Sometimes, when I have a bad morning at work, the only reasonable thing to do is to buy a toy on my lunch break, from the Wal-Mart a block away. Although, judging from the mountains of toys on my desk, apparently I'm miserable at my job, and possibly have been for the last thirty-five years. But let's put aside that gloomy thought, and check out a fun trio of recent pickups!

Fisher-Price's Imaginext line has apparently been around since 2002, and many action figure fans are probably familiar with their DC Superheroes figures--yeah, looking up, a cheery Superman and Batman are waving from the shelf by my desk now! Recently, Imaginext got into the blind-bag game, with their first series of ten figures. With a modicrum of ahem, bag fondling, (ew, don't say it like that!) you can fairly easily find the characters you want. In my case, it was the Spy with Jetpack, and the Robot!

Just handling a bag I could feel the throttle-handle of the jetpack, and the robot's clamp-like hand, respectively. The robot and the spy have six points of articulation: neck, both shoulders and wrists, and the legs. The legs move together, so they can either stand or sit. The paint is pretty good for the scale, and the sculpt is chunky and kid-friendly, and fun. The robot has some nice details like the clamps, while the spy has an archly raised eyebrow and is wearing the hell out of that suit. Both have two accessories: the robot has a gun and a tool-disc with a hammer, drill, screwdriver, and wrench. The spy has the aforementioned jetpack and grappling-hook gun--you know, if you have one of those, do you need the other? Well, maybe. The jetpack, tool-disc, and the spy and the robot themselves, all have the Imaginext small-i logo on them.

Next, we've got the Hasbro Rescue Bots Optimus Prime: $2.99 at Target, and he is not blind-bagged. So, if you want an Optimus, you can pretty much just buy one! This may not be a new figure: I think these Rescue-Bots were previously released in two-packs with human characters from that cartoon. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think anyone, ever, has bought a Transformers figure of any kind and been "Yay, I got a human!"

Like the Imaginext figures, Optimus moves at the neck, shoulders, wrists, and the same both-leg hinge. He has the slightly modified Rescue Bots Autobots badge, and a circular saw in place of his left hand. I kind of like both of those, since I figure if Optimus didn't have to deal with Megatron and the Decepticons on a regular basis, Optimus would be perfectly happy to stay at home, maybe making birdhouses and getting the occasional cat out of a tree.

These aren't super-articulated or anything, but a lot of fun. And a good way to cheer up a grim afternoon at work!

Read more!

(Long past) Time for the Terrible Toyman!

Got the DCUC 18 Toyman for five bucks at Wal-Mart today. Not a bad figure, although mine had a little black paint slop on the collar; and a bit of leftover yellow trim in the right armpit. For the price, can't complain.

Toyman's been out for a while, and OAFE.net has a pretty good review, but It's All True had some great pics for him.

Read more!

Suddenly...

Couple quick pictures tonight: a couple years back, I wrote a Show and Tell post for Poe's on my childhood hero, a classic red Lego minifigure astronaut. His teammates have been MIA for some years (or, at least not here) but he's finally got a new friend, from Lego Minifigures Series 6. She has a proper gun, too; I have no recollection what the heck his gun originally was...

And a quick one I'd wanted to knock out for a bit: DCUC's Kobra, with the Hasbro Marvel Legends Hydra soldiers. Do they look like suitable soldiers for him, or not?

Read more!

This post cost me $5.50.

I was going to post pictures of these little Zombie Planet toys yesterday, while watching the Walking Dead, but I fell asleep before the new episode. That may or may not be an indicator of the last half-season of the show, I do have to get up pretty damn early. And then my pictures didn't turn out anyway, and then I bought a couple more at lunch, so here we are.

I haven't read the comic, but I usually enjoy the Walking Dead, even if there are a few things that hurt my suspension of disbelief...yes, I can totally accept zombies or walkers or whatever, but don't understand, for example, why the group doesn't move off of Hershel's farm to like the next one down the road. Can't be that hard to clear one out, relatively speaking. And how come the 'walkers' haven't dehydrated into mummies? Anyway, I usually watch it with my Oldest son, but I also usually watch it beforehand to make sure there's nothing too out of line for him to see. We usually discuss what they do wrong; for example, please wear gloves while handling corpses. Or, Shane's tirade at the end of "Pretty Much Dead Already" is correct, but he picks the worst way to go about it.


