The Ultimate Warrior vs Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake

The Ultimate Warrior

vs

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake

Mattel WWE Then, Now, Forever/Elite figures

Saturday Night's Main Event XXVII - July 16th, 1990 - Omaha Civic Auditorium

The Ultimate Warrior defends the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against Ravishing Rick Rude...and he did it in this particular attire and makeup!  This classic WWE figure from Mattel is a Walmart exclusive, "Then, Now, Forever" basic.  It's a nice, clean figure as far as paint apps go, but the mini Warrior mask cheek paint is kinda strange.  I know that when he did the full mask paint job, it was usually wrecked by combat and sweat minutes into a match...maybe he was just lazy that particular night?  Speaking of lazy, they included the WWF winged eagle championship belt with a white strap, but in this match, it should be light blue.  Warrior wore the white belt before the blue, and again sometimes after.  Eh, minor details.  And now I have a white belt for my custom "No Holds Barred" Rip figure!

Ed Leslie has had many, many horrible gimmicks that will probably never make it to action figure form.  He's very lucky to have been a friend of Hulk Hogan at the height of WWE popularity and be so fondly remembered for his time as "the Barber."  The shears gimmick came about in a "loser gets his head shaved" match between Rowdy Roddy Piper and Adorable Adrian Adonis at Wrestlemania III.  Yup, a gimmick born by real legends.  How is there not an Adrian Adonis figure in this line?! Travesty!

Anyway, they give Brutus a better treatment than he deserves with this Elite-articulated figure. The head scan is great, as are the paint apps on his tights and wristbands.  He comes with a removable cloth overcoat and plastic bow tie.  And to top things off, he has his shears that open and close.

For the sake of comparison, here is this figure next to Jakks Pacific's deluxe articulated Brutus.
It wouldn't be fair to nitpick a 15-year old figure, but it's clear to me why this new figure will be taking its place on the display shelf.  

Thread Organizer, aka inexpensive toy storage/carrying case

Thread Organizer

aka inexpensive toy storage/carrying case

Creative Options, Amazon purchase

As a collector of die-cast movie and television cars, you're always in need of storage options that might also act as display options.  There are some official Hot Wheels cases out there, but they mostly for carry-and-play and a little overpriced for what you get.  While searching Amazon, I stumbled across this thread organizer from Creative Options.  Perfect!  At around $10, this thing has slots on both sides to hold up to 48 cars!  It's made with translucent plastic for a nice display piece, hinged doors on either side for easy access, and even a handle to take your collection on the go!  Judging from the "customers who bought this item also bought" section, I'm late in the game on this find:  Hot Wheels decals and bumper stickers make this an easy custom job.

Side Two:  Where does he get those wonderful toys?

After loading up my car collection, I looked around to see what else I might have that would benefit from this method of storage.  I have a lot of Minimates figures from various lines (DC, Marvel, Back to the Future) that could use this treatment.  I bought a second organizer to test this on the largest set of Minimates I have:  who you gonna call?!

Look at all the junk food!

You can easily fit two Minimates per slot with room to spare!  Accessories and all!

Side Two:  Let's get "Real."

Side View

I might be picking up a few more of these cases down the road for various collections.  I could see this as an organizer for action figure accessories:  all those miscellaneous alternate hands, heads, guns, and weapons.  Would also be great for other miniatures and LEGO figures.

King Shark wave: DC Multiverse

King Shark wave

DC Multiverse - Mattel 6-inch figures

This is one of those waves that makes you want to pull your hair out.  The Collect-n-Connect figure (a piece coming with each smaller figure in the wave) was the sole reason to get them all.  Half this wave are keepers, the other half are duds.  Luckily, since I found the bulk of this wave on shelves earlier than most of the country (way back in February), I had no problem unloading the duds on Ebay.  Sorry, fans of the CW shows, Hawkman and Jay Garrick are gone.  Nothing against the characters, I just have better comic-accurate figures of them already.   Consider them sacrifices to the glory of his majesty, King Shark!

