LEGO Ace the Bat Hound

A departure from my usual basic kit-bash LEGO customs, I actually added paint to this one in order to customize a standard LEGO minifigure dog into the Caped Canine himself - Ace the Bat Hound!

I used some black auto touch-up paint to create Ace's cowl, because it's what I had lying around. It's pretty sturdy, I think I put this little guy together over two years ago and it's held up all this time.

If I had another LEGO dog I might try using some model paint, or maybe paint the eyes white, or figure out a cape or something. But this is my only LEGO dog, so there's no room for experimentation. But it's ok, this guy is fine just the way he is.

No one will ever recognize Bruce Wayne's doggie now!

Watch out! Whew, that was close...you almost Steppenwolf!

Haha - get it?

Yeah, bad joke. It was either that or 'This action figure was Born to be Wild!' Or maybe an even more obscure 'Lookie lookie, this action figure is Sookie Sookie!'

Yes, I had a 'Best of Steppenwolf' cassette in High School. I was pretty cool that way.

What I did not have then nor have now is any knowledge of Steppenwolf the Jack Kirby New God character.

Okay, that's not entirely true. Off the top of my head: He's one of Darkseid's generals...yeah that's about it. He might not even be a General. Maybe he's a Lieutenant, or possibly a Private First Class.

He might even like to dream, yes yes right between my sound machine. No, that's the other Steppenwolf again.

Well, whatever he's into, he was made into an action figure back in the Kenner Super Powers line of the nineteen eighties, and many a decade later ended up in a pile of toys at the flea market, where I plunked down fifty cents for him.

Because you cannot simply pass up a Super Powers action figure, no matter how BDSM he looks. Just kidding, he looks cool, although the comic book version of Steppenwolf looks vastly different than this yokel. Seriously, in the comics he looks like Robin Hood with a mink stole an elf hat:

Well would you look at that...Steppenwolf is actually Darkseid's maternal uncle! I actually remember reading that issue now. He's like, the best hunter in the universe or something, right?

So as it turns out, I've forgotten more about Steppenwolf than most people know to begin with! Except, not now if they read all this. Unless they too forget!

Geez, this post got weird.

LEGO G.I. Robot and the Creature Commandos

Adding to my roster of custom DC Super Hero LEGO minifigures, I recently hit upon the brilliant notion to re-create the obscure yet awesome G.I. Robot and the Creature Commandos in LEGO form!

All of these guys are simple parts swaps between various LEGO minifigures I had lying around, armed with various LEGO weaponry either official, unofficial or knock-off branded. Pretty simple customs, but they look great assembled as a team! And since the likelihood of there ever being an official LEGO Creature Commando set is pretty well nil (unless maybe I hit up the LEGO Cuusoo site and suggest it) these are as good as it's going to get. Unless I alter them as time goes on and I find better parts to make them more comic book accurate of course.

So who are the Creature Commandos anyways? Glad you asked. You did ask, right? If not, I need to up my meds.

Anyways, the Creature Commandos are a group of military operatives who all resemble classic monsters (well, except for J.A.K.E. aka G.I. Robot...who is a robot.) All created by 'Project M', a top secret WWII government organization which specialized in experimental biotechnology and necromancy.

Dr. Myrra Rhodes aka Dr. Medusa is an otherwise normal looking woman, except for her head full of snakes (like a Gorgon) which she developed after inhaling 'strange fumes.'

Private Elliot 'Lucky' Taylor was pieced back together ala Frankenstein's monster after being blown to bits by a landmine.

Sergeant Vincent Velcro is the team Vampire. He volunteered for Project M in order to commute a 30 year sentence for assaulting an officer.

Warren Griffith suffered from clinical lycanthropy before he volunteered - Project M modified his genes so he can now transform into an actual werewolf.

J.A.K.E. aka G.I. Robot. What else can I say - he's a G.I. and a robot.

I'm not sure I'm happy with this one - I'd like a different robot head (one that is grey, not red, to begin with) and possibly a metal-colored arm or hand. I might have to kitbash some of the recent LEGO movie robots. Until then, he's at least a G.I. looking robot, so I got something right.

Well there you have it. My LEGO Creature Commandos. Who knows what crazy custom will I come up with next?

Imaginext Nightwing, Ace the Bat Hound, and other Toy Fair reveals!

Aw yeah! Fisher-Price's Imaginext line continues to hit them out of the park, starting with this upcoming Nightwing and Ace the Bat Hound! FINALLY my Imaginext Krypto will have someone to fight crime with!