Back to these little figures, Battlegrip.com has a right fine review of 'em up, as well as links to get your own. Buy a case! Buy a vending machine! They're fifty cents a pop in my neighborhood, although you may also see them for seventy-five cents, maybe even a buck. I've done pretty well on the assortment, though: I did get an extra cheerleader, but I think that's my only duplicate out of nine tries.

The other dollar went for the girl in the picture above, Ann from the King Kong capsules of a few years back. (I took a picture of one some time ago.) The paint apps may actually be better on the Zombie Planet figures, though.
Read more!

(Too late) A Review: Toynami's Thundarr the Barbarian!

Is it the best post-apocalyptic cartoon aimed at little kids? Quite possibly! From the 1980 Ruby-Spears cartoon Thundarr the Barbarian, today we have Toynami's 2004 figures, which I've wanted for years. Probably on and off since 1980.

For those of you unfamiliar with the show, in the futuristic year...1994, a "runaway planet" (or comet or whatever) passes between the earth and the moon, wrecking them both up something fierce. Two thousand years later, earth is still solidly messed up, humanity barely up to a medieval level and having to face mutants, monsters, and magic. The titular Thundarr the Barbarian rises out of slavery with his companions Ookla the Mok and Princess Ariel; together they ride across the land and fight evil and whatnot. Seriously, even as a kid, I never really knew and wondered where they were riding to, since everywhere they went was pretty much just as terrible as where they left; but they didn't seem to have any particular goal in mind.

The series was created by Steve Gerber, who was best known for co-creating Howard the Duck. I had thought Jack Kirby was responsible for the characters' designs, but I was wrong: Alex Toth did the main characters before having to leave the show, so Kirby designed the villains and secondary characters. Although the result of natural disaster and not nuclear war or monkeys or plague, the post-apocalyptic setting was unique; but the show did swipe fairly liberally from Star Wars. Thundarr's 'sunsword' should be no means be confused with a lightsaber, Ariel is a Princess because Princesses are cool, and Ookla's growling and general resemblance to a Wookie...means nothing.

Toynami put out this three figure set out in 2004, and I don't know how I missed them: I suspect I got beat to them, then figured they would restock eventually, and never saw them again. Then for some time, it was something I planned to spring for as a Christmas present to myself from eBay; until the figures seemingly disappeared entirely. They would resurface occasionally, but were about as expensive as refined plutonium. Luckily, I recently found a "Buy It Now" auction at a relatively reasonable price for three that were opened, but may have never been taken out of their trays. (For some reason, these seem to show up in batches on eBay, but shop it around.) I had to look up Toynami as well, since I was thinking they were no longer around, but they are! They still make Futurama figures, for one.

Let's talk the figures, for a bit. They walk the line between looking like the character model sheets and having a bit of articulation. Thundarr has ankles, mid-calves, knees, hips, waist, shoulders, elbows, forearms, wrists, and neck; for a total of eighteen points. The head is ball-jointed, but restricted by his barbarian Prince Valiant hair. His fur outfit is soft plastic, though; and he has a magnet in his left wristguard to store the hilt of his sunsword! The blade removes, and it works great, unless you get the magnets the wrong way and shoot it across the room...

Princess Ariel was the magic-user of the group, as well as being the brains of the operation. She also seemed to be fairly educated for the time, so she often had a vague notion of the history of the areas they explored. Like a lot of female figures, Ariel doesn't get as much articulation, as to not mar the sculpt. Her joints are mostly cuts: hips, boot tops, shoulders, wrists, and a restricted balljoint neck like Thundarr's. (Ariel may have forearm twists, but mine seemed sticky, so I didn't want to push them, and they're redundant with the wrists anyway.) She comes with a magical fireball-like sphere and spinny-shield.

Ookla the Mok, Thundarr's biggest companion, was probably children's favorite back in the day. He's basically Chewbacca the Barbarian, but I'm OK with that. Ookla's solid mane of hair means he has no neck, but he does have wrists, elbows, shoulders, waist, hips, knees, and boot tops. He also has swappable hands, open or fists; and a bow and arrow. I honestly suspect Ookla got a bow because Chewbacca had his bowcaster; Ookla seemed strong enough to just throw whatever was handy at anything he couldn't reach.

