Weird alien dude on a flying sled: heroes were just expected to deal with that in the 70's.

Even the guys you wouldn't expect to deal with aliens had to deal with aliens then, because UFO's were big, and writers could probably get at least an issue out of it if they were stumped. Can Swampy put his own spin on it? From 1976, Swamp Thing #21, "Requiem" Written by David Michelinie, art by Nestor Redondo.

Swamp Thing is abducted by alien creep Solus, an exile on a massive ship who kidnapped slaves to amuse him from various worlds. While Swampy gets locked in a tube--which I think happened a lot in his series--Solus tells his story to his favorite, the winged girl Cellanth; who was trying to string him along long enough to get at his control device. He had been royalty on his world, but was condemned for killing his brother: Solus claims his brother had been a poor ruler, weak on affairs of state, but it's pretty obviously just ego. For his crime, he was not only exiled in his ship, but also had nodules embedded in his skin that would go off "at the slightest touch of planetary soil!"

Cellanth does free the other aliens, but their escape hits a snag when Solus controls Swamp Thing, using him to kill several of them before they can transport away. Solus then forces Cellanth to dance herself to death, but then immediately regrets it. Rather than admit that he, 'a god,' made an error; he kills some more innocent aliens before Swampy is able to knock his control device out of his hand. The remaining aliens, somewhat charitably, decide against killing Solus, instead planning to leave him stranded and alone, as they thought that would be worse for him. Panicked, Solus goes for his control, but misses and looks like he's going to fall into space. Swampy feels bad and tries to save him, but Solus grabs him; intent on controlling him again. Instead, his self-destruct nodules activate, as Swampy was "made of...planetary soil...!" Solus drifts away and explodes, and Swampy beams down to somewhere in the western states, thinking he understood a bit about what had driven Solus mad; although I don't think Swampy knew the guy was maybe a jerk before that.

I kind of like that explosion panel, although I think that could've been slotted into any number of Swampy's stories from this run: he was kind of on the same plot engine as the Hulk, where somebody messes with him and gets wrecked for their trouble. Read more!

"Lighting."

I've said before, and I'm sure I will again: I love Elektra as Daredevil. She was getting her own mini-series and such for a bit, guest-spots in Amazing Spider-Man, one of the leads in the later Savage Avengers... Read more!

I think Doom just wants it for the big 'd,' it's a branding thing.

This one at least shows why about every Doom figure comes with the book now: From 2021, Darkhold: Alpha #1, written by Steve Orlando, art by Cian Tormey, color art by Jesus Aburtov.

Deep within Abysmia, beneath the United States, Doctor Doom's robots and his herald Victorious, discover the one, true, original Darkhold: previously seen incarnations were "a copy of a copy," which was perhaps inadvertently a safety measure. Reading from the true Darkhold caused madness, as the Scarlet Witch well knows: she has a vision of the usual terrible future to come, and tries to head Victor off, despite their past history. Which, um, your guess is as good as mine: that might be from the Children's Crusade, but it might be implied they knew each other before Doom's face was wrecked. Still, Doom had already read the book, through the eyes of his Doombots, and now sought to prevent Chthon's rise for his own purposes. He reads a story from the book, for her to interpret: how five defenders had once driven Chthon into exile, at the cost of their sanity. Wanda thinks they need to form a new team, with five in those roles; Doom declares that wouldn't be necessary, as he had all five aspects within himself, and heads off to confront Chthon alone. (Victorious believed it was too dangerous, and tries to go in his stead; only for Victor to condescendingly remind her, who did she think she was talking to? Nothing was beyond Doom!)

Wanda has to summon a dreamer, a fool, a stoic, a hunter, and an artist: she gets Iron Man, Blade, Wasp, Spider-Man, and Black Bolt. Can you figure out who was what? While they're caught up on the stakes, Doom returns from Chthon's "other-world," which kind of looks like an alternate earth Chthon had already taken over. Victor looks like crap, like the remains of his face are leaking out of his mask; but while he thinks the heroes are doomed and leaves Victorious to aid them, he won't reveal anything else of what had happened, and immediately takes off "...to consider," and prepare. That really feels like Doom got his ass kicked but won't admit it.

