The Easter Bunny

 The Easter Bunny

The Nightmare Before Christmas - Diamond Select Toys

I think this may be the only action figure ever made of the Easter Bunny.  Well, aside from the “pink nightmare” Christmas Story reference we took a look at a couple of Yuletides back.  That one was more of an “action” figure.  This poor guy, while he looks nice, is more or less a statue.

He does have a ball jointed head, but that’s it.  It looks like his arms would have a standard swivel, but they are either stuck or glued in place.  The colors are great, the textures on the fur well sculpted, and the sash is well done...and he gets an Easter basket accessory with colorful but non removable eggs.

Speaking of accessories...this “figure” is technically an accessory itself.  Diamond Select has a higher end “Nightmare Before Christmas” line that features characters with either dioramas or smaller character pack-ins.  They sometimes break these down with less accessories and a lower price-point for Walgreens exclusives.  While this works fine for characters like Jack and Sally, this one is a bit of a stretch.  $15?  I guess he was too large to work in any other way for this model.  At least they could have thrown in a sack for the better value Lock, Shock, and Barrel set to drag him around in.  Or a freaked-out alternate head?  

$10 would be better, but at the same time, how often do you get action figures for holiday displays?  Ultimately, that’s what led me to buy it.  DST’s Nightmare figures are great, but Hot Topic more than over saturated the market with that fandom for me to care at this point.  I don’t dislike the movie...but give it a rest, folks.

Flynn - TRON

Flynn

TRON Diamond Select figures - Walgreens Exclusive

Bless you, Diamond Select.  Taking a buried-by-Star-Wars Disney property and showing it some love and light of day.  Their first TRON figures were worked into the Kingdom Hearts line, and they were fantastic.  Now, they are doing a three figure wave of Tron, Flynn, and Sark, each with piece of a buildable Recognizer ship!  Before those drop, single packs without the ship pieces are already hitting Walgreens stores.  Other than the ship piece, the notable difference in offerings is this figure.

What?!  They made the standard blue Flynn figure an exclusive?!   Yup.  The Flynn in the main line is the red disguise.  Normally, I would shun this type of promotion, but I have handful of WG stores in my town and they seem to be plentiful.

Best of luck to those TRON fans without a handful of WG stores in their radius...you will not want to miss out on this one.  I think he has slightly upgraded articulation compared to the Kingdom Hearts figures, and includes his disc and a display stand.  The sculpt on these are also more defined, less cartoony than the KH versions.  

Likeness wise, I can see young Jeff Bridges here.  It's not as strong as the prototype pics, but he's definitely there in certain angles and lighting.  Like most toys, a stronger paint job can make all the difference.  Everything else about the program suit looks great:  strong lines, bright paint.  His tunic is a flexible, rubbery material that doesn't hinder his articulation much and still allows you to port his disc to his back easily.

I am looking forward to adding this guy to Diamond's growing TRON offerings.  I'm off to print off a Master Control cardstock background!  End of line...

TRON Kingdom Hearts figure review

Black Ant and Atomica

Black Ant and Atomica

Hasbro Marvel Legends - DC Collectibles

An evil "Ant Man" teaming up with an evil "Atom!"  Are the combined efforts of our minuscule men (and women) of might enough to stop these tiny terrors?!  Finally, a mini DC and Marvel team-up...right here in my blog!

I really had no clue about the origins of Black Ant.  I assumed he was just a new Ant Man in the pages of the current comics I don't follow.  But after picking up his Walgreen's exclusive Marvel Legends figure for $10, I read up on him.  He's a flawed hero turned evil replicant?  Man, if the box had said "Evil Ant Man," I would have snapped him up at full price!

I'm not a fan of the reused "Pizza" Spider-man body.  It should be for Spidey only!  But, the color scheme works, and the paintjob on the eyes looks pretty creepy.  Considering the reuse and no build-a-figure pack-in, he should have some sort of accessories to put him on the must-have list.  C'mon...not even a miniature version of himself?!  Weak.

