It's not easy being green

Mattel just released news and images for their San Diego Comic Con exclusives. I don't care to go on about all of them or about my feelings for Mattel and exclusives and if or when they will also be available online yadda yadda.

What I want to do is show you Swamp Thing. Because Swamp Thing is super cool,  and his recent shift back into the DC Universe proper means we'll probably be seeing a lot more of him in comic and toy form.

Starting with this Mattel offering, which is as usual a beautifully designed and sculpted figure and also as usual will be difficult to obtain. Look at the bright side - at least he isn't a C&C - you know how near-impossible trying to complete one of those can be.

For those of you lucky enough to get one (I'll be trying myself) here's hoping Swamp Thing does not suffer from the 'as usual' quality of most Mattel DC Universe Classics product.

Toyriffic's Lego week continues...

...with a look at the most pernicious pirates to ever sail the blocky seas!

Redbeard - Cur of the Caribbean!

Brownbeard, Hellion of the High Seas!

Fiveo'clockhadowbeard, Meanie of the Mediterranean!

And last but not least, the Orneriest Outcast of all Oceans...

...Clambeard

Harley Qwednesday :: Goonapalooza

I hadn't owned my Lego Harley Quinn for more than a couple days when what do I spot at Toys R Us but a little Jester/stage mini set from the medieval themed 'Kingdoms' line.

Upon spotting it, my first thought was that the jester would make an excellent goon for the Clown Princess of Crime!

The second thought I had was that the Jester's body would double as a nice spring outfit for Harley. Of course this means that, for all intents and purposes, I removed their pants. Which pushes these Lego mini-figures dangerously close to dolly territory!

The Jester's head has a sad face on the other side - perfect for when he realizes his love for Harley Quinn will always go unrequited. Or for when he realizes he's a dolly lover.

Load-o Lego

A couple years back a co-worker gave me a huge bin of Legos that she had used while she was a teacher. There are a ton of mini-figures in it, mostly pirates, knights, racecar drivers and some Sherwood Forest chaps. My kids have played with them all this time, and the other day I decided to get all heads, arms, hands and legs to match back up and see what kind of mini army I have. No small feat, I tell you!

Also, my Sumo Wrestler (minus his hair - my daughter uses it on one of her girl pirates!) mini-figure can be seen at bottom left - I won him from Dan's Toy Museum a few weeks (months?) back and haven't blogged about him yet! I'm a baaaaaad blogger!

But I'll get to him soon; today's post is Lego and tomorrow's post is Lego, so I now declare this whole week to be Lego Week here at Toyriffic!

Stay tuned!

Arkham Asylum Batmobile

Happy Bat-Day! On this date in 1939, DC Comics introduced Batman to the world in Detective Comics #27!

And as if by fate, I finally located an Arkham Asylum Batmobile by Hot Wheels, based on the Batmobile that appears in the Arkham Asylum video game. The Arkham Asylum Batmobile is a 2011 HW Premiere and is #24/50.

Ironically, I found it at Safeway while grocery shopping and not during an actual toy hunt. I love it when things work out that way!

This is a pretty cool Batmobile design. And a surprising inclusion in the Hot Wheels Batmobile ranks. I would have never expected in a million years that a video game design for the Batmobile would make the Hot Wheels line-up, but I guess it goes to show how integral gaming is in our culture right now.

I remember a scant few years ago when the only 1:64 scale Batmobiles anyone could hope to find were a couple movie based ones and the '66, and even the '66s one would find if they could were decades old. Now we're getting multiple new releases based on relatively new designs within months of each other! Keep it up Mattel - there are still scores of Batmobiles I need in my 1:64 scale collection!

Thanks Easter Bunny, bok bok!

From the inimitable Elise 'Harley Quinn' Archer comes this excellent Harley Quinn Easter themed cosplay. I'm pretty sure there's a '...like rabbits' joke in there somewhere, but it is a holiday, so I'll just let the picture do all the talking.

Happy Easter everybody!

And don't forget to follow Elise on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter etc!

Elise Archer as Harley Quinn on Facebook
Elise's weblinks at Harlequinnade.com
Harleyquinnaid on Twitter
Harley Quinn Aide on Tumblr

Brave and the Bold back at McDonald's!

The next McDonald's Happy Meal Promo is none other than (another) Batman: The Brave and the Bold toy set!

Apparently there will be 8 sets, with each set including three toys! Nice! They look pretty simple and small but let's face it - they also look like a lot of fun!

Seriously, this is one neat looking pile of toys. Plastic Man as a car? Must have! Bat-Mite? Another must have! And - could it be? Do mine eyes decieveth me? After all these years of being told by Mattel that the Spectre is too scary a character for a kid's toy, McDonald's finally pulls the trigger??!?! Well if the fast food doesn't kill you I suppose the fright from such a scary toy will, right?