An Imaginext Deathstroke (who will probably not be called 'Deathstroke' on the package...remember 'K. Croc'?) is also coming soon!

And speaking of 'K. Croc', it looks like Fisher-Price is putting out a mostly new Imaginext Killer Croc. He looks a lot like the existing Imaginext Killer Croc, but he appears to be wearing some sort of chain/moss/cuff apparatus, which is probably removable. And if you look closer, he also appears to have a steel jaw, like the recent Swamp Raider Killer Croc action figure version. This new version also comes with a jet-ski and a harpoon.

A skateboarding Batman. What, no street-luge?

And finally, this RC Bat-Tank that transforms into a Bat-Bot. Fun!

No word yet on release dates or how these will be sold/packaged/paired up, but I reckon we'll see them all in stores by the end of 2014.

sadly no female DC Imaginext figures revealed, but these things have a way of popping up under the radar, so I won't give up hope of seeing more than just Poison Ivy this year.

All pics via Figures.com

LEGO 'Where are my Pants?' Harley Quinn :: Harley Qwednesday

"Hey Mistah J, where are my pants?!?!?"

"Hahaha ok ok, you were right. That IS pretty funny! I'm stealin' it!

Now kill him."

LEGO Abe Lincoln's Space Chair :: Happy President's Day!

One of the true highlights of The Lego Movie was President Lincoln flying around on his 'space chair.' Abe's space chair is meant to look like the giant granite chair which the statue of Abraham Lincoln sits in at the Lincoln Monument in Washington DC, but I have to believe the filmmakers were also a little inspired by Jack Kirby's Metron, who flies through space and time in his Mobius Chair.

You can currently get the Abraham Lincoln LEGO minifigure as part of the current Lego Movie blind bag series, but if you want a Lincoln Space Chair you will have to build it yourself. There is honestly (hahaha get it?) no better way to display your Lincoln minifigure.

I didn't have all the pieces to make an exact replica, but I came pretty close.

Close enough for government work eh Abe?

LEGO Winter Olympics

I'm not the only one in my house who likes LEGO.  Last weekend my oldest daughter put together a few custom builds to celebrate the 2014 Winter Olympics! Here's her figure skater getting ready for GOLD!

The judges (France, Canada, and Japan...hmm, wait...pale, black hair...ok maybe she's the judge for Ireland) wait patiently to mete out their scores.

And the crowd goes wild!

She also put together a Snowboarding diorama:

It is pretty warm in Sochi, which might explain why the girls are sleeveless!

Sean White ain't got nothing on these ladies! Check out that grind!

And America takes the Gold again!

Insect Body Mr. Freeze LEGO minifigure

As Batman: the Animated Series evloved into The New Batman Adventures, so too did the character designs evolve. One drastic change revealed was that Mr. Freeze's condition had led to a complete deterioration of his entire body, leaving him with nothing but his head. Of course Mr. Freeze, never one to let adversity slow him down, built a robot body and, more eerily, an 'insect body'for his head to travel around on should the need arise.

As if you wouldn't have done the same thing if you were in his...shoes.

I have the Mr. Freeze Insect Body action figure, but I do not have a Mr. Freeze LEGO minifigure. I set out last night to try and rectify that situation, and instead hit upon making an insect body version.

Genius! 

I tried a lot of different combos and leg set-ups, and finally settled on this configuration. It might need more blue pieces, but otherwise I like how he turned out.

Mr. Freeze of course has his freeze gun and some claws to hold it with.

'Batman is a dish best served...cold. Oh yeah, and with garlic. I love garlic.'

DC Collectibles 2014 Line-up Toy Fair Reveals :: TAKE ALL MY MONEY!

DC Collectibles just released to the media a sneak peek at all of their 2014 releases, and all I can say is DC Collectibles is about to get a ton of my money this year!

Say it with me kids: O-M-F-G! in 2014 DC Collectibles will be releasing all new action figures based on the penultimate in Batman on screen: Batman Animated action figures with multiple points of articulation and screen accurate sculpts! This Batman Animated Catwoman action figure WILL BE MINE...

...as will this GORGEOUS The New Batman Adventures Batman action figure. These are simply incredible looking action figures - no word yet on scale (I dare assume 6") or price etc. etc. but I will update you as soon as I find out because I am buying these on day one! EDIT: According to USA Today these will be 6" scale, retail for $24.95, and will be available November 2014. And according to MTV.com Two-Face and Mr. Freeze have also been announced! No word yet on Harley Quinn but my God will I plotz when she's announced!

