Tin Man

Let' get this out of the way, this figure looks good. It's a pretty damned nice interpretation of the MGM Wizard of Oz version of the Tin Man. I think they released this line of figures for the 75th anniversary of the movie and most of them look screen accurate. To the point that I would not be shocked if you told me these were made by Sideshow. (This only applies for the Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow. The female figures in this line look like Barbie dolls with surprisingly accurate face sculpts.) The use of plastic for the entire thing means it is head and tails above the older "cloth costume" version of the Tin Man that Barbie released a few years ago.

This would be an amazing figure except for one thing: The articulation is so horrible as to be non-existent. This is the worst case of impotent joints that I've ever seen. The sculpting of the plastic over the joints restricts articulation to the point that it might not even exist. Take a look at the knee articulation. Here's the knee straight.

And now here's the full extent that the knee can bend.

Wow. This means that the figure can pretty much stand straight up, and that's it. So that's the pose he has to stay because even with all his joints, the figure can't move. He is frozen into a pose. Seriously, might as well put in a sound chip where the figure murmurs "oilcan" because its just as frozen as the character in that moment. Unless there's some ridiculous solution where you have to put oil on the freaking figure.

And this is all a shame, because it really is a nice looking figure. Dig how good the likeness is: they simulated the way the make up was applied to the actor's face so that small bits of the human skin underneath broke through around the eyes.

Such a missed opportunity for a great figure.

AMP Episode 91: Mario's Tiny Hands Are Like Baby Hands

Hey, it's time to start our countdown to the Articulated Monster Podcast 100th Episode. So T-Minus 10? I think that's how it works. Anyway, here's episode 91.

Also, I previously posted about the Barbie figure that comes with a pooping dog. I've begun to see at Wal-Mart a Barbie figure that comes with a peeing cat, so you can scoop up her droppings from a litter box.

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE MAKERS OF BARBIE TOYS?

Potty Training Taffy

I really love the Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse faux reality show series because of its hilarious skewering of a Barbie Cartoon. One of the elements of the series is that the pets get to do testimonials, where they make animal noises and their translations are dubbed. They also do stuff like drive golf carts in an attempt to get away from bath time or order other animals over the internet.

It also results in a toy like this:

This is a Barbie toy where the dog has a special action feature that simulates eating and pooping.

REPEAT: THIS IS A DEFECATION SIMULATING BARBIE TOY.

BARBIE: LIFE IN THE DREAMHOUSE FOREVER!

Iron Mickey

Saw this at a Toys R Us. I've been expecting something like this ever since Disney bought Marvel. You knew this was going to happen eventually.

2012 Birthday Haul

I've finally received all my birthday presents (thank you to all my generous friends), so here's a brief rundown of all the toys I got as gifts this year.

My present from Mario was a Gremlins 2 Gizmo. Who doesn't love Gizmo? People who hate joy, that's who. This version is a completely new sculpt that shares no pieces with NECA's first Gizmo from a few years back. The stumpy little guy boasts a surprising amount of articulation -- up to and including his ears and even his eyes, which can be moved via a dial on the back of his head -- though naturally the shape of his body restricts the poses he can be put in. Additionally, the eyes have a tendency to shift out of place, so if you want to set Gizmo's gaze into a certain position, make sure to keep the tab that comes inserted in the dial when the figure is sealed in the packaging. Said tab secures the placement of the eyes and is easy to remove and reinsert. In any event, Gizmo is as adorable as can be -- everyone should own at least one Mogwai!

James gave me two figures, the first of which was Grapple Blast Black Widow. Given my collection of Marvel movie action figures is focused on the 6" scale, I've refrained from buying any 4" Avengers toys up to this point, though I have considered picking up that new 8-pack featuring all the characters. Well, now that I have the best figure from that line, obtaining the set is kind of needless now. The sculpt is really good, and unlike a lot of the 4" Avengers, Black Widow suffers from almost no budget-induced articulation cuts (the lack of a waist joint is the most glaring omission). Due to the way one of her pistols was shoved into her hand in the packaging, my Black Widow is perpetually wagging her finger at naughty supervillains. Sounds like something a Russian would do.

James said his intention in giving me a Golden Age Atom was to get me a DC Universe Classics offering that he knew I wouldn't buy myself. His judgement was astute: the original Atom is one of the few JSA characters I care absolutely nothing for, and the implementation of typical lazy Mattel reuse (his shirt is painted on, for chrissakes!) made him a very unappealing purchase at retail price. Having him in hand, I must say he's pretty fun to play around with, as many Mattel 6" DC figures are. But then every one in a while I look at it and remember that his shirt is painted on and that the company decided to approximate the character's Rudy-like short stature by merely producing him on a regular-sized body with slightly-shorter shin pieces, and then I feel really bad that the Four Horsemen's talents has been so wasted on this line. But yeah, this Atom ain't too bad after all. Still wouldn't have bought it myself, but that's what friends are for, right?

Barbie MyScene Scooter

I bought a Barbie MyScene Vespa scooter off of eBay. Why?

Because some Barbie accessories are in scale with 12 inch figures! (Although not so the Barbie clothing, which is a shame.)

Sniper Barbie would like to have a word

Actually that's Seattle Supersonics Barbie in a Sniper uniform. But same difference.

Oh yeah, I've decided I'm just going to post weird pictures of some of my toys every now and then.