Femme Fatales Series 2

I love the disparate idea of combining the minimate body and sexiness. Somehow trying to create curves and sexiness on a block seems... well it seems to imply the worst about mankind. Like Halloween costumes for women and girls that are a little to obviously sexified for no reason other than the increased bimboization of the female image. And yet here we are with the Femme Fatale Series of minimates, minimates designed to be "sexy." The result is a hilarious disaster, so let's watch the train wreck.

Now the first two are supposed to be a sexy Alice in Wonderland and a sexy modern interpretation of Red Riding Hood. They're actually pretty generic and not to different than a dozen other interpretations of both characters, except that they're placed on the blocky body of a minimate and thus look ridiculous. But then we get to some new characters in the Minimate MAX Pirate line of Calico Jack's Pirate Raiders. One is Medusa, who has been changed from a gorgon to some sort of Siren. She doesn't turn people to stone, she just has sea based magic powers and is angry at Jack for not avoiding her seduction.... WHY THE HELL DO YOU NEED TO HAVE HER BE MEDUSA?! The other character is Anne Bonnie, based on the real Anne Bonnie, one of the few women ever convicted of being a pirate. She was also the real Calico Jack's lover and avoided being executed by being pregnant when she was caught. Oh yeah, and she also joined up with Jack by leaving her husband and killing a bunch of people. But instead Diamond has her rocking the "Sexy Pirate" look you see on a half dozen sorority girls every Halloween.

Magog

If you had told me a decade ago that they would make a Magog action figure as part of the DCUC line I would have thought you were an idiot. Magog was a one note character from the 1996 Kingdom Come miniseries where he played the strawman character meant to represent the Punisher and other gritty heroes that were popular in the 90's for their gritty natures and willingness to kill in the name of justice. After Kingdom Come he appeared once in a sort of follow up about a year later and then was never mentioned again.

But Geoff Johns has never met an idea from the 90's he didn't think should be reintroduced into the story 15 years later. And with that, Magog entered into mainstream continuity as the ULTIMATE LEGACY CHARACTER. Specifically the JSA is rounding up legacy heroes and decides to include FDR's great-grandson. He's got an alien weapon welded to him due to an accident, so it's not entirely unjustified, although why did he have to be a direct descendant of FDR? BECAUSE GEOFF JOHNS, that's why. (Although wouldn't it have been hilarious if the dude preferred to be remembered as the great-grandson of Eleanor Roosevelt?) Anyway, he's a hero and soldier, so he's got no qualms about killing for the right cause and then BAM, Gog shows up and uberpowerful god-like being who transforms the young man into Magog and OMG!!! KINGDOM COME!!! REMEMBER THAT?!!! GEOFF JOHNS LOVES HISTORY!!! So yeah, that's how Magog showed up in the mainstream continuity as a member of the JSA. During a time when Geoff Johns had written it so that the Starman and Superman from Kingdom Come had joined the JSA. Awkward!

Oh, and then Max Lord mad Magog blow off his own head with his power staff. And that's how Magog left the mainstream continuity. Violently. Because he was a Geoff Johns character and they have to die violently because Geoff Johns.

AND THEY MADE A TOY OF HIM! Now I could pretend that I got this Magog figure because I have fond memories of Kingdom Come, but I can't. Now when I think of this character I don't think of Kingdom Come. What I think of is the great-grandson of FDR Wearing that ridiculous armor without a shirt turning his power staff to blow off his own head because he was being mind-controlled. FDR's GREAT GRANDCHILD. You know, one of these guys.

Yeah, think about that and tell me the Watchmen prequels won't affect how you see the original story.

Episode 28: Articulated Monster Publishing

We recorded a new episode of the Articulated Monster Podcast!

Feel free to send us questions by replying to this post or e-mailing us at articulatedmonster@yahoo.com

Comic Book Club - Ghoulia Yelps

No, I haven't picked up any Monster High figures yet. I just bought this clothing pack.

Why? Because it has the accessories from the SDCC Monster High exclusive Cosplay Ghoulia Yelps figure. If you remember, that set featured the Zombie girl dressed up like her favorite Zombie Superhero "Deadfast" and featured her geek accessories of an original fan-fic, an action figure, and a swag bag.

