Imaginext Aquaman Found at Retail

Today I totally happened upon the latest addition to the JLI (Justice League Imaginext) and although I was originally on the fence about getting him, once I saw him in person I could not pass him up; inexplicable yellow boots or not!

I found Aquaman at, of all places, Sears, selling for $6.99!

They also had an all black suit Batman with a personal sub/flippers; the only other new release I saw. This blurb on the back is the only new/unique graphic on A-man's packaging.

Same silly painted on face as most Imaginext figures, but otherwise Aquaman has a bunch of unique sculpted parts. His flowing locks, those scales, and his fins and belt make for an exceptional figure.

Aquaman also comes with a robo shark...

...and trident to skewer this metal minion!

"Yoiks, and AWAY!"

Check out more awesome Imaginext JLA-ers:
Imaginext Hawkman and Flash
Imaginext Catwoman (she's JLA in the upcoming DCnu...honest!)
Imaginext Batman

Random Toy Pic(s) :: Takin' out the trash

Just some fun outdoorsy shots (in an actual redwood forest!) of Ewok Wicket W. Warrick and some Empire troop helmets. I could also call this post 'toys at work' because these are toys I have at work, and the pics were shot where I work.

Wicket the Ewok is from Kenner's Power of the Force collection circa 1998. He was released as a two-pack along with Logray, whom I will probably blog about in the future. The helmets are Lego minifigure helmets, which make surprisingly accurate in-scale helmets for this little guy.

I've been getting nostalgic lately for Original Trilogy toys and characters, and have been hankering for Ewoks (see 'where I work' above), when out of nowhere my parents bring me a bunch of stuff from home including Wicket and Logray. These actually were not mine; I had bought them for my sister when they were released but she could care less about such things now, so I am more than happy to welcome these fellows back into the fold!

I imagine Wicket here is taking out the trash in the form of the receptacles that contained the Ewok's celebration dinner. Stupid Empire and their environmentally unfriendly packaging! At least they make a delicious soldier!

Catwoman Purrrsday :: Injustice Catwoman

This is what Catwoman will look like in the upcoming fighter video game 'Injustice: Gods Among Us.'

The robo feet are...interesting.

Vicious (Bat)cycle

I went out today searching for the Hotwheels 'dollar' version of 'The Bat' hitting pegs all over the world except in my town now, and although I did not succeed this trip I did finally score the Hotwheels Batcycle that has already been out for a few months!

The packaging of mine is different than the one I originally posted about way back in March, but the batcycle is the same and since I tore this bad boy open right away, that's really all that matters!

Upon opening it I was surprised at how much metal is in this thing. The whole bike (sans front cowl) as well as almost all of Batman (sans head, cape and arms.) It feels very solid and rolls nicely, maintaining balance with a little help from that wedge that also serves as a decent kickstand to keep the bike from tipping while on display.

The other bikes in the set are pretty fun looking, especially that Tron 2.0 wanna-be 'Light Rider.'

The packaging designates these as 1:64 scale, but that's true only in that these were designed for use on standard Hotwheels 'orange track.' They are actually quite a bit larger than standard 'dollar' Hotwheels, falling roughly somewhere between 1:24 and 1:43 scale.

I only found one Batcycle in among a bunch of newly shelved bikes, so they may be one per shipment, or maybe they ran out of room, or someone left one behind. Who knows, but having never seen this in stores before now I think the Batcycle may be the hard-to-find one of the set.

At my Toys R Us they are going for $3.99. Worth it.

See ya' later...but before you go, check out some other sweet small scale Batcycles in my collection!

Harley Qwednesday :: Rockabilly Harley Quinn

Just a rockabilly inspired swimsuit stuffed with Harley Quinn. Because I can.

Domo Arigato Mr. Cyborg-o

I found this larger-than-standard Cyborg action figure at a school flea market this past weekend. For fifty cents I couldn't pass him up!

Amazingly he's in near perfect condition with only a couple small scratches. He was a little dirty when I found him but cleaned up nice and easily.