Wikipedia points out that although Thundarr the Barbarian was a Ruby-Spears production, the DVD release of the complete series seems to imply it was from Hanna-Barbera. And, so do the trays for the figures! And, checking the figures, so does Ookla's foot! The entry notes Joe Ruby and Ken Spears had been head writers for Hanna-Barbera before creating their own animation studio; but Hanna-Barbera may have ended up with the characters now.

Super-happy to finally have these three. I imagine we'll be seeing them around here every so often, too.


The above was pretty much what I thought the future was going to be. Cyborgs and road warriors fighting their way through a hellish wasteland of gangs and monsters. Best case. Read more!

(Mostly) a review! Bandai's ThunderCats Classic Lion-O!

Often, I don't consider myself qualified for proper action figure reviews, because I usually buy figures based on the characters involved. But today, we have a character I have surprisingly no nostalgic attachment to: Lion-O, of the ThunderCats! Never watched the cartoon as a kid (I would've been a bit too old for it) and I can't recall if I've ever seen in person an old LJN figure. I have caught the first few episodes of the new cartoon, though, and been pretty impressed. (I was prepared to hate "Song of the Petalars," the first episode I saw, and it won me over. Written by longtime comic writer J.M. DeMatteis, too.)

Rather than the new cartoon, the Classic line is based on the old series and the old figures. The old figures especially, I think. Lion-O's sculpt and paint aren't soft, but they're both very cartoony, with not a lot of extra, hard-to-animate detail. Which is fine: was anyone clamoring for a photo-realistic ThunderCats? Maybe? I don't know...

While I don't usually give the packaging a lot of thought, this one could maybe, theoretically be reusable; if that's your thing. Except, instead of twisties or rubber bands, Lion-O is held in with little plastic bits like I find holding new socks together. And of course, I hacked the whole enterprise to bits because I didn't want the Sword of Omens to get bent up. (It's slightly warped, which should be correctable.)

Even with only a passing familiarity to the old cartoon, I can tell Lion-O looks dead-on-model. The ThunderCats logo on the Sword of Omens and the belt, and Lion-O's eyes are all very well applied--I want to see all three are tampos, but I'm not positive. Mine had a couple gloppy parts on the face, that show up on the macro pictures, but he looks fine in hand. Even if I've never been sure about Lion-O's Fred Flintstone five o'clock shadow.

The packaging proclaims "18 points of articulation!" so let's do a quick count: two neck points, two shoulders, two elbows, two wrists, chest, waist, two hips, two mid-thigh, double points on the knees, and both ankles. Sounds about right, and it's all pretty stout. Lion-O's colossal hair may hamper the top neck joint a smidge, but still not bad. The wrist articulation is pretty good, but does show the orange skin-tone paint there; it probably should've been painted the same color as his gloves. Ditto the orange showing through at the ankles.

Although there are four- and six-inch scale figures in the new cartoon line, Classics Lion-O is about eight inches tall. That makes him taller than DCUC, Marvel Legends, or Masters of the Universe Classics figures; but I don't know how tall Lion-0 the character is supposed to be--he could well be taller than a normal person.

So, overall? This Lion-O feels like an updated, upgraded version of his older toy; and I think I've already seen other reviews say he feels very much like a toy, not a statue or a little representation of a character, he's a toy. But a pretty darn good toy. Good articulation, nice paint, and a good heft to him. Grab him if you can: you might consider picking up a poor Tygra as well, since I saw three of those left when I got the last Lion-O!





Read more!

Year End: Favorites of 2010!

I don't typically do a "Best of" action figure for the year, just my year-end count and totals. Partially it's because I don't buy every single figure, or even enough for an accurate sampling; but also because many of my purchases are based on character. And I always figure the best figure of the year was probably a bit more upscale; like the new Star Wars AT-AT or something from Hot Toys.

