Gormiti The New Era - WINDEL!

Gormiti The New Era - 12" Gormita Series - Windel (Air) - Giochi Preziosi 2024

Nine years ago, almost to the day, I purchased my first 12" action figure. As an adult toy enthusiast, I always assumed I would stick to the smaller collector-friendly lines. But when I purchased that first figure (a Batman Unlimited Wonder Woman), I was instantly hooked. Flash forward to 2025 and I have over sixty 12" ladies in their own special display. The last few years, however, have been a bit redundant and predictable. Hasbro and Mattel or Spinmaster would push out a few sparse figures for each Marvel or DC theatrical release. And as much as I appreciate them, I can admit it was getting a bit boring. But then this winter I discovered the Gormiti The New Era toy assortment from Giochi Preziosi and I was thrilled to see a ton of interesting 12" figures included. My favorite by a longshot was this 12" light-up Windel, the Gormita of the Air Clan, figure. Her design looks like some otherworldly deity and completely captures my imagination. She's so cool. Let's check out the 12" Windel below!

Gormiti The New Era - SKYE!

Gormiti The New Era - 6" Scion Series - Skye (Air Clan) - Giochi Preziosi 2024

Gormiti: the New Era is the newest iteration of the long-running Italian franchise featuring numerous toylines, television series, and games. This version is the first live-action show and suddenly features elements very similar to the popular Super Sentai series. The four teens chosen to be scions to the elemental Gormita now feature very Power-Ranger-like helmeted costumes and transformation sequences. These costumes are probably my least favorite part about The New Era. But that is because the Gormita and villains have such surprisingly cool designs that overshadow everything else. The funny thing is, what I just said is true for the toys, but opposite on the show. In the show, the Gormita and villains are all CGI and look a little clunky (but the toys look incredible), and meanwhile the live-action Scion costumes are real and look pretty great. Skye is the Scion of the Air Clan, but honestly doesn't exhibit any design traits to represent that (she looks like the Scion of Sunflowers). Let's check out Skye below!

Gormiti The New Era - WINDEL!

Gormiti The New Era - 6" Gormita Series - Windel (Air Clan) - Giochi Preziosi 2024

My favorite thing about the new Gormiti: The New Era show is the character design for the for the elemental Gormita characters. The token female is Windel, the Gormita of the Air Clan. With her gold armor and wings, she looks like a futuristic angel warrior and immediately drew me toward this toy line. In the past Gormiti (animated) iterations, these Gormita have been very organic/beastly looking characters, with no female characters beyond the first or second season. So this is a stark change, but a cool one. It's only a shame that Giochi Prezio seems to have their product confined to the European continent now. Once upon a time, you could find Gormiti toys on North American toy shelves, but those days seem like a distant memory now as they've only been available in Europe for many years. I bet if these toys showed up in the US, they would sell very well. In the meantime, I'm awaiting news about a potential second wave. These are too fun to be one-and-done. Let's check our Windel below!

Gormiti The New Era - GENERAL AUDRA!

Gormiti The New Era - 6" Villain Series - General Audra - Giochi Preziosi 2024

Gormiti:The New Era is the most recent iteration of the long-running toy and animation Gormiti franchise, and notable for being the first live-action interpretation. The premise is essentially the same as the previous animated series, with several young civilians being selected to have a connection to different elemental deities in order to combat hidden threats and save the world. The design for The New Era is very different and is suddenly very reminiscent of the Super Sentai genre. The four teen scions looks like an alternate universe version of the Power Rangers and the villains looks just like the Evil Mutants. General Audra is the first female villain merchandised in the entire Gormiti franchise, and I think she's amazing. As first glance, she reminds me of Scorpia from Sectaurs (unfortunately she's too short to pair with Stellara). I haven't watched this show yet, but it's my understanding that Audra is a former Gormita of the Air Clan who is now one of Graven's evil Generals. Let's check out Audra below!

Marvel Legends - MOONDRAGON!