Atomica doesn't disappoint in that area AND features a new sculpt from DC Collectibles.  She would be priced slightly higher than Marvel Legends, but the accessories help balance that out.  The evil Atom, Atomica's costume reflects that of her heroic, alternate universe counterpart.  The goggles and belt are especially detailed.  Like the other DC Icons, she scales a bit small in true 6-inch, but that works considering that she's a girl and has the size-changing gimmick.

So, she doesn't come with a mini version of herself, BUT she does come with a mini version of the Ray Palmer Atom AND a dwarf-sized version of the Ryan Choi Atom.  Cool!  Ray comes with a stand and a "shrinking" effect.  Man, this is the second mid-sized Ryan Atom on my shelf...he needs a full-scale figure!  How about his Injustice 2 look, DDC?

It was nice getting to set up an action figure scene that didn't require some diorama or background for a change.  Also, as cool as Paul Rudd is...how much cooler would Ant Man be if he were a young Martin Landau?  Gotta love those inspired Toy Biz headsculpts!

Goku and Vegeta

Goku and Vegeta

Dragon Ball Z

Dragon Stars - Ban Dai

I'm not a big fan of anime overall, but I do have a soft spot for Dragon Ball Z.  Good memories of watching Cartoon Network's Toonami line-up after a long day of high school with friends.  With a mix of wacky humor and melodrama, absurd powers, and long, action-packed fight sequences, DBZ was tailor-made for that type of audience:  a super-nerdy soap opera of sorts.  And how could you not be pumped up after being introed by Optimus Prime?!

Anyway, I had some early 2000 Irwin Toys figures for some time that were 5-inch scale and had limited articulation.  Not terrible as far as sculpts go, but I sold a Frieza freezer bag full of them for $40 close to a decade later.  Big mistake?  Not at the time...I'm sure I spent it on more toys!  Though, I have been revisiting the series on Blu Ray recently and it has made me wish I had some of these now-iconic characters in my collection.  Luckily, Ban Dai has a Marvel Legends-type series of DBZ figures available to US markets as close as your Walgreens down the street!

These scale closer to the current 6-inch standard and have much more articulation than my older figures.  Sculpts and paint are clean, and the figures look just as they should leaping from the screen.  You get a set of interchangeable hands and, in Marvel Legends fashion, each figure comes with a piece of a larger figure to build.  Series one has pieces for Shenron, the dragon that grants your wish after collecting all of the dragon balls.  I am probably going to cherry-pick this line, so I'm not sure I will complete him (6 figures per wave.)  He looks nice, though a little small.  He's definitely no Fin Fang Foom!

I cherry-picked the biggest names from the series first: Goku and Vegeta.  They look and move great, though it kinda sucks that, in an age of extra head accessories, they still make you buy two versions of these characters to go Super Saiyan.  And would it have killed them to have thrown in at least one energy/blast effect per character?  I also miss the Dragon Balls themselves that came packed with the Irwin figures.

Oh well...I now have a Goku that can go toe to toe and scale to scale with Superman! (If you're one of those sad geeks who like impossible crossover "so-and-so" could totally beat "blank" debates.)

Bizarro

Bizarro

DC Multiverse - Mattel

Walgreens Exclusive

"Me no am last DC Mattel exclusive!" - Correct, you are the last of your kind, Bizarro Superman.  The end of an era.  But what a better way to close up shop than with a great, new rendition of an old favorite?  Well, maybe a classic-colored Superman on the new buck they are using here?  Sigh...Anyway, Biz is showing up at Walgreens stores now and you definitely need him in your DC collection.

He sports the same buck as the Rebirth Superman from a few waves back.  It's a great attempt at a new articulation set-up.  Some would argue not as good as Marvel Legends, but it gets the job done.  Like Superman, you get some interchangeable, flat flight hands good for salutes, karate chops, and...well...flying. 