Word on the streets is that these will hit McDonald's on April 29th, which means if I go to my local McDonald's on April 29th I'll get stuck with a dumb leftover Rio toy. But whatever, I will have them all eventually!

Harley Qwednesday :: Lego my Harley Quinn!

I'm not a huge Lego fan. I like them, it's fun to build stuff and all, but I prefer to free-form my Lego creations, yet so many sets nowadays are one-build-only.

I really like the mini-figures however. They are like tiny action figures, and their themes help dictate what one does build. Sadly some of the best mini-figures are from one-build-only sets, like the many Batman themed mini figures. And most of those sets are expensive, especially on the secondary market.

Which brought me to eBay recently, where I found myself needing to get a hold of a Harley Quinn Lego mini-figure, who was released as part of a larger one-build-only set a few years back.

Obviously there's some way to get a bazillion of these and list the hell out of them on eBay, because they are all over the place, with the same seller listing multiples and immediately listing more when they sell. But the idiots who bid on them don't realize the concept of supply and demand or simply don't care, because instead of us all bidding once on each of the hundreds of Harleys starting at .99, every one I bid on had some schmoe or multiples of schmoes jump onto my bandwagon and rack up the bids! This literally happened for weeks!

Now I loves me some Harley Quinn, but I hates me some overspending on little pieces of plastic. A guy's gotta be realistic in this madcap hobby, you know?

So I set my top bid (many times) and set my patience (many times) and finally I landed one for under five bucks. Not too bad, still a little higher than I would have liked to pay, but this one had pretty cheap shipping too so that helped salve the sting.

So now I await the arrival of my little Harley Quinn Lego mini-figure. When she arrives, I'll have to build something awesome for her!

Action Figure or Doll?

The age old question that plagues toy collectors the world over reared it's ugly head again this evening. This time it was the girlfriend who posited the conundrum.

Actually she called an action figure a doll, and I had to school her on the finer points of toy definitions:

Doll: [dol] - noun: If the removal of pants is a component of a toy's play factor, said toy is a doll:  Hey Chunky B, did you see Brian's Lee Majors doll? It came with two pairs of sweat pants and one swanky leisure suit!

"Holy underwear - I don't even wear pants!"

Action Figure: [ak-shuhn fig-yer] - noun: A manly toy collected by manly toy collectors. Pants are non-removable. Often carries a weapon of some sort: Hey Bubba, your epic Batman action figure collection eclipses Reis' mere handful of Batmen, which are mostly bootlegs anyways. I'd wear a mask too if I were him!



"His Robin collection ain't nothin' to sneeze at either!"

The girlfriend then asked 'Who decided upon these definitions? Who is the authority?'

Well, moi, of course!

And now it is written, and so shall it be forevermore.

Amen.

(Oh yeah, toy collectors are also a fun group of folks who can really take a joke...I hope ;)  ) 

Random Toy Pic: B'Wana's power

B'Wana Beast shows off his strange powers and combines a bear and an ant to create the powerful Bant! No pic-a-nic basket is safe from this creepy creation.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Proto Bat-Bot is mine!

After seeing the Batman: The Brave and the Bold Proto Bat-Bot over at Super Duper Toy Box I knew I had to have one. Today my toy Karma came through for me, and I found one at Ross for only $16.99!

This guy retails for $29.99, so I consider that an excellent deal!

Proto is a HUGE toy, and weighty and badass and just plain awesome.

Turn his head and he makes some mechanical sounds as his chest pops open to reveal a canon - and Adam West's own voice says a line from the cartoon!

Push a button on his back and the cannon rotates to reveal a bunch of missiles which can be launched by turning the dial on the back.

"Thanks Batsy, I think I'll keep him!"

Happy Thorsday :: Free Digital Comics from Dr. Pepper and Marvel

As part of their Thor movie promotion, Dr. Pepper and Marvel are offering a one month free digital comics subscription!

I am always skeptical of these things, but you do not have to submit any credit card info beforehand, so you don't have to 'enroll and cancel' like many 'freebies.' Although it is an option if you choose to get a second month for only a dollar. But I'm a cheapskate and notoriously absent-minded, so I only opted in for the one month free!

You don't even need to buy a Dr. Pepper - just go to http://www.drpepper.com/promotions/thor/ and sign up!

Personally, I'm catching up on some She-Hulk. Because that's how I roll.

Harley Qwednesday :: So would that make him your 'Yorkshire Puddin' then?

The Batman Live stage show is getting set to hit stages all over the UK this summer. Images of the heroes and villains of the show were just revealed, but on Harley Qwednesday our only concern is Harley Quinn herself!