Well this clothing pack expands on that idea, and has Ghoulia's clothing for when she's part of the Comic Book Club. (It's part of the theme of Extra-Curicular Activities clothing sets.) It features her t-shirt with comic book logo on it, an action figure of Deadfast in scale to the line complete with removable card so you can pretend Ghoulia collects MIB or is an open and play collector,  a comic book of Deadfast, and clothing that I assume is color coordinated as a fashion conscious zombie who is into comic books can be. So, you know, geek pride and all that.

Oh hey, they made a cartoon about it featuring Ghoulia fantasizing about being a superhero at Leper-Con.



Whoops, now I'm just watching these things for the fun of it. They made the Abominable Snowgirl into a Eastern European cold hearted Uber-woman, complete with over the top Soviet style deep pitched accent. And the Phantom of the Opera/Banshee's a rockabilly girl from New Orleans with tattoos and a Swing Dance sense of style. Hilarious. Monster High: Getting young girls indocrinated to counterculture.

HOLY CRAP, one of the characters is a living lifesize Voodoo Doll of another student. So every time he gets hurt the other student gets hurt! That's genius!

And I'm beginning to really love the synergy of the cartoon in the way that any new character, accessory set, or dress theme is eventually shown in the cartoon. Sleepover themed dolls? They have a sleepover. One of the doll is dressed for gym? And episode where they wear gym clothes. Hell, even the Build-Your Own monster figures are featured in background shots.

German Hello Kitty

I don't buy toys from Urban Outifitters very often. They usually only have vinyl blind pack figures that I consider way too overpriced for a blind pack. ($10... no.) But every now and then they clearance out some and they get to a price low enough for me to justify buying one. Especially when some other person has gone through them and opened them so I actually know what I'm paying for.

Which is why I was okay with paying $2 for this Hello Kitty from the Hello Kitty International series. It's the German. And if there's something that's going to amuse me to no end, it's a German version of Hello Kitty dressed in lederhosen. The only thing that would have made it better is if she was holding a stein full of beer.

Seriously, look at how awesome that is. LOOK AT IT! GERMAN HELLO KITTY DEMANDS IT! SCHAUEN SIE SICH DEN GLORREICHEN HELLO KITTY!

Stuff I saw at Toys R Us

So I spotted some weird stuff when I looked at Toys R Us.

Hulk with jowls!

Batman using the Imaginext space armor!

Lego speech balloons for minifigures . I actually thought about getting one of these since it comes with 24 balloons and a minifig. But then I remembered I can do the same thing with MS Paint and I can't imagine needing to show off dialogue to people who visit my apartment and look at my minifigs in person.

Peri and Sharaz Jek

So the first of the Classic Series Companions that Character Options made a toy of was Peri. The second was Leela.

So obviously the third figure of Classic Companions is... Peri. And the fourth is Leela. Wow, they're not even trying to pretend they're hardcore into parts and head reuse. To be fair the new Peri figure does have a new upper torso, but the head and everything below the waist are simple repaints. You can even see the sculpting for a belt beneath the pink paint. I also think its funny how

Can I just say the pose they've got Sharaz Jek's hands in make him look like an action figure from the 70's. This is probably heightened by the costume design, which is essentially all black with an exposed hand and a mask with a little white on it. Fortunately he has the newer Doctor Who Classic figures ball joint hips, so he's not as vanilla a figure as he would first seem.

The figure also come with Jek's hideously deformed face as an alternate head. There's also a head of one of his androids, but since it isn't designed to be an alternate head and none of the figures can hold it, I guess it's meant to lay at someone's feet. Kinda a lame accessory. The alternate head is cool though.

Unearthly Child set

So I'm starting my weeklong vacation by going to a Doctor Who Convention. So I'll probably be back with a crapload of new Doctor Who toys. Unless I've already got the ones I want. We'll see. Meanwhile, since I'm away, I've left a backlog of posts of Doctor Who toys I haven't gotten to looking at yet. And we might as well start with the set that hearkens back to the very first episode of Doctor Who, all the way back in 1963...

