The Gobbledy Gooker

 The Gobbledy Gooker

Mattel WWE

    Mattel serves up quite a Thanksgiving feast with this "Jaw-Dropping Debuts" two-pack.  Of course, we get a great first-appearance Undertaker as the dressing, but the main course is the Gobbledy Gooker.    

It's a crime the likes of Johnny Knoxville, Zodiac, and the Shockmaster got figures before this one.  He's a 24/7 champ, for crying out loud!  And even a spectacular fail like this turkey is, he definitely stands out in memory. 

He's appropriately goofy and brightly colored.  Mattel did a great job on the rubbery overlaid costume pieces.  And just look at those feet!

The accessories really take it the extra mile.  Who would have expected his giant egg?  Or an alternate head featuring his modern look?

The Gooker is a welcomed obscurity on my WWE shelf.  He can also stick around and hang with my growing collection of holiday figures.

Boo Berry

Boo Berry

Monster Cereals - Jada Toys

He's a year behind his brethren, but he made it home in time for Halloween!  My favorite of the General Mills' Monster Cereals, Boo Berry is ready to "Monster Mash" a complete an balanced breakfast.

Naturally, he's smaller than Frankenberry and Count Chocula.  He's lighter in articulation as well.  Of course, he ain't got no legs!  He does have a flight stand that keeps him floating like a phantom and eye-level with the others.

Aside from the stand, he comes with his mini cereal box.  No additional head or hands like the other monsters.  Not that he needs them, but what about compared value?  

It's all in the paint.  He's got a nice, ghostly blue that fades into his special feature:  He glows in the dark!  I love glow in the dark figures!

Unfortunately, he doesn't hold his glow for very long before needing recharging at your nearest light source.  Still, it looks nice and spooky for the short time one should be sharing at toys in the dark.

It must be the paint blend that keeps the glow down, because look at the cereal box:

Wowsers!  You can see every detail, even the tiny "GM" logo.  It's bright, and it lasts quite a long time!  The box he came in (one I will save, like the rest) also comes with a healthy green glow.

The gangs all here...well...not really.  Frute Brute is a must, and I'm partial to Yummy Mummy.  Poor Mummy got left out of the cereal prize promos last time around.  And now Carmella Creeper is here to take their limelight!  

Wendy's DC Super Heroes

Wendy's DC Super Heroes

Kid's Meal Toys

I couldn't even venture to guess the last time we got a Wendy's kids meal toy that wasn't at least half comprised of cardboard and stickers.  This DC Super Heroes promotion takes us back to days of old in more way than one.  Aside from getting our money's worth in plastic, these figurines are reminiscent of 80s/90s properties we love.  MUSCLE, CUTIES, Monster in My Pocket...sure they are cheap to produce, unpainted minis, but they are so much fun to collect!

The exaggerated, toony sculpt are right up my alley.  Refreshing to see an original take not tied to a horrible movie promotion.  Though, that's probably why I only heard about these through word of mouth.  (Coincidently while reading a retro article on Monster in My Pocket.)

You get three figures per box...three!  Unheard of value there!  Each set is a themed group with six sets to collect.  Well, to be a completist, you would be collecting 24 sets, as each set comes in one of four colors: red, blue, green, and purple.  It is a bit strange having a purple Flash...who do I look like?  Geoff Johns?!

Wendy's did us a solid by not sticking to true the "mystery box" gimmick.  There is a sealed box involved, but there is also a number and color for the set inside on the bottom of the box.  As an added bonus, there are mini trading cards for each figure!

I would like to see this theme return in the future.  The villains are way outnumbered and some DC staples are noticeably absent.  How about a whole Batman promotion to get a good chunk of his rogues gallery in this style?  

I imagine this promotion will carry on through Halloween. Don't sleep on these if you are a DC fan and/or fan of 80s/90s toys.  

