Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from your friendly neighborhood Toyriffic.

Alien Xenomorph Building Set by Ausini

I'm not sure if this Alien Xenomorph building set can be properly called a 'BootLEGO' since it isn't ripping off any specific LEGO set, but it is ripping off LEGO brick designs and the Xenomorph from the Alien franchise so yeah, it's a BootLEGO.

I spotted this sweet Alien set on Alibaba while perusing Chinese BootLEGO minifigures and sets and I think I need one for myself! I don't need a case of 8,000 though, so I will wait until they show up available individually.

I haven't spotted them on eBay yet, but other sets from the Hero Toys or Armored Heroes line are there, so I imagine it's just a matter of time.

The set is Armored Heroes 25268 and made by Ausini, in case you too are hoping to find one for cheap on eBay someday (hopefully) soon!

LEGOvolution

The iconic LEGO minifigure is an inarguable toy-aisle success story. Ironically, the same can't be said for most other attempts by LEGO to represent the human form. It's hard to imagine that only a few years ago LEGO was nearly bankrupt and if certain changes hadn't been made we may not be enjoying the LEGO Renaissance we currently live in.

In the early 2000s LEGO released the 4 Plus line and the Jack Stone theme. The line didn't last long and was gone within a couple years. The minifigures were larger than standard LEGO minifigures and were a little more 'action figure-y' in their design. You can't take them apart or remove their hair or hats like you can with a normal minifigure. They are able to hold regular LEGO accessories though and stand/sit locked onto LEGO bricks.

I have to admit I kind of like these guys. Especially this grizzled old Fire Chief. He's pulled a lot of cats out of trees in his day!

In researching these guys I even discovered there was a Spider-Man set with minifigures of this design. I might need to track some of those down someday.

This little guy - I don't know anything about him. He is also LEGO and I can only assume he came from a sub-line aimed at younger builders. He's like the missing link between DUPLO and LEGO. Whatever he is, he's happy!

I never set out to add any of these also-rans into my collection, they just popped up in random second-hand LEGO acquisitions. But they're fun to have around and it's cool to see how LEGO has tried over the years to innovate, even when it hasn't always turned out as successful as they would have hoped.

"Just tell me where those 'LEGO Friends' chicks hang out."

LEGO BatHorse

Of all the iconic comic book moments that have been translated to film, one I hope they toss into the upcoming Batman v Superman movie is Batman on a horse.

Fun BatFact: A Batman (or at least Bruce Wayne - I don't remember exactly how it played out - no Fun BatFact Checking for me!) on a horse scene was actually in the original '89 movie script but was scrapped for whatever reason. The scene did make it to the movie novelization.

Anyways, I took my recently acquired Decool BatBootLEGO and gave him a LEGO BatHorse to hold me over until the magic of cinema can bring me that moment.

With all the movies Batman will be in as we move forward into the glorious BatFuture, you know it is only a matter of time before we see Batman on a horse on the big screen.

Of course I couldn't just go with a plain black horse - I added the red knight horse helmet, which looks sufficiently batty and also works into the red on black color scheme that the 66 Batmobile has made iconic. To the BatBarn!

More Decool Superhero BootLEGOs available now!

I discovered another sweet lot of Decool brand superhero BootLEGOs the other day that includes another Batman of Zur-En-Arrh as well as an Anne Hathaway The Dark Knight Rises Catwoman! Also included in the lot is a masked brown costume Wolverine, Storm, Magneto and TDKR Batman.

I ordered my set off eBay and they just arrived (I will do a more in depth post soon.) They can also be purchased from Aliexpress.

Like all other BootLEGOs they are not 100% LEGO quality but they are pretty close. Both Decool and Sheng Yuan are good bootlegs and I recommend them if you are looking for cheap alternatives to impossible to find or insanely expensive LEGO minifigures.

