LEGO MOC Justice Society of America

I was thinking about The Spectre today, probably because of the new James Bond movie, and it dawned on me that I probably had (between all the LEGO and bootlego pieces I have lying around) enough bits and bobs to make an honest to goodness Spectre minifigure.

I returned home from work (because those are the thoughts I have when I am bored at work) and busted out my stash...and as it turns out I was right!

I've posted about my MOC Jay Garrick Flash and my Sandman minfigures before. As for Spectre, I pieced him together from a bootlego Green Arrow hood, a bootlego Loki cape, a LEGO ghost torso and arms, random white legs, a LEGO Toy Story army man's green hands, a random LEGO green crotch, and a LEGO Ninjago skull.

I love The Spectre, and can't believe it took me this long to piece a LEGO version together!

Imaginext Gorilla Grodd (Stand-In Edition)

When not picking up Imaginext superheroes for myself, I like to grab up whatever piece-meal figures and accessories I can from garage sales and the flea market (especially when it's cheap) for my intern. A couple years ago I found the Gorilla Mountain playset and a bunch of jungle animals for her, and whenever we play I like to imagine this Gorilla is the Flash rogue Gorilla Grodd.

Fisher-Price released an official Gorilla Grodd, but in my mind it pales in comparison to this basic Gorilla, which, other than his mind control helmet, is all Gorilla Grodd is!

"I've got a monkey on my back!"

He's stamped '2006', and I believe he was sold alone or with a monkey or bird or something, and not as part of the Gorilla Mountain playset. Because, you know, that would have just made too much sense!

When you push down on his head, depending on the positioning of his arms, you can approximate the stereotypical chest-pounding action of great apes. Ook oook oook!

He stands upright well, leans into the four-on-the-floor pose well, and has a surprising amount of arm movement due to ball jointed shoulders and elbow articulation, even with the silly action feature.

A simple, solid Gorilla with a great sculpt that makes for a fun toy, especially when you imagine him plotting the overthrow of man's world from his secret base behind Gorilla Mountain!

Epic Lego Super Hero Battle Royale!

This epic Lego Super Hero Battle has been a waging work in progress since I acquired the Lex Luthor Mech Suit set for Christmas in 2012. Every time I get (or customize) a Lego Super Hero I add it to the battle. I have yet to add any villains - it's more fun to imagine Lex, in his hubris, thinking he can take them all down on his own.

Currently in battle with Lex are the Superman and Wonder Woman minifigures that came with this set, as well as Batman (from the Catwoman Catcycle City Chase set) Iron Man and Thor each from individual poly-bag releases, a modified Robin from a poly-bag set, Aquaman from the Batboat set, and my custom JSA Sandman and JSA Flash to round out the mix.

More Brave and the Bold style action figures...for 2013?!?!

What the...?

This small image was just brought to my attention by a twitter friend. It's of a Target exclusive seven figure set of the Justice League called simply "Batman Legacy Justice League Figures"

This seven pack of figures appears to all be in the long ago canceled Brave and the Bold action figure style but includes a never before seen Cyborg, Hal Jordan Green Lantern, a beardless Aquaman and omg - WONDER WOMAN (in a line that Mattel stated emphatically would not include any female characters).

This news really came out of left field! The set is unavailable online as of writing this post but will retail for $49.99, so I probably won't own it until it hits clearance (which it probably will.) I will also have to see it in person to make a final judgement.

BUT WAIT - THERE'S MORE! Apparently Target has Superman, Batman, Flash and Green Lantern figures available as singles, and while these are clearly the Brave and the Bold style figures, you can see the much maligned hex holes are no longer a part of the figures' sculpts (a change I said would happen way back in my first B and the B toy review in 2009 - but even I never expected it to be so late in coming!)

(pic borrowed from eBay. Don't be stupid enough to buy them there now. They'll be plentiful and cheaper soon, I promise.)

Depending on the price of these, I'll probably get that Batman. Sadly it appears Wonder Woman is not part of a single figure release, and if past Target multi-pack exclusives are any indication, I doubt she ever will be.

Has anyone seen these at retail yet?

Random Toy Pic :: Justice League Imaginext

Now I need to get Green Lantern to complete the team (until Imaginext creates Wonder Woman or Hawkgirl etc, that is!)

You dirty rat!

At Toyriffic World Headquarters, whenever anyone picks up a Lego Mini-figure we like to build a little diorama around the figure's theme.

That's just how we roll at TWH.

So when I obtained the Gangster from Lego mini-figure series five I pondered all the wonderful possibilities until the future Mrs. BubbaShelby said 'why don't you have him tossing a guy in cement shoes off a pier?'

Gotta love a woman who suggests making a Lego mini-figure in cement shoes and getting tossed off a pier by a ruthless Mob Boss!

