R.I.P. CounterFett

As announced by his wife, CounterFett, one of the co-hosts of that toy podcast I did like 12 years ago, has passed away. This is shocking and sad all at once. I have no words to express how sad I am, so instead I will say that he was a friend, a great guy, and my life was better for having known him.

Ravishing Rick Rude

So here’s something interesting, the pair of legs for the build-a-figure that comes with this figure has almost as many points of articulation than the figure itself. The legs, with their double jointed knees, have ten points of articulation to Rick’s 15. I’ve wanted a Rick Rude figure for a while to indulge in some old school wrestling nostalgia, and $5 clearance was the right price. But if I’m being honest, the thing that sold me were the legs. I want to build a Howard Finkel figure, because holy crap they made a Howard Finkel figure.

Spider-Ham

Spider-Ham, the spider that was bitten by a radioactive pig. In a universe where all people are sentient animal cartoon characters, May Porker is a super genius pig who built a radioactive hairdryer that put her in a radioactive daze, whereupon she bit a spider, transferring both her pig genes and super genius but leaving his spider-abilities. Now pretending to be her beloved nephew,
Peter Porker secretly fights crime as Spider-Ham against villains like Ducktor Doom and I only ever read one issue so I don’t know. Anyway, Spider-Ham was a barely remembered children’s comic from the 80s trotted out for nostalgia cameos until the Spider-verse story brought him into the mainstream and our current love for whimsy made him a star! He’s made numerous appearances in the current Spider-man cartoon and is going to appear in the new animated movie voiced by stand-up colossus John Mulaney.

And his Marvel Legend figure sucks! Above the waist he has typical Marvel Legend articulation but everything below the waist is a solid piece of plastic. I would have passed this figure up entirely but he comes with a Pig Venom head to make Pork Grind, his comics version of Venom. I assumed it was meant to go on the Monster Venom Build-A-Figure piece, but it didn’t fit. And it didn’t fit the Spider-ham figure... but it did fit the regular Venom figure... which already had an alternate head. It’s fine, Pork Grind is meant to be a lot bigger than Spider-ham, but I kinda wanted super-oversized Pig Venom.

My Life As... Vending Machine & Karaoke Machine

I might be in dangerous waters. Today while I was wandering around Wal-Mart, contemplating if I should get the new Harry Potter 12 inch fashion dolls that aren’t Barbie, but it’s Mattel so it’s totally Barbie, I saw the pallet of new stock boxes and looked through it. There’s some talking plush toy called “Fake News” which I’m super worried is a plush Donald Trump... but also: My Life As Vending Machine.

As far as I know, My Life As is Wal-Marts discount version of American Girls. But whereas I completely ignored American Girls, the complex and mundane accessories they put out for My Life As always intrigued me. Like their Washer & Dryer set that actually tumbled clothes. Or their fully functional water fountain. And since I love me some toy vending machines, I asked a store associate if I could get this.... also the box labeled Karaoke Machine...

I haven’t opened it, but by trying out the electronics and looking at the box description, this is a fully functioning vending machine. You have to put in the right amount of toy coins and it will bend your desired product that you stock the machine with. So holy crap, that’s some great role playing potential right there! You know you’ve always sorta wanted to stock a vending machine to see what it was like. Maybe put the wrong can in the wrong spot and watch the hijinks. Pretty good value for $30.

Oh, and the karaoke machine... oh god. It connects to any Bluetooth device and the microphone really works, which means this isn’t a toy karaoke machine, it’s and actual karaoke machine that they just made in miniature. 

I think I love these. And since these are coming out a bunch of the other accessories are on clearance! I might go all in on this line... for my niece... when she gets old enough... She can come over and play with them... I should buy her one of the dolls. I wonder if they come in Asian.

Mister Miracle

I’m not supposed to buy a toy of an alien escape artist who prefers living in Earth’s suburbs when his accessory is a rig he has to escape from while suspended upside down?

C3-PO

Now with standing there passively action!

So I'm at a Walgreens and I'm browsing their anticipatory engorged holiday toy aisle, and I see these 6 inch Star Wars figures for $6.99. These look pretty similar to the Star Wars Black Line, but with less packaging, no accessories, and as far as I can tell almost no articulation. They're basically those 12-inch Titan figures that they sell for $10 but shrunk down to a 6 inch scale.

