DC Blokees - ARKHAM KNIGHT BATGIRL!

Blokees DC Defender Version 03: Arkham Chaos - Batgirl - Blokees 2026

Blokees has been dominating both the collector and commercial toy markets in the last few years. They produce figures at a rapid pace, they have great character selection, they are inexpensive (these Blind Box model kits are $3), and they are fun to put together. Other cool thing is the wide variety of scales that exist within each license. These Defender scale figures are the smallest at around 2.5" tall. I think they are pretty fun and adorable. The Transformers Defender line is already up to Series 08 (in two short years), so I have hopes that same momentum will exist for DC and give us a flood of characters. My excitement for these is reminiscent of how I felt when I discovered Mini-Mates or Medicom Kubricks; A fun tiny scale, cool characters, and a lot of product. The Arkham Knight Batgirl design was never my favorite. I always felt that her cowl was too bulky and the gold gauntlets and boots contradicted the gritty aesthetic. But in this scale I find it much more palatable. Let's check out Batgirl below!

DC Blokees - ARKHAM KNIGHT CATWOMAN!

Blokees DC Defender Version 03: Arkham Chaos - Catwoman - Blokees 2026

About ten years ago the Arkham Series of video games dominated the Gotham Girls merchandizing. For a brief period of time, I loved the new spin on my favorite characters. But I can admit it got old pretty quick. The darker, grittier designs were just too far of a stretch from the simplified comic designs that initially drew me to the characters. I would have been more excepting if almost every action figure of Catwoman between 2012 and 2018 wasn't in this style with a little tuft of hair on her forehead and unnecessary cleavage. But by the time her 2022 McFarlane figure was released, my criticism had abated a lot. So last week when I first learned that the third wave of the Blokees DC Defender blind box minis was Arkham themed, I was genuinely excited to hunt them down. And then within a couple days, my local toy shop got them in stock. Luckily the ladies are almost always the lightest figures in the assortment so they're relatively easy to pick. Let's check out Catwoman below!

Super7 O-Ring - BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN!

Universal Monsters Reaction+ Wave 2 - Bride of Frankenstein - Super7 2026

I've been a big supporter of the O-Ring renaissance in recent years. I didn't realize how much I loved this 80's staple until it started trickling back into the action figure world a few years ago. And companies like Super7 are riding this renewed wave of popularity hard and producing all sorts of interesting properties. Micronauts, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Ghostbusters are not licenses I would have expected to work so well in this format, but they certainly do. My favorite line, aside from G.I.Joe, so far is the classic Universal Monsters. As much as I was always fond of the old Universal Monsters Remco and Placo toys, the production style was a bit unpolished for my tastes and they never included the Bride of Frankenstein.. so I never bothered to collect any of the vintage figures. But now finally getting a Bride in a vintage format scratches an itch I didn't even know was there. I think she's glorious. And I'm already anticipating an eventual GITD or a mummy-head variant. Let's check her out below!

G.I.Joe Classified - STEEL CORPS TROOPER!

G.I.Joe Classified Series #95 -  Steel Corps Trooper (Female) - Hasbro 2023

I have these great childhood memories of my brother "sending away" for exclusive mail-in toys. He would be constantly collecting UPCs, cereal box tops, Bazooka Joe wrappers, and reading the Free Stuff For Kids books. We always suspected he would grow up to be a problem gambler or an extreme couponer (he didn't luckily). But I was always kind of jealous of the toys he would get. I remember Mumm-Ra coming in the mail, and well as the G.I.Joe Major Bludd and Super Trooper. But the most intriguing one was easily the G.I.Joe Steel Brigade soldier. The big gimmick for this mail-away toy was that it was supposed to be You. The toy would come with a personalized filecard and an iron-on patch to wear. It's was a very cool idea. The toy itself was a little generic. It had a new (helmeted) head with repurposed body parts from other characters. When I saw this Steel Corps 2-Pack advertised, the memories of that old forgotten toy resurfaced. And finally there's a female trooper too. Let's check her out below!