Teen Titans action figures are relatively hard to come by and I am always surprised when I find them, and I try to snag them when I see one in good condition (and selling for cheap!)

I have amassed a modest amount of standard sized figures (mostly for my daughter) but this is my first over-sized figure. Cyborg here is about 5" tall. Released as 'Action Sound Cyborg,' this guy has a button on his chest and makes sounds of some sort (apparently he says 'Booyah!,) but the batteries are long dead and slightly corroded and needed to be thrown out asap. I don't know if the sound feature still works, but at least the 'button' is part of the character's design, so it isn't an obnoxious and useless when batteries are dead add-on.

Cyborg here is a solid figure with great articulation; he reminds me a lot of the current Ninja Turtles offerings. Well built, solid, durable, a great cartoon accurate design, and ready for play!

Did I say 'durable'?

"Medic! Mechanic! BOTH!"

Oh wait - he's supposed to do that!

I found Cyborg in a box of random toys with nothing else worth grabbing. I almost passed up looking in a second box because another guy was digging enthusiastically into it and seemed like he'd be there a while (the box didn't appear to contain anything I cared for anyways.) But when he suddenly stepped away, and since the Mrs. was still perusing clothes or some other nonsense, I decided to give the second box a quick dig-through.

I'm glad I did, because buried deep inside I found this:

Cyborg's gun arm!

Not being terribly familiar with these figures, I didn't even realize this was something I should have been looking for! Luckily I stumbled onto it.

"I know what you're thinking...did he fire five fingers or only four...?"

Action Sound Cyborg also originally came with a small Titans communicator, but I didn't see it in the box and am sure it is long lost (also...who cares. I have his gun-arm!) And who needs to call the Teen Titans anyways when they're now a member of the Justice League!

Be sure to click over and check out my smaller scale Teen Titans Cyborg I reviewed years ago, who also would have had an alternate arm but unfortunately I didn't find it at the time. Fortunately, he happened to already be wearing his gun-arm!

Also check out more pics of Action Sounds Cyborg when reviewed brand new over at RTM.

Finally, check out this fun little Teen Titans Go! short from DC nation:

Speeder Demon

'I said 'pull over'!'

In an effort to complete my collection of original trilogy troopers in Lego form, (Stormtrooper, Snow Trooper and Biker Scout,) I finally acquired this Biker Scout along with his Lego Speeder Bike!

There have been a few Lego versions of the Speeder Bikes (and Biker Scouts for that matter,) this one comes from the Ewok Attack set #7956.

Holy Diver!

This is the Lego Minifigures Series 8 Diver...slightly modified.

You see, when I first saw that this figure was coming, I thought it would be the perfect minifigure to have double faces, like many do. Lego has a sense of humor, you know! But sadly he only came with a (overly) happy face, which was a little disappointing to my wry sense of humor.

So once again I called upon the power of 'sweaty face' from Series 3's Gorilla Suit Guy to save the day!

Although in Diver's case, this is more likely a small leak than sweat. Or the two mixed...with tears!

MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Besides the lask of a 'drowning face,' this Diver is a pretty cool minifigure. His helmet is top notch, the glass being the same piece used for Series Five's Sherlock Holmes' magnifying glass, which gives a nice slightly skewed view into the face of death here. He also comes with a sweet harpoon and 'lead shoes' (a real nice touch!) and has painted details on his back as well.

Get him if you can, his helmet is easy to squeeze for (haw haw) and if you have an extra 'sweaty face' then all the better!

You have a little something on your (Clay)face...

 No, no...on the other side...

 ...no, the other side...

...aw forget it!

I finally picked up the Imaginext Clayface the other day when I found him for $6.99 at K-Mart. I've seen this guy a few times and passed him up for whatever reason (sometimes it's because I see him at Target where I think he goes for a ridiculous $9.99!) so I'm glad I finally went for it this time, as sightings may or may not decrease as time goes by.

