Fortnite Crackshot and Rabbit Raider

Crackshot and Rabbit Raider

Jazwares - Fornite Legendary Series

I have never played Fortnite, but Jazwares' 6-in line is an action figure collector's dream!  Since I have no connection to the characters, this line offers a multitude of goons, lackeys, and henchmen to my DC and Marvel Legends collections.  I have several Skull Troopers for the Scarecrow,  Wild Cards working as a stand-in Royal Flush Gang, and random thugs and mercs here and there.  At first, I was gonna pass up this cool looking nutcracker guy, but then I remembered something...the Terrible Toyman!  I got two of these Walmart exclusives to go with my DC Universe Toyman and his oversized marionette from DC Direct.  And right in time for a Christmas review!

Each Legendary figure comes with swapable faceplates, so you can have something different on disply with your multiples.  Crackshot also comes with a candy cane staff, a rifle, a balloon, a bundle of dynamite, and a "wooden" cuckoo bird that fits on his back.  Toys with toys!  The articulation on these are over the top, probably because some folks from the Toy Biz Marvel Legends days work on this line.  The old-school hand and toe hinges are as unnecessary as ever, but man do they ever look great!

I also threw their Rabbit Raider figure in the mix because...well, duh!  It's freakin' Ralphie from "A Christmas Story!"  I gave him one of the nutcracker's more lethal rifles to him as an upgrade from the Red Ryder.  Now he's Toyman's right hand cheermaster!

This line is super expansive and so much fun, even if you have never played the games.  I hope Jazwares keeps the goods coming.  They are certainly leaps and bounds above the McFarlane 7-in line...cheaper, too, at around $18 at Wally! 

Baby Yoda

Baby Yoda

Star Wars - The Mandalorian

Custom 3 3/4" scale figure

I have seen "The Mandalorian", and as far as the future of Star Wars goes...this is the way.  Fan service done right without the goofy "Guardians of the Galaxy" humor and without lightsaber-a-second action sequences.  You also get the most adorable practical effects character since baby Ewoks:  Baby Yoda!  Yes, even the Terrible Toyman is on the cutesy bandwagon.  If it's good enough for Werner Herzog, it's good enough for you, cowards!  Baby Yoda is everything and bag of Star Wars Pop Chips!

Even though the floodgates are about to be opened on merch (The quick-fix Disney cranked out looked like Cafe Press garbage and the good stuff won't arrive until early 2020) covering this adorable lil fella (dubbed "The Child" or "The Asset), I'm betting us die-hard, crotchety 3 3/4" figure collectors are getting left out.  At best, we get ten to twelve "vintage" figures a year, and we're not even getting a Mandalorian until April 2020!  They could always surprise us with a pack-in accessory, but I have a back-up in case they don't.  

Ice Cream Maker Guy's ice cream maker isn't a Rebel data core anymore?  It's just a storage safe? Oh, that crazy canon!

I found three different tiny Baby Yoda sculpt to choose from with one seller alone, and the quality looked pretty decent...I took a shot, and I am not disappointed!  Sure, $10 for a figure that stands about an inch high sounds steep.  And sure I have to paint him myself...but it's Baby Yoda!  The savior of Star Wars!  

My paint job is pretty minimalist, with the appropriate greens and browns.  I'm not much of a painter, and I certainly don't have the customization skills of a Warhammer miniatures fan.  I think it turned out fine, especially compared to other tiny Hasbro offerings of late.

Get Disney Plus just for "Mando." (Looking at the other content, one should burn out on it in two months tops.)  Feel all that Star Wars could and should be.  (Future prediction:  this feeling cannot be found in Ewan "I've-got-an alimony-payment-to-make" McGregor's Obi-Wan series or the Cassian Andor series.  Who cares about Cassian Andor, seriously?!)  Get your fix on Baby Yoda.  Buy this tiny figurine for your tiny figures.  Be happy...until Disney mucks it up again.

Jumanji Part II

Jumanji Part II

Lanard Toys

I'm all caught up with Lanard's cheap-but-awesome-looking Jumanji offerings!  

Captain Marvel Shazam finally found his Tawky Tawny.

Catman could barely wait to take a cruise in on his new Jag.

The Penguin added a new, fine feathered fink to his aviary.

Wolverine already had a beastly encounter in our last review, so why not have the Hulk tangle with some wolves in the wild instead?

The hippo and elephant scale better with 3.75" figures, like the included Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson Smolder Bravestone figure.  Pity about the size, but my Indiana Jones figures needed a good ride to Pankot Palace anyway.

The rhino works fine with 6-in figures, but since I had the Indy figures out, I decided to make a bonkers pitch from "Indiana Jones and the Monkey King" a reality.  I guess I still need to get on making that three-story monster tank?

The hippo is the hardest one to fudge in any scale:  slightly too big here, still out of scale there.  It may be the head that's way out of proportion.  Maybe the cartoony, oversized noggin would work best menacing Explorer Mario? (Or is that you, Jack Black?)

I had to buy another rhino as part of the set to get the vulture and wolf, but I still think it's worth it.  Can one have too many of any of these critters?  The set came with another Smolder Bravestone and a Jumanji jeep.  The Rock fits in well with Lanard's Rampage sets, his GI Joe movie counterparts, and any bizarre Indiana Jones 5 concept they are probably pitching at Disney right now.  Keep the animals coming, Lanard!

