DC Multiverse - DKR WONDER WOMAN!

DC Multiverse - Dr. Psycho Collect & Connect: DKR Wonder Woman - Mattel 2017

I have such mixed reactions to Frank Miller. I pretty much can't stand to read any of his comics as an adult. I find that his work is just too infused with weird gender politics and outdated stereotypes. It's like his views on masculinity are stuck in a 90's Mountain Dew commercial and his women seem ripped from either a 1920's bordello or an 70's biker bar (depending on the character), and it's all very tedious to me. But at the same time I can admit there's a certain undeniable fun factor and I have some major nostalgic ties to the Dark Knight Returns series. I read it when I was 11 and somehow convinced my middle school English teacher that it was suitable for a book report. Funny thing is, even back then I didn't love it. I remember there being a lot of nipples and garbage in almost every frame and thinking it was just too much. I only read the various DKR sequels in a cursory manner, but I enjoyed seeing new character designs like this Wonder Woman. It's kind of amazing to get a figure of her. Let's check her out below!

DC Multiverse - WONDER GIRL!

DC Comics Multiverse - Dr. Psycho Collect & Connect: Wonder Girl - Mattel 2017

I truly thought this was one figure that would never make it to the shelves and likely only live on in photos as one of those sad Toy Fair prototypes we all fawn over but will never get. From what I remember, this figure (along with the DKIII Wonder Woman) were originally intended to be released as a comic-themed amazon-centric Walmart exclusive wave back in June to coincide with the Wonder Woman film release. The rumors were that either the production or shipment deadlines were not met and the Walmart order was cancelled. We were told that these would eventually be released, but I think we've all experienced that song and dance before. But I will gladly eat my words because luckily they showed up a mere mix months later and I couldn't be happier. Cassie Sandsmark as Wonder Girl is a very interesting choice for this line and makes me wonder if she'll play a role in the upcoming Titans show. (Speaking of, I hope that show gets lots of figures - especially Dove!) Let's check out Cassie Sandsmark as Wonder Girl below!

Black Panther Marvel Legends - OKOYE!

Marvel Legends - Black Panther Okoye BAF Wave - Okoye - Hasbro 2018

I love when Marvel Legends plans a female character as the Build-a-Figure for a wave. It's a pretty rare occurrence and I believe this Okoye is only the third. The first being 2015's Jubilee, and the Mantis from earlier this year. I appreciate that they find a way to squeeze in extra female characters, but so far they've seemed like very necessary characters who I would think would warrant a main spot in the wave. But I understand the tooling considerations and politics involved, plus I don't actually like having to splurge for an entire wave just to complete an additional figure. But when it comes to a spectacular figure like this Okoye, I'll do whatever it takes to get her in my greedy little paws. The new Hasbro method of using an advanced face-scanning for the movie figures is pretty amazing. Although I love seeing talented sculptors getting a chance to flex their artistic muscles, I can't argue with the results the machines are producing, especially if it means fast release schedules! Let's check out Okoye below!

Black Panther Marvel Legends - NAKIA!

Marvel Legends - Black Panther Okoye Wave - Nakia - Hasbro 2018

I'm really looking forward to the Black Panther movie. I don't really have much of a connection to the character beyond his 1988 comic miniseries and more modern Avengers tie-ins (and of course the storyline where Shuri became Black Panther). But as soon as details of the film started to emerge and it was revealed that the Dora Milaje was an all-female elite force of warriors protecting the nation of Wakanda. This is like a very cool twist on the Amazons from the DC Universe. Then when the toys were finally revealed, they definitely delivered with two Legends figures of the Dora Milaje - Nakia (played by Lupita Nyong'o) and a build-a-figure Okoye (played by Danai Gurira), plus a non-Legends figure of Shuri and a comic Legends figure of Shuri as Black Panther coming to TRU. The bright colors, cool costume details, and excellent actor likenesses make these some of the most impressive Legends figures I've ever seen. I hope a few more warriors are on the horizon. Let's check out Nakia below!

Titan A.E. - AKIMA KUNIMOTO!