Clayface is fun, he has a hinged maw and hollow interior for all sorts of goody-two-shoes eating fun. He kind of reminds me of the classic Star Wars Rancor in his simple design, hard plastic construction and appetite for other action figures!

He also has a 'mud-mallet' that can be attached and removed from his hand. Otherwise he's pretty basic, but loads of fun and plays well with my 'mudded' Trio Batman.

Playmobil Fi?ures Series 3 US Release UPDATE

I just received word back from Playmobil Customer Service that the US release of Playmobil's blind bagged Series 3 Fi?ures has been delayed to around the middle or end of September:

"Thank you for your inquiry.

There has been a delay in the arrival of the figures to the USA, but we anticipate that they will be available mid to end of September.

Sincerely,
PLAYMOBIL CONSUMER SERVICES"

So there you have it, straight from Playmobil themselves!


The funny thing is that I completely expected Lego's minifigures series 8 to be released in September and Playmobil Fi?ures series 3 to be released in August, and it turned out to be the opposite. Oh well, at least I have my Lego Man-Bat to hold me over.

Catwoman Purrrsday :: Batman Returns Inspired Catwoman Illustration

The best part of having art skills is that if I run into need for one of my themed posts, I just draw something!

Here's a new illustration by me inspired by Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman from Batman Returns. I've been lately enjoying working initially with a brush pen and then coloring in photoshop, and have started to play around more with lighting effects/depth.

See more of my art at my DeviantArt page and my art blog.

Harley Qwednesday :: the Bikini Speaks!

Over a year ago I posted some pics I found online of a custom Harley Quinn themed bikini...and it's wearer. The model/designer has since found Toyriffic and the post she inspired, and has agreed to an interview, because she's more than just bikini-stuffing! ;)

Tell us about yourself, Courtney, and your designs as well:

I am currently a second year student of costume design at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts but before that I studied all kinds of things, it's been a long and interesting road to self-discovery, maturity and the career I ultimately feel suits me and I want to do for the rest of my life. Costumes really are my passion above all else.

I was always interested in the arts, I have been drawing since I could hold a pencil and I love popular culture and history which will never cease to fuel my imagination and inspire creativity in me.  Seriously, I can't watch a movie, read a comic or play a game without wanting to make a costume based on one of the characters.

But it's not all fanart and cosplay, I do a lot of original work too. My art is mostly character design, I love creating elaborate costumes and backstories to go with them, there are so many that I have created my own little universe called the Leviathan project. It would take far too long to explain it all but basically all of the characters I have ever created live in this same world, they are all vastly different from one another because I've made them separately over the years with different ideas in mind. So it's fun trying to write connections between them.
 
Because of this I studied art and animation thinking a future in comics or character design in animation was the way to go.

I do enjoy that sort of thing but ultimately I realized it's a hobby not a career for me. I tended to be like that, I would love something so completely and intensely to the point of obsession but only until something else took it's place. That's not so much the case now.

But that art course was very useful, it taught all forms of art, including sewing and life drawing which I excelled at, that's when I made the jump to fashion design.

Now I had sewn a little bit in high school (which I had left in third year, it was a waste of time) and I enjoy customizing my clothes, at this point I was sixteen and my unique sense of fashion was beginning to emerge. I was well into cyberpunk and film noir, so my clothing reflected an interesting hybrid of those styles.

This was the perfect time for fashion and I to find each other.

I learned a lot in that course, the most important thing I learned was that my designs are 'too costumey' and that the business side of the fashion industry doesn't interest me at all.

This is when Perth had it's first comic convention, Supanova and my eyes were opened to a whole new world of cosplay. When I get dressed evey day there is a lot of thought put into it, there's a theme, a period or a character as my inspiration, but with cosplay I had the excuse to completely immerse myself in a character,  I also found the acting and modeling side to cosplay very appealing.

In highschool I made a silver trenchcoat inspired by the Matrix Twins and the Scarecrow's jacket from Scarecrow:Year One, while studying fashion I made a hooded vest much like Altair's in Assassin's Creed. But my first cosplay was Batwoman, which has gone through more remakes than I can count. I do love looking at it's evolution though. My next version will be more realistic, the ultimate goal of any of my costumes really.