Back then, before they had figured out the Doctor was a Time Lord, or that he could regenerate into new actors, there was a simple premise. And old man who said he was an alien who traveled through time. His ship was supposed to take on different appearances depending on where he landed, but it turned out to be too expensive to do on a regular basis so the decision was made early on to have his ship get stuck in the form of a Police Telephone box... and ever since then the BBC has been trying to get a piece of public structure trademarked. Seriously, they sued a diecast toy manufacturer for making a diecast Police Telephone box for dioramas.

Aaaaanyway, they released a variant of the 1st Doctor Action figure, this time giving him the hat and coat he wore in his first ever adventure. This is the kind of variant I can get behind, a new costume that is distinct from the "standard" version of the figure and requires new sculpting. Yet it still retains the essence and look of the character.

After picking up his first two companions from 1963 London they went to caveman times in an adventure so dull that when they novelized it they had them skip over the whole thing and instead they went from picking up the teachers to the Dalek home planet that featured in Story 2 of the series. But to commemorate the Caveman story (and the Doctor's almost murder of a caveman by bashing his head in with a rock while his back was turned) they've included a skull accessory with this set...

Also a TARDIS, because I don't have enough of those already. I know, I know, why would I break down and buy another TARDIS? Well for one thing I've begun to see it as hilarious how many TARDIS toys I have from this line, and that each one is slightly different than the others. Since the Original TARDIS was found in a junk yard, this one features paint that simulates the grime that must have been on it, the kind of detail that is missing from other TARDIS's. (They cancelled the TARDIS that was to have BAD WOLF spray painted on it.) It's also depicting a TARDIS from the original series, where the exterior varied in quality and size from season to season, or even in the same story depending on if the shot was done in studio or on location. This TARDIS is a little skinnier than other TARDIS's and a little shorter too. Sadly there's no interior cardboard simulating the inside of the ship. And this is the first TARDIS I've gotten where the one panel doesn't swing open to reveal a phone. But it does feature the ST JOHN'S logo that has finally returned with the Matt Smith TARDIS.

As long as the TARDIS's are variants, I'll be willing to get them. (I'm waiting for the one painted hot pink from the Happiness Patrol episode.)

Lego Minifigrues Series 6

So everyone with a toy blog and their mother with a toy blog is posting their pics and reviews and whatnot of the latest series of Lego minifigures. So I will too. This is the first wave where I wanted everything. So hey, that's $50.

Incidentally, I like how they used a darker plastic on the t-joint of the alien to imply that he's not naked.

And instead of reviewing or analyzing anything, here's a picture of some mash-ups I did with the figures. My favorite is the Stepford Wife Lego figure. But Alien Doctor with anal probe is also cool.

Episode 27: Mattel still sucks

And BAM! Newest episode of the Articulated Monster podcast. We talk about some of the Toyfair 2012 news.

Sinestro Corps Sinestro

Dude, it's Wave 20 Sinestro! The one with more accurate scale body party and only available wearing his Sinestro Corps uniform. If you don't know, after Geoff Johns took over the Green Lantern comics he wrote a story where Sinestro started his own Corps to rival and attack the Green Lantern Corps with the idea that by doing so he would make the Green Lantern Corps into an organization that was better prepared to police the Universe since by facing a strong and dangerous foe the Green Lanterns would be forced to be more vigilant, more authoritarian, and less naive about things like the sanctity of life. (Incidentally that's exactly the same motivation that Johns gave his new Zoom Legacy character years earlier when he was working on the Flash. I bring it up because I love hating on Geoff Johns and his hubris.)

And way back in Wave 3 of DCUC they made a Sinestro figure with an alternate Sinestro Corps uniform variant. But I didn't buy DCUC back then so I never got it. And then I got hardcore into figures of the Rainbow Corps in the DCUC lines and oh man was I pissed at myself for not buying it when I had the chance... But now I have it, and it's supposedly a better sized version, so yay!

Sooo....Random  Pro and Con

Pro: Nekron's head from the Build-a-figure works as a disembodied head of Nekron.