Marvel Legends - Guardians of the Galaxy - Moondragon and Drax - Hasbro 2024

Moondragon is yet another character that I was first exposed to when reading the Infinity Gauntlet in my formative middle school years. I often blame those stories with souring my love for superhero comics for a solid decade (the constant crossover hype and disjointed story threads left me feeling like an unsatisfied sucker after years of dedicated reading). But at the same time, those stories first exposed me to characters I'm still fascinated with decades later - like Gamora, Nebula, Nova, Mistress Death, and Moondragon. Moondragon has been on my want list for many years, but I was also apprehensive because I didn't expect a toy to capture her essence. And I hate to say it, but I think I was right. While I was happy to finally have a Legends figure of Moondragon, I'm a bit underwhelmed at the result. There's no single improvement I can suggest, but she just seems "meh" to me. I'm reminded of my reaction to the 2017 Polaris figure - it completed the assignment but left me wanting more.

La Borinqueña - LA BORINQUEÑA!

La Borinqueña - 1/12 Action Figures - La Borinqueña - Boss Fight Studio 2024

I've been a fan of Boss Fight Studios since I pledged all-in for their first 2014 Kickstarter campaign for their Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. line. I loved these figures, but I'm typically more drawn to larger scales than their traditional 1:18 product. But luckily they've greatly expanded their variety, I've been eagerly buying almost all of it. The Power Stars, Strawberry Shortcake, Fraggle Rock, Bucky O'Hare, and Saurozoic Warriors make up an extremely diverse portfolio. But I admit I was always hoping they would do a traditional Marvel-Legends-esque series. And I finally got that with this amazing female-centric La Borinqueña comic line (for some reason I never picked up the Lucha Libre ladies). But these figures are beautiful and very fun. I've been a casual fan of the comics for years, but these figures bring them to life in a whole new way for me. It also prompted me to order the comics I'm missing to learn about the new characters in the line. I hope BFS makes a wave two. Let's check out Marisol aka La Borinqueña below!

La Borinqueña - LÚZ LA LUMINOSA

La Borinqueña - 1/12 Action Figures - Lúz La Luminosa - Boss Fight Studio 2024

I've been aware of La Borinqueña since 2018 when I ordered a comic and a vinyl figure featuring the titular character emblazoned with the Puerto Rican flag. I can readily admit I'm pretty ignorant of the culture, language, and social issues of Puerto Rico, so this comic was exposing me to a whole new world (and I'm not even referring to the superheroics in the story). I enjoyed the comic quite a bit, but it quickly got buried in my stacks of weekly comics and (nearly) forgotten. I would pick up the occasional one-shot comic at my lcs, but somehow I missed out on the expanded La Borinqueña universe with all the new costumed heroes until a few years ago when this toy line by Boss Fight Studio was unveiled. I now have a shopping cart full of backissues on my browser as I type this, and am intrigued by a hardcover collected edition supposedly hitting stores in two weeks. But in the meantime, I have to judge this character, Lúz La Luminosa, purely on aesthetics. In short, she looks awesome and tough as nails.

Transformers One - ELITA-1!

Transformers One: Classic Class Model Kits - Arcee - Bloks/Buluke/Blokees 2024

I love that action figure model kits are becoming so prevalent in recent years. Transformers One hit the theatres this past Fall and the majority of the products I've picked up so far have been model kits: two Yolopark kits from a few months ago, and now this Blokees kit. This is especially amusing since the main Studio Series Elita-1 from Hasbro isn't being released for another nine months. But these kits are an amazing way to pass the time until then. My first Blokees figure was Arcee from Rise of the Beasts. I had lukewarm feeling about her because of her odd proportions and construction. It seems like the majority of Transformers Blokees have been in a super-deformed style, so I assumed that would be a consistent design for the brand. But luckily this Elita-1 has perfect proportions and overall design. And with the cool light-up eyes feature and the $16 pricetag, I might even say this is the best value movie Elita-1 out there (if you can overlook the fact that she's non-transforming). Let's check her out below!