At the first Supanova I met the 501st and decided to join, eager to learn more about costuming. The experience was...Regretable and I learned the ugly side of fandom and I realised that I hated what Star Wars and its fandom had become. (Star Trek all the way!)

Then I went off and made my own group Gotham's Finest which basically does what the 501st is supposed to do, that is help the community and entertain children. We have standards for our costumes, but we aren't as strict or as obsessive as the 501st. Most people wouldn't know your costume has less buttons on it than the real character or that it's made of a different material. as long as you look the part and it's clear effort went into it, we're happy.

So Batman has been one of my favourite fandoms for a long time, it probably started with the Justice League and The Batman cartoons and then Batman Begins, since then I've become something of an expert on the subject. I don't think there's an incarnation I haven't read or watched.

When I put things on the internet, like my work, I can never predict what will become popular. In the case of the Harley Quinn bikini and my Loki costume, I made a pretty significant impact, I've become known for my superhero swimwear and I'm the Loki expert to many aspiring cosplayers out there who need help on making one of the trickster god's elaborate costumes.

The inspiration for the Harley Quinn bikini was an episode of Batman the animated series where Harley was in bathers, they were very average looking, my mind immediately started conjuring up ideas of what she should have worn instead.

My design process is typical of a fashion or costume designer, I start with a design, this is fully rendered drawing to give an example of movement, drape, proportions and colour, then I make something called a 'trade sketch' a detailed diagram of the garment with style lines and construction information.

My ultimate goal is to become a costume designer for films and television, I hope to move to London and work for the BBC, specifically on Doctor Who, which is filmed in Wales, my ancestral home. But for right now I will finish my course next year, focus on my business Costume Couture which I operate from my DeviantART and soon Etsy when the issue surrounding the business name is cleared up. My next appearance will be at the convention Wai-Con in January where I will be selling My Little Pony and Doctor Who related merchandise among some original works.

Thanks so much Courtney for your time and for all the awesome work you do!

Everyone: be sure to follow Courtney's DeviantArt page at http://pyro-the-maniac.deviantart.com/

Donkey Kong K'Nex Blind Bagged Minifigure

K'Nex dove into the minifigure pie recently by releasing some of their Mario Kart build set figures first in bags that identified the figure inside (making short-packed King Koopa harder to find for most because he was so easy to find for store employees, scalpers and the random lucky toy collector who got there first.)

For the second wave, K'Nex has blind-bagged the figures, forcing those of us in the know to employ the squeeze method. There may be a code on these somewhere too, but I find the squeeze method to be sufficient and don't feel the need to carry around a decoder sheet in my pocket everywhere I go.

Donkey Kong here is new to wave 2, as is Toad and Diddy Kong; wave 2 also includes all the wave 1 releases in case you missed out the first time on Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and King Koopa.

Like King Koopa (or 'Bowser' if you prefer,) Donkey Kong was a must have for an old-school gamer like myself. And I admit, now that I have his nemesees...nemesisis...nemsies...these two, I want a K-Nex Mario as well.

I don't know how many Donkey Kongs are released per box (I had heard King Koopa was two per box for wave 1, and DK is similarly large but not nearly as detailed/complex,) but somehow upon discovering these at K-Mart he was in both the first and second pack I squeezed! So maybe he's more plentiful, or I was just lucky. Hint: his mouth is football shaped and from there you can feel the 'tuft' of hair on the top of his head to confirm. He's also wider than most in this wave, so feel for that.

As you can see, I have recently employed an intern to help me complete my toy reviews.Thank God for Craigslist!

Although I don't think Donkey Kong appreciates the assist, and she spills my coffee every time! But what do you expect for free, right?

*NOTE: this post was made with extreme parental guidance and oversight. This toy does present a choking hazard and should not be left with a young child unsupervised. Also, this baby doesn't actually make me coffee. Yet.