I don't hate it - it certainly is obviously Harley Quinn. But I am surprised how far off model they went with the design...

...considering the fact that all the other villains actually look pretty spot-on. Harley's costume is the biggest departure from her iconic look.

Still, it works and it's cute in a ballerina sort of way, and she has a huge mallet so that's just awesome as all get-out!

And let's face it, it's always fun to see yet another appearance and new take on Harley Quinn, especially for those of us who remember the first time she walked in to our lives.

Be sure to follow along and keep up to date on all the news at Batman Live on Facebook.

She's pretty as a daisy, but look out man she's crazy!

A few years back my brother from another mother Chunky B of Eclectorama fame sent me a care package that included the Girls of Gotham four action figure set. The set included Catwoman, Talia Al Ghul, Batgirl and Poison Ivy, all in the Batman Animated style.

I gave the set to my daughter who still carries all the figures in her travel bag to play with on long car rides.

Surprisingly, Poison Ivy from the Girls of Gotham set is different from the standard Batman Animated Poison Ivy, and as far as I know was unique to this set.

Ivy is more stylized and not exactly on model to the Batman Animated design, but is still very cute.

In fact I prefer this head sculpt to the standard release if only because the standard version of Ivy looks a little scrunched up in the neck.

Ivy came with her crossbow and a chomping plant accessory, but I didn't feel like digging those out of the bag for this photo shoot. Anyways, we all know Miss Isley is the star!

Of course Harley had to get in on the act when she heard her pal Pamela was being showcased!

Random Toy Pic :: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

They are both geniuses, after all.

Lightning Rod Lion-O

If that isn't the official name for this toy, it should be:

Yes, that is indeed a real Lion-O action figure, part of the upcoming Bandai toy line in conjunction with the upcoming new Thundercats cartoon.

And yes, it looks like he's holding his weenie.

Because apparently all toy manufacturer/designers the world over pee sitting down. There can be no other explanation as to how a toy like this can be made in this day and age.

You just know this toy also has some sort of motion feature, and maybe even yells 'Hooooo" - which is just going to add to the 'fun' when someone gets their hands on this little guy (pun intended) and posts a YouTube video of his arms going up and down in his lap and yelling 'Ho ho hoooo ho ho hoooo!'

Because if there's anything that matches toy designers' lack of foresight, it is toy collectors' love of juvenile humor.

If you want to be one of the first to make Lion-O spank the Snarf, you can pre-order this guy at Big Bad Toy Store.

No, seriously, this is NOT the droid you are looking for...

I'm a toy manufacturer in the late seventies, and I'm about to rip off the most successful summer sci-fi flick ever right as a sequel, which is almost certainly destined to be as successful if not moreso, is about to hit theatres. I'm going to be real sly about it though. I'm going to call my toy 'Star-2!' No one will see through that thin veil unless they are a Jedi, I mean a Jed-eye, and wield the awesome power of the force, I mean the powre of the foress!

This is 'Star-2, the Lovable Teaching Robot.' Star-2 was manufactured in 1980 as far as I can tell, I see no specifics detailing his time of origin on the toy or box, but the cards he comes with are all copyright 1980. Yeah, I get the irony.

And exactly how is a dome with lights on it so 'loveable?' Well it isn't unless you know about R2-D2, who is very lovable in the movie Star Wars. But this isn't an R2 rip off. No sirree.

Okay, so the base is orange, and the dome is white with black details painted on. And the lights are red, yellow and blue. None of those colors are very R2-D2ish, right?

U Mad, George?

The toy is actually pretty neat. You place some learning cards on the panel and answer the questions with a metal tipped probe. Similar to how the old Operation game works, if you get a right answer, the dome lights up and Star-2 makes some noise which is similar to an old electronic phone of some sort.

I iz smart!

There are cards for all sorts of subjects and age ranges, and all are equally seventies-ish in their art and details. Ironically, none of them are space themed. I have 74 cards, so I plan on being pretty learned by the time I'm through!

Here's the box. Man I hated that stupid bob haircut people gave their sons back then. Thank God my mom never put me through such torment. You look like Dorothy Hamill, boy!

Star-2 was manufactured by Educational Insights Inc. of Compton CA. Yup, Star-2 is straight outta Compton. I don't remember NWA ever singing about the Lovable Teaching Robot though.

I did some quick research online and it appears a later version was called 'Charlie the Lovable Teaching Robot,' so clearly Lucas got wind of this thing pretty quick and was at least able to get them to stop using the name 'Star-2,' which seems fair enough.

"I got it bad got it bad got it bad, I'm hot for teacher!"