Titan A.E. - Deluxe Assortment - Turbo Surge Phoenix and Akima - Hasbro 2000

Titan A.E. is a feature length animated film from Fox and Don Bluth. Don is the director/producer from a variety of classic projects like Secret of NIMH, Dragon's Lair, Land Before Time, An American Tail, and Anastasia (among others). Titan A.E. is a space adventure following a group of (some of the last surviving) humans as they travel to a new planet in hopes of establishing a new home world. The animation is a cool mix of CGI and classic animation and overall I think the movie is highly underrated. Akima is the pilot of their ship, the Valkyrie, and the love interest of the main character Cale. She was voiced by Drew Barrymore (with Matt Damon as Cale). I love the no-nonsense attitude of Akima plus her simple outfit paired with funky hair. Her hair actually reminds me greatly of Roxy from Gen13 (a book which is sorely lacking a good action figure line). The toys for Titan A.E. are pretty terrific and reminiscent of all those classic toys from the 1990s (despite being released in 2000). Let's check out Akima below!

Marvel Legends - JESSICA JONES as JEWEL!

Marvel Legends - Defenders Boxset 4-Pack - Amazon Exclusive - Hasbro 2017

A large part of what I love about super-heroes is their cheesiness. The characters sport their colorful spandex and spout their bravado-infused tag lines, and I just eat it up. It's pretty rare for a character to be self-aware of this without being a comedy-based hero like Deadpool, but Jewel is the perfect example of a character who does just that. When we first met Jessica Jones in Alias #1, she was already the sour gritty gumshoe we know and love today. But a huge building block of that dark and brooding personality was her distancing herself from her former life as the cheesy colorful Avenger, Jewel. I know the character was created retroactively as a flashback story element, but that didn't stop me from loving the character. I never expected we'd see her in legends form, but a hit Netflix show is a powerful incentive. I was lucky enough to snag the Amazon-exclusive Defenders boxset when it was a Deal of the Day for $55 a few weeks ago. I'm so happy to have this pink-haired hero in my collection. Let's check her out below!

Marvel Select - SPIDER-GWEN!

Marvel Select (Collectible Action Figures w/ Diorama) - Spider-Gwen - DST 2017

It's amazing how quickly Spider-Gwen has become an A-list hero. I've already decided not to be a completist with her merchandise because it's coming out at a very rapid pace. Considering that her first toy, a TRU exclusive Minimate came out only two years ago, that's a very impressive rise - especially considering she hasn't been in a film, or even had a significant role in a cartoon yet. The Marvel Select line from DST has been blowing my mind recently. Back in the day, I felt that these figures were awkwardly pre-posed and had awkward articulation and diorama pieces (I remember being very disappointed in She-Hulk). But between this Spider-Gwen and the recent Lady Deadpool, I am now super impressed with the line. The sculpt, articulation, and scale is just great all-around. The only thing that keeps me from being a die-hard fan is the very slow release schedule. Lines like Marvel Legends are much more satisfying purely due to the speedy production. I'm thinking we will eventually get a (movie) Gamora and an apology She-Hulk, but any figures with this level of quality will easily find a spot in my collection.

Funko Vynl - Thundercats Classic CHEETARA!

Thundercats Classic Vynl - Panthro & Cheetara 2-Pack - Funko 2017

While I'm not the biggest fan of this new Vynl line from Funko, I find it pretty impossible to resist any piece of Cheetara merchandise when I see it on the shelves. Of all the big 1980s ladies: She-Ra, Jem, Baroness, etc, Cheetara is the one I get the most excited about when I see her. I think as a child I loved any powerful female characters in those afternoon TV blocks, but as an adult my tastes have refined to highlight other aspects of character design I find appealing. First of all, I love animal motifs - especially when it's a felinoid. And a second aesthetic I've really grasped onto is a monochromatic color scheme. This actually donned on me as an adult collector when I saw my action figures lined up by character.. Scarlet Witch's pink and red, Polaris' emerald and chartreuse, and Firestar's yellow and red, etc, etc. I suddenly realized I had a very obvious pattern to my collecting. And I also realized that Cheetara was the only childhood muse of mine that perfectly fit my adult style.

Star Wars 6" Black Series - JAINA SOLO!