So I designed a little dockside pier with a lamppost (because if movies have taught me anything it is that this type of 'business' happens on the docks and usually at night) and put together a Construction Foreman in cement shoes who clearly wasn't willing to play along with the crooked union leader's plan.

I also designed the platform so that the Foreman can also be attached to a swivel-piece; when you lift the pier he swings down into the 'water.' The Gangster did not originally come with the Tommy-Gun, but every goog Gangster worth his salt needs a Tommy-Gun! He did come with a handgun and the violin case, which opens up and will hold the handgun inside.

So is this it? Is this the end? Is there no hope for the poor Foreman, a man whose only crime was to stand up for what is good and right in this world...?

Aw yeah JSA! The Golden Age Flash (aka Jay Garrick), in a blur of super speed is about to disarm that malicious mobster and will have the Foreman back in proper work boots before you can say 'Myeah, myeah!'

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's hoping your Valentine's Day and your significant other is as awesome as mine - because mine gave me these guys!

I discovered the existence of (and immediately posted about) these new Fisher-Price Imaginext DC Super Friends Hawkman and Flash figures only ten days ago, and somehow my girlfriend was able to track them down and gave them to me yesterday - single-handedly enamoring me to her even more while also setting the bar rather high when it comes to my future toy needs ;)

I mean, I was actively looking for these guys and couldn't find them. ME! I'm the master! The guru! The pro! And I was TOTALLY out-toy-huntered on this one!

WOW, whatta woman!

I love Flash's smirk. Flash also has twisting wrists, which is a first for these Imaginext superheroes, at least on all the ones I have seen so far.

And Hawkman is looking as tough as ever. Tough AND cute! Hawkman also comes with a pretty brutal little medieval weapon. Keen.

Batman welcomes the Justice Little League's newest recruits!

Toyriffic wishes all you Toyruffians out there good luck in love, or at least good luck in finding the toys you need this Valentine's Day!

And if neither of those go your way just remember, there will be a TON of cheap chocolate on sale tomorrow.

It's not easy being...

...green JLArmy men!

Tom of Freak Studios came though for me big time when he told me he had come across one of my biggest "wants" from Argentina - a handful of little plastic DC Superheroes!

I don't know the full story behind these guys, but I have seen them occasionally pop up online (often credited to toy manufacturer Gulliver and coming out of Argentina) and have always longed for some of my own. I've always loved the cheap charm of monochrome mini plastic figurines, and when those monochrome mini plastic figurines are fashioned after DC Superheroes I'm doubly in love!

So when I asked Tom if he'd seen any in his toy hunting travels and he showed me these, I just about flipped!

My personal favorite is of course Batman. Bats is looking regal in green, and although he looks like he suffered a broken nose in a scuffle with villainy, he's in great shape.

Next up is Superman, also in green. These guys are all set for the JLA St. Pat's party! Supes is in beautiful condition and I love how their symbols are embossed and their costume components and face sculpts are very well done. God I wish I could go down to the drug store and buy a bag of these guys for a buck. I'd install one of those ball-pit type things like at Chuck E. Cheese and fill it with thousands of these guys and swim in it daily like Uncle Scrooge...ahem...sorry.

Next up is Batgirl in pretty pretty yellow. Batgirl is a little rougher and the sculpt is less clean - she may be a later cast as the tool began to wear down.

Here's Flash one, we'll call him Barry. Barry is supposed to have wings on his ears and boots but only has one boot wing left. He has some other casting issues too but that's okay because he's still epically cool!

Flash two, we'll call him Wally, is a lighter green matching Batman and Superman and Daiquiri Ice ice cream from Baskin-Robbins! He also has only one boot wing. He outran the others.

Orange Robin aka Dickie is the cleanest casting of all. He's in great shape and must be one of the earliest figures here. He's flawless and clean and beautiful, just like a youthful ward should be.

Red Robin aka Jason is pretty rough. Probably a very late casting. I'd call a 1-900 number to put him out of his misery if DC asked me to. Red Robin is also completely void of his name on the base. All the other figures have their name cast into their base, but Robin here does not, and it isn't because it wore off the figure, it just isn't there. Maybe another clue as to where he falls in the history of these guy' manufacture.

"Dang! You look like you've been beat by a crowbar and left for dead, Jason! Maybe you should put a hood over your head. While you do that, I'll be Batman."

"Here we go round the mulberry bush!"

These guys are all unbelievably awesome! I need to go buy a bag of army men so I can have Batman and Superman and Flash and even Batgirl and Robin swing in and save the day!

I can't believe Tom was able to track them down for me so quickly and effortlessly. I'm beginning to think Argentina is the ultimate destination for a toy lover. Come to think of it, they probably have topless beaches too.

I'm booking my flight now, Tom; I hope you have a big couch!