The show revolves around three main characters, all right out of your local McDonald's. There's Frylock, the package of fries, who is clearly the only one with any brains. Then there's Master Shake, the large shake who thinks he has brains, but is clearly an idiot. That makes him the most dangerous and the one that usually creates the goofy situations they find themselves in. And finally, there's Meatwad. Think Chrissy from Three's Company, Woody from Cheers, or Dauber from Coach. He's the dumb one who knows he's the dumb one, but he's just so damn sweet. Oh, and he's a giant chunk of meat.

Now, I don't want you to get confused and think that the fact that they are a shake, fries and wad of meat has anything to do with the show. They could as easily be pieces of furniture, small furry animals, silly insects. What they are has almost nothing to do with the plot of the cartoons themselves, and is mostly just a visual gag.

They all have super powers as well - Frylock has a various beams (including laser) that shoots from his eyes, Shake can shoot milk shake out his straw (fairly ineffectually), and Meatwad can transform himself into the shape of an igloo or a hot dog (in the bun!). And that's it. They've only actually used these powers in one episode that I know of, although Meatwad does occasionaly transform into one of his two shapes, and Frylock has been known to blast things.

As to their name, there's almost no 'aqua', unless you count their neighbor Carl's pool, they most certainly don't appear to be teens, and while I'm sure they are hungry on occasion, it has little to do with their teaming up. Yes, it's an odd show, and one that really needs to be watched to be appreciated. Not every episode is hilarious, but it's funny enough often enough to be a hit with the under 30 crowd.

Palisades Toys picked up the license to do varioius figures, and has just released their Mega Meatwad. This bad boy is 6 inches tall, much larger than your average action figure. You may be able to find him at some limited brick and mortar stores, but your best bet is online - I have some options at the end of the review.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can always reach me at mwc@mwctoys.com. If you enjoy this review, take a minute to check out my other site at Michael's Review of the Week, and let me know what you think. Now on to the review!

"Aqua Teen Hunger Force Mega Meatwad"

This isn't the first merchandise for ATHF that Palisades has produced. They've already produced action figures of Master Shake and Mothmonsterman as part of their Adult Swim line, and rumor has it that they did so well, that they are spinning off into their own line. We should see both Frylock and the smaller sized Meatwad later this year.

They've also done a couple sets of smaller PVC's, and when it comes to the 'mega' style, they've done the hilarious Mega Log for Ren and Stimpy. Palisades is no stranger to either the license or the style, and as the premiere manufacturer of cartoon based lines these days, fans have really been anticipating this release.

Packaging - ***
It's a large, black box. Black makes sense of course, since that's the standard background color for the Adult Swim bumps. The box is also very collector friendly, since just a couple pieces of tape is all that keeps him sequistered in his confine. You can pop him back in easy enough later, with zero damage to the packaging. Unfortunately, the box seems a tad thin though, and might end up damaged on the shelf.

Sculpting - ***1/2
What can you say about a big hunk of meat? Well, this is a particularly tough character to make look 'real', or at least three dimensional. Palisades has done a very good job, if not perfect, in transforming the cartoon into plasticy reality.

He doesn't have his arms, which we see on the show, but is simply round, with a smudge of his body pushed out on the ground. That fits the cartoon, and makes sense, since as he moves across the ground the friction would drag part of his body out. As any good fluid dymanics or chemical engineer would tell you, "there's no slip at the wall".

The figure isn't solid, but hollow rotocast. That means the bottom puckered up a bit, as is often the case with large rotocast figures and dog chew toys. That means he's not nearly as heavy as you'd expect just looking at him.

He is big though, standing about 6" tall and about as wide. They've also dimpled the body to give the impression of meat I suppose, or at least the impression of a meat wad. He has his silly cute expression on, and I suspect he's just done something that is going to seriously piss off Frylock.

He's a mighty tough figure to capture - hell, he's tough to even describe - but Palisades has brought their usual attention to detail and managed to pull it off.

Paint - ***
He's more red than your average meat patty, but he's definitely rare. The red is consistent, if a bit bright, and the only details - the eyes, mouth and tooth - are all extremely clean. There's not a lot of detail here, and the red is a tad brighter than I like, but it's definitely quality work.

It's worth mentioning that when I pulled him out of the box he was COVERED in a film of clear liquid. I mean COVERED. Not only was the chemical smell strong, but the chemicals were no where close to dry. I had to clean him up with several paper towels before I could even snap the shots, but he didn't appear any worse for getting a quick rub down.

Articulation - Bupkis
I'll be giving zero weight to this category when I do my overall score, but I wanted to mention it just in case someone was confused and actually thought that a big, round hunk of red plastic might have some articulation. He doesn't. If you're surprised by this, you might want to lay off the drugs.

Accessories - Bupkis
Read above. There are no accessories, although I wanted to be sure to mention the fact in case you were expecting some.

Fun Factor - ***
Okay, so kid's aren't going to have much fun with him. Unless they need a home plate, or perhaps a door stop. This is the kind of figure though that adults will find fun, kooky and just a tad silly. If you're looking for a gift for a six year old, I'd steer clear, but if you've got to find something for that picky teenager who's a big Adult Swim fan, then this just might be the ticket. And you'll be the coolest old person ever.

Value - **
I wouldn't pay more than $20 for him, but most places are charging more, and that's what I'm basing this score on. Now, I'm not a fool - if you have a big wad of meat, made from hollow plastic with no articulation and no accessories, and he costs more than twenty bucks, there's something else going on.

And that something else is production numbers. Or at least I'm betting. I suspect the run on this guy was ridiculously low, driving up the cost. If you're on the fence, the high price is likely to put you off, but if you're a major ATHF fan, you might want to reconsider.

Overall - ***
This isn't an amazing toy. It isn't a jaw dropping action figure, or dynamic statue. But it is hilarious, and one hell of a conversation starter. Okay, you're friends might think you're more than a little weird if you have this sitting around your office or bedroom, but hey, if they haven't figured that out by now, they haven't been paying attention.

I know I'm glad I picked him up, and he'll make a nice backdrop to the smaller line of action figures.

Where to Buy -
I haven't seen him at any brick and mortar stores, but some of the specialty stores might get him in. It's also worth mentioning that these were very under ordered, and I'm betting the production run on them was mighty small. If you think you want him, I wouldn't wait to see if he goes on clearance, as he's likely to disappear pretty quick. Online options include:

- Clark Toys has him at an excellent price and in stock - just $20!.

- YouBuyNow has him in stock at just $23.

- Killer Toys has him for $24.

- yikescomics has him for $30.

Related Links -
There's always something related!

- here's the review of the first series of Adult Swim figures. By the way, I'd just like to take this moment to say how offended I am that I wasn't invited to the Adult Swim SDCC party *sniff*.

- and if you're looking for good discussion around the various Palisades products, you should hit their company site, where they have some excellent message boards, and the company is extremely responsive.

- and of course, there's the official ATHF website at Adult Swim.