Background
We’re a little over one-quarter of the way through the 2014-15 National Hockey League season. It’s a season that generally runs from October into June. Since I live in a hockey town, I get out to a lot of games. But if you’ve been to a hockey game recently, you might have run into the NHL OYO Minifigures.
Featuring skaters, goalies, and Zambonis from all 30 NHL teams, OYO Sports has one of the most popular hockey collectibles. You’ll find OYO minifigures made of all of today’s top players. Heck, they even have some 3rd Line and Checking Line guys. And not only are OYOs collectibles, but they’re are also compatible with other notable building block toys such as Lego, K'nex, Mega Bloks, and more…for added playability.
For this review, OYO Sports sent along three NHL OYO Minifigures: Claude Giroux, Jordan Staal, and Cam Ward (from the newly released Goalie Series).
The Facts
NHL OYO Minifigures
Series: National Hockey League Generation 1
Manufacturer: OYO Sports
Material: ABS Plastic
Dimensions: About 2” tall
Points of Articulation: 11 (neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, legs, and knees)
Designs: Players from all 30 NHL teams
Accessories: Skaters – Skates, Puck, Player Accurate Stick Configuration, Helmet with Removable Shield, Stand; Goalies – Leg Pads with built-in Skates, Blocker, Glove, Stick, Puck, Water Bottle, Helmet with Cage, Stand
Edition Size: Limited Edition
Pricing: Skaters - $12.99; Goalies - $14.99
Packaging
The packaging for the NHL OYO Minifigure series is similar to that of other OYO figures. It features an outer sleeve as well as a plastic tray where the figure and accessories are held.
The outer packaging on the skaters and goalies differs slightly. While both feature illustrated versions of the figure on the front of the box, the goalie packaging lacks the window cutout.
Our Opinion
I’ll start off by saying that the NHL OYO series is the one I’ve really been looking forward to reviewing. I’m a fairly big hockey fan, which could have been difficult when relocating from the Northeast to down South.
Luckily, we have a local team. And I’ve had season tickets to the Carolina Hurricanes for several years now. That’s why you’re seeing a couple of Canes figures in this review.
I’ve seen this OYO Sports line sold at the various merchandise stands around PNC Arena. And while they only had three player representatives from the team last year, it’s now up to 13 guys and a Zamboni.
So I’ve actually bought a few OYO figures from the aforementioned arena shops. You try to go into a store, where there are little LEGO looking figures, with a 4-year-old and not get pressured into buying that kid a toy.
The actual OYO figures are much like your basic LEGO minifigure. There’s a little more articulation with an OYO, with an extra point at the elbows and knees.
Each skater comes with a pair of grey skates that attach to the bottom of the figure’s feet. Those skates can then slide into a groove on the display base, but be careful as I’ve come across some skates that are a little loose.
Also included with each figure is a team-specific helmet with a detachable visor. You’ll get a basic white hockey stick with a puck. That stick is sculpted so that the puck can be attached to it. And they’ve taken into account the shooting side of each skater, so you’ll get the correct stick.
OYO Sports goes full out authentic by adorning the Captain and Alternate Captains with their jersey patches (as you can see with both Staal and Giroux). While a little less authentic, the series features a handful of heads with various facial hair patterns and colors. So these aren’t going to be authorized likenesses, folks.
The one question I had for a while was why no goalies. But that was answered when OYO Sports released their highly anticipated goalies series last month.
The base goalie figure is the same as the skaters (minus any hands). Additions include a team-specific goalie mask and cage (none of the personalized art, which would likely be impossible to do at this scale), glove (on the player accurate glove hand), blocker, leg pads with built-in skates, goalie stick, puck, and water bottle.
Overall, the figures are great. This will likely be my favorite sport covered by OYO Sports. Some of it has to do with me liking hockey, but there’s also the fact that each figure includes a boatload of accessories. And OYO Sports is constantly adding new players to their lineup, including swapping out players involved in big trades, surprise players, rookies, etc.
You can pick these up at the following:
OYO Sports: Skaters - $12.99 Goalies - $14.99