Not the case here, although I do think all four of these were purchased at full price: first up, Marvel Legends Valkyrie. She was originally planned for the Hulk/Fin Fang Foom wave back in 2008, tooled and ready, then bumped from the lineup. Marvel Universe then became the spotlight line, so she would have to wait until this year for release; and I'm hoping for a resurgence of Marvel Legends, especially when it comes to new characters. (Moreover, Val is going to be in a ton of homemade strips, both here and at Poe's!)

Not unlike Valkyrie, Shocker Toys Scud was teased long, long ago, but we finally have him this year. Getting a figure you never thought would get a toy is one thing, but getting a good figure as well? Well worth the wait. Although I sometimes get the feeling that as a company, Shocker sometimes bites off more than they can chew; I'm pulling for them, I like the idea of more independent comic figures. Their handicaps? Getting the figures on the shelves, and character selection. (Shocker made probably the best figure Shadowhawk is ever gonna have, but I don't care about the character.)

Negative Man is not only a character and a figure I personally dig; but he's there as a representative of DC Universe Classics. Again, it's a line I usually cherry-pick based on characters--it would have to be a pretty stout discount to get me to buy a new Donna Troy figure--but that's pretty much what happened! Between markdowns, coupons, and eBay; DCUC surged the last three months of the year. Nine DCUC buys from January to September 2010, then nine in October, six in November, and eight in December. Along with some mainstays like the Martian Manhunter and Guy Gardner, DCUC delivered some characters I never thought I'd get on the shelf, like OMAC, Jemm, and Negative Man.

And Twitch? Twitch is just cool, you could probably pick him up for under eight bucks right now, and he can be whatever you want him to be. I started using him in Bastards of the Universe well before I saw Toy Story 3; and it's safe to say he's...different here. I always think of his style as a callback to old-school lines like Masters of the Universe and Sectaurs, too.

Those were my favorites, what were yours?
Read more!

The Fifth Annual, Random Happenstance, Year in Toys!

Not that this was a completely bad year, but did this year seem...like a hundred years long? Maybe not that long, but loooooonnnnnnggg? I was drinking out of my War Machine Slurpee cup, and had to check the date on the bottom: I can't believe Iron Man 2 came out this year. Hell, it feels like the DVD came out years ago!

Well, it's over now, so it's time to review what I bought, in terms of action figures, for 2010! This is always one of my favorite posts of the year, so let's get started!

For new readers: next to my desk at work is a little yellow notebook, in which I have been keeping a running total of every action figure or toy I buy. I started December 2005 and haven't filled it yet, so apparently I'm not buying enough figures. Hopefully, each entry has the figure, the line, the price, and where I bought it; and possibly a link to a cartoon or strip that toy was used in. Unless that figure's unloved or unphotogenic, I guess.

As always, most of this list was kept up at OAFE.net, and here's links for 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006. Five years worth of totals! Why, in theory you could get all sorts of interesting statistical data out of that! You could. I'm not.


1-7 MU Goliath/Iron Man, $13.48, Wal-Mart; Frosty the Snowman, $3.75, Toys R Us.

1-14 DCUC Hawkgirl, Toys R Us; MU Skrull Giant-Man/Captain America (Bucky), $13.48, Wal-Mart.

1-15 DCUC Deadshot, Fred Meyers, $9.99.

1-21 Mezco Heroes Claude, Mr. Linderman, $9 total, Hastings.

1-29 ML Camo Punisher, $1.63, Wal-Mart; DCIH Manhunter and Qwardian, $1.19 each, DCD Geo-Force, $3.40, $5.78 total, the Comic Book Shop.

1-30 ML Danger, 3 Hydra Agents, DCD Billy Batson & Hoppy (ML $2.39 each, Billy $3.20) $12.76 total, Comic Book Shop. MLFF Thing, Silver Surfer, $7.89 each, $15.78 total, White Elephant. Completed Ronan the Accuser!

2-3 HML Hydra Agent, $2.39, Comic Book Shop.

2-5 Playmates Terminator: Salvation Marcus, $1, Ross. And a dollar is about right...

2-9 Playmates Star Trek (3 3/4) Spock, $2.57; G.I. Joe movie Shipwreck, $2.57. Why another Spock? For a headswap with Cadet McCoy; blue-shirted McCoy, boom, done. Think I've got enough bridge pieces now, too.

