TOP 20 NEW TOY FINDS OF THE MONTH OF AUGUST 2014
At the end of each month I, Brunpuppies, will put together a list of the top toys that I acquired over the course of the month. The number of entries will differ depending on just how many toys I got in that month. The order of the list will be based purely on my personal opinion of the items and is in no way definitive. I'm sure you the reader will have you own favorites and I am open to hearing about them in the comments section.
For me, August has been a HUGE month for toy finds, so much so that I will be doing two separate lists of toys. The first list will consist of new toys that have been released within the past 6 months to a year. The second list will have old toys that have been out of production for at least a year or much much longer.
The toys on this list are all new. They came from a variety of different sources. Some I got at the Boston Comic Con I attended earlier this month, others were online or store exclusives, others came from unusually shopping sources like grocery stores or clothing bargain outlets, and many just came from the usual brick and mortar stores.
10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Retro Collection Krang Action Figure (Playmates)
Krang is such a great, bizarre supervillain. Everything from the fact that he's a disembodied brain with a slurred speech pattern to the fact that he cruises around underground in a Death Star with tank treads and a giant eye is just freakin' awesome to me. How crazy is it that he just identifies himself as being from Dimension X? Not by what planet or or star system, but by what dimension! That's just odd.
I would have been happy with just getting Krang himself, because really, that figure just works with any Ninja Turtle line. His little robotic bubble suit is just icing on the cake. I'd love it if they re-released his big robot body too. I may just have to look for a cheap original one on ebay.
9. DC Comics New 52 Red Hood Action Figure (DC Collectibles)
This Red Hood figure my have been one of the figures I've been looking forward to the most this month and I'm very happy to have it despite a series of disappointments following the purchase of it.
As I was taking the figure out of the package, I knew realized right away that this was a very delicate toy and that it wasn't going to stay in one piece for long. Within seconds of thinking that, one of the arm blades fell off. After a frantic search I was able to find the blade and the knob that holds it in place and glue it back onto the figure. That's one point of articulation lost. The worst part is that I'm not much of a fan of the giant arm blades anyway. I would much rather see him with some smaller ones that are similar to the ones on Batman's gauntlets rather than these Edward Scissorhand looking things.
After the glue dried, I spent a little time trying to pose the figure, try being the operative word. All the joints are incredibly tight and the paint seems to have really made them stick. The plastic that was used seems to be very stiff and possibly brittle so I was worried that I was going to break something. It looks like there may be a swivel waist, but if there is, it's not moving on my figure. I got most of the joints to work after a while, but I'm still very worried about them being so tight.
The paint work is also just a bit sloppy like most of DC Collectibles recent offerings. Somehow, even with all these issues, I still really like the figure and I can't quite pin point why. That's how toy collecting can be, sometimes to love a really crappy toy and other times you hate a toy even if it's well executed.
As I was taking the figure out of the package, I knew realized right away that this was a very delicate toy and that it wasn't going to stay in one piece for long. Within seconds of thinking that, one of the arm blades fell off. After a frantic search I was able to find the blade and the knob that holds it in place and glue it back onto the figure. That's one point of articulation lost. The worst part is that I'm not much of a fan of the giant arm blades anyway. I would much rather see him with some smaller ones that are similar to the ones on Batman's gauntlets rather than these Edward Scissorhand looking things.
After the glue dried, I spent a little time trying to pose the figure, try being the operative word. All the joints are incredibly tight and the paint seems to have really made them stick. The plastic that was used seems to be very stiff and possibly brittle so I was worried that I was going to break something. It looks like there may be a swivel waist, but if there is, it's not moving on my figure. I got most of the joints to work after a while, but I'm still very worried about them being so tight.
The paint work is also just a bit sloppy like most of DC Collectibles recent offerings. Somehow, even with all these issues, I still really like the figure and I can't quite pin point why. That's how toy collecting can be, sometimes to love a really crappy toy and other times you hate a toy even if it's well executed.
8. G.I. Joe Retaliation Ultimate Roadblock Action Figure (Hasbro)
In last month's Toy List I stated that I had acquired all the G.I.Joe figures that were available at the Five Below stores, somehow I missed this one.
