If someone would have told me that I’d actually see a Lunch Lady action figure, let alone buy one, I’d have had that person’s head examined (unless the person was a proven psychic…and even then…) Then I saw the Lunch Lady action figure at Amazon.com. You can go to Amazon at: www.amazon.com and check out this figure yourself. Put Lunch Lady action figure in the search box. There she is!
But first…I should warn you…if you have ever gone to public school or eaten school lunches, you might be surprised by the combination of fascination and repulsion that the sight of the Lunch Lady action figure sets off. I sure was! I took one look at her, posed behind an eerily accurate school lunch counter, with trays of various nameless casseroles, all looking just like the ones I remembered.
It was a bit more traumatic than I expected. I remembered lines of kids in our un-airconditioned school,, waiting for what seemed forever to see what we had for lunch. Would it be pizza (yay!) or mystery casserole (ugh). Would there be apple butter or brownies or stewed prunes? Would we get seconds or not? I could hear the noise of the kids, hear the clink of the serving spoons against the lunch trays and feel the fear I felt when those lunch ladies frowned in my direction. They were a tough bunch and didn’t take any guff.
To my surprise, fascination won out over repulsion and before I knew it, I’d actually clicked on the Buy it Now button and purchased my very own Lunch Lady action figure!
Here is what I got:
1. A lunch lady action figure.
No surprise there. She looked just like the lunch lady I remembered from grade school, though, the same one who’d been there for all those years, complete down to the hairnet and large black mole. How on earth did they find my lunch lady and capture her appearance so perfectly? She even had the same white full-length apron like my lunch lady had and a certain shapeless, but largeish, figure Eerie, truly eerie.
But there was more, much more. I also received:
2. A removable scoop, serving tray, stickers, the lunch counter and more.
I could almost smell the aroma of canned spinach wafting through the air. The macaroni and cheese looked strikingly yellow and the mystery casserole definitely looked….mysterious and full of the same unknown combination of ingredients that they contained in real school cafeterias. In case such things matter to you, there are only three lunch trays so you have to decide which three meals you are going to stick in them. I chose pizza, corn and spinach. I couldn’t find the canned asparagus that we also got sometimes….but hey, I wasn’t complaining.
Lunch Lady action figure: price and quality
This is a bargain at only $8.99 but watch out for the shipping. It can vary, depending on whether you buy this from Amazon directly or from another seller. Even so, I felt I’d gotten a bargain, if only for the nostalgia factor and the reminder that I wasn’t eating school lunches any more, just viewing them in plastic and paper forms. However, you should be aware that the Lunch Lady’s eyes do seem to follow one all over the room. Her stare is intense but covered by some large black eyeglasses, very retro.
Lunch Lady action figure: size and details
Since the whole set weights about 8 ounces, this isn’t huge (thank goodness). Who’d want her to be life-sized, anyway? She is about 6 inches tall.
Lunch Lady action figure: suggested uses
I put her in a place of prominence in our kitchen, within sight of anyone eating at our kitchen counter or table. If anyone complains about breakfast, lunch or dinner, she serves as a reminder of how much worse things could be – and will be – during the school day. This doesn’t always get people to eat what I cook but I believe it has helped. It certainly gives me moral support and I figure that is worth something. And…I’m actually a bit fond of her. There. I’ve admitted it.
Of course, you could also give this to any school cafeteria worker you know, one with a healthy ego and sense of humor. It’d be unique and personal. Just try to pick someone who doesn’t look remotely like the figure in the package.
