Thunder Rosa!

 Thunderrrrrrr Rosaaaaaaa!!!!

I've gotten into Professional Wrestling more in recent years than I have ever been in my entire life. AEW is a big reason, I really enjoy how they put on a show. One of my favorite wrestlers today is Thunder Rosa, and I'm happy to have found her debut (as far as I know) action figure at Target the other day!

I haven't opened this one yet but I intent to. The sculpt and face paint look incredible!

Ok, you may have noticed that I've been away from this blog for years. Or you didn't/don't care. Cool either way. But the internet, and how we interact with it, has changed in many ways since I started this blog, and while some of those changes have been flashy and fun for a while, most have been at best antithetical to the reason(s) I started doing this blog in the first place, and at worst completely lacking in any soul or emotional value whatsoever.

Since moving away from blogger, I've lost a lot of the comraderie and brotherhood that came from this format. Not that returning to this format now will ever bring back the glory days of old, but it's not going to be found on Instagram either, so what the heck. Might as well put my effort over here for a minute or two again, and if nothing else, someone might be able to use a search engine and actually find some real heartfelt toy loving content for a change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imaginext Darkseid, Parademon and Blind Bag Series 2 Kingdom Come Superman

A recent trip to Wal-Mart yielded the Imaginext Darkseid/Parademon two pack and the DC Blind Bag Series 2 Kingdom Come Superman!

This new Darkseid release from Imaginext is their second Darkseid release and far superior to their first. Not only is the new release based on Darkseid's classic look (while the first release was based on the less awesome New 52 Darkseid design) but for reasons unknown to anyone who has ever read a DC comic book, their original Darkseid release was a bit on the Smallseid. In fact, I hated this guy so much based on scale alone that I completely dodged him at retail, and only own him because I found him for fifty cents at the flea market.

The new Darkseid is both classically designed and slightly oversized, which makes him formidable without being overly large.

Darkseid is anticipated to play a big part in the upcoming Justice League movie (or at least it's ongoing series) so Imaginext is getting ready by releasing this figure now, and they have also including a Parademon along with him (which have appeared in the Justice League trailers.)

The Parademon (called merely a 'minion' on the Imaginext packaging; perhaps ParaDEMONS aren't kosher kid toy fodder?) is also classically designed, based on his classic comic book appearances and not on the modern comics or movies. Sadly the quality control on this set is pretty low, I saw multiple sets with extremely shoddy paint apps on the Parademon before I finally nabbed this set. And even this one, the best I've seen, has major over-spray paint issues.

That said, he's a Parademon and ideally I'd like a handful of these army builders, so I'm ok with an imperfect version now in the hopes that I get a few more in the future.

Kingdom Come Superman is part of the DC Blind Bag Series 2 wave. The first wave was Batman-centric and has been hard to find in the US (mostly being found in K-Marts and Barnes and Nobles) while Series 2 has had a wider release (I've seen them at both Wal-Mart and Target.) At first I didn't think I needed another Imaginext Superman, but the Kingdom Come 'S' symbol coupled with the grey hair makes this one a must have! He's now my 'go-to' Imaginext Superman, replacing the battle damaged Superman that came with Doomsday.

As usual., Imaginext has an embossed number on the back of their blind bags, taking the guess(squeeze) work out of finding the figure you want.

The DC Blind Bags Series 2 codes are as follows:
Kingdom Come Superman: 90
Brainiac: 89
\Aquaman: 95
Unmasked Black Manta: 96
John Stewart Green Lantern: 92
Sinestro: 91

There was only one other in wave 2 that I couldn't live without, to be posted about later!

"What the hell are you supposed to be?"

Bootleg Batman / Secret Wars Captain America Mash-up Action Figure

At the San Jose Toy Show I attended a couple months back, I came across this terrible yet awesome bootleg Batman action figure. Obviously based on the Secret Wars Captain America action figure design (The pirate boots are a dead giveaway!), they added Bat-Ears...

...and even left behind the Captain's ears! Bootleg Batman is made of solid rubber and is smaller in scale that the original Secret Wars action figures. His paint is pretty terrible but honestly that's probably exactly how good it was the day this guy rolled out of the Mexican Bootleg Batman Factory. I'm actually shocked that he still has his cape and that it is in one piece, and not torn or missing, as it's a pretty flimsy piece of vinyl and could easily have torn at the neck or wrists in the however many years this guy has existed.