And that's really what they are. I've opened this guy up and he has 4 points of articulation: ball joint head, cut shoulders and a mid-torso swivel. But considering the $20 Star Was Black C3-PO wasn't a wealth of articulation, I'm down for this. 

I also picked up the Captain Phasma and her gun is permanently affixed to her hand. She has 5 points of articulation: ball joint head, cut shoulders, cut wrist on her gun hand, cut torso. Oh, but bonus, they're buy 2 get 1 free. So I also picked up the First Order Storm Trooper who I have not opened byt based on his welded gun hand, I'm guessing also has 5 points of articulation. For $14, 3 in scale figures of characters I wasn't going to do a lot of posing with anyway is in my mind a great deal. If any stores had more than one set of these guys, it might have been a great way to build a First Order army.

There were also some DC heroes, Marvel heroes and static transformers in this scale. They all sucked. But for some reason the Star Wars figures look very close to the Star Wars Black figures. Go figure.

Jessica Jones

I'm fairly amused that they made a action figure of Netflix's Jessica Jones since the character is just wearing normal clothes so really, it doubles as a Krysten Ritter action figure.

It's a decent figure, but I really can't wait for Marvel Legends female figures to get double jointed elbows like the male figures. And I really like that the leather jacket is made from a thing flexible plastic that doesn't inhibit any movement or poses. No accessories, but what would it have? A broken door?

And as a bonus, the Man-Thing BAF torso can accommodate the Hulk BAF arms from the Thor Ragnarok wave! Now I don't feel like those arms are wasted and I don't have to get a Punisher or Bullaeye figure I don't want. If I complete Man-Thing I can just pretend he did a lot of arm work and wants to show off his muscles so he shaved his arms.

Hela

I think Hela might be the most revolutionary figure Marvel Legends has ever made. I originally got it because I wanted a figure of goth Cate Blanchett, but holy crap! Her cape is removeable! 

Plastic capes have been the bane of my toy collection. I hate rigid capes that require that a figure only be posed standing up. But removable capes! Great! I want this on all capes figures! I won't get it, but I want it.

Bayley

I don't pay attention to WWE figure schedules, but this blindsided me. It's a wave of NXT figures that's a Target Exclusive. This specific Elite figure and all the basic figures come with Tubeman BAF parts. 

They made wacky waving inflatable tubeman action figures. Kinda expensive, but this one comes with a bonus Bayley figure. 

Sadly, I don't want any of the other figures that come with tubeman parts, but if I did, oh man I would be so on that. I'm really hoping for some showing up cheap on ebay in a few months once they're easier to find in stores. (Right now the tubemen as loose parts are going for more than the cost of the figures.)

Clown with a tearaway face

I saw this reAction figure on clearance at Target and figured, why not. I was hoping he had an action feature, but if not, the figure looks pretty neat. I was surprised twice. First: the face does come off and can be held by the figure! And second, the figure isn't attacked to the unicycle like I feared. It actually comes off the unicycle and can stand by itself, but holy crap I am amazed at how it is able to balance on that unicycle. You don't really have to fuss, just put it on with his legs near the petals and it just stays there. That's it. It's like one of those balancing toys you get in kids meals.

Rick

Best figure of the set. I just wish his expression was more apathetic. But the look of the figure, the level of articulation and the accessories are all totally boss. Hooray!

God, I love this show.

Mr. Poopybutthole & Snowball

Mr. Poopybutthole is a good representation of the character, although I am saddened by the lack of joints. There are only 5 and they're the most basic, but I suppose for the size of the character that is to be expected. 

However I really like the Build A Figure (BAF) for this wave, Snowball in his walking suit. It looks great, although the movement of the joints is limited due to where they are blacked. You get a couple of degrees of movement, but these ball joints might as well be cut joints.

Also, while I was trying to attach one of the arms, it broke apart where the forearm connects to the bicep via the tiny plastic plug. Fortunately it isn't glued to the bicep, but inserted into a small hole, so I can kind of fix things without glue by reinserting the plug, but it's something to worry about since it can fall out again. It's those little things that prevent me from singing the praises of this line. These small quality control issues that you wish didn't happen or wonder if it's just your figure.