Titan Hero Sentinel

 Titan Hero Sentinel

Marvel, X-Men '97 - Hasbro

Everyone's favorite comic-adapted cartoon is back!  No, not Batman: The Animated Series.  Okay, everyone's second favorite comic-adapted cartoon is back!  X-Men '97 is on the way with some new toys to boot!  Marvel Legends six-inch scale will be later, but the four-inch Epic Hero scale is beginning to hit stores now, along with a compatible Blackbird jet and and one big baddie:  the Sentinel.  

These "Titan" figures are about fourteen inches tall and can be good enough to stand in with Legends figures.  (Thank goodness for the Arcade Game and fighting games for allowing us to fudge scale on these army builders.) 

They aren't super articulated, but sport more than standard, twelve-inch scale Hasbro offerings.  Paint and detail are minimal, but they match the cartoon and the comic source material.  Big, solid robots...nuff said.

As for army building, I went in for two...for now.  I've already got the Haslab Sentinel as Master Mold, a couple of Marvel Universe, one Toy Biz build-a-figure, and two re-released/upgraded 90s Toy Biz.  Robots get upgraded all the time, so my head canon changes to explain the size and design differences.

These new ones are $22 each, but I got mine as Amazon Warehouse steals for $15 (damaged packaging).  I like them enough to add a few more down the line, but will also keep my eyes open for another deal before I jump.  

If you don't have any Sentinels to menace your mutants, you cant lose with these.  If you like army building, they are worth picking up as well, even if you have more advanced "machs."  Grab them now to reenact the soul-crushing opening from the original series where (spoilers) Morph bites it and Beast gets incarcerated for several seasons! 

Saurozoic Warriors

Saurozoic Warriors

Boss Fight Studio

Boss Fight Studio was already becoming one of my favorite toy producers with their recent Popeye line, Bucky O'Hare, and Zorro Hacks figures.  And now they've gone an done this...created an original line that should appeal to action figure collectors of the 80s and 90s.  Kids of all ages love dinosaurs, too!

Saurozoic Warriors are anthropomorphic dinos in bright, fantastical colors and proportions akin to Ninja Turtles or Toxic Crusader.  What's not to love?  Boss Fight has even gone the distance to flesh out a backstory for each character, all coming together to for one colossal conflict. 

One faction is total ceratopsian.  Triceratops is my personal favorite dinosaur, so I love that the central character/leader here is of the three-horned persuasion.  His battle-scarred eye puts him over the (cera)top!

The Brachiosaur is a close runner up.  The execution on the neck and head alone are great!  So great, that this one needed a double dip.  A Big Bad Toy Store exclusive gives us a skeletal paint job.  The new deco is built into the story, but I don't mind pretending that he's a completely different sauropod solider for army building's sake.

The "tank" of this group is the stout and wide Stegosaurus.  If the sculpt alone didnt ooze "bad attitude, they gave him a leather vest and the biggest gun of the group to solidify his bad-assery.  Its a little strange that the stego is the only humanoid dino here to retain a tail.  I guess its only of the identifying features of the stego, so hard to go without?  Or it just balances him holding the big-ass gun.

The ceratopsian guard is the army builder of the group.  Im glad they have the gas mask to help solidify them as the foot soldiers.  Also gives off the Toxic Crusader vibe I mentioned above.

While billed as a 6-inch line, these scale a bit small in comparison to other lines.  I think they are right at home with Masters of the Universe Origins, not only in scale, but in articulation and the shared techno-barbarian themes.  Maybe in an effort to resurrect the Snake Men, a time portal reach back beyond Preternia and out popped these guys?  Go ahead and connect them with a Battle Bones origin!

These do run a bit high ($30) for figures of this scale, but the fun-factor and rarity of being an original line makes them easy to support.  The waves should also be spaced out with enough time to budget for them.  Another wave is on the way, and I cant wait.  No sign of a Tyrannosaurus Rex yet...would make an awesome deluxe figure, Boss Fight.  Bring 'em on!