But all that changed in the 90's, with the major hits Ren and Stimpy, Rugrats and Doug. And of course, today's kids dig on Spongebob and the Fairly Odd Parents, both great cartoons in their own right.

In the middle of all this was a little cartoon called Invader Zim. Quirky, loud, with fantastic art and interesting stories, it lasted all of 27 episodes before being cut down. There are many stories as to why, but in the end it was another casualty of Nick.

All is not lost for fans though, and there have been three dvd releases to cover all the episodes. Recently, a boxed set was developed for the die hard, and in two versions no less. The box itself is shaped like Zim's house, and is designed to hold all three regular DVD's, plus a fourth DVD of special features. And for action figure freaks - and you know who you are - there's a repainted Gir figure included! There are two versions of this boxed set, one with just the special DVD and the Gir figure (for those that already have the three DVD's) and one with the whole kit and kaboodle. I'm reviewing the basic set tonight.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can always reach me at mwc@mwctoys.com. If you enjoy this review, take a minute to check out my other site at Michael's Review of the Week, and let me know what you think. Now on to the review!

"Invader Zim DVD Boxed Set With Gir Action Figure"

This will be a bit of an odd review. Normally, you might see a review of the DVD, and then they'd mention the extras. But because of my peculiar bent, it's the Gir action figure that's the main prize, and the box and DVD are just the icing on the cake. So I'll be treating Gir like he's the main man, and considering the DVD as an accessory.

Packaging - ***
It's a big box. Bigger than the house of course, to completely contain it. That's a nice feature, since this way the actual house won't get smashed, crushed or otherwise damaged before you get it in your DVD collection.

The box isn't just utilitarion though - it's damn sharp looking as well. It has great graphics from the show, and should stand out nicely on the shelf. It's unlikely you'll keep it in this box for more than 30 seconds once you hit your own home, but it'll look damn good getting there.

Sculpting - ****
I've four starred the sculpts on the Invader Zim line from the beginning, and it's another excellent job by Palisades Toys. They manage to capture cartoon likenesses in 3-D like nobody else, and Gir is certainly no exception.

This version of Gir is actually identical in sculpt to the series 1 non-exclusive version. The difference here is in paint, done in his 'duty' red rather than the lighter green/gray.

Gir's head opens up, and you can store all kinds of things in there, like Irken tacos, since he doesn't have much need for the space. Gir stands about 3" tall (minus the antenna), which fits in nicely with the 4" scale Zim figures.

Paint - ***1/2
The paint is what makes this Gir different from previous Girs. He has the duty style mouth, with duty red colors, but full sized eyes instead of squinty eyes.

The paint ops are clean and neat, with no real surprises. I don't know if such a basic repaint is going to thrill anyone but the hardcore, but at least it's well done.

Articulation - **
Gir isn't the most articulated of figures, due in large part to his size and style.

Gir has a ball jointed neck with limited movement, ball jointed shoulders, and a cut joint high on each arm. It allows for basic posing, and the ball jointed neck was critical to giving him some personality.

Accessories - ***
Ah, now here's where that DVD comes in. Since I'm buying this set first and foremost for the figure, the house and DVD are really the accessories.

The house box is very well done graphically, with colors and designs right off the show. Of course the scale is small, but that only makes sense since it would be monstrously large to remain in scale with the figure line.

The top opens up - like in the show - and that's where they have Gir stored. The front of the house opens to reveal the interior box, sized for the four DVD's. Overall, the house is very nice, but be extremely careful handling it. You'll want to pick it up in one hand with your fingers on either side, but it will crush inward pretty easily, and you won't be happy.

Then there's the fourth DVD of special features. I suspect a lot of people will want this DVD just for the uncut version of The Worst X-Mas Ever, but don't get too excited if you haven't seen it. The cuts are fairly minor (there's one extra shot of a guy getting crushed by a chunk of monster-santa that's pretty cool), and there is actually less dialog here than in the final version. I guess there were a couple scenes that they felt needed more explanation.

It's also amusing to see that in the original, the story told by the Mr. Sludgy (you have to watch the episode to understand, trust me) has Zim called 'Zam', and Dib called 'Doom'. Obviously, since it was 2 million years in the future, things got a little muddled, but in the final version they went back to their normal names - again, perhaps they thought it would be too confusing for kids.

The DVD also contains several features revolving around the sound and music, one of the best features of the show. There's a long interview with the composer, some samples from different episodes, and best of all, the audio recordings for 8 unfinished episodes. While listening to snippets of dialog isn't quite the same thing as the actual episode, it's still a nice addition.

In general, the DVD isn't something the average fan can't live without. The presentation is fine if basic, and the extras have some geek value.

Value - **
At around $30, this isn't exactly a cheap set. With the full version, you're getting three dvd's full of all the episodes, but now you're talking closer to $120. That is DEFINITELY not the way to go, since you can pick up the three DVD's for around $60 total, plus this set for another $30.

For your thirty smackers, you're getting a repainted Gir that only the completist will need, a nifty house box, and a decent but unexciting specials disk. This set is at least $5 too much.

Overall - **1/2
If you're a completist for the action figure line, than picking this up is pretty much a no brainer. You simply have to have that Gir, and if you don't get it, you'll lie awake at night, tossing and turning, that one empty space in your collection burning a hole into your brain...not that I've ever felt that way of course.

But for everybody else, this might be a tough sell. It's nice for the big fans of the show to have the house as a nifty DVD case, and maybe once they end up with Gir, they'll have an insatiable desire to pick up the rest of the line. But the odds are pretty good that this set is going to see price reductions before it's all over, so you might want to wait a little while for the drop to come.

Where to Buy -
I bought mine through Amazon, but I've seen them since at the local Best Buy. Online options include:

- Amazon has the basic dvd set or the deluxe dvd set.

Related Links -
Here's a few handy Zim links:

- Room With a Moose is my favorite all around Zim site, with lots of info, forums and other nifty stuff.

- here's my past reviews of the series 1 action figures, Hot Topic exclusives from series 1, and the Wizard/Toyfare exclusive Angry Zim and Goofy Gir.