Accurate representations of Rocket Raccoon, best known from the two Guardians of the Galaxy films are difficult to find without spending a lot of cash on the accurate one-sixth scale models costing in the hundreds of dollars. I wanted one such figure largely because I thought that Rocket and Groot were the most interesting characters in those films.
The Marvel character, by the way, goes back over forty years, as he was created by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Keith Giffen, first appearing in Marvel Preview #7, Summer 1976. He is apparently an intelligent, anthropomorphic raccoon who is an expert marksman, an accomplished thief and sometimes master tactician. His name is a riff off the 1968 song ‘Rocky Raccoon’ by The Beatles.
So off I went searching for him on Amazon and eBay. The one I got was on Amazon for four times what I paid on eBay for him. He is not, as one seller actually noted, an authorized figure but a bootleg available solely in Hong Kong! Most of the official releases lean towards the more cartoonish animated versions which I already have one of but this, as you can see in the illustration, is more like a raccoon.
So I paid for it (using PayPal as I didn’t fully trust using my bank account) and waited for it to arrive, which it did s month later in a square box with all the labeling in Chinese except for my address. To my surprise, there was not a statue inside but rather four separate pieces — his head, his body, his fucking big gun and Groot’s head and shoulders. It’s was also obvious that the image used had been enhanced as he’s been more subtly colored than the image.
Glued together, I’m pleased with him and I’ve placed the statue among the house plants which seemed appropriate. I’d have been happier if he was as large as described, seven inches, as it’s smaller than that, but I like the look quite a bit.