Check out my previous Jumanji review here!

Alpha Flight

Alpha Flight

Hasbro Marvel Legends

Hasbro keeps piling on the Marvel Legends!  Not much else to say about that, or the basics of the figures for that matter.  Their articulation scheme set the standard for 6-inch figures, no different here with Alpha Flight.  Sasquatch (waaay back in the initial Deadpool wave) had a long wait to be joined by Guardian (recent Wendigo/X-Men wave), and then a few months more for the rest of the team.  Instead of one big retail wave, Hasbro delivers the goods in an Amazon exclusive 6-pack.  And who better to show off a good 6-pack than Bob and Doug McKenzie?

Bob:  Good day, eh!  Welcome to Canadian Corn...er...the Great White North.

Doug:  Today's topic is, like, great Canadian superheroes.

Guardian is joined by Vindicator in matching outfit, with the same pearlescent white.  I would have preferred a flat white, but maybe the shine was to add something to the power of their suits?  Not bad, but a bit bland...though most team leaders are!

Puck is a retool of a build-a-figure that got lost in distribution.  I think he came out when the economy was in the crapper...talk about downsizing!  He was joined by Hit Monkey and Rocket Raccoon in the disappointingly small BAF years.  Man, remember when a figure of this size would have been a bonus pack-in with a standard 6-in?  Anyway, I'm glad to have a re-release, one with an improved headsculpt at that.

Northstar and Aurora have great, pointy-eared headsculpts.   Beyond that, nothing new here.  More of that pearlescent white?  Would it have killed them to have thrown in some power effects to help them stand out a bit more?  Sub in the Wonder Twins, hosers!

Shaman could have also used some power effects to show off his magic.  His choice of colors at least make him stand out among his teammates.

Snowbird has the flat white I'm talking about!  Considering her name, they would have really botched it with any other deco.  Really makes the blue and blonde pop.  She didn't come with any alt. animal forms, sadly...lucky I have a few laying around from the Toy Biz 5-inch days!  I also have a blueish-white Sasquatch variant for her. (Sorry, forgot to grab that for the photoshoot.)

My newer Sasquatch is missing his head, (I wasn't buying another Deadpool variant) but the Toy Biz era was a decent transplant.  Other than that, the gang's all here!  "Wait a minute, bub!"

"How can you have a show about the greatest Canadian superheroes and not invite the cream of the crop?"

"I'm the best at what I do, and what I do ain't..."

"Oh, hey, we gotta go!"

"That's our show for today...so, good day."

Yavin Luke Skywalker

Yavin Luke Skywalker

Hasbro - Star Wars Vintage Collection

It’s that special time of year again, lil Wookies.  Put on your red robes, grab your glowing orbs, and head on over to the Tree of Life to celebrate the one true Star Wars Day.  Yes, November 17th is the 41st anniversary of Life Day and the Star Wars Holiday Special!  I’ve got all my Wookiee action figures out to celebrate along with my customs of Chewbacca’s family.  This year, they’re joined by a special guest, Yavin Ceremony Luke Skywalker!

I picked up this "Rebels" Y-Wing Scout Bomber at Burlington Coat Factory for $7.

I’ve always loved Luke’s yellow jacket.  I imagine that kids around for Star Wars in 1977 dreamed up so many adventures for Luke with that look...but were stuck with the farm boy attire for 3 long years!  The jacket never made it to the original Kenner line.  Next to the lack of Grand Moff Tarkin, what a great travesty!  It wasn’t until Hasbro’s Power of the Force 2 series in the late 90’s that we got a Yellow Jacket Luke. (And Tarkin, thank goodness!)  And it wasn’t all that bad looking for the time.

This update is still a welcome one.  The face scan is near perfection, and he sports just the right amount of modern articulation.  He comes with a removable blaster (seen in a lot of promotional stills), Medal of Honor,  and a lightsaber hit that plugs into his hip.  Really, the lack of a fully ignited lightsaber is the only failing of this figure...but I’m sure I’ve got one or thirty to spare from the many other Lukes over the years!

The elusive Jurassic World Brachiosaurus...exclusive to Target.  *grumble grumble*

The sole yellow jacket adventure (no, comics don't count) is featured in the animated segment of the Holiday Special.  As if the debut of Boba Fett wasn’t enough!  Some losers out there believe this is the only watchable part of the show...but they probably suck Rian Johnson’s alien teats.  Who would have thought that forty plus years later, someone would make a more miserable Star Wars viewing experience?

I personally love the Holiday special.  Sure, the 70’s variety format was wildly inappropriate for Star Wars, but looking at it in the context of the time, it’s better than most programs of the same ilk.  Having this back right up seasonally to the Paul Lynde Halloween Special is pure bliss.  I challenge all Star Wars fans to concentrate all their Midichlorians in growing a sense of humor about their fandom, embrace the Lumpy, and give it another shot.  In the immortal words of Bea Arthur’s Ackmena the Bartender, “Come back soon...I’ll be waiting.”

The Holiday Special IS Chewbacca's medal.