The heroes are told, they have to read a bit from the Darkhold; just enough to "temper" themselves with madness. This fails miserably, and they mutate into new, red-themed outfits: evil Spidey points out "what about madness inspires self-restraint?" As the new Darkhold Defiled, could Chthon be stopped...? Evil Iron Man also appeared to be leaking flesh from his armor, which might make him the most striking of the bad heroes; each of whom would get their own Darkhold one-shot to be evil, or fight it off, either or. This would then wrap up in Darkhold: Omega, which appeared to be bringing back a long-forgotten, and probably previously misused, character. I think there's also a fairly big retcon here: that every appearance of the Darkhold prior, had just been a copy? But...that copy, it and at least some of the pages, had been just about indestructible themselves! That seems like it's giving Chthon a lot of juice, which may or may not be justified. Read more!

Once again, the first comic you read in the new year sets the tone for the year...hmm.

It may or may not be a good omen, but we inch ever closer to blogging all of the "Legends of the Dead Earth" annuals! From 1996, Guy Gardner: Warrior Annual #2, written by Beau Smith, Kevin Dooley, and Mitch Byrd; pencils by Phil Jimenez, Joe Staton, Mitch Byrd, Rick Mays, and Dave Brewer; inks by John Stokes, Terry Austin, Wade von Grawbadger, Rick Mays, and Andrew Pepoy.

I've mentioned before that my recollection of this one--and I probably have a few copies of it, because I'm duuuuuuumb--was the whole book was "Guy's kids rule, Hal's kids drool." Was I right? It opens with the "earth is dead" as a Star Wars-style text crawl; as we visit the asteroid known as Warriors, largely built around Guy's bar from the current books. Three aliens like Legion of Super-Heroes member Tellus explain it's their first visit, and ask a young woman in a branded Warriors top for assistance: she explains how they can use the "cybertronic inducer" to relive legends and stories of everyone's hero, Guy Gardner; starting with a two-page recap of his history, with art by Joe Staton. (I had to look it up: Staton didn't co-create Guy; that was John Broome and Gil Kane; but Staton and Steve Englehart remade him into the Guy we know, starting with that sick GL jacket.) The history is more inspirational legend than fact, and admits as much, while acknowledging the legend had inspired so many.

"Hypersensitive" follows a cynical mailwoman, on a distant frontier planet called "Gardner's Green," as some shape-changers fight it out searching for the cybertronic inducer. Then, "See My Finger, See My Thumb. See My Fist, You Better Run!" finds four Little Rascals-like kids reminiscent of Guy's supporting cast, trying to use the inducer to fix one kid's teddy bear, when robots show up and one of the kids is zapped and Guy himself appears as a kid version of Warrior. Guy wakes up with the Wizard of Oz "...and you were there, and you were there!" bit as his pals think Guy's maybe taken too many shots to the dome in his career.

Next, "Dateless in a One Gender Town" is probably the story I was remembering, as the biker Gardner Gals follow Lizzie Jordan, who stole the inducer from them. It comes down to a ring shootout, and Lizzie ends up face down in the sawdust. The aliens are thrilled with the stories, and the young woman, Lumita, passes their compliments on to her dad, a roguish and slightly greying Guy himself! 

I'm pretty sure Guy would've been considered a B-list character at the time--B-list at best--but the creative team really seemed to be 100% Team Guy; like it wasn't just a job, they were pulling for him.

Read more!

The Return of Son of Update to Index of "The End" Week:

Urg, I hadn't updated this in like four years? This'll be fun...Behind the break, links to "The End" posts, going back to 2009!



Action Comics Weekly #642

Adventures of the X-Men #12

Agent X #15

Alf #50

The All-New Batman: the Brave and the Bold #16

All-Star Squadron #67

All-Star Western #34

Alpha Flight #130

Alpha Flight #20


Anarky #8

Aquaman #13

Aquaman #63

Aquaman and the Others #11

Area 88 #42

Arrgh! #5

Astro City #52

Atari Force #20

Avengers Arena #18

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #7

Avengers West Coast #102

Aztek #10

Babylon 5 #11

Badger #4 (Capital)

