I am honestly not sure I have anything good to say about this trainwreck of a year, although I'm starting this post in early December, so maybe the year could still turn around? Maybe? Give it a sec...no? Well, let's start the Thirteenth Annual Year in Toys and see if that helps!
For new readers: For over ten years now, I have been keeping a running total of every action figure or toy I buy. Hopefully, each entry has the figure's name, 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. Or I'm lazy...) Totals will usually include postage and tax. Usually. Any prices or totals listed in parentheses were purchased with store credit or points instead of paying money, and aren't counted towards the actual total spent. This is by no means a "Best of" list or anything, just what I bought. For reference, here's links for
2017,
2016,
2015,
2014,
2013,
2012,
2011,
2010,
2009,
2008,
2007, and
2006.
1-3 Marvel Legends Vintage Black Widow, ($9.78), Amazon.
Marvel Legends
Black Panther, Erik Killmonger,
Nakia, Black Bolt,
Namor, $19.99 each, total $108.92, Toys R Us.
1-11 ML vintage Punisher, $5.41, Walgreens.
1-26 Justice League
Ultimate Justice Battleground playset, $15.19, Fred Meyer.
2-3
Justice League Parademon, $18.00; NECA Endocop and Terminator Dog, $26.98, total $48.94, Toys R Us.
2-9
Star Trek Mezco 1:12
Mirror, Mirror Spock, $20.61 shipped, ThinkGeek.
2-10 ML
Thor/Valkyrie, $21.84, Target.
2-15 ML Shatterstar, $14.04, Walgreens.
DC Multiverse
Flash 2-pack, $25.98, Target.
3-1
Star Wars Black ghost Obi-Wan, $9.99; ML
White Tiger, $12.99; total $25.01, Walgreens.
3-3 ML
Gwenpool, $20.49, Target.
3-7 ML King Cobra, $21.61, Walgreens; ML
Songbird $20.50, Wal-Mart.
3-16 ML Thanos, $18.83, MegaBlocks
Futurama Bender, $4.94, total $25.78, Wal-Mart.
3-22
Justice League Parademon, $21.61, Toys R Us.
3-26 ML Mr. Fantastic, $19.75, Walgreens.
3-30 NECA
Blade Runner 2049 Deckard, $7.99, ThinkGeek.
3-31 ML Hydra 2-pack, $37.07, Toys R Us.
4-4 ML Proxima Midnight, $16.20, Walgreens.
4-11 ML X-Force Deadpool, $17.28, Walgreens.
4-18 ML Domino,
Deathlok; total $43.23, Walgreens.
4-26 ML Cable, $19.99; MegaBloks
Futurama Fry, $4.99; total $27.05, Walmart.
ML
Paladin, X-23; total $8.24, Walgreens.
5-2
Star Wars Black
Solo Range Trooper, $21.62, Target.
5-16 ML Black Widow, Thor,
Malekith, Black Knight, Ant-Man, Wasp; total $122.65, Walmart.
5-27
Star Wars Black Supreme Leader Snoke and throne, $16.20, GameStop.
6-13
Star Wars Black
Solo Qi'ra, $22.99; ML
Prowler, $11.49; total $37.51, GameStop.
6-15
Justice League Aquaman, $8.00;
Star Wars Black Admiral Ackbar and First Order Officer, $12.00; total $21.76, Toys R Us.
6-23 DC Multiverse
Wonder Woman Menalippe, $6.42, Toys R Us.
Star Wars Black 4-LOM, $21.61, Target
6-30
Spider-Man movie Peter Parker, Norman Osborn (bookshelf, chair), $7 shipped, eBay;
Ghost Rider movie
Vengeance, unidentified monster, $7.19, antique shop;
Justice League movie Batman, $5.14, Fred Meyer.
7-4 DC Multiverse 90's Flash, $29.13, GameStop.
7-15
Star Wars Black Luke/Landspeeder, $29.99, Best Buy;
Jurassic World Indoraptor, $17.50, Fred Meyer.
7-31
Star Wars Black
Solo Chewbacca, $19.99, Target.
8-3 ML
Spider-Ham, $22.99, GameStop.
8-4 ML
Gladiator, $21.09, Target.
8-6
Star Wars Solo wind-up fight droids, $9.95, shopdisney.com.
8-13 Toy Biz Silver Surfer,
Nova; $9.99+$3.75 shipping, eBay.
8-22 ML Multiple Man, $27.01, EntertainMart.
8-26 ML Multiple Man,
Psylocke; total $42.00, Target.
8-29 ML Silver Surfer, $21.62, Walgreens.
9-1
Star Trek Borg, $1.99, EntertainMart; ML
Typhoid Mary, $21.61, Target;
Jurassic World Ankylosaurus, $11.98, Walmart.