There was one dud I kept...Zoom.  It's not a bad character design, especially for television, but it doesn't translate well into figure form as far as the articulation goes:  kinda long torsoed and doesn't look all that great in running poses.  

He's got a pretty scary looking face and some blue lightning effects.  The problem is, these have been lifted from Superman Blue from wave 2 of Mattel's DC Universe Classics (2009?).  The shield shape on the back is a dead giveaway.  How villainous...anyway, let's get to the keepers.

A new Batman!  One can never have enough Batmen, right?  What sets this one apart from the others is that is based on Commissioner Jim Gordon's short run as the Caped Crusader...er...scratch the cape.  I had not read this storyline before the figure came out, but now that I have, it makes more sense and is pretty awesome. 

He comes with an alternate unmasked head and a gun that can be holstered to his leg.  No, Batman isn't really shooting people.  It's more of a taser pistol.  I'm really looking forward to the next wave where the Collect-n-Connect figure is the mech-suit he rides in.

I'm not a huge fan of Frank Miller or The Dark Knight Returns, but this is a fantastic Joker figure!  Mattel gave us a 100% original body sculpt!  No re-used parts!  Makes you wonder if they have any plans for this suited body down the line, though, since it's pretty specific to the Frank Miller style, I can't imagine where.

Mattel has also been treating us to more and more interchangeable heads!  One is a more serious, sinister Joker, the other a scary, open-smile, sadistic Joker complete with batarang to the eye!  That right, a pretty violent, scene-specific detail from the hook on a Wal-mart shelf right across from some Paw Patrol toys!  Who would have expected that?  He also comes with a pistol and a knife accessory. Batarang half is removable, but leaves a pretty noticeable slot when absent.

Finally, we come to Batgirl.  I am happy with my old DC Superheroes line Batgirl, so I wasn't really excited for this figure save for it being packed with the last King Shark piece I needed.  It took me four months after finding the rest of the wave on shelves to find a Batgirl at a decent price online!  I paid out a little more for her just to be done with it.  I needed a complete King Shark, dammit!  May his majesty devour you and your stupid cell phone accessory!

Take my spot on the Suicide Squad movie will ya?!

So what if King Shark is based on his appearance from the CW Flash show...he's still awesome.  Or should I say... JAWSOME!  Nice detailing on the choppers!  Love the opening jaw.  He shares a crotch piece with Solomon Grundy from way back in DC Universe Classics wave 3 (2009?) but everything else here is new.  Hey, jean shorts are hard to find for big guys.

A little while later, Toys R Us released an exclusive Damian Wayne Robin figure packed with an alternate head for King Shark; it's the Hammerhead look from his New 52 comics design.  Pretty neat, but I still prefer the Great White.  Robin is a retool from the Mattycollector subscription line, but this time features a hooded head sculpt, sword, and Court of Owls mask.  Neat, but I would have passed on him if it weren't for Sharky.

Super Mario Happy Meal Toys

Super Mario Happy Meal Toys

and

Jakks Pacific 2.5 inch Retro Figures

It's been a long time since there was a good Happy Meal promotion.  Even longer since the last Super Mario Happy Meal toys I collected.  Even though I would prefer just standard figurines, these all have some pretty fun action features.  Like Mario here...he has a button on the bottom of his stand that, when the figure is lifted, makes the classic jumping sound effect from the games.  Neat!  Nice sculpt and paint for a fast-food premium, too!

Luigi can be loaded and launched from this pipe.  He has wheels on his underside to give him some rolling distance, but the power on this one is pretty disappointing.  He might get 6 inches to a foot depending on the surface.

Princess Peach (or Princess Toadstool, as she used to be known in the original English manual translation and Super Mario Bros. Super Show) is the weakest of this bunch.  She is attached to a base with a Mushroom Kingdom backdrop.  There are wheels on the bottom that, when rolled forward or backward, make Peach spin in a circle.  Not all that exciting.  I guess you can at least get some dignified, royal waving going on.