2-12 G.I. Joe Sgt. Stone, $2.57, Fred Meyer.

2-13 Star Trek old Spock, $2.57, Fred Meyer; HML Wolverine & Forge, $10, Pirates of the Caribbean Sao Feng, $2, Ross.

2-14 Wolverine (yellow costume) $3.24, Fred Meyer. Maverick, $2, Wal-Mart.

2-15 5 DCIH Manhunters, $1.19 each, DCD Dr. Sivana and Mr. Mind, $3.20, total $9.15, the Comic Book Shop.

2-19 G.I. Joe Pit Commando, $2.57, Fred Meyer.

2-20 Shocker Toys Scud, $16.99, Hastings. Didn't even glance at the price on that one when I saw him, just grabbed him and ran for the register, since I'd never seen him at retail. Loved that comic, love the figure.

2-23 DCUC Question, $16.99 (plus $7.39 postage), Big Bad Toy Store.

2-25 Hot Wheels Ecto-1, $.97, Wal-Mart. You know, I'm not even a big Ghostbusters fan, but it's a nice little display piece for my cube at work, something people might recognize.

2-26 Another DCIH Manhunter, $1.29, the Comic Book Shop.

Wolverine: Origins Iceman and Gambit, $2.49 each, Wolverine Animated Colossus, $3.24; total $8.94, Shopko.


3-6 Hasbro Secret Wars Nightcrawler and Storm, $12.88; IM War Machine (comic), $6.88, Wal-Mart.


3-8 Avatar Col. Quaritch, Dr. Augustine, and Cpl. Wainfleet, $.75 each, $2.45 total, Wal-Mart.

3-15 DCUC Steel, $10.39, G.I. Joe Heavy Duty, $3.34, Fred Meyer. Steel amuses me because he's a bit of a sad case: in DC continuity, they're on their third guy named Steel, a family legacy of metal bones/skin and getting killed off for drama. Plus, in a world with "the Man of Steel," Steel is a crummy codename.

3-22 Marvel Universe Thor, $7.88, Wal-Mart. Nice, it's the sort of figure that almost makes up for the MIA Legends. Almost...

3-25 Playmates Terminator, $2.56, Fred Meyer. (I forget which one, 3 3/4 inch, silver? They aren't great, yet there's this terrible temptation to drop ten bucks on a little squad of them.)

3-26 G.I. Joe General Hawk, $3, K-Mart.

4-9 Iron Man Mark I (comic) and Hypervelocity, $10.99, Toys R Us.

4-10 G.I. Joe Cover Girl $2.78, Terminator $2.78, Fred Meyer.

4-15 Hasbro Secret Wars Nightcrawler/Storm (spare!) $15.99; Hellboy 2 Angel of Death and Princess Nuala, $3.44 each, Raiders of the Lost Ark Belloq $2.44; total $25.31, Suncoast.

4-17 Star Wars X-Wing Pilot Luke, $6; Handful of Heroes, $5.44, Wal-Mart. (Punisher, Nightcrawler, Spidey crouched on big bird head, old gray Iron Man in bright orange, 2 Hulks and a Wolvie.)

4-18 Star Wars Comic Pack Luke/Lumiya, $13.49, Shopko.

5-5 Indiana Jones Col. Dovchenko, $2.75, Hastings. Not bad, although I think I just wanted the crate and goblet...

5-7 MU Bucky, $7.88, Wal-Mart.

5-11 Secret Wars Ultron/Mr. Fantastic, $7.61, Wal-Mart.

5-13 Hasbro Secret Wars Thor/Enchantress, $7.61, Wal-Mart.

5-21 Yard sale: vintage Star Wars Darth Vader, two Stormtroopers, Walrus Man, X-Wing Luke, Hoth Luke, Pruneface, Tie Fighter Pilot, and two skiff guys; vintage Battlestar Galactica Adama, Knight Rider Michael Knight, and Karate Kid Mr. Miyagi; and G.I. Joe Duke, Flash, Barbeque (maybe?), and Mutt: five bucks. With a Fisher-Price school bus and a dinosaur for my youngest!

5-22 Yard sale: Dr. Robotnik, $.25.

5-23 IJ Mutt Williams (jacket), $2.25, Hastings.

