Catwoman Purrrsday :: Custom Playmobil Catwoman

 Finishing off my week of custom Playmobil Gotham Girls: Catwoman!

Unfortunately Playmobil has yet to make any Cat-ear type parts, so I will either have to wing-it later or stick with the 'goggles down' version I have come up with for simplicity's sake.

And here are all three of my custom Playmobil Gotham Girls together: Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Catwoman!

Harley Qwednesday :: Playmobil Harley Quinn, now with 100% more mallet!

I've posted pics of my custom Playmobil Harley Quinn before (on several occasions) but recently came into possession of a wooden mallet - so I just had to share my toy's new toy!

Batman vs. The Joker Throwdown Battle Game by Funko!

Funko just sent over their latest creation for review - Batman vs. The Joker Throwdown Battle Game!

I of course cannot play a two player board game by myself, so I once again asked Toyriffic's resident Intern for assistance:

Clearly, she was more than happy to lend a hand.

First let me say the Throw Down Battle Game comes in the best board game 'box' in the history of forever. Because it comes in a huge plastic Funko Batman! Even if you never play the game, you can use this Batman for storage of everything from Batarangs to Batcookies, or just set it on a shelf and look at it all day because it's awesome!

Everything you need to play the game comes neatly stowed inside the giant plastic Batman: a Battle Mat Game Board, Batman and Joker figures, Combat Cards, Power Boost 'Coins' and four Battle Dice!

Game play is simple but fun - my only gripe is that the game ends too quickly - but then again, that can sometimes be a good thing (ever have your kids ask at 8pm if you want to play a round of Monopoly?)

Now I have to admit, I'm terrible at understanding board game rules (it's always been a weakness of mine) so I'm not entirely sure we were playing right, but I think we got a pretty good handle on the game.*

'I rolled another 'hit', Dad. You're goin' down!'

As a kid, I always hated board games that scrimped on the gamepieces. I don't want cardboard cutouts or plastic discs with cheap crooked stickers on them - I want an actual figurine to move around the board!

Well, Funko must understand my childhood board game trauma, because they provide the real deal here - an actual Batman...

...and Joker figurine! Neat little fun-sized figures to move around the board and later to place up on your Batman shelf.

The packaging says there will be future releases of booster figures/cards and shows a graphic of  Robin and Two-Face. Future booster figures will really enhance the gameplay, giving players figure options as well as character specific Combat Card 'moves'. And as a bonus, all the new parts would still fit nicely inside the Batman container with the original parts. I look forward to adding Robin and Two-Face to our game, and I only hope a Harley Quinn and Batgirl booster figure set is in the works!

Oh, and the dice stack nicely too. A 'plus' in my intern's book!

'Okay dad, I'm going to play my 'Right Hook' card. You take one hit and you can not defend! HAHAHA victory is in the bag!'

But seriously (Why so seriously?), the best part of the game is the giant Batman container and the figures inside it. I imagine a lot of collectors will want the game for those parts alone. But the game is fun too, and if you have a young kid at home you'll both get a lot of enjoyment out of it. I doubt two adults would enjoy it as much, but then again if you are an adult buying a board game because it comes in a giant Batman container and includes a little Batman and Joker figure, you need only find a simpatico adult and you two will enjoy it plenty.

'I won...again! Geeze, I need to find a more worthy opponent!'

*I actually played the game with my 11 year old daughter, not my little intern, who is far too young for the game's recommended 7+ game play. Regardless, my 11 year old and I had a lot of fun playing, and the intern enjoyed the game in her own way: and I got to clean up the mess.

No word yet on a release date or price point for the game or booster figures, but I'll be sure to update this post when I find out.

Thanks again to Funko for sending us the game!

Poisunday Ivy :: Custom Playmobil Poison Ivy

Here is my custom Poison Ivy Playmobil 'klicky' figure - made up mostly from parts of various Fi?ures series figures - most notably the 'Lady Gaga' figure's entire body. The hair and the crossbow are the only things I used from my most recent acquisition of Playmobil parts, which I discussed on my post of Walking Dead Playmobil custom figures.

Nemesis Prime :: Transformers Mico-Changers Series 3 Plus Codes!

It seems like just yesterday that I discovered the Transformers Micro Changers Series 2 Arcee, and yet yesterday I stumbled on a case of Series 3 Kreons at Target! After perusing the back of the package and seeing the offerings, I decided that, like with Series 2, there was really only one I needed: Nemesis Prime!

Nemesis Prime, aka Black Convoy, aka Scourge, is basically Optimus Prime in Raiders colors. And with a Raider Nation attitude to boot.

I've always been a fan of Black Convoy/Nemesis Prime/Scourge, so I of course had to squeeze all the packages to find this guy! I now know that the code for Nemesis Prime on the back right of the packages ends in '52.'

