The Bizarros

So, continuing my new trend of not opening figures that can't be posed and as such are better suited to be displayed only... I'm not going to open these guys...

The Bizarros! Evil, bizarro versions of the Space Lab 2021 crewmembers Debbie and Quinn from the Bizarro episode. Why is Quinn a bird thing? No one knows. It's Bizarro.

You are Bizarroed out.

So yeah, unlike many variants these guys aren't just repaints of the originals. We're seeing a whole new figure for Bizarro Quinn and while Debbie's mostly a repaint, there's some new sculpting for Bizarro Debbie's arm.

I'm HELPING!

Sorry, whenever I think of these guys I just keep imagining Bizarro Quinn shouting, "Bizarro!"



It's hilarious and you can't get it out of your mind. That reason is the only reason I bought this set. Well that and the fact that it was on sale for $3.

Accessories are the same from the Normal Quinn & Debbie set: Debbie's biological clock from the episode where she wanted a baby, the dolphin she was forced to hysterically mother when she realized she didn't want a kid with any of the other Sea Lab characters, some toy booze, and a few futuristic computer screens. All-in-all, this is a pretty damned awesome set.

Episode 21: Cobra M.U.L.E.

The new The Articulated Monster Podcast episode is up.





If you want to follow along with the news, check out these links as we talk about them.

DC All-Stars DCUC replacement figures
http://thefwoosh.com/2011/11/2012-dc-universe-all-stars-sneak-peek

Celebrity Cabage Patch Kids for Charity
http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=137&itemid=17921

GI Joe Collector's Club
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/11/behold_the_beautiful_bounty_of_big_boa_bitches.php

Battleship Kree-os
http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=278&itemid=17930

2011 Toy Hall of Fame inductees
http://www.toyhalloffame.org/

Blox
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main/funko-release-blox-vinyl-toy-line

Animated/Live Action Lego movie
http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=176&itemid=17945

Toys R Us open at 9PM Thanksgiving Night, Black Friday deals online at 9PM too
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main/tru-stores-open-at-9pm-thanksgiving-night

Wal-Mart at 10PM
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main/walmart-kicks-off-three-black-friday-events-starting-at-10-p-m-on-thanksgiving

Amelia Pond

They finally made an Amelia Pond figure about a year after she first showed up in the show. Still no Rory figure, even though he's a main character whose actor's name appears in the opening credits. He's been in more episodes than River Song, and she's got 4 figures. Also, he's her daddy.

Um, yeah, but Amelia Pond. Considering she's Amy Pond as a child, they use Amelia Pond a lot in the show. Most likely they only planned to use her once but then they realized how good the actress is (and hey, she's the cousin of the actress who plays Amy, but they had never met until they filmed the show) and how popular the little girl version of Amy Pond turned out to be.

Incidentally, I like the character. I'm always thrilled when Amelia Pond shows up, although I hope they don't have to pull a Walt from Lost when she grows up. So when they announced a figure of Amelia Pond I was down for it. Although the fact that it doesn't come with any accessories and is smaller than other figures is kind of a kick in the pants. Would it have killed them to include... I dunno, a bowl of fish fingers and custard. Or an apple with a smiley face on it? Or a crack in a wall? Oh man, yes. I want them to make a crack in the wall as an accessory. No idea how, but DO IT CHARACTER OPTIONS! AND THEN RELEASE IT IN THE UNITED STATES UNDERGROUND TOYS!

There's a variant of this figure only available at a Doctor Who exhibit in England, so I'll never get that, but this is a good version too. The likeness isn't great, but it gets the idea across. I really dig the rain boots. The nightgown sort of acts like a dress, restricting the leg movements. But since this is a smaller figure its a lot easier to keep the figure balanced so that's good. All around a good figure.

Listener Question Post

We're recording the next episode of the Articulated Monster Podcast on Sunday. If you've got a listener question, please let me know by replying to this post or e-mailing it to articulatedmonster@yahoo.com

The Tick (not the cartoon)

Yes, let's get this out of the way first. This is an action figure of the Tick from the comic book, not the Tick from the cartoon or the live action series. This is supposed to be pure comic book Tick. Personally I've never been a huge fan of the comics. I, like most of America, was more familiar with the cartoon. I loved that show. So great was that love that I tried the comic books, but it was missing some of the insanity and wall-to-wall humor of the cartoon so I never really got into the comics the way I did the cartoon. (Although bits like the Clark Kent character making glasses with his fingers when his real ones get broken are gold.)

This figure is from the Shocker Toys Indie Spotlight line that I've written about before. This is from the Wave 2 preview run of that line. Which is good because the actual Wave 2 never got released. Apparently Shocker Toys is pretty good at not releasing announced toys, so make of that what you will.

But hey, onto the figure. As I've mentioned before, I really love the Indie Spotlight packaging since it's designed to let you pull out the plastic tray with the figure, play with the figure, and then put it all back into the packaging in a way that makes it look as good as new. I love that feature.

The Tick has an alternate confused head, a stop sign that's been pulled from the ground, and alternate hands that will let him hold the sign. Otherwise you can use his default happy head and fist hands. Both options work well.

Silent with Closed Mouth

Good figure. Tallest Doctor Who figure I own. The Silent towers above the other figures in this line and is just as tall as the Sontaran ship... and almost as tall as the motion control TARDIS. Articulation is standard for a Doctor Who figure, featuring all the cut biceps and thigh joints that are surprising to see in a 5 inch figure. And it balances surprising well for a tall thin figure.

Okay, enough about the toy. Fanboy ranting now!

So the Silent aren't a species, they're a religion, with worshippers from multiple races. Which is fine except every time one of these species shows up, they're the Silent and nothing else. It's like how all the members of the people from Raxacoricofallapatorius are referred to as the Slitheen even though it's clearly established that the Slitheen are the name of one family on that planet. The Doctor should know better. It'd be like referring to all the people of Earth as a Rodriguez. (You thought I was going to pick a Euro-centric name, didn't you. Racists.)

Another thing I'm kinda weirded out about is the concept that you can't remember the Silence and can only realize they exist if you're looking right at them. It's like the Stone Angels, the only time you can do about them is when you're looking at them, the rest of the time you're f-ed.

Okay, ranting over.

Hello Kitty

Let me just say that the blind packed Mega Bloks Hello Kitty figures are a step down from the Marvel and Halo blind packed Mega Bloks figures. Mostly because the Mega Blok minifigures usually have 7 or more points of articulation and Hello Kitty minfigures have three, their shoulders and head. Although, to be fair, that's pretty much keeping in step with the character design.

Meanwhile the figures are easy to find in their blind packs. The feel and squeeze method works amazingly well since the figures all come with easy to differentiate base blocks and accessories. So when I wanted the basic Hello Kitty without a hat and traditional coloring, I found it in less than two minutes.

HOORAY.

But it cost $3.49.

BOO!