I'm really glad I recently checked out another store, because this Roadblock figure is very cool. It doesn't quite have as many accessories as Duke, but it comes close. The weapon system he comes with that consist of two handles that can have blades, batons, or guns attached to them is a really interesting concept.
It's too bad that there seems to be less interest in the Joe figures than some of the other 3-3/4" lines, because you really do get more bang for your buck with these toys. Unfortunately the movie these figures are based on, wasn't very good which dulled a lot of people's interest in the property. As far as I'm concerned, the Joes were toys far before they had movies, so that is what I think of them as.
I'm really glad I recently checked out another store, because this Roadblock figure is very cool. It doesn't quite have as many accessories as Duke, but it comes close. The weapon system he comes with that consist of two handles that can have blades, batons, or guns attached to them is a really interesting concept.
It's too bad that there seems to be less interest in the Joe figures than some of the other 3-3/4" lines, because you really do get more bang for your buck with these toys. Unfortunately the movie these figures are based on, wasn't very good which dulled a lot of people's interest in the property. As far as I'm concerned, the Joes were toys far before they had movies, so that is what I think of them as.
7. (Tie) Star Wars Black Series Anakin Skywalker Action Figure (Hasbro)
I was very surprised to find this figure at Boston Comic Con for well below retail price. I would guess that is because scalp--I mean vendors are just jacking up the price of Chewbacca and the Clone Troopers to make up for it (although I didn't see either of those at the Con.) Whatever that reason, I was happy to not to pay full price, not because it's a bad figure, but because I am definitely less interested in the prequel characters than the original trilogy characters. I don't really have anything very exciting to say about this figure but I did end up liking him quite a bit more than I expected. I'm glad that he came with two different heads so that I can either have him displayed either battling alongside or against Obi-Wan Kenobi.
7. (Tie) WWE Elite Collection Series #29 Andre the Giant Action Figure (Mattel)
I am in no way a wrestling fan. I have nothing against it, I just have never really followed it other than watching it once in a while as a kid back in the 80's. I am, however, an Andre the Giant fan, mostly because of his role in The Princess Bride. Since it doesn't look like that character will be getting an action figure any time soon, I'm perfectly happy with this one.
6. Pacific Rim Kaiju Scunner Ultra Deluxe Action Figure (NECA)
Pacific Rim was far from a perfect movie, but it was exactly what my inner child has been waiting to see my whole life, BIG-@$$ robots fighting BIG-@$$ monsters. Any weak acting or plot points were made up for by rocket propelled punches and city smashing rampages. This property in the hands of an action figure power house like NECA is a match made in heaven. I'm very happy that after the first series, NECA no longer had to worry about trying to get their products into Walmart, because without that restriction, the Kaijus figures became way more massive and impressive looking.
Like Trespasser and Battle Damaged Knifehead, Scunner uses the same base body, yet somehow this one manages to be my favorite. I think it's a combination of the awesome head sculpt/design and the eye-catching turquoise markings. I really hope we get many more figures in this line, but hopefully we'll get some with totally unique body shapes. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that NECA retains the rights for the sequel and animated series.
TOY REVIEWS:
Click Here for a review of the Nicktoons Ninja Turtles Slash action figure.
Click Here for a review of the Ninja Turtles Movie Shredder action figure.
Click Here for a review of the Ninja Turtles Movie Raphael action figure.
Click Here for a review of the Ninja Turtles Movie Shredder action figure.
Click Here for a review of the Ninja Turtles Movie Raphael action figure.
Click Here for a review of Marvel Select Amazing Spider-Man 2 action figure.
Click Here for a review of Warrior Claw Wolverine action figure.
Click Here for a review of the DC Collectibles Batman action figure.
Click Here for a review of the DC Collectibles Nightwing action figure.
Click Here for a review of Talon and other action figures.
Click Here for a review of the DC Collectibles Bizarro action figure.
Click Here for a review of the DC Multiverse '89 Batman action figure.
Click Here for a review of Link from Legend of Zelda.
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