Batgirl #24

Batgirls #19

Batman #713

Batman Aventures #17

The Batman Adventures #36

Batman and Robin Adventures #25

The Batman Chronicles #23

Batman Confidential #54

Batman: Gotham Adventures #60

The Batman Strikes #50

Batman '66 #30

Battlestar Galactica #23

Black Cat #10

Blackhawk #273

Black Widow #12

Blood of the Demon #17

Bloodhound #10

Blue Beetle #24

Blue Devil #31

Bongo Presents Futurama Comics #81

Booster Gold #25

The Brave and the Bold #200

Buck Rogers #16

Cable & Deadpool #50

Captain America #19

Captain America #454

Captain America: Steve Rogers #19

Captain Atom #57

Catwoman #82

Chase #1,000,000

Claw the Unconquered #12

Challengers of the Unknown #87

Champion Sports #3

Cloak and Dagger #11

Conan #11

Conan the Barbarian #275

Conan the King #55

Contest of Champions #10

Creatures on the Loose #37

The Creeper #1,000,000

Crystar #11

Daken: Dark Wolverine #23

Daredevil #18

Daredevil #380

Daredevil #512

Daredevil #36/LEG #648

Dazzler #42

DC Super-Stars #18

Dead of Night #11

Deadpool #63

Deadpool #69

Deadpool Team-Up #883

Deathlok #34

Death's Head II #16
Defenders #152, #12

the Demon #16

the Demon #58

Detective Comics #881

Doctor Doom #10

Doctor Strange #81

Doom Patrol #22

Doom 2099 #44

D.P.7 #32

Drax #11

Dread of Night #2

Dreadstar #64

Eclipso #18

Edge of Spider-Verse #4

Elektra #19

Eternals #19

Excalibur #125

Exiles #4

Exiles #100

Extraordinary X-Men #20

Extreme Justice #18

Fantastic Four #416

Fantastic Four #611

Fantastic Four #16, 645

Fear #31

Fell #9

Fillerbunny #3

Firearm #18

Firestorm #5

Firestorm #100

Flash #52

Flash #230

Flash #350

Flinch #16

Force Works #22

Freedom Fighters #15

Gen 13 #77

Generation X #75

Ghost Rider #81, #94

G.I. Joe Special Missions #28

Godzilla #24

Goofy Adventures #17

Gotham Central #40

Gotham City Sirens #26

Grave Tales #3

Green Arrow #50

Green Lantern #67

Green Lantern #181

Green Lanterns #57

Green Lantern Corps #63

Green Lantern: Mosaic #18

Grimjack #81

Guardians of the Galaxy #27

Guardians of the Galaxy #62

Guardians of the Galaxy #18 (LEG #180)

Guardians 3000 #8

Guy Gardner: Warrior #44

Harley Quinn #75

Hawk & Dove #28, #8

Hawkgirl #66

Hawkman #17

Hawkman #33

Hawkman #49

Hawkworld #32

Herc #10

Heroes for Hire #19

The Hulk #27 (magazine)

Human Torch #12

Immortal Thor #25

Impulse #89</>

Incredible Hulk #474

The Intimates #12

Invaders #15

Invaders #41

Iron Man #332

Iron Man #89/434

JLA #125

JLA Classified #54

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #28

Jonah Hex #92

Jonah Hex #70

Journey Into Mystery #521

Judge Dredd #18

Justice League Odyssey #25

Justice League of America #113

Justice League Task Force #37

Justice League Quarterly #17

Justice League Unlimited #46

Justice League 3001 #12

Justice Society #10

Kamandi #59

Ka-Zar #20

Ka-Zar the Savage #34

Kobalt #16

Kull #10

Kull the Destroyer #29

Legends of the DC Universe #41

Legion Lost #16

Legion of Super-Heroes #23

Legion of Super-Heroes #63

Legion of Super-Heroes #50

Major Bummer #15

Manhunter #24

Marvel Adventures #18

Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #48

Marvel Adventures: Spider Man #24

Marvel Comics Presents #175

Marvel Fanfare #60

Marvel Spotlight #33

Marvel Super Action #37

Marvel Super-Heroes #15

Marvel Tales #291

Marvel Universe #7

Master of Kung Fu #125

Masters of the Universe #13

Micronauts #11

Micronauts #11 (IDW)

Micronauts #20

Micronauts #59

Mockingbird #8

Moon Knight #12

Moon Knight #17

Moon Knight #38

Moon Knight #30

Moon Knight, Fist of Khonshu #6

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #15

Motormouth & Killpower #12

Mutant X #32

Mystery in Space #117

New Mutants #50

Nexus #80

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #47

Nightcrawler #12

Nightstalkers #18

Night Thrasher #21

Nomad #25

Nova #25

Nth Man #16

OMAC #8

Orion #25

Over the Edge #10

Outsiders #28</>

Power Girl #27

Power of the Atom #18

Power Pack #62

Punisher #103/Punisher War Zone #41/Punisher War Journal #80

Punisher #18 (1997)

Punisher #12 (2023)

Punisher War Journal #26 (Not #29, I had to edit that!)