5-31 DCUC Electric Blue Superman, $14.99, Target (MT). Probably could've got him for $9.99 two years ago, but finally completed Gorilla Grodd, some three years after getting the first part!

6-3 DCUC Blue Devil, $16.99, the Comic Book Shop.

6-9 A-Team B.A. Baracus, $5.99; G.I. Joe Baroness and 4 Neo-Vipers, $1.76 each; total $14.79, Target.

6-11 G.I. Joe Storm Shadow and 2 Neo-Vipers, $5.28 total, Target.

Over the weekend, yard sale stuff: a Cobra vehicle in fair shape, some Ninja Power Rangers, a Beast Wars Megatron (a mom chiselled a buck out of me for that one, but I really like the old Megs that used to talk to his dinosaur-head hand; a friend used to nail his voice), some 200X MOTU (Sy-Klone!), and a Star Wars Republic Gunship. That last was three bucks, but missing the top guns, the drop-door, and the canopy: right now, it looks like it should be on blocks in Luke's yard. Under ten bucks for the whole lot.

6-15 Mezco Wolfman bloody version, $3.23, Blockbuster exclusive.

6-17 Transformers Trenchmouth and Slapdash, $3; NEST Battlefield Bumblebee and Infiltration Soundwave, $3; Wal-Mart.

MU Kitty Pryde, $9.99; NECA Clash of the Titans Perseus, $4.94; Suncoast.

6-20 G.I. Joe movie Destro, Baroness, 2 Neo-Vipers, $.88 each. $3.83, Target.

6-21 Hasbro Hulkbuster Iron Man, $6.96, Wal-Mart.


6-30 DCUC Negative Man (plain bandaged head) $14.04, K-Mart. Not a bad price, although now I wonder if there'll ever be an Elasti-girl to finish the team. (And don't mention Mento to me.)

7-3 Indiana Jones (Crystal Skull version) $2.83, Fred Meyers.

7-6 Indiana Jones Ugha Warrior, $2.83, Fred Meyers.

7-12 Axe of Hordes, from Poe Ghostal, $10+postage. Dig it.

7-14 Avatar Amp Suit, $10, Grocery Outlet.

7-31 Prince of Persia Dastan w/Aksh (the horse), $3.24; G.I. Joe Cobra Viper Commando with Serpent Armor, $2.48; $5.73 Target.

Secret Wars Dr. Doom/Absorbing Man/Wasp, $12.88, Wal-Mart. (Montana, no tax!)

8-8 Transformers Ravage, $4.99, Target. At Target back home, A-Team Hannibal, $1.48, and Van, $6.24. $8.39 total.

8-9 PoP Zolm, $1.98; A-Team Lynch, $1.48; total $3.70, Target.

Indiana Jones Sallah, $2.83, Fred Meyer. (I was going to buy him, then didn't, set him down, and it didn't turn up again until now...)

8-10 Marvel Universe Thor, Cage, Namor, and Silver Iron Man, $2.50 each, $11.20 total, Wal-Mart. (Whoo!)

8-11 MU Classic Iron Man, $2.50, Walmart.

8-13 S.T.O.P. vs. S.K.U.M. Lady Lead and Skull Hawk, $1 each, Dollar Store. These are abominations.

8-29 Star Wars Jodo Kast, $8.99, Secret Wars Hawkeye/Piledriver, $8.40; $18.86 total, Kmart.

8-31 Masters of the Universe Castle Greyskull, with vintage Man-E-Faces...and part of a cycle-thing. $22.31 with postage, eBay. It's not all there, but still not in bad shape, and I just wanted it as a backdrop.

9-2 Hasbro super-poseable Spider-Man, $2.99, Shopko.

9-3 DCUC Forager (no C&C) $5.99, Mojo parts, $3; $8.99 total, Fusion Odyssey.

9-9 NECA Dante, $6.56 with postage, eBay. DCUC Spectre (glow in the dark) $10.39, Fred Meyer.

9-13 Heroclix Nightcrawler, $10, the Comic Book Shop.

9-18 Futurama Professor Farnsworth, $12.99, Mezco Spirit thug Adios, $3.44; total $16.43, Suncoast.