Bowser is a block of a figure.  He comes with two fireball projectiles.  Why two?  Because there are two Mario brothers to toast, of course! What's more important is that, unlike Luigi, these things have some power behind them.  Maybe more than 3 feet!  Die plumbers!

Yoshi is here to finish off the set.  Push down on his shell, and his tongue sticks out.  Exciting, right? Game accurate at least.  I never really cared for Yoshi as a game mechanic, and my feelings toward him really took a dive after the awesome Yoshi's Island: Super Mario World 2 was followed by the deplorable Yoshi's Story.  I only got this figure because the size is almost in scale with the World of Nintendo 4-inch poseable figures, and it's impossible to get Mario to ride on the standing figure in that line.  

Giddyup!

As a little bonus review, here a two 2.5-inch World of Nintendo 8-bit figures that I picked up recently.
The ever-annoying Toad is here to tell you "your princess is in another castle"...and what's more, he looks like he's flipping you the double-bird!  You little @#?*!  Star Power Luigi has a cool pearlescent sheen like the Star Power Mario I reviewed a couple months back.  Obviously, these figures are not articulated.  They're barely three-dimensional:  if you flip them over, you get a flat, black back.  Great for a desktop display if nothing else, and not all that expensive.  I've got several 8-bit Marios and Links, a Donkey Kong, and now these...here's hoping for classic Bowser soon!

X-Men Legends Warlock Wave

X-Men Legends

Warlock wave

Colossus, Polaris, Firestar, Dazzler, Shatterstar, Cyclops

The X-Men are back!  Well, in toy form at least.  Yes, if you were thinking that last year's Juggernaut wave was a fluke, think again...Hasbro must have talked Marvel out of punishing action figure fans (Disney/Fox movie pettiness) or something.  Wave 2 is here with some classics, long-time favorites, and a great build-a-figure.  

Jim Lee Cyclops!  It's the 90s all over again!  Tactical gear! Utility harnesses!  Gloves!  Useless pockets!  Um, yeah...if the X-Men comic relaunch wasn't one of the biggest selling comics of all time and the cartoon weren't so great, I probably would just stick with a classic interpretation of this guy.  Great looking figure, though.  The real gripe is that the leg "belts" aren't glued in place and tend to slip down.

A C-list X-Man, Polaris isn't all that exciting to me.  She's got Magneto's power of magnetism and dates Cyclops' brother, Havok.  To make her less exciting, they gave this figure the same power effects as Havok but molded in translucent green.  Still, she's got a decent sculpt.  

Back to the A-list with an updated Colossus!  I haven't followed Marvel books in a long time (Age of Apocalypse and the Spider-man Clone Saga had me jumping ship) so I have no idea when/where this new jumpsuit made its debut.  Not a bad update.  I really dig the alternate metal beard head.  Very Lenin-esque, comrade!  The silver metal paint looks great, especially on the arm detail.

Yuck!  The 90s threw up on my blog!  What could be worse than a Jim Lee design?  A Rob Liefeld design, of course!

Shatterstar has the mutant power of being an expert military strategist and blah blah blah...a badass with swords,  How original!  But we didn't have one with pseudo-cowboy boots, old-timey football headgear, and samurai-meets-glam-rock hair!  As lame as he is, Hasbro still nailed his jump from page to articulated figure.  "Did I mention he has swords?!  Two of them!  And one of them has two blades on it!  I bet he could totally take Darth Maul in a fight!"

Dazzler here is definitely a step up from Shatterstar, even if Disco is long dead.  Lots of figures have swords, but how many have roller skates?!  And bell-bottomed jumpers?!  Feathered hair?!
Give her a break...she was created as part of a late-70s record cross-promotion because of the success of KISS.  I dig this earlier look, but am more familiar with her mid-80s, arcade game style...which I hope Hasbro gets to somewhere down the line.