My Intern can't stand to look at this guy any longer. Show's over folks, nothing else to see here!

Teen Titans GO! Starfire by Imaginext

Last week I reviewed the Imaginext Teen Titans GO! Raven, and today we look at Starfire!

Starfire is a single figure set, one of the basic releases and retails for $7.99 (at Toys R Us). These new Imaginext Teen titans GO! sets are being spotted at Toys R Us and K-Mart as of press time. They should be showing up everywhere Imaginext are sold any day now.

Starfire comes with a pizza flinging bumper car. I may have missed the episode wherein a pizza flinging bumper car is a thing, or maybe it isn't a thing and they just threw in a pizza flinging bumper car because reasons, but either way I'm ok with it. If nothing else, I can pawn the bumper car off on Harley Quinn or the Joker as it is within their interests.

Starfire also comes with a pizza launchign pizza box. It doesn't connect to anything nor is there any way for Starfire or any other figure to hold it. But hey, pizza launcher. Good times.

Starfire is more off-model from the toon than Raven. Her head just isn't large enough. I also take issue with her ears being part of her hair-piece (and therefore not flesh colored.) That said, I'm glad Fisher-Price released Starfire (and Raven) right off the line. It says a lot for how far toy manufacturers have come and for who the Imaginext toyline is aimed at. Ye olde 'girl action figures don't sell' mantra of past decades may finally have lost it's delusional steam.

Ain't no party like a crazy pizza party 'cuz a crazy pizza party got anchovies, son!

Starfire comes with three pizza disks, so your kids will lose them all in about 30 minutes or less.

The Teen Titans GO! cartoon is hilarious and absurd. I'm hoping to see many Imaginext variants based on ridiculous cartoon storylines and moments. I also hope we get a lot of villains and additional heroes too (Aqualad, Speedy, Kid Flash etc.) In the meantime, it's nice that rounding out the four primary team members won't require you to buy massive and/or exclusive playsets or jump through other ridiculous hoops to accomplish.

Imaginext Teen Titans GO! Raven Review :: Azarath, Metreon, Zinthos!

Imaginext is now in the Teen Titans GO! toy game, and they've jumped into the ring swinging!

The sets are hitting retail now, being spotted at K-Mart and Toys R Us so far. I found the single figure sets of Raven, Starfire and Cyborg at Toys R Us yesterday. No sign of the bigger sets though. I picked up the Raven and Starfire sets immediately, as I am both surprised and impressed that the girl characters were both released in the first wave of figures, and as single figure 'starter set' releases to boot!

Had you asked me to predict the release pattern of these figures, I would have said Raven would be in a later wave (or never released at all if the series wasn't popular enough for multiple waves) while Starfire will only be available if you buy a massive, possibly second-time-around-repainted playset. Times, are they a-changin', maybe? Or is the release of both Raven and Starfire right out the gate simply a toy collecting anomaly? I don't know, but I'm not complaining.

The sullen, grouchy, goth, half-demon Raven is a must have for any Teen Titans GO! fan. Who doesn't love her dead-pan delivery and God (Devil) like powers?

Raven's figure design is pretty accurate to the toon. The Imaginext Teen Titans GO! figures are, like the Imaginext SpongeBob series before them, stylized to match their cartoon counterparts. They don't fit seamlessly into the standard Imaginext superhero action figure line-up, (they're taller, and of course their heads are larger and more cartoony) but kids probably won't care. I know mine mix genres and characters all the time regardless of size or scale differences. Adult collectors will be split, many will be fine with the cartoon aesthetic, and many will probably complain, because many usually do no matter what a toy company does. I for one am happy to see the toys looking like they stepped right out of the cartoon. I would have preferred Raven to have her hood 'shadow' over her upper face, but...

...her hood is designed to be removable. So the shadow would not have worked with the hood off. Perhaps there will be a variant, or I'll get a second figure and paint her, as I imagine many collectors will consider doing. I'm just happy the hood is removable, as this fact opens the door for a Lady Legasus repaint! Of course that would also be a pretty simple custom, in the off chance I end up with multiple Ravens.

