Asterius

From the upcoming Prince Caspian comes Asterius, a minotaur, a member of the Old Narnians who fight against the tyranny of King Miraz. I got this at Toys'R'Us for $9.99. It has twenty points of articulation, the most unusual of them being a jointed jaw.

Asterius is part of the larger format Narnia toys; the only ones so far are Peter, Edmund, Caspian, Miraz, Asterius, and Aslan. The smaller format has far more characters and I'm afraid I may have to start buying them as well. There is a castle made for this smaller format, very nicely modelled, for $70.

I love this figure, not only because it is a mythological creature, but because Asterius, as a good character, plays against what expectations we might have had about minotaurs from the first movie, when they all seemed to be working for the witch. I'm glad that there is no racial stereotyping in Narnia.

Prince Caspian

The figures from the new Chronicles of Narnia movie, Prince Caspian, are out now locally, at Toys 'R' Us. They are in two size formats, 6" and 4". I prefer the 6" format, and bought several characters; here is the first one, Prince Caspian himself, the eponymous hero of this installment.

This figure has over twenty points of articulation, sword, knife, shield, and four pieces of removable armor. It cost $9.99. The format is emminently compatible with The Lord of the Rings line. It was produced by Playalong Toys (www.playalongtoys.com) under the aegis of Jakks Pacific.

In the book Caspian is 13. "That young lad must be going on 20." One gets the feeling from the trailers that they might have done this to make rivalry between him and Peter and Edmund, and a little romantic friction between him and Susan.