And speaking of Harley Quinn:

Cuteness overload! DC Collectibles is releasing a Lil' Gotham series, and Harley Quinn is one of the first releases. Yup, buying this one on the spot too.

Leaving the more cartoony spectrum for a moment - get a load of Pajama Party Harley Quinn (from DC Collectible's Infinite Crisis line). Oh my God another must have! Harley Quinn in her pajamas, with a teddy bear taped to a bedpost and a super-soaker. LOVE!

And speaking of love...

Harley Quinn in Batman panties. Action figures have come a loooong way in my time. Expect me to own this one immediately too!

Other highlights (and figures on my list of 'almost must haves') include:

Designer Series Thrasher Armor Batman based on the art of Greg Capullo.

Infinite Crisis Atomic Poison Ivy.

Lil' Gotham Damian Wayne.

New 52 Batgirl.

And New 52 Supergirl.

Phenomenal action figures one and all - an incredible set of good Harley Quinns, an amazing surprise with the Batman Animated figures (and the sky is the limit as far as potential for that line goes!), and some good fun comic book accurate toys. I've got to get to my comic book store immediately to get my orders in!

To see more of what's coming from DC Collectibles in 2014, check out Toy News International, MTV.com, and the video below:

Lego Black Canary Custom Minifigure

Here is the newest addition to my Lego custom DC Superhero ranks: Black Canary!

Black Canary is made up of the head of Lois Lane (from one of the recent Man of Steel sets), the hair from a blind-bagged mermaid from a couple series back, the torso of Western Wyldstyle from the most recent Lego Movie themed blind-bag series, and some random legs I had lying around (most likely from an old knight themed set.)

Black Canary is a true hodge-podge of parts, but I think she turned out pretty slick! It can be tough coming up with these customs for DC Comics characters, since Lego gives the official ones a Caucasian skin tone, yet most Lego minifigures are yellow skinned. But I'm trying to maintain consistency at least with this bunch, so Lois had to be sacrificed. She was a boring Lois anyways. As for Wyldstyle's torso...well there is some yellow...cleavage...?...but that could just be part of Canary's bustier or something. Regardless, it works for this character so I'm happy with it!

Finally, I gave her the motorcycle that came with the Vampire Hearse set so she can get over to the Lex Luthor melee post haste!

By the way, I saw the Lego Movie with my kids today and thoroughly enjoyed it! They loved it too. I highly recommend you go check it out.

A Tale of Two Kitties :: A Very Special Catwoman Purrrsday

What's this? That isn't Catwoman?!?!
It's true, but I happened to have a chance to look at both the newest Black Cat action figure to hit the market and the recent Batman Classic TV Catwoman which I had purchased way before the holidays but had yet to open - with the opportunity to comment on the differences between the two action figures at the same time. Lucky you!

And I have to admit - I had originally expected my fondness of one of these to minxes to eclipse the other by quite a high degree, but was pleasantly surprised to find that I like them both quite a lot, and that the contest isn't nearly the landslide I had expected it to be. Yes, one is better than the other in my mind, but not by too much!

So...what we have here are two famous comic book kitties for today's special Catwoman Purrrsday: Black Cat and Catwoman.

Black Cat is from the most recent iteration of Marvel Legends, and is one of the 50/50 variant 'Skyline Sirens' figures (along with Spider-Girl) in the Marvel Infinite Spider-Man themed wave from Hasbro.

Catwoman is the Julie Newmar version from the 1966 television series, as envisioned in plastic in the Batman Classic TV Series of action figures from Mattel.

The vast differences in source material notwithstanding, these two tabbies actually look pretty good together!

Black Cat is a much more modern, stylized, comic-book art/cartoony inspired action figure, while Catwoman is a pretty good attempt to mimic the likeness of an actual living and breathing human being...from the nineteen-sixties.

Like I said earlier, I really thought I'd like Black Cat way more than I like Catwoman. How great a job Hasbro did on this Black Cat is pretty obvious. But Mattel did a really good job on Catwoman too. And while they are both different beasts entirely, they are both great representations of their respective sources.

I will say that Black Cat is a better value for your money. She's much more substantial (and not just...THERE...) and comes with a really great grappling hook/whip accessory. She also comes with a BAF part for Ultimates Green Goblin, of which I do not intend to complete, but one can usually trade or sell these parts away and re-coup some of the cost of the full figure. But as far as action figure costs go these days, you wouldn't have gotten this Black Cat for any less money without the BAF piece as part of the overall package, so at least you have a little something extra to deal with as you wish.

