Smurfs Up

Some fun shots I took the other day of a Smurf and California Raisin catching some waves.

Spider-Rex

Spider-Rex, formerly mild mannered pterodactyl Pter Ptarker, is not only a real character in the Spiderverse and the comics that explore the spider themed multiverse, but he's also a toy!

 

Conceptually bonkers, I had to have this thing!

It's been noted that Hasbro apparently refurbished an old Jurassic World dinosaur toy from when they had that toy license. That said, there's enough 'new' on this guy to keep him from being a simple cash-grab repaint.

He makes a bunch of roaring and thwipping noises when you push his buttons, and when you push the legs down he launches a web missile from his mouth (not canonical, in the comics he shoots webs from his wrists like a proper Spider-Man.)

He's a bit expensive, running around $45 depending on where you get him, so you will have to really think about it before you decide how badly you need a Spider-Rex in your life. But he's a solid, fun looking toy and you can shoot the missiles at your kids or your cat, so it's probably worth it. 

I'm a big fan of "Super Pets" and animal versions of superheroes, so I really love this guy. It's amazing that he exists, not only in the comics, but in toy form as well! Hopefully we see more of him as time marches on.

Now I need to figure out a decent way to hang him from the wall or ceiling.

Imaginext Bat Tech "The Batman" Batmobile

I was on the fence about getting this Imaginext Batmobile for a few months. I saw it on Amazon and thought I'd make a commitment or not if/when I saw it at retail. Then I found out it's an Amazon exclusive, so I had to decide if I was willing to buy it sight unseen.

Well obviously I finally (bat)caved. And I'm happy I did!

This Imaginext Batmobile is obviously inspired by the new Batmobile appearing in the movie The Batman. It's not a straight riff, though, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. It's nice to see something with some originality, but I'd also like to see a cartoony yet more direct interpretation of The Batman Batmobile. 

There are some design choices that make this Batmobile a bit of a mash-up. The turbine barreled front end is an obvious '89 Batmobile component and doesn't really fit this overall design. It does light up and fire a bat signal shaped projectile though, so if you're into that kind of thing then this might be a 'plus' in your book.

In fact, the more I look at this Batmobile, the more I feel like it's as if the '89 and The Batman Batmobiles had a baby.

The rear flame element also lights up, and spins when the Batmobile rolls.

I'm usually anti-noise when it comes to toys, as they're generally loud and obnoxious, but I will say that this Batmobile sounds GOOD! The beefy roar of the engine is like music to my ears and was obviously something they paid attention to when they pulled their inspiration from the sound design in The Batman.

This Batmobile comes with a Bat Tech Batman, whos chest lights up via a lightbulb in the driver's seat. I don't like this Bat Tech stuff but it's their current go-to feature so if it keeps the line alive I guess we'll suffer through it. It doesn't come with Spider-Man but his Spider-Buggy ran out of gas so Batman is giving him a ride back to Queens.

This Batmobile is larger than most Batmobiles Imaginext has made, but it's also a two seater and that's always good. It's around $31 on Amazon right now (there was a four dollar coupon that brought the price down a bit) so it's also not "cheap", and the price is probably due to the noise and lights, which I could do without but whatyagonnado?

All in all, I'm glad I have it. I don't buy every Batmobile Imaginext makes, but I really like the movie inspired Imaginext Batmobiles, so my collection would have been incomplete without this one.

Huge Jack-Jack, Man

Sometimes a toy wins my heart by the sheer absurdity of it's existence. 

I absolutely love The Incredibles. The best superhero movie ever. The sequel was enjoyable, but couldn't touch the original by a mile. And both movies (the first moreso) were terribly underserved in the toy department. So when I discovered that Mattel had recently released this Jack-Jack in his gargantuan form as he appeared briefly in I-2, I couldn't believe my eyes!

Jack-Jack of course has ALL THE POWERS, and a few examples have been made into toy form before, but to see his Kaiju-bloated self in plastic sent me straight to the PURCHASE NOW button.

This Jack-Jack is beyond ridiculous and really cracks me up. I never would have expected to see this in toy form in a million years.