9-22 G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra Dusty and Recondo, $6.99 each, $13.98 total, Target.

9-29 DCIH Manhunter, $1.19, Comic Book Shop. (Picked it up when I went to get the last Franken-Castle issue.)

10-2 NECA Ninja Gaiden Ryu Hayabusa, $9.99, Toys R Us.

LOTR Ringwraith, $3.99, DC Direct Brainiac 5, $5.99, total 9.98, Fusion Odyssey.

Yard Sale: Rodney Copperbottom, camo Batman, and Peter Pan; and a Plug-n-Play Ms. Pacman/Galaga/Xevious stick, $4. Am I counting the stick? Eh, I guess.

10-5 Star Wars Comic Pack Deena Shan/Lt. Jundland, $2.00; 2 Hot Wheels Batmobiles, .97 each, total $4.30, Wal-Mart. Man, they hung on to that two-pack at full price forever, then gave up. And I always pick up the Hot Wheels Batmobiles for me, the kids, my nephews; since I think Batmobiles should be standard issue for any little kid.

10-5 Stan Winston's Medieval Trakk, $10.00 shipped, eBay. I like it.

10-9 DCUC Desaad, $12.99, Fred Meyer. $14.12 with tax.

10-13 DCUC OMAC and Martian Manhunter, $12.99 each, K-Mart, $28.24 total.

10-15 DCUC Jemm, $8.69, Kmart.

10-16 DCUC Sinestro Corps Batman, $8.69, Kmart.

10-17 DCUC Starman (classic), $8.69, Kmart.


10-22 Marvel Legends Valkyrie and Hulk, $24.99, Toys R Us. I like Val, but I've wanted that one for a while now, and may just be giddy to have a new ML. She shows up in a ton of homemade strips later...

10-24 DCUC13 Blue Beetle, $2.99, Kmart.

10-26 DCUC Golden Pharaoh, $2.94, Kmart.

10-27 DCUC Cyclotron, $2.94, Kmart.

11-10 Spinmaster Tron deluxe Sam Flynn, $7.50, Wal-Mart.

11-15 DCUC Dr. Mid-Nite, Eclipso, and Copperhead, $.99 each, $7.42 with postage, eBay. No Darkseid parts, but oh well.


11-20 DCUC Green Arrow and Black Canary, $7.50 each, total $16.20 (or so...) Target. Man, glad I didn't pay full price for them this summer!

DCUC Kamandi, $14.99, total $16.20, Wal-Mart.

11-26 NECA Medieval Ash, $9.99 Toys R Us; Shocker Toys Maxx, $10.99, Hastings.

12-3 Star Wars vintage ROTJ R2-D2 (with drink tray!) $6.42, Fred Meyers. Kingdom Come Hawkman, $5.99, old Kenner Predator, $5, Fusion Odyssey.

12-15 DCUC Zatanna, $14.99, Wal-Mart.

12-18 DCUC Validus right leg, eBay, $5.94 with postage.

12-27 Green Lantern box set (gray-haired Hal, John, GL Sinestro, Tomar-Re, and Guy Gardner) $29.50, DCUC Golden Age Green Lantern (Alan Scott) $11, total $40.50, Wal-Mart. (They were all Wal-Mart exclusives.)

DC Direct Justice League International G'nort, $12.99, Suncoast.

2010 total: $966.10. 2009: $558.16. 2008: $555.16. 2007: $426.00. 2006: $620.00.

Whoa, Nellie, that's a lot of toys! Reckon I'm either trying to help the economy, or trying to get as many figures as I can before society collapses, or we run out of plastic and have to make toys outta potatoes.

Actually, I realized recently that I've been spending far less than usual on new comics, and have rolled that into the figures. For example, how many Green Arrow comics did I buy last year? None. Yet I was quite pleased to get his toy. Hmm.

For a lot of this year and a good chunk of 2009, I've felt like in terms of the figures I buy, it's been a war on two fronts, between the 3.75 inch (or thereabouts) scale of your G.I. Joe, Star Wars, Marvel Universe figures; and roughly 1/6 scale, like DCUC or Marvel Legends. While I prefer the later, for a good stretch there, it felt like the smaller figures were the only game in town. As it stands right this minute, I'm trying to avoid 3.75's and not split my focus...and if you've looked at this list, you can guess how well that might work.

