Into the Toy Box: Tubbz | Cosplaying Ducks

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The rubber duck is one of the most recognizable classic toys ever. Created in the late 19th century, the earliest rubber ducks were made from harder rubber when toy manufacturers began using Charles Goodyear’s vulcanized rubber invention. However, they were unable to float. A floatable sculpture of a duck was created by Peter Ganine in the 1940s, which he later patented and produced as a floating toy. This birthed the iconic yellow bath toy everyone knows and loves today. Rubber ducks have taken countless forms over the years, with different sizes, colors, and designs, but what is probably the best take on the rubber duck released in late 2019. This latest version of Ernie from Sesame Street’s favorite bath toy is known as Tubbz: Cosplaying Ducks.

That’s right, I said “cosplaying.” These popular bath-time companions are dressed up as some of your favorite nerdy characters representing the biggest video game, movie, TV show, and comic book brands. There are ducks dressed as characters from Lord of the Rings, Batman, Crash Bandicoot, Borderlands, Ghostbusters, Street Fighter, The Last of Us, Sonic the Hedgehog, and many other franchises.

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Each duck is close to the size of a Funko POP! Figure and has incredible attention to detail. They are posed in specific ways to match the character they’re cosplaying as, and have hair, props, and attire identical to those characters. The Solid Snake duck wields a silenced pistol and dons a dark headband as if he waddled out of Metal Gear Solid. The Kratos duck carries a mighty axe and flaunts an impressive beard just like in the recent God of War game. Even their facial expressions match the mood each character is known for. They are still rubber ducks, but they manage to look more like the characters than some real-life cosplayers! Saying they feel like the characters magically transformed into rubber ducks might be more accurate, but it doesn’t quite roll off the tongue like “cosplaying ducks” does. Plus, we love cosplaying so much, so why can’t ducks?

Made by Numskull, these adorable rubber cosplayers are rather high quality and extremely durable. They can be dropped or knocked off a shelf by your pesky cat without breaking. It may not be a great idea to do so intentionally, though, if you’re worried about scratch marks appearing on the paint. Like a typical rubber duck, Tubbz can likely be used in your bathtub. However, I’m not one to risk a situation that could potentially damage my collectibles, even if it is just a bath.

Similar to Funko POP! Figures, one of the best features of Tubbz are that they allow you to collect characters from a wide variety of franchises in the same style of collectible. Having characters that greatly differ like Gandolf, Mad Moxxi, and Chun Li means that there are Tubbz for everyone, and your collection can showcase your multiple fandoms.

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Each Tubbz comes with a bathtub-shaped display stand so it looks like it’s taking a bath even when displayed on your shelf. Using the stand is optional, though, for those who just want to show off their new ducky keepsake. The bathtub display stand is also what it comes packaged in, which is also a pretty durable hard plastic to keep it safe during transportation. The bathtub stand color can vary depending on the character, like the Ghostbusters taking baths in slime green tubs or the Street Fighter characters using bright yellow tubs. Each bathtub display stand comes with the franchise’s logo on the side. There’s something about Batman having a bat-bathtub that is just plain hilarious.

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You can see the list of every Tubbz available and purchase them on Numskull’s website. This cross-brand collectible is still relatively new as they’ve been on store shelves for less than a year, but there are already plenty to choose from and Numskull appears to have more planned for release. If you’re one of the countless collectors who can’t get enough of Funko POP! Figures, then imagine those as rubber ducks and you have something brand new to collect! Tubbz: Cosplaying Ducks are adorable, very well-detailed, affordable, and can represent many of your fandoms. They may be new, but they might be the next big thing as far as collectibles go.

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