New Astro Boy Vinyl Figure Is The Loneliest Little Boy In Metro City

"Pumped" isn't exactly the word I'd use to describe the American moviegoing crowd's reaction to "Astro Boy," Imagi Studios' recent computerized adaptation of the classic manga and anime series. Better words would be "ambivalent," "anti-pumped," "bored" and "oh-I-didn't-even-know-that-movie-came-out-already."

It looks as if those moviegoers aren't alone - if we're judging purely on looks, it appears that even Astro Boy himself is nothing short of disinterested in his own franchise potential, or lack thereof.

ToysREvil calls attention to Hot Toys' latest Astro Boy vinyl figure, which is scheduled to ship at some point during the fourth quarter of 2009 - which, really, should be any day now, right? Regardless of when this figure ships, Hot Toys really could have done a better job on delivering an energetic Astro. The poor kid looks positively defeated by the lackluster response to his mainstream feature film debut.

Maybe he's just charging himself up, or cooling down from a day filled with awesome bad guy busting, but it's hard not to question Hot Toys' decision to offer such a downtrodden Astro in light of the movie's failure.

I'd cheer the little tyke up if I could, maybe by offering him a cookie, but alas, he's an action figure. Even if he weren't, he's a robot. All the robots I know don't eat cookies.