Basically the bottom line is: the only thing that should hold you back from owning either of these figures is your fondness for the characters themselves.

Catwoman's packaging is the same as all of the Batman Classic TV Series figures, with Robin saying 'Holy Cats! A CAT! It is good looking packaging and beats Black Cat's boring black, but Black Cat's packaging is re-sealable, so it has that advantage if that is something that appeals to you.

Also of note: the 'Only at Toys R Us' sticker on Catwoman. Fans of this line know there has been some strange doings at the retail level for these, namely they have appeared at very few brick and mortar locations. Yet they are almost everywhere online, and have seen drastic clearance prices at places like Amazon.com. My theory is that Toys R Us made some sort of agreement with Mattel and that future waves will be exclusive to Toys R Us both online and at physical locations. Only time will tell.

There is no doubting this as a 1966 TV representation of Catwoman, and the likeness to Julie Newmar is pretty good for this scale and cost. The eye make-up could be better, but the eyebrows are pretty classic and well done.

Catwoman moves well - all the same DCUC engineering we all know and...know. Nothing new here. I was surprised that her head moves easily - the hair is short enough not to hinder movement all that much.

All the Batman Classic figures are pretty scrawny, and DCUC females have always been scrawny with flat butts. Again, none of this is new news to those of us who have been collecting Mattel's DC offerings for years.

Catwoman's costume is well sculpted and there's a nice difference between her bodysuit (subtle sparkles) and her gloves and boots (shiny!)

Catwoman is a great action figure for any fan of the '66 TV Series. I only have two others from this line: Surf's Up Batman and The Joker. Surf's Up is awesome on concept alone, and Joker is pretty plain and really only appealing to the hardcore fan, so I didn't really know what to expect before opening up this Catwoman. But I was happy with a nice quality, good looking Catwoman action figure.

She REALLY could have used a whip or a cat-statue or something though. The lack of accessories in this line is a bit of a rip-off, especially when she retails for the same price as Black Cat. She does come with a card and a base, and the base is handy with her little feet, but Mattel could have done more.

By looking at Black Cat side-by-side with Catwoman, I kind of feel like I'm comparing apples to oranges here. But I think it also allows for a nice examination of multiple facets of the toy collecting game. I've already noted the huge difference between an illustration-to-plastic as opposed to a person on TV-to-plastic action figure, but there's even more here beyond the obvious. For instance, Black Cat is essentially a 'chase' figure. Now I don't know what numbers either figure are made in, but Catwoman is simply a figure in a wave. Black Cat will eventually be replaced by Spider-Girl in shipments of this wave. Meaning: If you want her and see her on the shelf...BUY HER. Otherwise you will pay a mark-up on the secondary market.

Black Cat comes with a BAF (or Build-A-Figure) piece of Green Goblin (the Hulk-like one, not the classic version.) I REALLY wish Mattel had taken this road with their Classic TV Series figures. They could have put a piece of one of the most off-the-wall and unlikely to ever sell well individually at retail characters: Egghead, King Tut, False Face, Clock King - someone like that. I would have bought the whole wave to have a Shame action figure, and many hardcore fans would have followed suit. And causal fans wouldn't have felt like they missed out on anything. It's win win!

Back to Black Cat. This kitty is krazy kool! The sculpt is top notch, and this female body design is the best I've seen from Marvel Legends.

Her face sculpt is beautiful from multiple angles, which isn't always the case in female action figures.

Her hair is sculpted from a softer plastic than the rest of her, so her head has a surprising range of motion.

In fact Black Cat has many spectacular...assets.

Black Cat comes with her grappling hook tipped whip, and it is both well sculpted and painted silver at the 'metal' end. Mattel didn't even give us a monochromatic thin strand of plastic string and pass it off as a 'whip' with Catwoman. Point: Black Cat.

So even though I am more of a fan of the character of Catwoman, and have a lifelong fondness for Julie Newmar's television portrayal, Marvel Infinite Series Black Cat is a better toy and a better bargain. That isn't saying Catwoman isn't good, and Hasbro released a real dog with their last attempt at a Marvel Legends Black Cat. But Hasbro brought their A game this time.

I used to own a Marvel Select Black Cat, and while she looked good she was nothing more than a statue with little functional articulation. This Black Cat has an excellent range of motion and much the superior toy. Unfortunately I don't own any in-scale Spider-Man action figures, so for now Black Cat will have to hang out in the Gotham City that is my action figure collection. I hope she feels welcome.