G.I.Joe Classified - PYTHON PATROL VYPRA!

G.I. Joe Classified Series #88 - Cobra Vypra (Python Patrol) - Hasbro 2023

I remember very fondly when the Python Patrol faction was released in the Hasbro G.I.Joe toy line. I was just about losing my interest in all things 'Joe (it was 1989 and I, along with the rest of the world, was renewing their obsession with Batman). But those Python Patrol repaints sucked me right back in. It seems silly considering how young I was at the time, but I found the nostalgia for those re-used original sculpts irresistible. The cartoon explanation of the faction was pretty generic (magically-induced camouflage) and the actual deco with yellow (geometric) diamond patterns and splashes of red, wasn't very snake-like at all, but the alliterative name, Python Patrol, and seeing all those old figures again was all my young brain needed to get me fully obsesssed. This Python Patrol Vypra figure is a repaint of the Cobra Blue Ninja. It's amazing to get a female character in the faction, even if we had to wait 34 long years. I hope they repaint one of the Classified Valkyries now too. Let's check out Vypra below!

G.I.Joe Classified - COVER GIRL!

G.I.Joe Classified (Vintage) Series  - Courtney "Cover Girl" Krieger - Hasbro 2025

It's amazing how the G.I.Joe Classified figures just keep getting better and better. This Vintage-Card Cover Girls figure from last year (in her M.A.S.S. Device design) is probably the best looking female figure in the line so far. It's very rare to see a sculpted smiling face that doesn't look creepy, but this figure achieved it in spades. She comes with two heads and two separate hairpieces to give you four unique display options. When she first came out I had several preorders arrive on my doorstep only to find some very unfortunate paint errors marring my figures. I kept buying her desperate to find one without crossed eyes or a crooked mouth. I eventually found a booth at NYCC with about 15 of her and and I finally found my good one. The sculpt was just too good to not go the extra mile hunting a great paintjob. This blonde version of Cover Girl only appeared in the first 5-episode G.I.Joe miniseries in 1983, but her popularity is still strong 40+ years later (3 figures in the last 4 years!) Let's check out Cover girl below!

Batman the Animated Series - ZATANNA!

DC Direct - Batman: The Animated Series - Zatanna - McFarlane Toys 2026

I just went down a rabbit hole watching all the animated appearances of Zatanna I could find. Since she is not typically thought of as a character who associates with Batman or Gotham City, I have wrongly thought for ten years that this was a Bruce Timm design from Justice League. (I say 10 years because this sculpt was originally released by DC Collectibles back in 2016). But when I compared her to the Justice League Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl figures, the scale and style didn't match. So I came to the conclusion that this figure is indeed a representation of her single-episode BTAS appearance in 1993 (S1E50 "Zatanna"), despite appearing in at least 7 episodes of Justice League Unlimited (FYI I believe she wears a white bowtie in all her JLU appearances). The TNBA stand this figure comes with further confused me. I watched Zatanna's single BTAS episode twice before I realized she was the dark-haired plainclothed wedding guest sitting with Jason Blood. (Like I said, quite the rabbit hole tonight).

DC Universe Infinite Heroes - RAVEN!

DC Universe Infinite Heroes - Crisis Series - Raven (Teen Titan) - Mattel 2009

In 2003, the Teen Titans animated show premeired and exposed a whole new generation to thee characters. The influence was undeniable. The aisles were suddenly full of toys, the fast food chains had promotions, and school supplies were emblazoned with the characters. I personally wasn't the biggest fan of the slapstick nature of the show nor the cartoony redesigns. But within a few years, those same new costumes were incorporated into the mainstream comic titles, and they began to grow on me. I once thought the red ornamentation on Raven's costume was distracting, but now it seems pretty iconic. I just saw SDCC images of the new McFarlane Raven coming later in 2026 and it features a lot of these modern animated details (and looks pretty great). These DC Universe Infinite Heroes figures were all the rage 17 years ago, and this Raven was one of the more tricky figures to get. But I'm glad I eventually did because this was the gateway drug that got me to accept some change. Let's check her out below!