Power Rangers - LOST GALAXY YELLOW!

Power Rangers Lightning Collection - Lost Galaxy Yellow Ranger - Hasbro 2023

Power Rangers Lost Galaxy is the seventh season in the Power Ranger franchise from 1999 (based on the 22nd Super Sentai series, Seijuu Sentai Gingaman). The series is notable for having the first sentient Zords in the franchise. Each Ranger is paired with a Galactabeast from an unnamed wild planet that the Rangers rescued from captivity. Galaxy Ranger Yellow's Galactabeast is a large yellow wolf. A key weapon for each of the Rangers are the Quasar Sabers. They were all hidden on the planet Mirinoi, a seemingly peaceful and simple planet (perhaps void of technology?). The Sabers were embedded in stone there until retrieved by the the Rangers when they arrived to the planet and removed them Sword-in-the-Stone-style. Maya was a native Mirinoi girl who withdrew the Quasar Saber Yellow and became the Yellow Galaxy Ranger. This figure was a Gamestop exclusive in 2023 and continued to tradition of Gamestop filling in team gaps with missing female Rangers. