Secret War Captain America and Crossbones

Crossbones is Red Skull's protege, so he's a mass murdering neo-Nazi. He's also one of the few Captain America villains they've made a minimate for. I think Crossbones brings the total number up to three.

To be fair there aren't that many memorable Captain America villains period.

Meanwhile, to get Crossbones I had to also get this Secret War Captain America. Not Secret Wars, the groundbreaking miniseries from Marvel. No, this was Secret War, Brian Michael Bendis' masturbatory spy thriller where a bunch of superheroes went to Latveria because it was revealed all the super villains got their super technology from the same place and not from the way shown in their actual origin stories. Oh, and Captain America wore a darker version of his costume because he was going into Latveria secretly. And that makes sense to someone somewhere.

Thanos (Marvel Universe)

Two weeks ago I visited a collectible toy store in Sacramento that was having a sidewalk sale featuring independent vendors. I scored some sweet DC Universe Classics and McFarlane NFL deals for my brother, but I wavered quite a bit when it came time for me to pick out my purchases. I ultimately settled on this Marvel Universe figure of the cosmic villain Thanos, which was available for a pretty favorable seven dollars, about a buck cheaper than at retail. This was quite a catch, given the figure has been particularly difficult to track down in stores during the year or so it's been out.

I'm very glad I chose Thanos, as it's a superb figure. Sharing a basic sculpt with the earlier Juggernaut figure from the line, the Mad Titan is a very hefty offering for the price point, coming in at around twice the size of my Tony Stark Iron Man, the only other Marvel Universe toy I own. He's very well-articulated, though his hips are difficult to pose. In addition to the standard display base (he really doesn't need it--he has no trouble standing fine on his own), Thanos comes with a proper accessory: an interchangeable Infinity Gauntlet! It's easy to swap out with the standard gloved fist, and given the figure's size, its inclusion makes this purchase all the more satisfying. I'm not hankering to collect Marvel Universe beyond a few standout items (I've already got enough Marvel toys in 5" and 6" scales), but this well-sculpted and totally fun Thanos is definitely one of those. Track it down if you can find it.

Guess what came in the mail!

It's the Palisade's Animal figure I ordered! Yay! He comes with growing pills, like from the movie. The first one, not the one that just came out and all the veteran Muppet performers are disavowing.

Oh, and he's got corporate branding because he's an exclusive figure with a drum featuring the sponsor's logo on it! Because CAPITALISM!

Thor and Lady Loki

So there was a short period where Loki was reincarnated but accidentally ended up in Sif's body. For that short period in the comics Loki went around as a sexy woman. So, yes, for a while Loki was a transexual, but of course because it's comic books, they ignored this aspect of the character and Loki just went around as a femme fatale until he got his original body back.

And now I have a minimate to commemorate that time.

He has a hat.

I bought another 11th Doctor figure! This one has a cowboy hat! That's it. That's the only different thing.

Playmobil Advent Calendar Day 24

Day 24:
So apparently the gestation period of the Bensaurus is about a day. Which is why this morning we were awoken to the sounds of a baby Bensaurus cracking through its shell and being born. It's certainly an adorable little guy. No idea if its a boy or a girl, since apparently I'm really bad at guessing that. Either way it is adorable. And large.

It is a very large baby dinosaur, especially in relation to the parent. And that egg looks bigger than the ones from yesterday.

I really hope this is really a Bensaur baby and Ben Jr didn't steal another dinosaur's egg. It's hard to tell at this stage. Charlene says we'll love it either way, but really? What if it turns out to be a dinosaur that spits acid at people. Well, as long as Ben Jr. can keep it under control, I guess it should be fine.

Hmm, no more holes left to dig up. I guess Ben Jr. dug up the last ones. Is that where this baby came from? This is so confusing. I'm going to have to get Charlene to start doling out answers. Otherwise I'm going to have to just guess my way through my weird existence with my dinosaur family. Actually, that doesn't sound too bad when I put it that way.

Playmobil Advent Calendar Day 23

Day 23: 
Well, now I know why Ben Jr. was so excited. It turns out Ben Jr. isn't a "he." Also, she's got some eggs now. She was really proud of them too, she kept showing them off to me and Charlene. Fortunately Ben Jr. trusted us enough to let us get close to her nest. It was fascinating. Charlene might be even more excited than Ben Jr. She kept saying that we were going to be grandparents.

You know, this is all pretty weird, but I really hope she means we'll be grandparents in a proud pet owner kind of way. If it turns out that we're actually Ben Jr.'s real biological parents I'm going to just stop trying to understand how any of this works anymore.