Stranger Things - ELEVEN!

Stranger Things Season 5 - Eleven & Hopper Target 2-Pack - Jazwares 2025

I truly wasn't planning on getting this Target-exclusive Hopper and Eleven 2-Pack when I stumbled across it in the Stranger Things specialty aisle in Target this time last year. I had just bought the single-carded Eleven figure and didn't think a second purchase with a slight sculpt difference was something I needed. But in retrospect I'm glad the fomo won out because I have a hunch the 3.75" Stranger Things line is going to keep giving us surprise releases, and I would hate to have missed out on this early figure. I don't know much about Stranger Things Season 5 since I've only seen the first episode or two, but that is enough to give me a reference for Hopper looking like a lumberjack and Eleven in her survival training clothes. It would have been better to get this second figure in an entirely new outfit than the single release, but they are pretty inexpensive so it isn't a huge deal. There are lots of chances for news figure with Jazwares' penchant for unannounced releases. Let's check out Eleven below!

Stranger Things - ELEVEN!

Stranger Things Season 5 - 4" Series - Eleven (Masked) Jazwares 2025

It's been a full year and I still haven't finished watching Stranger Things Season 5. The runtime of the episodes intimidated me. Several were almost two hours long and I just couldn't find the time to focus on it. However, I have watched the first couple episodes so I definitely know the reference of Eleven in these Goonies-inspired 80s workout clothes. We see her running survival courses with Hopper (in a montage that thematically reminded me of Sarah Connor in T2... training relentlessly for a battle she knew was coming). When Stranger Things Season 5 was about to debut, Target stores surprised us with an entire specialty aisle dedicated to the show. I personally didn't know Jazwares had won the action figure license. Previous year's figures were made by McFarlane, Bandai, and Funko, but this newest transfer was off my radar. The quality and likenesses of these small figures isn't the greatest, and some are downright bad, but they are pretty fun overall. Let's check out Eleven below!

Stranger Things - NIKKI!

Stranger Things: Tales from '85 (Netflix Animated Series) - Nikki - Jazwares 2026

Nikki Baxter is a new character to the Stanger Things Universe introduced in the Tales from '85 Animated Series on Netflix. She is the daughter of the kids' teacher, Mrs. Baxter, who gets attacked by vines and ends up joining the main crew of kids in their creepy adventures. When I found this toy at Target back in Springtime, I hadn't seen the show and didn't know anything about her character. But I have a penchant for the punkier people in life, so her aesthetic naturally pulled me in. Of all the 80's tropes that the live-action series exploited (not always accurately), I always thought the edgy counter-culture punk vibe was missing. And it seems like a pink-mohawked newcomer was a great way to fill the void. The Jazwares Stranger Things line(s) have been a little hit-or-miss for me so far. But I think the two Tales from '85 ladies so far are easily the nicest looking so far. I think animated designs are always a little easier to portray in this scale compared to live-action likenesses though. Let's check out Nikki below!

Transformers - VERTEBREAK!

War For Cybertron: Kingdom (Core Class) - Fossilizer Vertebreak - Hasbro 2020

There have been a decent amount of new factions introduced in modern Transformers lore. My favorites are the Armorizers (rocky looking robots that transform into rocky looking vehicles... apparently inspired by Inhumanoids) and the Fossilizers (Maximals and Predacons with skeletal dinosaur beast modes). I think these are both really fun concepts with some really great designs (and some not-so-great designs as well). There is also a fun added gimmick with these two lines in that the figures can be broken apart into all their component pieces and reassembled/swapped with other figures, creating new characters and combiners in limitless variations. However, my only female Fossilizer, the Predacon Vertebreak, does not have this feature (except for her tail!). This figure doesn't look entirely feminine, but she's small, uniquely designed, and I always appreciate another female "dinobot" in my collection - especially if she's an evil skeleton pachycephalosaur. Let's check out Vertebreak below!

Stranger Things - ELEVEN!