Con: I got this figure more out of a desire to have a definitive Rainbow Corps set than anything else. Than and I want to increase the number of figures on my DCUC Villain shelf. Yup, Sinestro isn't going on the Rainbow Corps shelf. That's already way too crowded. He'll go on the villain shelf with Luthor, Cheetah, and Joker.

Current Rainbow Corps Collection
Green Lanterns: 14 (I'm still thinking about removing the Movie Masters toys from the display.)
Sinestro Corps: 7
Red Lanterns: 3
Star Sapphires: 3
Blue Lanterns: 2
Black Lanterns: 1.15
Orange Lanterns: 1
Indigo Lanterns: 1

Wyplash

Why don't Lego Skeleton's know how to spell? Unless his parents named him this, which I don't think is how the magical skeleton thing works. But yeah, clearance Ninjago figures means I can finally see how the spinning top mechanic works and also get a Lego rice-picker hat. (Is that what they're called officially? It's just what I've been calling them. I'm Asian and I don't know the answer to this. Hooray American homogeneity!)

I think that means Wyplash is Asian. I'm going to just assume it does. The other option is the Skeleton is a non-Asian who is just wearing the hat because he's fighting Ninjas. Or its the only hat in the quasi-Asian land this franchise takes place.

Incidentally, not at all impressed by the spinning top mechanic and the game looks arbitrary and silly. I may have lost my ability to enjoy toys... says the man with a toy blog.

Elvis

So let's start of with me mentioning that I'm not opening the box on this. I think that's going to be a standard on all these Funko Pop! vinyls I get. Partially because when you look at them in the box it's pretty much the same as they'll look out of the box, but with the bonus of getting the neat Pop-Art style box.

But enough about that. Elvis. I love the iconography of Elvis. His music is nice, but the legend, the symbol, that is amazing. There's a two different Elvis designs in the Funko Pop! line but the only one that really screamed: ELVIS to me is his sequined jumpsuit from the 70's. I like that era Elvis more than the young 50's style. It's more ostentatious and ridiculous! It is ROCK MUSIC!

Vintage Rebel Set (Target Exclusive)

As I tend to only stick to main characters and seldom buy new versions of characters Hasbro/Kenner has already produced, I very rarely purchase Star Wars figures these days. However, when the Vintage line debuted last year, I knew that the first wave's Leia (Hoth Outfit) was an absolute must-have for me, due to being arguably the best-sculpted incarnation of the character yet made (not to mention that the only other Leia figure I currently own is the Shadows of the Empire Leia in Boushh Disguise)

However, since I waited forever to snag one, the Vintage series' distribution woes have made it difficult to track it down now. Luckily Hasbro has included this figure in a few multipacks, namely the Empire Strikes Back four-figure Commemorative Set (packaged with Snowspeeder outfit Luke Skywalker, Boba Fett, and a Snowtrooper) and the Target-exclusive Vintage Rebel Set (with medical droid 2-1B and a Hoth Rebel Commander). After some patience, the Rebel Set finally hit post-Christmas clearance, meaning on Friday Mario was able to pick one up for me for $10.88 plus tax. So for a little over the asking price of one Vintage series figure, I got three!

Pirate Ship

Thanks to some toy store coupons, I picked up a minimate Pirate Ship for a song. But let's skip over a review and just point out the cool special features I didn't know it came with.

So first off, the top of the captain's cabin can be lifted off and the door opened so it acts as a playset environment as well as a vehicle! Cool!

It also has a retractable plank, removable anchors, and you see those cannons? You can push them in or out of the holes in order to simulate a firing line. And the coolest part? You can do any of these things on either side of the ship. I don't know nautical terms, so I'll just say on the left or right side.

There's also a prison component where you can stash captured prisoners! And not only does that door lift up, so does...

The entire floor. This is how you reach the cannons to push them out of the holes, or you can put other minimate figures in there as they "man" the cannons. There's no where to secure them, like peg holes, but whatever, it's still pretty awesome.

The crow's nest also features a peg to secure a figure on.

And of course you get a new minimate figure with the set. This guy is Captain John... it doesn't matter. He's got a big, silly beard piece, but if you take it off and have him go bald, there's a scarred and stoic face underneath which looks a lot more pirate and a lot less Hillbilly Mountain Man.