Fresh Monkey Fiction Naughty or Nice 2023 Collection Review and Images

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: ToyFarce review!

This week, we're having an early look at the Naughty or Nice 2023 Collection from Fresh Monkey Fiction! Is there any other way to kick off December and put ourselves in the holiday spirit than to review a bunch of awesome Santa Claus figures? I think not! Those figures are exclusive to BigBadToyStore, a huge thank you to them for sending those over! Ho ho ho!

The Naughty or Nice Collection line by Fresh Monkey Fiction was done in collaboration with designer and sculptor Arlen Pelletier and is exclusively offered through BigBadToyStore. The packaging of those figures is really nice, similar to Marvel Legends figures, and just like with their Operation Monster Force line, Fresh Monkey Fiction packs each figures with so much accessories that they have to add a plastic baggy inside the box to fit everything. The packaging for the smaller Elves is also collector friendly, with a plastic shell and a card that you can slide in and out in the back to grab the figure. The Accessory pack comes in a nice little box and the Christmas hats in a bag.

First, the OG, the Classic Santa (reissue). I had reviewed their first Classic Santa figure a couple of years ago (review here) and just like that one, this new version is a very nice figure! The sculpt and paint apps are great, and the figure has a decent amount of articulations (no double elbows/double knees/thigh swivels but it's Santa, not Spider-man). The Classic Santa comes with 2 head sculpts (normal and winking), a hat, 3 extra hands, a present (that can be opened), his list (I hear he checked it twice!), a plate with 2 cookies and a glass of milk (you can remove the milk from the glass to turn it into... just a glass!) and a stand (...and a partridge in a pear tree?). The hat can be removed and put on the other head sculpt. It has a couple of subtle improvement, like his beard being plain white (as opposed to blond-ish on the previous one). I imagine there will be a version of this one in every wave (similar to a Batman or Spider-man or Roman Reigns figure), and this one is a welcome update to the previous one.










Comparison with Classic Santa from 2022 wave


Storytime Santa is a more casual look for jolly old Santa, for when he's relaxing at home. He comes with 2 extra hands, his hat, a present, his list, a story book, a Christmas stocking, a plate with 2 cookies and a glass of milk, a pipe and a stand. This version is pretty simple and can be used for all sorts of toy photography. One thing I noticed is the size of his forearms... This Santa definitely goes to the gym! #ShreddedSanta










"I'm just a sexy Santa... *sexy saaaaantaaaaa*"


The Father Christmas version is a more traditional take on Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas. He wears green and has a crown of holly leaves. He comes with 2 heads, a hood, 2 extra hands, a holly leaves crown, a staff with 2 attachments, his list, a present and a stand. The second head is the same sculpt as the Storytime Santa, but with brown hair. This figure looks really good, the green color really pops out next to the other red versions.












Winter is Here Santa (as opposed to "Winter is Coming", *wink wink nudge nudge*), is a all-white Santa that comes with a frost giant/white walker head and hands. In his white Santa suit, he looks very nice and clean but can turn into a scary frost king with the other head. He comes with 2 heads, a hood, 2 extra hands, an ice crown, a staff, a present, 2 transparent (frozen?) Christmas stockings, a candy cane, 2 lumps of ice and a stand. The first head is the same as Classic Santa, while the second head is the same sculpt as the Zombie Santa from 2022, but in blue. A very smart re-use of that one!












Sgt. Santa (Green Camo Ver.) is a very "military" Santa, covered in camoflage, and I think he might be my favorite from that wave. He comes with 2 heads (one with sunglasses and a cigar, and one with camoflage face paint), 7 extra hands, a hat, a military helmet, a camoflage present, a camoflage Christmas stocking, a stand, and of course, 2 grenades, a shotgun and a rocket launcher. He's so out there! He looks awesome, and would fit just fine with Fresh Monkey Fiction's other line, Operation Monster Force figures (I added a couple in the background).














Wizard Santa is a very fun one too, with a mostly transparent blue body. You can see through him! He comes with 2 extra hands, a wizard hat, his list, a book with spells, a staff with 2 attachments and a transparent present (if you can see what's inside, it's not really a surprise, is it?). It's another one of those completely different versions that end up looking really great and fun! I added other notorious wizards with him on some pics.
















Krampus (Red Ver.) is the same Krampus from the first wave, but... wait for it... in red! He comes with an extra hand, chains, a plate with 2 very red cookies and a glass of black (spoiled?) milk, 2 lumps of coal, a trident, a crushed present and a stand. The head sculpt looks awesome, in a very Krampus way, and this figure can probably be used for all sorts of other demon characters.












Francis the Frost Elf is a smaller figure, at about 4" tall, with less articulations (7 points, the wrists move!). He comes with 2 heads, a candy cane and a crushed present. It matches the Winter is Here Santa figure pretty well and can serve as its minion. He has a zombie looking head and an evil looking one. The hats are interchangeable.








The accessory pack from this wave can serve as an upgrade pack for your old Classic Santa from the previous wave, since it comes with the head with the white color beard. There's also a giant bag to store presents, 3 hands, 2 Christmas stockings, a pipe, a bell and a Santa hat.



Speaking of Santa hat, the set of Santa hats is a great idea. I wrote an article last Christmas (I gave you my heart), which said you can turn your collection into appropriate Christmas decorations by adding Santa hats and I used those ones. They fit most 1/12th scale figure and look great. I'm gonna need about 200 more of those!



The Naughty and Nice Collection by Fresh Monkey Fiction is exclusive to BigBadToyStore and this wave can still be pre-ordered there. Get your holiday spirit on by adding Santas to your collection! Once again, a huge thank you to BigBadToyStore for sending those.



More news at 11:00... It's all fun and games until Santa checks the Naughty list...