Star Wars: The Black Series #56 - (Legends) Jaina Solo - Hasbro 2017

As much as I love this current series of Star Wars movies, I must admit I'm a little bummed that they are essentially overwriting much of the Expanded Universe history. Jaina Solo was introduced in the 1994 Star Wars novel The Last Command as the child of Leia Organa and Han Solo (along with her twin brother Jacen Solo). Like a typical Star Wars story, the twins' paths diverge - Jaina becoming a Jedi and Jacen heading to a dark side. While these characters still could appear in the new movies, the events in The Force Awakens makes me think they're just ignoring all the cool backstory (Note: I haven't seen The Last Jedi yet.. So don't feed me spoilers please!). I'm really happy the the Black Series is including more obscure non-film characters. Without those interesting and colorful figures peppered into the line it would be a lot less interesting. It really opens up my future wishlist too: Aayla Secura, Shaak Ti, Oola, and Luminara are at the top. Let's check out Jaina Solo in detail below!

Star Wars Toybox - REY!

Disney Toybox - Star Wars Action Figures #2 Rey - Disney Store Exclusive - 2017

I'm kind of excited to see what the future of this new Disney Toybox series brings. While I'm not a huge fan of the stylistic design of this Rey figure, some of of the other Infinity characters looked pretty cool. So far, the sculpts of the Toybox figures have been based off the Disney Infinity video game collectible figurines. I always thought a lot of the character designs looked really weird and angry, like this Rey for example. But other characters, like Captain Marvel, Spider-Gwen, Gamora, and White Tiger look pretty awesome. The insert inside the packaging hint at ten additional figures on the horizon (spread across all three branches of the line: Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars) and four of them appear to be female. The production quality is really great so my hopes are high for some fun new figures. I bought this Rey just to check out the articulation and overall quality, and I'm very impressed. The plastic has a certain animated quality to its texture that's hard to explain. Can't wait to see what's next. Let's check out Rey below!

Star Wars: The Last Jedi 12" - REY (JEDI TRAINING)!

Star Wars: The Last Jedi - 12" Series - Rey (Jedi Training) - Hasbro 2017

I have a small backlog of Star Wars reviews to post and I'm desperately trying to get them all posted before The Last Jedi hits theatres this weekend. There have been times when I used to post almost every day and I have no clue how I did it. But considering I'm about to enter my seventh year doing this blog there were bound to be some changes. I no longer live in a third floor walkup alone with excessive personal time, I have somehow accumulated a massive amount of responsibility at work, and I actually get tired now. Don't get me wrong, I'm still up past 2am most nights of the week, but I used to be a 4am guy. I've had this 12" Last Jedi Rey photographed since the day after Force Friday, but I've always been more excited to post about something else, so poor Rey gets pushed to the back burner again and again. But this is truly a nice looking 12" figure. The face and body proportions have been improved slightly since the Force Awakens figure and the result it terrific. Let's check her out (finally)!

Star Wars 6" Black Series - ROSE!

Star Wars: The Black Series #55 - Resistance Tech Rose - Hasbro 2017

Star Wars: The Black Series has become quite the powerhouse line. Ten years ago I never would have imagined a 6" Star Wars figure. They pretty much owned the 3.75" scale for decades and the thought of any other size never even entered my head. Then back in 2013 Hasbro announced a 6" scale and I got really excited. Mostly because I love Star Wars, but my personal collecting compulsions and decades worth of vintage product is a dangerous mix that I was terrified to tempt myself with. But a brand new scale? Hell yeah! The first few female characters looked great. But the inclusion of soft goods elements was not well executed and the scales were majorly out of whack. The first three Leia's literally have 0.5 inch differences in height between them. But lately this line has really shaped up. The scales have been much better, the face sculpting technique is really streamlined, and I haven't seen stiff cloth robes in a while (they're still around though). This Rose is a great example of what the line has become.

Star Wars Elite Series - ROSE (and BB-8)!

Star Wars Elite Series - Die-Cast 6" Rose and BB-8 - Disney Store Exc 2017

The Disney Store Elite Series Star Wars figures are pretty great. I wasn't sure how in-depth they'd get with character selection or if they'd take effort to make improvements as the line progressed. Well both of those quandaries were answered in the affirmative. There has been an interesting assortment of characters (all from the modern films however) and all the small gripes I had about the first few figures have been eliminated. Now I wish they would create a similar Marvel line. Even if it was just based off current movie properties, it would be a fun line to collect. I don't know much about this new Rose character yet, but considering the amount of merchandise she's already getting, and especially considering all the different outfits she's been seen in, I'm assuming she's a pretty big deal in the The Last Jedi. I'm excited to see her role, although I have no plans to see the movie until the 25th. It's going to be torture to be waiting and avoiding all the spoilers, but I'll survive. Let's check out Elite Rose below!

