Now that the action figures have actually been released, CLOSEDOWN8 has provided me (and the community of alt.tv.sctv) with a review of the Bob and Doug McKenzie action figures.

Overall: They're good figures, and every Bob and Doug fan should have a set. If you can get past the poor articulation (which you should be able to) you'll have a nice set to sit atop your shelf, entertainment center or whatever. Run to your local software store and pick up a set. You should be able to score both for less than $30 total. Take off, you hosers, and get a pair.

Message-ID: <20000628001837.01835.00000167@ng-fs1.aol.com>
From: CLOSEDOWN8
Newsgroups: alt.tv.sctv
Subject: McFarlane McKenzie figures review
Date: 28 Jun 2000 04:18:37 GMT
Lines: 61
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com

Here's a review of the Bob and Doug McKenzie figures, available at Software
stores around the country:

Articulation:  Bob has 10 points (neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, legs) and
Doug has 12 (neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, legs, ankles.)  Not that it
matters much on either one.

Accessories:  Both figures have 3 long-neck bottles of "oslo" brew (1 opened, 2
unopened) and 4 short-neck bottles. (1 opened, 3 unopened).  Do you think it's
a coincidence that "oslo" is "Molson" without the first and last letters :). 
Both figures also sport 4 cases of beer each.  Each figure has 1 case of "Bob"
beer (no idea why Doug doesn't have a "Doug" beer) 1 case of "McKenzie" beer
and 2 cases of "Hosehead" beer.  Most importantly, each figure comes with half
the stage, half the backdrop (which forms with a pretty obvious seam, but I'm
sure someone online will Photoshop one without the seam), and half a table. 
Each table section has 2 legs that fold up, so that they can stand on their own
but can fold up when both sides are connected.  They also each have a chair. 
Bob also comes with a portable grill and 2 pieces of back bacon, 2 bottle caps,
and a donut.  Doug comes with a cooler (with spaces for 2 beer bottles,
although they don't fit snugly and have to be jammed in to stay put), cooler
lid, 3 bottle caps, a half-eaten donut and an entire donut.  If you get these
and plan on opening them, watch the bottle caps.  They're an appropriate scale
and could be lost *very* easily.  I've seen alot of small McFarlane accessories
in my day (Austin Powers' martini olive, the Ozzy bat's head, Mini Me's pen)
but these take the cake.  There are a few accessories missing from the
prototype pictures, such as the mouse, the Mountie bust, and the "Canada"
book," and there seemed to be more cases of beer in the prototype pictures, but
this stuff changes during production.  Also, in the fold-out instructions, it
mentions the back bacon being snapped onto the grill.  The back bacon pieces
have the corresponding holes, but no pegs are present on the grill.  Only a
minor gripe, because the laws of gravity take care of this problem.

Voice Chips:  Bob's two lines are "How's it going, eh?" and "It's a jelly." 
Doug's two lines are the "Great White North theme ("Coo coo coo..." is what the
package says) and "Take off, you hoser, you're gay, eh."* even though the
package simply says "Take off, you hoser."  The lines are sorta muffled, but
not as bad as some of the soundchips I've heard in my day.  Chet Jacques, a
McFarlane Toys employee, frequents rec.toys.action-figures.discuss and
mentioned that some of the batteries have been put in the toys incorrectly, so
if you get one that doesn't work, mess around with the batteries for a few
minutes.  It should work.  My Doug figure wouldn't speak at first, but I took a
screwdriver to it and got it working in a minute or two.

 * Note from Bob: later discussion on alt.tv.sctv showed that Doug was
   actually saying "okay, eh?" I guess the sounds really are muffled... :-)

Sculpts:  Standard McFarlane.  They look great, but if a kid were to buy them,
he'd hate them.  The odds of a little kid buying the McKenzie Brothers when he
could buy some Pokemon crap aren't too good, but that's beside the point. 
They're stuck in a sitting position, and the articulation in the legs is a lost
cause.  The waist articulation is even more useless, but the arms, elbows and
wrists are satisfactory to say the least.  There's nothing wrong with the head
articulation either.  From the waist up, they're above average
articulation-wise, but from the waist down, it's wasted (no pun intended.)  It
doesn't bother me too much, because I don't play with the things for God's
sake, but I *am* writing a review.  As per usual for McFarlane Toys, the facial
sculpts are top-notch, they've been improved from the original prototype
pictures (the pics with stoned Bob and lumpy Doug faces.)

Overall: They're good figures, and every Bob and Doug fan should have a set. 
If you can get past the poor articulation (which you should be able to) you'll
have a nice set to sit atop your shelf, entertainment center or whatever.  Run
to your local software store and pick up a set.  You should be able to score
both for less than $30 total.  Take off, you hosers, and get a pair.