"Where is 'Hell', Alex?"

Hahaha, 'Mommy, where DID Raven get her tentacles from?' Speaking of the tentacles, they are an ingenious accessory, they make a nice base as well as a rolling 'vehicle': when you push Raven across a hard surface, the tentacles portion of the base rotates! So awesome.

And Raven's cape is not only removable, but it stands on it's own. Not positive if the cape has sentience like Dr. Strange's cape, but I think it does. Anyways, I like to imagine it has a life of it's own.

The full set of Imaginext Teen Titans GO! figures and playsets can be seen on the back of the package. You can get Raven, Cyborg and Starfire at the basic figure level, Beast Boy and Robin at the figure/small vehicle level, another Cyborg at a large vehicle level and another Robin and Mammoth at the Titans Tower playset level. I'm sure Robin will be the figure with the most releases and repaints, and I am optimistic we'll start to see some villains next wave if the theme proves popular. Personally, a Mallah/Brain set is on the top of my wish list! who do you want to see?

The basic figures (Starfire, Raven, Cyborg) retail around $7.99 each. I assume the Beast Boy and Robin w/jet sets are probably around $14.99. The Cyborg and large vehicle is probably around $24.99 and Titans Tower will probably retail for around forty bucks.

Tune in next week to read my Starfire review!

Wonder Woman in theaters NOW!

I saw Wonder Woman last night and loved it. I really believe that if the WW film franchise carries on (and there's no reason to believe it won't) then Gal Gadot will be the Christopher Reeve of this generation. The whole movie was great, but a stand-out for me was seeing the Golden Age villain Dr. Poison, played by actress Elena Anaya. She didn't have a ton of movie time but every moment with her on screen was mesmerizing. I hope the action figure lines are successful enough to get a second wave so I can get me a Dr. Poison action figure!

All the Amazon stuff was great, (I'd watch a whole movie about kid Diana, played by little actress Lilly Aspell), all the WWI stuff was great, it was just a great movie. Go see it!

In the meantime, here's a handful of Wonder Woman toys that belong to me and my daughters. Viva la Wonder Woman!

In This Corner: Andre the Giant

I have to admit, I didn't follow wrestling when I was a kid. I had friends who did, so I was certainly aware of the now iconic wrestling personalities of the eighties, but I just never could get into the scene. These days I'm a huge fan of Lucha Underground, so I've been paying a little closer attention to the whole professional wrestling shebang, which of course also means paying closer attention to the toys! That said, as of press time, there are no Lucha Underground action figures. But I for one am hoping that issue is rectified soon!

As for WWE (or whatever WWF is called nowadays, since losing the copyright to those damn animals!), Mattel has been pumping out figures for a few years now, and they recently released the one and only Andre the Giant. Of all the wrestling legends, Andre is, quite literally, the biggest. I remember seeing him in matches when I'd be spending the night at a friend's house, and being amazed at the massive, imposing figure Mr. Giant cut.

Andre later cemented his place in pop culture by playing the lovable giant Fezzik in The Princess Bride. This specific version of Andre was part of a Target four pack, which I picked up on clearance and sold or traded off the other figures in the set. The only one of the set I knew or cared about was Andre himself!

My nephew had a bunch of wrestling figures when he was into wrestling a few years back. I've always been impressed with the sturdiness of their wrestling figures, it always seemed a notch or ten above any of the DC comics stuff they put out. Andre is no different, and is a great all around action figure. I need to pick up a few more so Andre has someone to challenge him!

"Waitaminute, you're not Bone-Saw!"

Spider Maul, Spider Maul, does whatever a spider does, y'all!

Love or hate Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, almost everyone is on the same page when it comes to the badass tattooed Sith Apprentice Darth Maul.

Maul was idiotically killed off in TPM, but was later revived in the Star Wars: Rebels animated series. First with a six legged insect body, and later with sweet sweet robot legs. Because SCIENCE!

I don't watch Star Wars: Rebels. I also could care less about the Hero Mashers toyline Hasbro has been Hero Mashing down our throats for the past couple years.

However I simply could not pass up this Hero Mashers Darth Maul  (especially since I found him on clearance)...

