I used to collect rubber ducks back in 2006. By “collect”, I mean I had a few I liked, and then every person I knew decided to get me a duck for every single holiday for the next 10 years. I now own a total of two rubber ducks. Those are the ones I’m showcasing here. Why? Well because the lovely people at Numskull sent them to me. And because they are actually kind of rad.
‘Tubbz” are a growing line of pop culture themed rubber ducks. (Think Funko POPs but not hideous). Offering characters from Lord of The Rings to Crash Bandicoot, Tubbz have dove head first into the collectible market over the past couple of years. I had seen a few of these sitting at my local GameStop, and since they were characters from The Elder Scrolls, I didn’t give them much thought.
Fast forward to last week. I got a small brown package from the United Kingdom. I crack it open, and I see the duck-a-fied face of one of my all-time favorite game characters; Jill Valentine. At that moment, something strange happened. My lips began to move on their on. Curling upward in a sort of uncontrollable recoil. My teeth slipped into vision from between my teeth. “What is happening?” I thought to myself. It was then I realized; I was smiling. A little piece of rubber formed into a zombie-fighting female police officer had made me smile. Did I like this little collectible?
“No, no it can’t be true!” I thought. “You can’t stand those dumb Funko Pops! They all look the same!” But this was different; it was cute, kind of charming. It wasn’t really Jill Valentine, it was a duck version of Jill Valentine. I guess it’s true, I actually liked this. It was a changing moment in my life, to be honest.
Nah, not really. It’s just a pretty cute little version of some video game characters. The fact that they are actual rubber ducks, and not just paint on an oversized head, really makes them more appealing to me than Funko POPs. You can easily tell what character is what. I’d be hard pressed to tell a good 20% of Funkos apart. The mold is well done, the paint job is pretty good, and the overall feel of the duck is nice. Would it be good in the tub? I dunno, I’m a shower person. But there is a hole in the bottom, so I assume it works as expected when put into a soapy tub of water and removed filth.
Both Moxxi and Jill have loads of detail work that really help set them apart from each other. Both come with their own little tub and have a good overall feel. I’m fairly impressed with the quality. And I gotta be honest; they’re pretty cute. Silly? Sure. But what collectibles aren’t a bit silly?
So yeah, they are actually pretty nice little rubber ducks. Not sure I would want a huge collection of these, but that’s more of a personal preference. The product is what is says to be, and frankly it’s a refreshing spin on the pop culture collectibles.
You can check out the full catalog of Tubbz over on the official site.
Big thanks to Numskull for sending me these to check out!