Quality control issue!  One of the skates was missing its front wheels in-package.  I didn't see it as this part was tucked away from view behind the cardboard packaging.  These collector's figures are hard to return to stores for an exchange as its hard enough to find them in the first place! And Hasbro customer service?  I bought an Admiral Ackbar figure from the Force Awakens last year that I didn't notice had two right arms.  They sent me a new figure, free of charge...but it was General Hux (pronounced: peg warmer).

Oh, well...made due temporarily with some blue (s)ticky-tack.

Classic Sunfire was probably the figure I was most excited for in this wave.  I say "Classic" because there has already been an attempt at Sunfire in the 6-inch scale a decade ago.  Age of Apocalypse Sunfire was the winner of a fans choice poll against updates of Gambit, Magneto, and Storm as well as never-before-in-this-scale figures of Silver Samurai, Lillandra, Aurora, and Northstar.  Are you kidding me?!  People were crying foul then, just as they are now:  I still don't have a Silver Samurai!

Anyway, this Sunfire comes with two rubbery fire effects that fit over his fists.  Like the various "magic" and "mutant power" effects, expect this one to be repurposed/overused by the end of the year.

Build-a-Figure Warlock!

Warlock, of the 80's New Mutants, would not be one of my top priorities as a toy want.  However, having one in-hand, he sure makes an awesome figure.  He towers over the other figures in this wave by a couple inches, has decent articulation, and great dirty-metallic gold paint job.  Another great leap from the page to the third dimension!  He even comes with an accessory...an interchangeable saw hand!

These were standard $20 figures, and I paid just that for them for fear of poor distribution like the first wave of X-Men.  They are just now hitting online and retail stores.  I found them months earlier, as Walgreens had first dibs for some reason.  It was a toy hunt just like the old days...hitting 8-10 locations in and around town, finding them piece by piece or 2 at a time for the most part.  Good times!  I'm caught up and ready for more X-Men love, Hasbro!  

Wolverine: Old Man Logan

Wolverine: Old Man Logan

Hasbro 6-inch figure

So, the "Old Man Logan" comic that this figure is based on is kinda bat-shit insane.  I'm not going to go into details, but I will leave you with this nugget for your curiosity:  he fights the hillbilly, inbred offspring of the Incredible Hulk and She-Hulk.  Needless to say, that did not make its way into the loosely-adapted movie "Logan," which this figure's release was timed for.  

It's a great looking figure.  Short, stocky, and mean looking...and fairly accurate to the comic.  The articulation and paint are perfect and there's some nice detail in the shirt, coat, buckle, and boots.  The facial expression is great for moderately-peeved Logan.  A snarling, screaming Adamantium rage alternate head (WTF?!) would have been a nice pack-in, as this figure comes with zero accessories...not even a build-a-figure-part.  Nope, not even alternate, claws-sheathed hands.  Really?!

I would have left this figure on the shelf if it were not for the potential of having an excellent civilian-clothes Logan in my collection.  Also, it helped that I already had a decent head-swap in mind with an old figure I already had.  Enter House of M Wolverine (aka Air Strike Wolverine) from an offshoot of Toy Biz's Marvel Legends line, X-Men series.  It's a decent, comic accurate figure, but is way too tall and lanky for my tastes.  Still, the head sculpt is one of the best unmasked Wolverines out there.  

After boiling and popping the head off, it was off to get my Dremel tool.  It took some work and care hollowing out the head so it would fit on OM Logan's neck ball.  For some reason, they made this one unnecessarily large.  But with a little patience and some trial fittings: 

Not too bad, in my opinion. The head sits a little higher than I'd like, but looks great with the full range of motion and hunched over poses.  If I was a real stickler, I would match the skin tones on the neck and hands better.  Good enough for me!  

The head also fits the Hasbro Legends Wolverine that came out in the previous X-Men wave:

I'm happy with the results of a, what, customizer level 2 job?  I made the $20 figure work for me, otherwise, it probably wouldn't be worth the money or time.  Here's hoping Hasbro gets to the yellow and blue, tiger stripe Wolverine redeco soon!