Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July everyone.







Captain America will be spending it chillin' in his pool.

Teen Titans GO!

I posted earlier about select Ross stores selling Infinite Heroes three packs for dirt cheap.

I was heading to my new home the other day and discovered a Ross mere blocks from my house, so of course I stopped in to see if there was anything I hadn't found at the last Ross. Well Ross comes through again with another $4.99 three pack - this time with a Teen Titans angle!

The three pack I found this time includes two good gals and one villain. Let's start with the villain; Captain Boomerang:



This isn't the original Captain Boomerang; I'm no Flash rogues gallery expert, but I did read Identity Crisis and I believe that was the storyline that brought the original Captain Boomerang's son into the role.

This dude has got a lot of boomerangs. Seems excessive for a weapon that's supposed to come back to you - I mean it isn't like they're ninja stars fer chrissakes!

Crikey, that's a lot of boomerangs, mate! But regardless, it makes for a pretty cool design and a nicely sculpted figure.

Along with Cap. B. came two Teen Titans; Raven and Starfire!

I actually saw Starfire recently as a single, and nearly bought her.

Starfire is well sculpted and painted and appropriately larger than her other female counterparts. But what really sets her apart is her hair:

Not only did they do a great job representing Starfire's famous locks, but they painted them with a fade to represent her flaming hair powers or whatever her schtick is in the comics. Keen!


Last but not least is Raven. I know little more about Raven than what little I saw on the sometimes tolerable Teen Titans cartoon, but I like her look and her Infinite Heroes figure is really cool too. The only problem I have is that she has a raven on her chest, and I don't think that is comic accurate, but I could be wrong. Regardless, she's very cool and another fine addition to my ever growing Infinite Heroes roster.

I would have gladly paid $4.99 for any of this set individually, so finding them at that price for all three is awesome!

This new set brings the Infinite Heroes tally to:

Infinite Heroes: 11

Infinite Villains: 2 (Hush finally has a friend!)

Le' Go My Lego!

A co-worker recently notified me of a large bin of Legos she no longer needed. Not one to pass up free toys of any sort, I told her I'd take them!



I always loved Legos but have never been a fan of the "set" aspect - that you buy one box and can only build one specifically engineered thing. I like the free-for-all Lego approach, where you just start building, so this batch of mismatched Lego pieces is right up my alley.

I also love the Lego mini figures. In my opinion they are action figures, so it was awesome to find a bunch of Knights and Pirates in this batch, as well as Robin Hood himself!

Forsooth, foolish Knights! Thou wilst not take good Robin this day!

Thou are out of thine element, kingsmen!

I couldst kill thee with one swift shaft, but I shall not be so bold as to stabeth at thine backs!

Yoiks, and away!

Did you hear sumpthin', gov?

Ha! Did thou thinkest the great Robin of Locksley would flee from a row?

Take arms, good soldiers, and prepare to meet thy makers!

I'm Baaaaaack!!!

For those who have been following along, my life along with Toyriffic, Art by Bubba Shelby, and my other blogs have all recently been in a holding pattern of sorts.

To make a long story short, my family and I have moved out of the deep redwood forest and into the heart of Santa Cruz California! We're still sleeping on air mattresses and buried in boxes and bags, but things are settling in nicely and I promise to have a new Toyriffic post by the end of this week...if not sooner!

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and concerns through this major shift.

Born on the Bayou

Yesterday a trip to the Swap Meet turned into a trip to the Swamp Meet - as in "Meet Swamp Thing:"



I still love the first Swamp Thing movie, but haven't seen the sequel since it was released so I have no comment on that one. I never really followed the TV show or the cartoon, but I did follow the comics for a time during the Alan Grant years.

I always thought the Swamp Thing, formerly Alec Holland, was a pretty cool character, and this action figure from Kenner ca. 1990 isn't too shabby either.

He's too small to fit in with DCUC but if you imagine him as a huge hulking earth elemental you could fit him in with your DCIH figures, as this old action figure line is more in the 5" scale. I don't think there's any collector demand for them either so you can probably easily find them and get them for cheap if you are so inclined.



This figure has a retractable hand that zips back when you squeeze his legs - perfect for catching those swamp villains who are just out of arm's reach!

I'm a Sweet Little Bird in a Gilded Cage...

First, a toy-collecting-public service announcement. If you have a Ross store in your town, check their (notoriously disastrous) toy section. DC Infinite Heroes 3 packs are showing up there and are selling for $4.99!

I had read this news on various toy forums but did not realize until last weekend that a my town close to me actually does have a Ross! So I went there and was lucky enough to score the Hawkman/Thanagarian warrior three pack!

At $4.99 this set is phenomenal! (Sword did not come with the set - I stole it from a Schleich knight.)

Hawkman alone is worth that price (and maybe even a bit more IMO.) I usually prefer the classic Hawkman look but I really like this barbarian take on him too.

And considering the fact that I couldn't find this set at the usually (gouging) price of $15 - $20 (depending on where you buy them...or where they shelf-warm) I was doubly excited!

The more DCIH figures I get the more I like the series. They aren't nearly as bad as many toy collectors make them out to be. The price is high (especially without accessories,) and the scale between characters isn't as consistent as it could (should) be, but I imagine that'll all adjust itself in time. In the meantime I'm just picking up the ones I can't live without...and a nice sale doesn't hurt either!

Here's one of the two Thanagarian Warrior figures that come in the set. Both are exactly the same so I only photoed one. They are also weaponless, and I added the mace myself, also taken from a Schleich knight. It looked kind of fancy and official, so it seemed appropriate for this guy.

Hawkman's wings don't move at all but are very well sculpted and surprisingly they do not tip Hawkman backwards.

The Thanagarian is a cool addition and melds the "old" with the "new" in the Hawkman mythos - one could imagine this is actually Katar Hol of Hawkworld if one wished.

Their builds are vastly different and make Hawkman look a little short in comparison, but DCIH figures have scale issues and I'm over it ;)

Hawkman's helmet is well designed and more primal than his classic superhero looking mask.

His boots are really cool too, with birdlike feet sculpted in and not just painted over.

This is a good set no matter what but at $4.99 it's phenomenal! DC Infinite Heroes need more accessories though - at least for the characters who it makes sense to have them...like Hawkman and his Thanagarian warrior pals. Good thing I have toys laying all over the place from which I can borrow.

For those keeping track, Hawkman and his cronies cause our DCIH goodguy-to-badguy ratio to soar into the stratosphere:

Infinite Heroes: 9

Infinite Villains: 1