PunisherMAX #22

Quasar #60

The Question #36

R.E.B.E.L.s '96 #17

R.E.B.E.L.s #28

Red Hood/Arsenal #13

Red Lanterns #40

Red Sonja #2 (1983)

Robin #183

Robocop #23

Rune #7

Sam Slade, Robohunter #31

Savage Avengers #28, #10

Scavengers #14

Secret Defenders #25

Secret Six #36

Sergio Aragonés Funnies #12

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #167

the Shadow #19

the Shadow #25

She-Hulk #15

Shogun Warriors #20

Silver Surfer #14

Silver Surfer #146

Solo #12

Spider-Man 2099 #46

Spidey #12

SpongeBob Comics #85

Starman #45

Star Trek #56

Star Trek #60

Star Trek #80

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #15

Star Trek #18/Star Trek: the Next Generation #80/Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #32

Star Wars #107

Star Wars #20

Star Wars #50

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #42

Static #45

Stormwatch #50

Strikeforce Morituri #31

Suicide Squad #66

Suicide Squad #15

Superboy and the Ravers #19

Superboy #100

Superior Foes of Spider-Man

Superior Iron Man #9

Superman Family Adventures #12

Superman: the Man of Steel #134

Super-Villian Team-Up #17

Tales of Suspense #104

Tarzan #29

Team Titans #24

Teen Titans #100

The Terminator #17

The Thing #36

Thor #502

Thunderbolts #32

Thunderbolts #81

Thunderstrike #24

Transformers: Generation 2 #12

The Twilight Zone #4

Unbelievable Gwenpool #25

Uncanny Origins #14

Unexpected #222

Unknown Soldier #25

Unknown Soldier #268

Valor #23

Vigilante #50

Warlock and the Infinity Watch #42

Warlord #16

Warlord #133

Wasteland #18

Web of Spider-Man #129

Weird War Tales #124

Werewolf by Night #6

What The--?! #26

The Witching Hour #85

Wolverine #13

Wonder Woman #329

World's Finest Comics #323

Xander in Lost Universe #8

X-Men #41

X-Men: Evolution #9

X-Men: Gold #36

X-Statix #26

X-51: the Machine Man #12

Young All-Stars #31

Young Justice #25

Young Justice #55

2000 A.D. Showcase #54

2099: World of Tomorrow #8

And the rest! There are still somehow a few that weren't blogged year-end.

Double ugh: the next task, besides maybe clearing a few extra line-breaks, would be putting the year behind each entry; to justify things like why "Suicide Squad #66" is ahead of "Suicide Squad #15." Although you can just click through and figure it out, so...

Read more!

The Twentieth Annual! Random Happenstance, Year in Toys!

Twenty years seems like an absurd amount of time to be doing about anything, but here we are! Another year, another...big pile of action figures assembled seemingly at random. Let's get into it! 

 For new readers: For 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 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006. 

1-4 Super 7 Transformers Megatron (chrome), Optimus Prime (dead); $7.99 each, total $17.27, Ross. 

 Star Wars Black Shin Hati, $7.49, Target.

1-8 SWB Osha Aniseya, $8.22; Nite Owl, $6.00; G.I. Joe Vincent R. Falcon and Quarrel, $29.27; total $47.40, Wal-Mart. 

1-25 McFarlane 1950's Batman/Ace, $17.09, GameStop. 

1-29 Indiana Jones Temple of Doom Indy, $14.93; Professor Indy, $6.99; Marvel Legends X-Force Deathlok, $15.99; total $36.84, Amazon.

2-10 World's Smallest Star Trek set (Kirk, Spock, Enterprise) $21.95, Amazon. 

2-12 ML Kaine, Spider-Man Unlimited, 27.99 each; total $60.62, the Comic Book Shop.

2-15 McFarlane Superman, $12.00, Wal-Mart. 

NECA Enterprise Hoshi Sato (spacesuit), Nausicaan, $4 each; total $8.00, EntertainMart. 

ML Ghost Rider, $42.74; Nightcrawler, $23.74; Simpsons Radioactive Man, $23.99; total $94.46, GameStop.

2-23 McFarlane Batman '66 Robot Batman, $4.99; Power Rangers in Space Turbo Invisible Phantom Ranger, $5.99; total $12.00, Ross. 

3-15 Another Phantom Ranger, $5.99, Ross.