I do the squeezing so you don't have to!

I already have an Optimus Prime Kreon, so as you can see NP is nothing more than a re-paint. Although Nemesis Prime does come with extra pieces so he can be converted into a semi:

Like most Transformer Kreon conversions, it's pretty jinky, but I give them an A+ for effort.

'Yeehaaaaawwww! Ride-em cowboy!'

Convoy fans are going to want Nemesis Prime. I went ahead and googled for the rest of the codes for this series in case you're interested in more:

Nosecone – 50
Thrust – 51
Nemesis Prime – 52
Ramjet – 53
Huffer – 54
Kickback – 55
Long Haul – 56
Guzzle – 57
Sharkticon -58
Cheetor – 59
Beachcomber – 60
Seawing – 61

Random Toy Pic: 88 Miles Per Hour!

This is how we play with Thomas the Tank Engine in this household!

My daughter inherited her big brother's Thomas the Tank Engine collection. I immediately brought out the Back to the Future DeLoreon Hot Wheel and we were able to get her up to 88 mph and saved the future together!

Hero World Robin The Boy Wonder

I didn't even know this figure existed before finding him today - the DC Super Friends Hero World Robin by Fisher-Price:

This Tim Drake Robin came out in 2012, at about the same time as the hard to find Hero World Hawkman and Flash - right at the end of the standard Hero World line, before it changed from standard action figures over to the electronic Comm-Tech versions (that didn't appear to do all that well at retail.)

The strange thing is, I knew there had been a Hawkman and a Flash and an Aquaman and a Cyborg, but I had no idea there was a Robin! To paraphrase The Joker: 'Why didn't anyone tell me they had one of these...things!'

These Hero World figures have been fading out of retail for a while now - I found this one at Big Lots, who appear to have picked up the last of them from retail establishments who have now phased them out completely. I also saw Flash and Hawkman but (as I have mentioned before) I am not collecting this line (at least I thought I wasn't!) so I left them behind.

I still don't even have a Hero World Batman, for heaven's sake! But I do now have Dex-Starr, The Joker, The Bat-Copter, and now Robin. So it's now officially a 'collection' whether I like it or not.

Robin is a beautiful figure. He comes with a bo staff and his wrist rotates 360 degrees so he can spin it around helicopter style!

And unlike his Imaginext counterpart, Hero World Robin has a cape! A cloth one to boot. And it has a nifty split at the bottom - that's some cool attention to detail; they could have just as easily went with a flat bottom to the cape and no one would have really cared. But to quote Luke Skywalker: 'I care.'

Hero World Robin's sculpt and costume design are just awesome - lots of armored details and the areas of silver really make his gloves and boots pop!

Robin of course comes with a massive lame accessory, but I won't complain because Fisher-Price included the perfect and simple bo staff too.

The massive accessory will just sit in a drawer here, but it does shoot a couple discs (and shoots them well) in addition to clipping to Robin's back into a couple relatively unobtrusive holes WITHOUT making him topple over! I don't like the accessory, but I applaud the engineering of the whole package.

I love this Robin, and am glad to not have known about him before finding him because I might have gone crazy looking for him! And at only $8 at Big Lots grabbing him was a no-brainer.

Now, go crazy looking for him yourself!

Imaginext Mystery Figures Series 1 :: The Mummy!

After picking up the new Imaginext Mystery Figures Series 1 Luchador and having him around for a few days, basking in his coolness, I decided I probably ought to return to Target and nab another.

Although initially enamored with the James Bond inspired figure, I decided that The Mummy and that sweet Anubis mask of his looked too nifty to pass up:

The Mummy turned out nicer in person than the pamphlet that was included with the Luchador lead me to believe. He's a great looking little figure, with beautifully sculpted wraps and jewelry, painted-on eyes and sallow green hued skin.

The Mummy comes with a neat cobra headed staff and the Mask of Anubis. The Anubis mask is blue (not black as the pamphlet shows) and I think the color gives the figure a little more oomph - it really pops in person, whereas had it been cast in black it might have been a little drab.

So far these figures are much nicer in-hand than in the pictures shown on (and included within) the packaging - which makes me crave even more of them!

The Anubis mask has lots of sculpted details and looks great on the mummy. It is made of a soft, pliable rubber and slips on and off easily. If you are using the 'squeeze method' to find these guys, feel for the mask - especially the big ears and snout.

You can also feel for the curved end of the staff and/or the cobra end.

