likeness is great. Standing a bit under 3", Skinner has the stiff pose we usually get with this scale of figures, but it actually kinda works for a (sometimes) no-nonsense authority figure. The colors match the show very well, and the paint on the shirt and tie are clean. The neck and shoulders work fine, though the lower body can't sit down all the way, a problem with everyone in this wave.

The last adult in the wave is Selma, and I'll admit it's a bit odd to get her alongside Skinner, since Patty was the one he was in a brief relationship with. Selma has the most characterization and focus of the two, so I suppose there's a reason she was made first. She has her usual unamused expression, and the hair is sculpted similarly to Marge, with a clumpy look that sorta reminds me of Floam. She's the tallest of the wave at around 3 1/8", and the work all around is pretty good, save for the feet. They have a somewhat bluish hue and I can't understand why. Aren't her shoes separate pieces glued onto them? She also has the least range in her waist due to her dress, and if I was in charge of sculpting here, I'd make the dress a rubber piece over the joint and sculpted legs underneath for better range. It's a shame the adults in this scale don't have accessories, because Selma would benefit from having Jub-Jub with her.

The remaining figures in the wave are both kids, one of whom is teacher's pet Martin Prince. Like Skinner, Martin is a little weird to look at face-to-face, but if you turn him to the side or 3/4 view, the accuracy to the show becomes more clear. He's also the only "happy" figure in the wave besides Homer, and the expression fits Martin well without looking too zombie-like. He stands about 2" tall and has decent paint, though he suffers more than the others when it comes to bleed and uneven edges (at least the pens have clean work). Martin comes with an algebra textbook, befitting his intellect, and while a simple piece, the work on it is good, and he can hold it in both hands.

Finishing off the wave is everyone's favorite bully with a heart of gold: Nelson Muntz. He's taller than Martin at 2.5", and while the scale with the other kids is good, the scale with adults is not. He should not come up to the adults' necks, and if these kids were like half an inch smaller, they'd scale much better. In spite of that, Nelson has a great sculpt, including his ugly mug, which is quite good given how difficult some of these designs can be to translate to three dimensions. The paint on the torso and shoes is good as well, and while there is some bleed, it's not as noticeable as Martin. His accessory is a rake with a wasp's nest on the end, something more unique than what Martin has, but it befits the type of mischief Nelson usually gets up to.

Although I prefer the 5" line, Jakks has done a great job building up a small-scale world of Springfield, with plenty of variety to the cast, and some great sculpts and accessories to boot. With this wave in particular, Dancin' Homer is a standout thanks to the more expressive sculpt, and while Selma is the weakest for a couple of reasons, it's nice to get the extended family. With the family sedan set now showing up in Australia, and a leaked wave five lineup along with it, I look forward to getting much more of these, though I still have to get Scratchy and that Walmart-exclusive Bartman.

- 6/18/25