3-22 ML Fabian Cortez, Husk, Marrow, AoA Gambit, X-Factor Cyclops, 2 AoA Nightcrawlers, $24.99 each; total $157.98, Amazon. 

4-17 Still another Phantom Ranger, $6.99; SWB Indara, Sol, $5.99 each; total $20.84, Ross. 

Funko Pop GITD Nightcrawler, $10.43, GameStop. 

4-24 2 ML ROM, $24.99 each, total $54.12, Amazon. 

4-27 ML Adam Warlock, $26.89, GameStop.

5-3 FCBD! McFarlane DC Multiverse Camouflage Tumbler ($25.01), Amazon. 

ML Egghead, $27.99, Comic Book Shop. 

ML Banshee, $11.12, GameStop. 

Transformers Blok-ees Optimus Prime, Ironhide, $8.99 each; total $14.71, Go! Calendars. 

5-10 Toy Show! SWB test pilot Andor, $15; 12" Chewbacca, ML ToyBiz Destroyer, $20; ML Hallow's Eve, $12; DCUC Kalibak, $25; total $72.

5-13 Red Sonja arrives, Entertainment Earth. (She was on last year's total!) 

5-24 ML Spider-Man 3 'emo' black Spidey, $33.68, GameStop. 

ML AoA Magneto, Sleepwalker, Crossfire, DCUC Parademon, Clark Kent, Skallox, Wildcat, other Parademon; total $66.33, Never Enough Toys. 

5-31 ML Falcon, $10.49, Target. 

Spinmaster Superman, $7.94, Wal-Mart. 

6-6 McFarlane Adam Strange, Batman Year Two, $14.99 each; total $32.71, Best Buy. 

6-12 Superman Spinmaster Guy Gardner, Mr. Terrific, $7.94 each; total $17.19, Wal-Mart. (ML ROM, $24.99.)

6-28 ML Superior Iron Man, $10.80, Ross. 

Superman Spinmaster Metamorpho, $10.80, Target. 

Superman Spinmaster Hawkgirl, $7.94, Wal-Mart. 

Street Fighter Guile, $29.99, GameStop. 

  Transformers Shockwave (6-step), $11.99, Fred Meyer.

7-3 ML Future Ant-Man, $6.99, EntertainMart. 

7-11 Sectaurs Stellara, Dargon, $8 each; total $16.00, Wal-Mart. 

7-12 ML Gamerverse Felicia Hardy (Black Cat) $30.39; Batman '66 Commissioner Gordon/Bat-Mite, $11.97; total $40.38, GameStop. 

7-13 ML Wasp, ($24.99), Crossfire, ($14.42); total $5.82, Amazon. 

7-18 ML (movie) Silver Surfer, $24.99; Amazon. 

ML Professor X (Savage Land), Ultimate Iron Man, $12.49 each; total $24.98, Target. 

8-8 Post-vacation catch-up! ML (movie) Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm, the Thing, $24.99 each; total $99.96, Target.

Biker Mice from Mars Vinnie, Throttle, Modo, $8 each; bike, $20; total $44.00, Wal-Mart. 

SWB K2SO (re-issue) $5.99, Ross. 

And ML Dragon Man, $92.63, Hasbro Pulse.

8-14 SWB Jod Na Nawood, $5.99; G.I. Joe 60th Anniversary Marine Sniper (female), $16.99; total $25.08, Ross. 

SWB Imperial Royal Guard (Halloween edition) $24.99; Target. 

9-5 2 ML Spider-Man '77s, $29.97 each, total $65.39, Wal-Mart. 

9-7 ML Spirit Spider, SWB Night Trooper (Halloween), $24.99 each; total $49.98, Wal-Mart.

9-13 McFarlane Metron, Monarch, $34.99 each; Super Friends Superman, $21.99; total $99.60, GameStop. 

SWB Mandalorian, $10.83, Wal-Mart. 

9-22 ML Shanna, $77.62 shipped, Mercari. 

10-7 Superman Spinmasters Luthorcorp Lab set, $13.19, Target. 

10-9 ML Man-Wolf, $39.99; ML Mephisto, $79.99; total $130.90.

10-10 SWB Holiday Astromech (Santa!), $17.99; Stormtrooper (reindeer), $24.97; total $42.96, Amazon. 

10-11 2 ML loose Tracksuit Mafia, $5 each; ML Collector, $12.99; total $22.99, Never Enough Toys.

Super 7 Dungeons & Dragons Shadow Demons, $24.99, Ross. 