I was primarily sold on this set because of the TDKR Catwoman, a minifig you can't get in any official LEGO release. But having a masked brown costume Wolverine and yes, a second Batman of Zur-En-Arrh (because let's face it, who ever expected one official LEGO version, let alone a bootleg, let alone a SECOND BOOTLEG!!!!) pushed me right over to the Buy It Now button. Storm and Magneto and a Bale Batman are just icing on the cake at this point. And I got them all plus shipping for less than an official brown costume Wolverine LEGO minifigure would cost me!

We live in wonderful, interesting times indeed.

Kings of the Wild Frontier!

Today we take a look at the Tim Mee Backwoods Battle Frontiersman Figures Set!

Little green army men too mainstream for you? Looking for more manly beard in your little plastic men? Then this set is for you: The Backwoods Battle set from Tim Mee includes 24 Frontiersman (or as we called them when I was a kid: Mountain Men.)

My elementary school mascot was a Mountain Man, and I would get 'Mountain Man of the Month' pretty much every month for my good grades, so these guys are a fond reminder of times gone by.

I especially like this guy, who is about to bludgeon some homesteaders with the butt of his rifle, because bullets don't grow on trees you know!

This Mountain Man is looking for a good woman. Or a knot hole of modest size. He's been alone for a looong time.

"Squeal like a pig!"

As you can see, the Frontiersmen are slightly larger than your average little green army men.

But they are in 1:1 scale to dinosaurs. Science!

I have to assume these guys originally came with horses or perhaps mules, because a few of them are bowlegged. Either that or they all have rickets. I suppose that too is scientifically accurate.

SCIENCE!

"I will both shoot AND stab you! No, you don't want to know what I'll do to you after that."

"Is that a b'ar? I kilt one of those when I was just three!"

This set really needs a few large bears or a moose or something. But they have their charms. If you're into plastic icons of lonely self sufficient men with dead animals on their heads (and who isn't?), I recommend you pick up a set.

But don't take my word for it:


*Toyriffic was sent this set for review from the manufacturer. You can get yours at Amazon.

Ringside Collectibles Casket Playset

When I first caught sight of Ringside Collectibles' Casket Playset I fell in love with the concept. Fans of professional wrestling are pretty used to seeing this level of melodrama on stage, especially when it comes to characters like The Undertaker, so it's a natural for the hugely popular wrestling action figure scene.

I don't collect wrestling action figures, but I knew the playset would come in handy with some of the in-scale action figures I do own; every superhero worth their salt has died at least twice!

So when Ringside Collectibles offered to send me this Casket Playset for review I nearly died (hahaha get it?) Ok, enough gallows humor - let's dig into this thing...

The casket playset is available in either black or silver. They come packaged on a blister card just like all your favorite action figures.

Each set includes an urn, a shovel, and a 'breakable' tombstone to beat your opponent over the head with!

I opened up the black casket, because I figured I'd probably be most likely to display it with a Batman action figure (now I'm wishing I had picked up that Vampire Batman action figure when I had the chance!) and when Batman dies you know his casket will be black.

The casket itself is pretty sturdy. The door is split just in case your action figure leaves behind a pretty corpse. If they didn't, feel free to slam that door down on their smushed up face!

The inside is padded in a soft purple (in the black casket) material. You don't want your action figures heading off into eternal slumber with a crick in their necks, do ya?

The Mattel Batman of Zur-En-Arrh action figure seemed appropriate for this photoshoot, since Batman took on this personality around the same time Dr. Hurt buried him alive. I just can't remember at this moment if it was before or after he was buried alive. I need to go re-read that storyline.

"Batman is NOT dead!"

As you can see, the tombstone 'breaks' into three parts. It holds together nicely when assmebled too. The casket opens and closes nicely, and both doors hold together when opened. Even with his plastic cape, Batman was able to fit inside fine even with the doors closed.

My intern thought this guy looked a little dead, so...

"In you go, Mr. Ugly!" SLAM!

