The Miss Piggy Collection from the Tonner Doll Company introduces First Mate Piggy, Miss Piggy’s sci-fi alter ego from the classic Star Trek-inspired sketch on The Muppet Show, Pigs in Space.
Sculpting:
The 16″ tall vinyl doll reuses the basic Miss Piggy body that is the foundation for every dressed doll in the Miss Piggy Collection. The doll is an absolutely perfect likeness of the Muppet character it’s based on, capturing Miss Piggy’s outgoing personality so well that you nearly expect the doll to come to life and start channeling the attitude of her on-screen counterpart.
Packaging:
When First Mate Piggy arrives in the mail, three layers of cardboard armour surround the well-protected doll. It’s doubtful that the hull of the USS Swinetrek is even this thick and effective! Inside the corrugated shipping box is a sleeve of white corrugated cardboard that slides over the doll box. Since the doll is not meant to be displayed in its packaging, the doll box has no window, affording an extra measure of protection. Sturdy yet simple in design, the doll’s glossy box is a sophisticated lavender and white with just a small Miss Piggy Collection logo adorning the shoebox-style lid, much like the boxes fancy perfumes come in. Inside the box is a lift-out cardboard liner tray with a foam pad at each end. A sheet of tissue paper is folded around the entire tray, and a soft netting is wrapped around the doll’s head to keep the wig tidily in place. The box is deep enough that the doll doesn’t come near to touching the lid, so the tissue paper doesn’t actually protect anything, but it is an appropriately feminine accent. In place of the wire twist-ties that are most often used to secure dolls in their packaging, satin ribbons are threaded up through the liner tray’s bottom to tie the doll to the back of the box. Besides leaving no unsightly impression marks on the doll like the wire ties tend to, the ribbons add to the elegance of the presentation and make it very easy to remove the doll from the box or secure her back in.
Paint:
The only paintwork on First Mate Piggy is on her face, and is perfectly clean and smooth in application. The eyes are even, and the black eyeliner and purple eyeshadow realistically mimic the look of real make-up. A light “blush” is sprayed on to give Miss Piggy her apple cheeks.
Articulation:
Unlike the majority of Tonner’s fully articulated dolls, the Miss Piggy doll only has five points of articulation: neck, shoulders, and hips. While this eliminates the unsightly exposed seams of jointed elbows and knees, it does drastically reduce the doll’s posability. With a character as theatrical as Miss Piggy, it’s a bit disappointing to not be able to display her in her trademark diva poses.
Accessories:
First Mate Piggy doesn’t come with any accessories, since she really didn’t have any recurring props on the show. She also lacks a display stand, which is an essential item for a doll that can’t bend well enough to sit on the edge of a shelf. Tonner does offer a saddle-style 16″ stand and waist-gripper 17″ stand, though, for a very minimal price, and selling the stands separately allows customers the flexibility to choose exactly how they want to display their doll.
Outfit:
Miss Piggy’s silver first mate uniform is a nearly exact recreation of the one she wore on the Swinetrek bridge, a knit dress embroidered with the Pigs in Space logo and sprinkled with appliqué stars across the chest. The stars, made of the stiff plastic that sequins are normally made of, tend to get their points caught in the fabric of the dress, so a softer material for them would have been ideal. They should also be white rather than silver. Beneath the dress are a pair of stretchy silver tights, and the silver, faux-leather belt secures around the waist with a metal snap. The doll comes fully dressed except for the gloves, epaulets, and boots, which are stapled to the side of the box in plastic bags. A lot of doll gloves are just crude mitts, sometimes with partial finger separations sewn in to give the illusion of being fingered, but this doll’s gloves, made of the same material as the tights, are real gloves in miniature. This attention to realism makes the gloves a bit of a challenge to get on, as the seams can easily pop when stretching the form-fitting fabric over Miss Piggy’s hands, but the end result is well worth the effort. The faux-leather epaulets easily attach over the gloves with velcro tabs, and the matching boots have zippers hidden in the back seam to make them easier to pull on. Note that, despite no labels on the packaging to let you know, the boots are foot-specific. The boot for the leg that’s bent at the knee is slightly shorter in the back so that the boot cuff won’t bunch. As a finishing touch to the doll, you just need to fluff up the gorgeous wig to give it Miss Piggy’s famous, gravity-defying volume and bounce.
A growing selection of additional outfits and custom-made, changeable wigs are currently available in the Miss Piggy Collection, but remember, “Miss Piggy cannot (and will not) share clothing with other pigs.”
First Mate Piggy comes in a limited edition of 1000, at a price of $159.99. She’s a fabulous gift for Miss Piggy and sci-fi fans, and now that Miss Piggy has made her sci-fi debut at Tonner, hopefully the company will also make Mermaid Piggy as a fantasy companion piece.
The leading lady of Pigs in Space will soon have some new sci-fi companions, as well. Tonner currently has plans to release BBC-approved Doctor Who and Torchwood character figures. Brilliant!
Order directly through the TONNERdirect website.
First Mate Piggy and the Miss Piggy Collection are distributed by Tonner Doll Company.