9-8 DC Multiverse
Two-Face, $18.84, Walmart; ML
Wolverine (X-23) $18.84, GameStop; ML
Lady Deadpool, $18.84, another Walmart.
9-21 ML
Ghost Rider, $19.97;
Justice League Parademon (basic) $4.97; total $27.13, Barnes & Noble.
9-26 ML
Thing, $21.62, Walgreens.
10-3 DC Multiverse
Spoiler, $20.50, Walmart.
10-5
Star Wars Black
Solo Han Solo, $11.49; ML Spider-Woman, $11.49; $25.08 total, GameStop.
10-07 ML Mysterio,
Spider-Punk, Spider-Man Noir, Lasher; $18.84 each, total $81.99, Walmart.
10-10 DC (basic) Robin, $12.99, Walgreens.
10-13
Star Wars Black General Veers, ($19.99) ML Magik, ($19.99) free with points, Walgreens.
10-20 DC
Suicide Squad Rick Flag, $5.42, Walmart.
11-3
Star Wars Black Imperial Death Trooper, $8.64, Tuesday Morning; ML
Doctor Octopus, $24.99, EntertainMart.
11-7 ML vintage Vision, $25.06, GameStop.
11-12
Star Wars Black Zuckuss, $33.88 shipped, Disney Store.
11-23 DC
Justice League Cyborg, Batman (Walmart exclusives) $5.99 each, total $12.97, Ross.
ML Gamerverse
Spider-Man, $17.24; DCUC
Mr. Mxyzptlk, $11.23;
Star Wars Black
Solo Lando, $12.78; total $44.83, GameStop.
11-28 ML Black Widow with bike, $13.97, Walmart.
11-29 ML
Scream, $19.87; Poison, $11.96; Venom, $9.97; Carnage, $9.58; total with Black Widow $71.10, Walmart.
DC
DK II Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, $5.00 each, $17.95 shipped, FiveBelow.
12-12 ML Thing, $14.04, Walgreens;
Star Wars Black
Solo L3-37, $25.01, GameStop.
12-14 DC Multiverse TV Wonder Woman, $24.98; McFarlane
Star Trek Captain Kirk, $9.99; total $38.65, GameStop.
12-17
Star Wars Black Dengar, ($19.99); Disney Toybox Spider-Man with Spider-Mobile, ($25.00); total $18.06, Amazon.
12-23 Art Asylum
Star Trek Worf, $2.99, EntertainMart.
12-28 DC Multiverse Harley Quinn, $15.00; Spider-Man
Into the Spider-Verse Super Collider playset, $15.00; total $32.46, Walmart.
Total: $1752.31. 2017: $1968.71. 2016: $1753.72. 2015: $1895.35. 2014: $1523.25. 2013: $1101.93. 2012: $706.32. 2011: $564.71. 2010: $966.10. 2009: $558.16. 2008: $555.16. 2007: $426.00. 2006: $620.00.
Hmm. Down a bit this year. Even though it may seem like I buy every Marvel Legend on the pegs, that's not quite the case; and this year I think we also had far less DC Multiverse or random other lines. I also had a couple of the fancier, Mezco 1:12 figures towards the end of last year; but only one this time: the heavily discounted mirror universe Spock. Although, just typing this I had to review my count and my total, since I had missed entering one of my favorite figures of the year, Marvel Legends Gwenpool! I was going back to check because I thought I had overpaid to make she I got her, or to get her early: I hadn't, although I think you could get her cheaper now.
As happens, there are a few things that aren't in this total: the 3-D printed
MST3K Crow and Tom Servo, for one. Between the printing, the shipping, and the paint; they weren't cheap. I also got another not-Lego Nightcrawler from overseas--this time with a tail! And I hadn't bought many lately, but I didn't include any blind-bag stuff. Pity, I got a Mighty Mini Batman for $.04 the other day; I do like a deal...
This year's completed Build-A-Figures: Okoye, Sasquatch, Cull Obsidian, Lizard, Monster Venom, and Dr. Psycho. Not bad, although I still have a few loose pieces waiting. There were also some teams completed this year: the Fantastic Four, and all of the bounty hunters from
The Empire Strikes Back. (Until I looked it up, I thought I had technically completed the Sinister Six, but I don't think I've ever bought a Vulture!)
Toys R Us's demise caught me by surprise: I bought the entire first
Black Panther wave from them, well before the closing was announced. Over the course of the year, GameStop seemed to fill that vacancy later: early on, Walgreens made a strong showing not just with exclusives, but I got most of the
Deadpool Sasquatch wave from them as well. Then, locally at least, Walgreens seemed to just stop: I don't know that I saw any later waves there besides the exclusives. Weird.
What does 2019 hold? I could hardly guess! I do wonder if Mattel isn't going to make a big DC push, if they are in fact losing the license. Other than that, it's a crapshoot. But we'll see!
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