Yup, even MOTUC figures fit well in the casket playset. The casket is wide enough for their broad shoulders. In fact, on the Ringside Collectibles website they state "Large enough to fit Andre the Giant or Great Khali" - now I may not be up on my modern wrestlers but EVERYONE knows who Adre the Giant is! So from your smaller wresting figures like Rey Mysterio to your larger ones like Andre, Undertaker and Khali, you can expect them to fit just fine when they finally go to that great wrestling ring in the sky.

The Casket Playset is a lot of fun. It probably makes more sense to use it with relevant wrestling action figures, but it works just fine with most 6-ish inch action figures. If it doesn't become a part of any permanent display around here it will definitely be making an appearance every Halloween!

*Toyriffic was sent this set for review from Ringside Collectibles. You can get yours at RingsideCollectibles.com

Shigcon Tank GO!

I had no idea what this thing was when I pulled it from a box of random kid stuff at my intern's school rummage sale. I could tell it's Japanese, and probably from a show like Ultraman or Kamen Rider. Maybe from the early eighties?

All that notwithstanding, it was only a quarter. So I bought it. I don't usually buy broken toys because I have enough unbroken toys to choke a horse, a very very large horse. A whole cavalry of horses. The Royal Mounted Police's entire cadre of mounts, in fact. The last thing I need is piles and piles of broken toys too. But it's unique. And it was only a quarter. So what the hell.

Using my super sleuth skills and Google, (mostly Google) I was able to discover that this drill tank is a Shigcon Tank from the tv show Daitetsujin 17. It was made by Popy in 1978.

The missiles and tank treads, as well as an antenna up top are all missing. There was also a set of 'headlights' attached below the front cab that have been broken off.

The drill-head pops out with the push of a button. Apparently the turret tilts and rotates too, which I didn't realize until I Googled this silly thing.

For it's age this thing has held up pretty well. It's as solid as a rock, and will probably last another four decades easily. I'll probably toss it in with the Intern's toy cars so she can add a few more years of playtime history to it.

Open the door, get on the floor: It's time for Tim Mee Dinosaurs!

The folks at Tim Mee also sent me a bag of their Dinosaurs! When I was a kid I had TONS of these little plastic dinosaurs. I loved them and could spend hours playing with them in the yard or on the floor of my room or the living room.

Let's take a look at the assortment Tim Mee has available now:

Ankylosaurs. These little tanks are the unstoppable forces of the dinosaur world. Even Tyrannosaurus rex can't bite through that armor! And that tail - WHAMMO! Like a mace to the face!

Dimetrodons. Not much on offense, but those sails keep them from becoming lunch.

Diplodocus. Or as we called them when I was a kid: Brontosaurus. I especially love the behind-the-science of these old school dinosaur toys. Dragging tails and upright postures; we've come a long way kids!

Hadrosaurs. I loved these 'duck billed dinosaurs' as a kid. Something about a dinosaur that was nothing more than a giant duck is pretty appealing. He's no threat, unless you have a giant loaf of bread you need to jeep safe.

Wooly Mammoths! Who doesn't love these guys? And we never cared as kids that they didn't exist in the time of dinosaurs, because GIANT HAIRY ELEPHANTS! Good times.

And speaking of good times:

Sabertooth Tigers! These guys were always bad to the fossilized bone. Those teeth may never have actually had any practical function in real life, but THOSE TEETH!

Stegosaurus was another favorite when I was a kid. Primarily because in the first or second grade I learned how to draw them from a drawing book I checked out from the school library.That whole year I drew stegosaurus all over the school. I was legend.

Triceratops. The lethal horns on these guys, coupled with the shield on the back of his head, made this guy the primary contender to the king of the dinosaurs...

Tyrannousarus Rex. What can I say about this guy? He's the king, baby!

Having these dinosaurs around again really brings back memories. My intern loves to play with them too, she asks me if I want to play 'dinosaur fight' and then we end up making them things to eat, feeding them tea, and taking them to the doctor. I don't think she knows what 'dinosaur fight' means.


*Toyriffic was sent this set for review from the manufacturer. You can get yours at Amazon.