Star Wars Galactic Heroes - ROSE!

Star Wars Galactic Heroes - Resistance vs First Order 6-Pack - Playskool 2017

Playskool really needs to step up their game. They have access to some of the greatest character families out there, but they seem to just release the same characters over and over again...and at a snail's pace. This Rose figure was a welcome surprise, but I'm still shocked they haven't flexed their muscles with this line. There isn't even a Princess Leia or Amidala. And when they finally impressed me a few years ago with packaged solicit pics of Hera Syndulla and Sabine Wren, it was inevitable that the figures would never actually hit the shelves. And I won't even get started on the Marvel line. They have access to hundreds of characters and the only female so far is Black Widow. I was 100% sure we'd see a Gamora figure, even if it was just a Natasha repaint, but there has been nothing. A Storm, Wasp, and Invisible Woman seem like really easy characters to bring in to the line, but Playskool seems to want to coast on the same handful of characters in a constant cycle. Someday they'll hopefully up their game.

The New Female Dinobot - SLASH!

Transformers: Power of the Primes - 3.75" Series 01 - Slash - Hasbro 2017

I'm always torn about female Transformers that don't outwardly appear female. It shouldn't matter. They don't have biological forms, and including an exaggerated hourglass body shape or a gigantic chest is just ridiculous. But still, I find myself loving characters that appear typically feminine (like the upcoming Moonracer), and being lukewarm about androgynous characters like Slash here. Slash was a surprise that I first learned about last week. This is the first official toy of a female Dinobot, despite the fact that the (male) Slash character from the movie was originally intended to be female. This is also the first 3.75" Transformers figure I've ever bought. It's an interesting scale and I would definitely pick up more. I also really want to support this Power of the Primes line in any way possible because the female figures on the horizon (Elita-1, Firestar, and Moonracer) are some of my most sought-after toys ever and I want to ensure I get them in my greedy little hands. Let's check out the Dinobot Slash below!

Valerian - LAURELINE!

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets - Series 01 - Laureline - NECA 2017

I realized recently that I really don't trust Rotten Tomatoes scores one bit. I would say the majority of my favorite movies never rank above 40. I have never trusted critic reviews for anything - music, TV, movies, etc. - but I'll admit I was initially very optimistic when RT came along as an aggregate site for public film ratings. But then reality set in. People suck and they never like what I like. I don't mean to be elitist, but considering that the most popular film and TV franchises today are such vapid, hollow, and sensationalized productions says a lot. I really enjoyed Valerian. But I'm the only person I know who enjoyed it. It wasn't a perfect film, but I thought the majority of complaints were baseless. The two leads are relative unknowns in the acting world, their dynamic is intentionally weird, and their outfits are boring. But I didn't want a James Bond in space movie. I wanted lots of aliens, complex interspecies dynamics, and colorful imaginative settings, and Valerian delivered in spades. Let's check out Laurline below!

Late 2017 Collection of MARVEL MINI-MATES!

Marvel Mini-Mates Series 72, TRU 24, and Walgreens Wave 5-7 - DST 2017

Photographing small toys is a bit cumbersome for me. My photo tent is set up for 6 inch figures, so when it comes to the little guys I have to construct a stage of sorts to ensure they're properly lit. So out of laziness I tend to pile up a bunch of tiny figures and photograph them all at once. Mini-mates are a prime example of that. This post will collect all the Mini-mates I've picked up since May (when the Guardians of the Galaxy waves hit). Included will be Spiral, Hela, Gwenpool, Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel, Black Cat, Proxima Midnight, Spider-girl (Petra Parker), Medusa, and White Tiger. Diamond Select Toys really haven't been skimping with character selection. It seems like every couple months there is some heavy-hitter heroine on the shelves. Plus I love having yet another reason to stalk all my Walgreens stores. I hope Mini-mates last a long long time and I will keep buying them as long as they keep this level of character diversity up. Let's check out this newest batch of Mini-mate ladies below!