Stranger Things: Tales from '85 (Netflix Animated Series) - Eleven - Jazwares 2026

I think it's a very smart move for Netflix to rewind, continue, and expand the Stranger Things universe in the form of an animated series. When we first met the kids of Hawkins, Indiana way back in 2016, the actors we roughly 12 years old. And by the time Season 5 wrapped up the series, they were in their 20s. The youth and energy of the first few seasons is personally what leant the series most of its charm in my opinion. Movies like E.T., Stand By Me, Goonies, and Super 8 are some of my favorites, and the youthful adventuresome (and nostalgic) spirit is the main appeal for me. So establishing an animated universe for Stanger Things seems like an extremely smart thing to do. You lock-in the character ages and your special effects budget is no longer an issue. I personally haven't watched the series yet, but I love the character design. Season 2 of Stranger Things: Tales From '85 premieres tomorrow so I thought it was a good time to finally post these pics. Lets' check out Tales From '85 Eleven below!

Sonic the Hedgehog - DIGITAL AMY ROSE!

Sonic the Hedgehog 2.5" Series 25 - Digital Amy Rose - Jakks Pacific 2026

Jakks Pacific never ceases to amaze me with all their surprise releases. This Classic Amy Rose in an 8-Bit deco was just unveiled in an SDCC slide show about five weeks ago. And now I have her in hand thanks to a well-stocked Macy's/Toys'r'us. The existence of this figure itself is also a surprise. While the 8-Bit digital figures from Jakks have been fairly plentiful (I count nearly 30 so far between Sonic, Mario, Donkey Kong, and Megaman), Amy is only the second female (after the 2017 Princess Toadstool). This figure is great. Pixelated 8-Bit toys conjure an unmistakable nostalgia that's really fun and playful. I've tried to make my own (unarticulated) ones as a pandemic craft project with knockoff brick toys but it's very difficult to make look good. The process was so frustrating that I have a massive appreciation for figure like this. The sculpts capture the looks of the characters from every angle. I hope they make a 4" one to match the recent Sonic/Tails/Knuckles 3-pack. Let's check out Digital Amy below!

Marvel Legends - SPIDER-GWEN!

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Spider-Gwen/Ghost-Spider - Hasbro 2024

I remember buying this figure a few years ago in a fit of retail therapy after I almost died. It was around noon on the Saturday before Thanksgiving 2024 and I found myself driving on a steeply-inclined highway during an early-in-the-season snowstorm. IT was accumulating fast and I was sliding all over the road and losing traction on the hills... and there was only a flimsy guardrail between me and a huge embankment down into the dark woods below. When I next saw civilization I breathed a sign of relief, pulled in to a shopping center, and found myself walking through a Target for an hour while my nerves calmed and I waited out the storm. In my shaken state, I filled up my basket with all sorts of stuff I didn't need. I truly has no intention of buying this Spider-Gwen since I had so many figures of her already. But in retrospect, I'm really glad I did. The super-thin animated body sculpt is so unique and her punky hair color looks great. It only took me two years to appreciate her. Let's check out Spider-Gwen below!

Thrilljoy Pix - WONDER WOMAN!

Thrilljoy PIX - DC Comics - Wonder Woman (Event Exclusive) - Thrilljoy 2026

With all the Funko Pops I've bought of the years (dozens, possible even hundreds), I surprisingly never pickup up a single Wonder Woman. I have countless Batgirls and Harley Quinns, but for some reason Diana never made the cut. She is the most merchandised heroine out there, so I suppose I was intimidated by the notion of a potential deluge of star-spangled Amazons into my overcrowded toy room if I were to purchase a single one. Whatever the reason, it wasn't conscious. I've some to really appreciate the aesthetic of a "classic" Wonder Woman. I put that in quotes because everyone has their own definition of that word. For me, it's the Wonder Woman that I saw in coloring books and on lunchboxes throughout my childhood in the 80s. When I saw this Wonder Woman Thrilljoy PIX at Box Lunch a couple weeks ago, I immediately appreciated the design and knew she deserved to be purchased as the third figure in my new 80s' Ladies collection. Let's check out Wonder Woman below.