None of that is necessary however, as long as you have the codes - Each figure has a 'secret' code stamped on the top left back corner of the packaging for easy identification:

14 - Royal Guard
15 - Deep sea Diver
16 - Alien
17 - Racecar Driver
18 - Luchador
19 - James Bond
20 - Lumberjack
21 - The Mummy
22 - Soccer Player
23 - Robot

Although lacking in the customizeability that makes most building toy based blind-bagged minifigures so much fun, these Imaginext Mystery Figures are cute and well made and slopping over with charm.

I have no intention of being a completist with this line (I rarely am with any line for that matter!) but it has it's gems and I really hope we see many future series. I can only imagine what might be in store for Series 2!

Imaginext Mystery Figures Series 1 :: Luchador

The latest (quite surprising) addition to the 'blind bag' mystery figure craze is none other than Fisher-Price's Imaginext line!

I just heard about these last night from The Clawful Punch's John (aka Jboy) who sent me an email letting me know he spotted them. I had no idea this was happening, but when I got a gander at that Luchador on the packaging, I knew I had to have him!

As luck would have it, my local Target JUST re-stocked their Imaginext section (with a TON of surprising new DC Comics themed sets too...more on those later) and I used the tried and true squeeze method and found my Luchador!

This guy is tops! Muy muy bueno! He not only has all sculpted details on his mask, boots and even his tank top, but he comes with a removable cape AND a wrestling dummy too! Hours of fun in one small $2.99 package!

When John told me about these I quickly did an internet search for info - I was able to see this figure came with the cape and dummy, so those are the parts I squeezed for. No easy task, I squeezed every figure in the bunch and didn't find Luchador until second to last (isn't that always the way?!?!)

Not sure if he's short packed, but I only felt one Luchador in all the figures I squeezed. I'm glad I was able to find him, he's sure to be the fan favorite of the series regardless of how many are in each box.

There are ten Imaginext Mystery Figures in Series 1. Each figure comes with two accessory pieces themed to their figure and a checklist:

Deep Sea Diver, British Guard, Alien...

Racecar Driver, James Bond (I might have to go back for that one!), Luchador, Lumberjack...

Mummy, Robot, and Soccer Player.

Not sure if there is any sort of crackable code, but there are some numbers embossed at the top of the packaging, as well as some code numbers near the upc code.

Back top left corner: 18

EDIT: this does appear to be the code. Over at Action Figure Insider a collector bought them all and posted the codes for each figure:

14 - Royal Guard
15 - Deep sea Diver
16 - Alien 
17 - Racecar Driver
18 - Luchador
19 - James Bond
20 - Lumberjack
21 - The Mummy
22 - Soccer Player
23 - Robot

Of course, you can always squeeze for the figures you want. Feel for Luchador's cape and dummy, and you can also feel the lacing and wings on his shoes.

Oh, and about the new Imaginext DC figures: in addition to the Wonder Woman/Invisible Jet and Black Manta/Manta Submarine I posted about a few weeks ago, we were all blindsided by brand new figures of Gorilla Grodd, Darkseid, Green Arrow and Red Tornado all available in various new figure sets! See pics over at She's Fantastic since I have yet to buy any (although Green Arrow and Grodd were pretty darn hard to walk away from!)

The Walking Dead...Playmobil style!

In addition to the Fi?ures Playmobil bind bagged 'klickys' I've been picking up since that series began, I recently procured a bunch of figures and accessories from a garage sale. I've been actively turning the stuff I got into customs, and some of my proudest are Rick, Daryl and Hershel from The Walking Dead!

My intern helped with the group shot set-up, but enough about the group, let's focus on everyone's favorite zombie killer: Daryl...

When I told my wife I was going to make some Walking Dead characters, the first thing she said was 'I want Daryl.' Come to think of it, her statement had nothing whatsoever to do with me or what I was doing or saying at the time. In fact, I'm not sure  she even knew I was in the room.

Sigh. Oh well, I made Daryl anyways!

He has an axe, a crossbow, a knife in a holster and a quiver. He's made up of two or three different Playmobil figures. He's also...LOOK OUT DARYL!!!!!

CHUMPcrunchGURGLEsquish!!!! "I got this!, you go back to your dollies, loser!"

EEwwww!

I also made Rick, who looks more like Carl with that hat and baby face. I need to find a face with more stubble, but for now, this one works just fine. It is the standard Playmobil face, after all.

In putting together the zombie, I discovered that Playmobil skeleton legs fit inside the hip structure of the standard klicky body! A pretty ingenious bit of design, since the skeleton is a completely different design than the standard figures!

Hershel was mostly an afterthought, but I had a white beard and pony-tail hairpiece, so I figured 'what the heck!'

That's my Walking Dead Playmobil line-up so far, although I do have a SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN SEASON 3...eye-patched headpiece that would be perfect for The Governor END SPOILER... and a kid Playmobil klicky to play Carl, so this isn't The End!