...which includes both is spider-body and his chicken legs! The 'spider body' is a simple hollow shell, but it's effective.

The chicken legs are solid, but only move at the reverse-knee. Hero Mashers are more visually impressive than they are articulated. This figure looks like he should have joints all over the place ("Hey, it's medicinal! I'm a paraplegic for cryin out loud!")  But it's all in the sculpt, and there's not much actual engineering going on. That';s fine, as this guy would probably be double or triple the price if that were the case.

I have to admit, I'm curious now to see what another Hero masher would look like with Maul's robot-chicken legs! Maybe this Hero Mashers concept isn't so stupid after all.

Nah, it's pretty stupid.

"You lost your legs? Cry me a river."

Spider-Hulk, Spider-Hulk, smashes whatever a gamma irradiated spider smashes!

First, let me apologize for not posting for the whole of March. I appreciate the three of you who are still reading. That said, I'm baaaaack!

And not only am I back, but I bring you today some fun pics of one of my Holy Grails that I finally added to my collection: Spider-Hulk!

Back in 2006, Toy Biz was reaching the end of their Spider-Man Classics line. They may have also been close to the end of their license with Marvel, which ended up (and still is) with Hasbro. I'm no Marvel expert, so don't quote me on that. What I do know is that one of the last Spider-Man Classics figures Toy Biz released was Spider-Hulk. I'm pretty sure, as the story goes, Peter Parker somehow gained the powers of The incredible Hulk for a hot minute (and this is not Bruce Banner/Hulk in Spider-PJs). I've not read this specific story in the comics, but I love that Toy Biz made an action figure of this...well...incredible moment!

I saw this figure at retail back in '06 and somehow talked myself out of it. I've regretted that decision ever since, and as is always the case in such situations, Spider-Hulk became a very hard-to-get figure, and has since held a ridiculously high resale value. I've kept my eyes peeled for him for over ten years, hoping to find an economical example, but I've never seen him going for a sane and excusable price...until now!

For some reason beyond my mere human intellect to interpret,  a couple months ago a Chinese ebay seller suddenly began selling loose Spider-Hulks. The auction end prices vary, but have been hovering around an average of $25 bucks for as long as I've been monitoring. Buying loose toys from China can be a risky venture, so I had to ask myself: was it worth tempting fate to get either a) a cheap bootleg, b) a Spider-Hulk with two left feet or c) nothing at all, in an attempt to get Spider-Hulk for a fraction of what he's gone for on the secondary market for the past ten years?

Well the answer was obviously 'yes.'

I'm glad to report that I bid, I won, and lo-and-behold, a couple weeks later a beautiful loose but perfect example of Spider-Hulk arrived at my doorstep! HUZZAH!!!

Of course there are a lot of questions this figure's existence raises. Did Toy Biz have a warehouse full of these gentlemen, just sitting in crates for a decade, waiting for someone to buy them up and liquidate them on eBay? Or did toy Biz themselves, or whatever manufacturer they contracted, find a crate ala the Lost Ark of the Covenant, and after they busted them open and their faces melted off, they decided to offer them up on eBay for us True Believers who never stopped looking and hoping and praying?  Or is he coated in lead paint and was held back from retail sale for safety reasons and I'm going to die soon?

Who cares. I HAVE SPIDER-HULK!.

One last thing: You too could own a Spider-Hulk: As of press time, they are still popping up on eBay and auctions are ending between $20 and $30 with free shipping. I can't guarantee your experience will be the same as mine, but I can guarantee that this is a great price for an otherwise hard to find figure. Search for SpiderHulk and search under 'free shipping', and you should find the auctions easily enough. Good luck!

Calling All Cars, Calling All Cars! Toy ID Help Needed!

I found this guy at the flea market the other day and for the quarter asking price, I couldn't pass him up. Problem is,,,who and/or what the hell is he?

He looks like Cyclops and RoboCop had a baby who was adopted by a SilverHawk and raised by Azrael.

For a bootleg he's on the higher end, quality wise. He's about 4" tall, and the only markings on him are a '643' and 'China'. Bootleg or legit, I'd love to know who and/or what he's supposed to represent. Any ideas?