Since this is already an absurdly long post, we'll save looking at the favorites, trends, and the stinker of 2010 until later in the week. If you have a year-end list of your own, leave a note in the comments!

Read more!

"How Deadpool saved assisted didn't wreck had Christmas."

It's not a perennial holiday classic...yet; but I rerun this one every Christmas.

As usual, click to unwrap, er, enlarge. Not sure of the setup? The first strip's here.



Have a great Christmas, and remember, it's tacky to return gifts Christmas day, even if the stores are open...

Read more!

Hey, a review! S.T.O.P. vs. S.C.U.M!

I wrote this for Articulated Discussion a while back; then yesterday I saw knockoff Transformers in the grocery store and thought of it again. Christmas is coming, and while it's always good to give toys, if you can cough up the extra green, don't get the knockoffs, bootlegs, or pirated figures...like today's figures!

Some years ago, I was in a dollar store and saw a terrible, almost-melted knockoff action figure. It wasn't the real draw, though: it's package proclaimed him as "World's Greatest Terrorist." Man, I wish I'd bought that thing.


So, when I saw today's figures in the dollar store, I wasn't going to make the same mistake in missing out...well, "missing out" is a bit strong, there; and I'm pretty sure I don't have to worry about that. Today, we've got...I don't know who made these. Greenbrier Distributing? Homieshop? Look, it's not worth the thought I'm giving it: S.T.O.P. vs. S.C.U.M.'s Lady Lead and Skull Hawk.

I guess the theory is kids love acronyms. I'll scan the backs, since I'm not typing all that backstory. But they at least sprung for knockoff filecards and the five figures on the back change depending on which one you bought. The packaging is...functional; in that it keeps the figures from lying there in a pile. And, it's not airtight, so any toxic fumes probably dissipated on the ride here from China! That's a plus!


Ohmygod, I'm at the point in this where I have to open these. Worse, since I bought them full price, I have to score them?

Sculpt: I've been playing with some sculpey lately, and have realized I can not sculpt for anything. So, there should be some points for getting a humanoid shape with recognizable gun-things. 1! This is the bottom of the barrel. Lady Lead's sculpt is particularly horrifying, though. Reminds me of a character from the Road Warrior, and I sure as fun don't mean Virginia Hey...Also, both figures' weapons are sculpted into their hands, so no accessories.


Paint: Oh, god, why did I sniff it when I opened the package! There was a skunky wiff, but not the eyewatering toxic discharge you sometimes get with dollar store toys. As far as the paint on the actual figures...I think that was the best Skull Hawk on the pegs, which incidentally aren't open-hooked, so I had to take a bunch off the peg entirely, which exposed me to more public scrutiny then I would expect at a dollar store. There are a couple of halfway decent tampos, tattoos on both figures; and it's not like the paint was gonna improve these things. The guns on LL are the worst. 2.


Articulation: A bit of a crapshoot here, since the plastic is a little soft and has a bit of give, which makes the joints seem more joint-like than they actually are. They actually tried to make swivel-hinges for the elbows, though! Between the paint and the plastic, you may or may not be able to move them, but it's definitely an E for effort. "Lady" Lead's hips are incredibly loose--that's not a joke. I got her to stand up once and called it good. 2.

Fun: Aside from harshing on them here? Not a lot of fun. If you've got a ton--and I mean a ton of Dreadnoks or something, and you want some background figures for them...these would still be a poor choice. And I'm not going to recommend breathing in the fumes for fun, either. 1.

Value: Well, Lady Lead and Skull Hawk were a dollar a piece...but a dollar for crap still isn't a value. Hell, earlier this year I got movie Joes for .88 a pop! It's a 1!


Overall: 7. I don't even remember if that was out of 25, 50, or 100, but even so. This has gotta be the worst thing ever here. But, if you pick up one for comparison purposes, it'll make you appreciate that Star Wars or Marvel or G.I. Joe or whatever figure that cost $9.99. Man, Is it Fun? made this look easy when they did the Corps! figures...I think I need to open a window, get some air, and leave this to the pros at The Undiscovered Playthings...


Read more!