The Women of THE OUTER SPACE MEN!

Terra Firma, Ohpromatem, and Horroscope - Four Horsemen 2013-14

I love the retro toy trend of the past few years.  It seems like every few months I hear about another company taking the plunge into retro styled toys.  BifBangPow, Funko ReAction, and Fresh Monkey Fiction are all taking part.  But the Four Horsemen's Outer Space Men line seems special.  They've taken a somewhat forgotten toy line from the 1960s and breathed new life into it with modern Glyos technology and creative use of transparent plastics.  And the absolute best part (in my humble opinion) is that the original creator, Mel Birnkrant, has created additional female characters for all the various extra-terrestrial species.  So far, three have been produced (with a fourth Astrodite figure being shown at the 2013 Extra-Toyrrestrial event, but as of yet unreleased).  The final three designs (Poseida, Moltina, and Dezdemona) will hopefully be produced someday, because the designs are awesome and these initial three figures are amazing.  Let's check them out in detail below!

Marvel Legends Infinite Series - BLACK WIDOW!

Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Series 02 - Hasbro 2014

Whew I thought I would never get my hands on this figure.  Between being an absolutely gorgeous rendition of Scarlett Johansson, a short-packed female, and the placeholder for the Mandroid build-a-figure torso, this Black Widow has become quite the holy grail for Marvel collectors lately.  All props go to my new geek-buddy Carl who snagged me an extra (the best part was the clandestine toy swap out of the trunk of a car in the grocery store parking lot!)  This figure is everything she's cracked up to be.  Utterly gorgeous headsculpts, great articulation, and amazing detailing on the costume.  I haven't seen the movie yet so I can't speak to accuracy, but I have a hunch she's spot-on.  The only minor let-down is her lack of personal accessories (i.e. guns).  She has extra hands with gun-gripping poses, but no guns aside from those sculpted into her holsters.  Although I will gladly sacrifice all future weapons for alternate heads like Black Widow comes with.  They are equally fantastic and I'm tempted to hunt down another figure just to display them both.  Let's check Black Widow out below!

Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack - MIMEENA!

Metal Hero Series: Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack - Mimeena - Bandai 1998

I was trying to think a good Easter review when I remembered this goofy little beauty.  Toei's Metal Heroes Series ran from 1982 through 1998 with a variety of (mostly) kid-oriented television programs.  The most popular ones for US audiences were VR Troopers from 1994 and the Big Bad Beetleborgs from 1996.  The Robotack series is the newest, but never made it to US Television.  Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack is a sequel series to B-Robo Kabutack (from which I reviewed Tentorina last year) and was the 17th and final installement of the Metal Heroes Series.  Mimeena is a bunny-themed robot who is in love with Kamerock, a turtle-themed robot and one of the two main characters.  Their relationship is a Tortoise and Hare motif.  Bandai released these figures in 1998 in Japan so they can be a bit diffiuclt to find in other countries.  But if you can hunt them down, they make great quirky additions to any fembot collection.  Let's check out Mimeena below!

Kreon Micro-Changers SLIPSTRIKE!

Transformers Kre-O Mini-Figures - Series 4 - Slipstrike - Hasbro 2014

This little beauty totally snuck up on me.  Beyond the fact that I didn't know this figure was in stores, I had no idea this character even existed.  The Transformers of the Kre-O universe are actually considered different characters than the other properties.  Most of the time the difference is negligible.  But this time, there's a total name change that probably threw a lot of collectors off her scent.  Slipstrike is the Kreon version of Slipstream, who is a female clone of Starscream from Transformers: Animated.  Starscream made a lot of clones of himself, but it seems that Slipstream had the most staying power - making cameo appearances in video games and comics and even getting a Botcon exclusive toy (basically a repainted Starscream with lips).  I've been in a Transformers kick lately with the introduction of all these new fembots in the comics (and the new Windblade mini-series starting this coming Wednesday 4/16) so discovering this cool little lady was kismet.  Let's check Slipstrike out in detail below!

DC Comics Super-Villains SUPERWOMAN!

DC Comics Super-Villains - Crime Syndicate Superwoman - DC Collectibles 2014

Has everyone been noticing the amazing year DC Collectibles has planned for us?  Just a few short years ago fans were fine-tuning their eulogies for the demise of DC Direct action figures.  I'll admit that I was believing the naysayers as well.  Sure, there were still plenty of statues and video game figures, but the previous decade of amazingly varied comic figures definitely seemed to be coming to an end.  But now 2014 seems to be the year of rebirth and I am going to be positively broke.  The sculpt and articulation of these new figures is better than ever.  This version of Superwoman is basically the evil Wonder Woman (from Earth-3).  I haven't been reading the recent Trinity War or Forever Evil storylines where I know she plays an important role, but I've always been a fan of this character (and of all evil doppelgangers in general).  The figure is beautiful, well-articulated, and easily the coolest Superwoman in my collection.  Let's check out this other-dimensional vixen in detail below!

Bruder Spielwaren - The WOMEN of BWORLD!

BWorld - Woman Blonde & Woman Dark with Boots - Bruder Toys 2010
 
I stumbled across these little gems in a boutique toy store last week.  The German toy company Bruder is known for making very realistic toys.  These toys take on the themes of farmwork, construction, forestry, etc, with detailed vehicles, playsets, and action figures.  They really remind me of a hybrid of two of my early childhood favorites, Tonka & Adventure People.  What struck me about these figures (aside from their realistic appearance) was the high level of articulation (especially considering they are aimed towards young children).  There is only one female sculpt that I am aware of, but you can get her in a variety of color palettes.  I chose two that seem very different despite being clones of each other.  In a perfect world, the horses from the equestrian sets would be as articulated as the figures (they aren't), because the horse and rider combos would make for some amazing custom fodder.  The playsets also come with accessories like the occasional helmet or tool.  Let's check them out below!

Marvel 3.75" Infinite Series WASP!

Marvel Infinite Series - Wave 1 - Marvel's Wasp - Hasbro 2014

Now here's a rebranding that I don't quite understand.  The newest incarnation of Hasbro's 3.75" Marvel Universe action figure line is now known as Marvel: Infinite Series (not to be confused with the Marvel Legends Infinite Series in a 6" scale.  Regardless of the name change, we are still due to receive plenty of great figures in this line.  Janet Van Dyne (aka the Wasp) is one of the original members of the Avengers and was a glaring absence from this series.  This figure is pretty awesome.  The sculpt is great, the wings are well-tooled, and the overall look just hits the bullseye.  I've even heard collectors excited to add her to their 6" figure collections.  One of the unseen benefits of making a size-changing character is that scale is suddenly completely unimportant.  Perhaps that's why this figure seems to be the hard one to get from wave 1.  I almost decided to hold out for one with better paint when I found her at Target this week, but I'm glad I didn't since she's not in any stores (and I've been a'huntin).  Let's check out Wasp!