Anyone who has ever had a kid or little brother that liked superheroes, pro-wrestling, or any other form of entertainment involving characters with different skill sets opposing one another knows the drill. Perhaps you’ve even heard it phrased in the kind of charming five year-old speak my own sibling used to utilize, long ago: “If him…and him…If they fighted…Who Would Win?”
Let’s face it, adults think this way too. In an election year, one has merely to turn on the news to see the notion dominate all coverage. What powers will one combatant utilize to vanquish the other? Will there be a surprise upset? If they have a rematch with new allies, then who wins?
Let’s Find Out
Unsurprisingly, there is a podcast dedicated to such fights in the superhero realm: the Who Would Win show, created by James Gavsie, and hosted by Gavsie and Ray Stakenas. Say Werd, the company that makes their merchandise and more, is collaborating with Who Would Win and created their new official toy, which they were kind enough to send over for review. It’s a special sort of display stand that can illustrate the possibilities of which they speak.
Display stands aren’t cheap to make, which is why companies like NECA don’t tend to include them any more. One virtue of the Who Would Win stand is it displays two figures at a time. $27.99 might seem high, being more than the price of one figure that could stand on it. But check out the prices of plastic diorama pieces online, and you’ll soon see it’s not, especially for an indie toy. Whether you want to pay for stands at all is a fair question, but if you do, it’s not unreasonable.
What’s Included?
The package comes with one base part, two plastic waist clips, one “Who Would Win” logo coin pre-attached (at least on mine, though the instructions suggest a detached version), a “Vs.” stand, and a thin cardboard brick wall backdrop. That part slides in and out of its slot easily, so fans can create and print their own.
For the purposes of our review, Say Werd threw in two random loose figures. These will NOT come with customer orders, but the company wanted to be sure we could demonstrate the full effect, and set over a Chris O’Donnell Batman and Robin figure alongside the most hilarious jazz hands Kevin Sorbo Hercules.
What About Bigger?
Six-inch figures in regular poses look fine, but aren’t necessarily quite the height the display has in mind. Seven-inch, however, are about the right fit for the waist clips.
If you just want them to stand there, that’s fine too. Given the nature of fighting games these days and toy collections, the stand proves most useful connecting really disparate figures. The more different, the better, even.
Who Does Win?
The waist clips are always removable, if one prefers. For long-term display, they’ll work best on neutral stance 7-inchers. Holding 6-inchers in mid-air poses for long periods could strain the plastic after a while. It’s pretty hard, but that could mean that when it stresses, it either breaks or not — bending is unlikely.
On the whole, it’s a creative display piece, and while the footpegs might be better if catered more to the 6-inch/7-inch side of things, they do allow for the small stuff in a way the waist clips can’t.
If you like what you see, buy your own directly from Say Werd.