10-16 ML Gargantos (Shuma-Gorath!), $71.24; ML Morph, $19.99; total $91.23, GameStop.

10-18 NECA Sesame Street Bert, Ernie, $17.99 each; total $39.25, Best Buy. 

11-1 G.I. Joe Classified Search & Rescue Firefighter, $24.99; WWE Billy Gunn, $7.49; total $32.48, Target.

11-2 Toy Show! ML Maximum Deadpool, $50; Savage Land Rogue, $25; Toad, Paladin (Madcap head!), $10 each; SWB ghost Kenobi, $10; Mara Jade, $15; Mandalorian Nite Owl, $8; Toy Biz 10" Thing, $10; total $138.00. 

11-7 DCUC Cyborg Superman, $8; ML Melina Vostokova, $10; total $20.54, Never Enough Toys.

11-13 Mondo X-Men '97 12-inch Nightcrawler, $323.98. 

11-28 AEW Cody Rhodes, $3.99, Ross. 

11-29 Fortnite Siona, $3.99, EntertainMart. ML Enchantress, Warbow, Werewolf by Night, Dark Avengers Spider-Man, Phantom Rider, Iron Man Mark 72, $29.99 each; total $174.94, GameStop. 

12-5 McFarlane Anti-Monitor, $10.80, Ross. 

12-7 ML Daredevil (Man Without Fear), Phoenix (Rachel), $27.99 each; Silver Surfer, $24.99; total $74.96, Amazon. 

12-8 2 Masters of the Universe Origins Sharella, total with membership $45.81. 

12-11 ML Chameleon, $5.99; SWB Dedra Meero, Moff Gideon, $7.99 each; total $23.77, Ross. 

Street Fighter Cammy, $29.99, Wal-Mart. 

12-17 G.I. Joe Cover Girl, $8.20, Amazon. (With ML Uncanny Spider-Man, $8.20) 

12-30 SWB Dash Rendar, $27.99; ML Cardiac, 2 Uncanny Spider-Man (Nightcrawler) $27.99 each, total $122.16, Hasbro Toy Store.

And I know I missed a five-points style Superman, $7.99, Target. 

Total $3075.40.  2024: $2483.11. 2023: $3565.82. 2022: $3604.09.  2021: $3449.00. 2020: $2345.67. 2019: $2472.30. 2018: $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.

Usually, right about here would be maybe the Build-a-Figures (and such) completed during the course of the year; but some of my stuff is in storage right now. This year we finished the Cassie "Stature" Lang BaF, as well as new ones Nemesis (aka Holocaust) and Executioner; as well as the more basic/lower price point Spinmaster Superman-Robot. That's a pretty light year for that! Although there's a few like Dragon Man and Gargantos (Shuma-Gorath!) that maybe could've or should've been.

Next, what have we learned? I don't know if this is because of limited time or space, or eyeing future resale, but there's a fair chunk on this list that has not been opened yet. I'd say about half of the McFarlane figures I bought, sure; but there are still several Marvel Legends unopened: Kaine, Spider-Man Unlimited, that Ghost Rider set, even Maximum Deadpool. And Bert and Ernie, and the new Star Wars Black Holiday figures: those last two were definitely for time, but still. 

There's also some figures that, frankly, I got a bit gouged on. That Mondo Nightcrawler is so fancy, and well done; but also way overpriced, even compared to earlier figures in that line: I think there may have been some tariff on it, or somebody maybe thought there was going to be some tariff on it and baked that into the price. (Previous figures in the line maybe also got free shipping!) I bought a couple Masters of the Universe figures that were marked down, but I still had to buy a membership to get...that was dumb. And I was on vacation and missed the Marvel Legends Savage Land set, so I overpaid for Shanna on the aftermarket--Savage Land Rogue was a steal by comparison. And Wal-Mart cancelled my preorder for Spider-Man '77, to gouge ten more bucks outta me. 

And what does the future hold? I was pleasantly surprised to get the Uncanny Spider-Man early: I wasn't expecting it until February. Probably some more Marvel Legends, certainly, although with a little luck we'll get some cheaper, rather than brand-new fear-of-missing-out figures. Pretty sure there's a Mezco 1:12 Nightcrawler coming later, so that'll run me a few bucks. I should try to remember: I think I've enjoyed about every G.I. Joe Classified figure I've picked up, but McFarlane is running 50-50 at best. 

As always, best of luck for all of you next year; toy hunting, living, whatever! 

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