Mr. Meeseeks

I am shocked how well the Mr Meeseeks figure turned out. These simpler figures are pretty awesome. I'm not totally sold on Funko as a maker of straight out action figures, but something like Mr. Meeseeks makes me feel better about the possibilities. There's a good number of joints, the price point is reasonable and the figures are good representations of the source material.

Although his hands have trouble holding his gun and golf club accessories. 

Birdperson

Out of all the Rick and Morty figures the one I'm angry at is Birdperson. It's a great looking figure and the articulation is what I like, but the hip joints are so loose that I can't get him to stand properly 95% of the time. 

When the X-men movie came out they released a Professor X figure that had leg articulation but the joints were intentionally so loose that it was impossible for him to stand. It was a clever joke. Here it's just super annoying and makes me angry at a figure I otherwise would have loved. 

Boooo!

Morty

The character from the Rick and Morty figures that is the most affected by the translation into three dimensions is Morty. His character design in the show, which needs to be simple enough for animation, is fine, but when realized into an action figure he has no neck. And his whole torso is a single boring tube. And his bulbous eyes.

It's just weird to hold in your hand. I just realized that the picture, from the right angle, don't look that bad. So just in REALITY is it weird.

Mojo and Spiral

I still can't believe they made a Mojo minimate.

Tuk Tuk

I wonder if Matchbox and Hot Wheels are managed separately or are run from the same department. Because I really like the random Matchbox cars I find in the Dollar Tree far more than I do the Hot Wheels I find everywhere else. They're just so diverse in form.

Some research tells me that Tuk Tuks are popular in Thailand, where Matchbox cars are produced and this was a special collaboration between Matchbox and the Thai factory that makes the cars. They even had to create a new type of wheel. 

An ethical question

So let's say that you go to a store and are looking for blind packed toys. In the store, staff members have already identified and pulled out the rare figures so they can buy them later. Another staff member sees this and notices that you can't find the blind packed figures you want and offers to let you buy some of the figures pulled by the toy collecting staff members.

Would you be in the right if you buy these figures? Does the fact that you are a customer mean that you should get priority over staff for merchandise? Does the fact that the staff member didn't buy the toys right after they identified them play into this in any way? Are you taking figures from another collector who just happens to work in the store?

Just some stuff to consider. In an unrelated note, I finally got a Rocket Kid minifigure.

Alexa Bliss

Thanks to the Topps WWE Slam card trading app, where you trade virtual cards with other people, I've gotten into the WWE again. Kinda. Mostly I've gotten into the Smackdown show and the recent developments in the Women's division. The last time I was into professional wrestling was the late 90's and back then the women's division was pretty much an excuse for T&A spectacle with a token attempt at wrestling. Most of the wrestlers were models who lucked into WWE contracts and a few of them took their jobs seriously enough that they held some decent matches. 

But these days the women's roster is filled with people who were wrestling fans or children of professional wrestlers, so before they joined the WWE they took learning pro-wrestling seriously. As a result, the current Women's division of the WWE is filled with strong wrestlers who are ignoring the T&A elements of professional wrestling to instead put beat the crap out of each other. Plus the writers are taking things seriously as well, and a result the storylines  and matches the women are doing revolve around proving who the best wrestlers are rather than coming up with gimmicks to strip the women down to their underwear/ It's insanely fun to watch.

So hey! I'm totally down to buy WWE action figures again. Now when it comes to the figures of male wrestlers, the more expensive Elite figures have better articulation and a couple accessories. The Basic figures are missing some joints and rarely come with an accessory. But the female wrestlers have the same articulation regardless if they're basic or Elite figures, the only difference is accessories and costume design. So if you're looking to pick up some female wrestling action figures you get to save some cash.

The figures are pretty damned decent for about $10. (Oddly this is one of the price points where Toys R Us is cheaper than Target.) The likeness is so-so, which is really weird considering they use the live-scan technology where they make a scan of each wrestler's likeness by sitting them down and scanning their head to make a 3-D model. But you can tell which person it is, and it's $10, so it's good enough. 

This is Alexis Bliss. She started out as a pixie girl type character, but really took off once she adopted a mean girl persona and became a heel. Since she's moved to the Smackdown show she's become insanely popular so I was really looking forward to this figure. Again: the face is decent enough and the expression is neat. The figure itself is totally worth $10. Hooray.

Warthog

I wonder if other James has this yet.