While he does not come with a Collect-and-Connect part, he is packed with accessories that make it worth the $20 price point.  He's got a removable cloth cape, a-la the old Superpowers line.  The clip around the neck does look as bulky as in olden days, but it's not so much of an eyesore that I'm going to cannibalize another figure for a plastic cape...especially since this one has the correct, classic yellow "s" shield on the back (backwards, of course.)  I'm not usually a cloth cape fan, but it's necessary here for the awesome accessory gimmick.

"Me am Superman, me no am Kent Clark!" - It's so rare to get the alter ego and super persona in one pack!  Removable glasses, necktie, and tattered jacket...Lois can't see past Clark's glasses, so this should be good, right?  And to make it all the more appropriately silly, the cloth cape shines with the ensemble. 

The final accessory is the "Bizarro #1" neck stone.  You know...so you can tell him apart from the rest of the other-worldly clones.  - "What a "terrible, terrible" figure!  Low, low recommendation.  You no need Bizarro today!  No buy him right now!"

8-bit Donkey Kong, Mario, and Bowser

8-bit Donkey Kong, Mario, and Bowser

World of Nintendo - Jakks Pacific

Walgreens exclusive 2-packs

Finally Jumpman and original, mane-less Bowser are here to join Jakks Pacific's World of Nintendo lineup!  The downside is you have to pay twice as much for them, as they come in 2-packs with some previous offerings.  Seriously?  We couldn't get the same, flat 8-bit characters in another pose at least?  DK in profile or holding a barrel over his head?  

Eh, at least the diorama package presentation is nice.  And, at this point, you would probably be paying more than $10 for a single-packed Bowser alone.  If you're a fan of the retro look, and don't mind the more "display over play" approach to the 2.5 inch line, then don't pass these by.   They make great little desk ornaments.  The DK/Jumpman set is hitting Walgreens now, so happy hunting!

The Thing and Silver Surfer

Thing and Silver Surfer

Marvel Legends - Hasbro

Walgreens Exclusives

Walgreens dropped back-to-back Fantastic Four exclusives on us in a matter of weeks...and they're both heavy hitters!  While I have older Toy Biz versions of both that I was completely happy with, these are pretty much perfection and must-haves while we wait for the Fox/Disney merger to decide what happens with the future of these characters.  I can see future movie versions, but I wouldn't wait to snap up any great comic accurates.  

The Surfer comes with a couple extra set of hands, some energy effects (Hasbro really likes reusing the same three standards), and his surf board.  The board has one foot peg for his back foot, which it good enough for posing but nowhere near as fun/toyetic as the magnetic board that came with the Toy Biz version.  Everything else is great, though.  His silver paint job really pops and you can get him in a lot of great poses with the butterfly shoulder joints.

Putting the Thing out in toy form has proved quite divisive in some action figure forums:  "too tall, too wide, the shorts are wrong, his rocks aren't plate-like, he should never have teeth," and the opposite.  Blah blah blah.  Different artist have drawn him different ways, so you're never going to make everyone happy.  I was happy with the Ultimate Thing (even though I don't like the Ultimate comics) from Toy Biz's FF sub-line about 12 years back, but this new one from Hasbro has dethroned him and taken his rightful seat in the Fantasticar.  He's a happy medium with all those complaints above:  big, but not too big; wide, but not too wide; a head with teeth, and one without.  He's also got a set of open hands and a set of closed fists.  He's pretty posable for a big lug, and the detailing and paint in the rocks looks so so so so damn good!  What's not to love about this version of everyone's favorite ever-lovin', blue-eyed Thing?!

Sweet Aunt Petunia...even his butt is appropriately rocky!

 Walgreens has assembled the greatest rendition of the Fantastic Four so far.  You should still be able to find Sue, Johnny, and Reed on shelves right now as Thing and Surfer trickle in.  I wonder what's next...could the greatest villain in Marvel Comics be waiting in the wings for his time to strike?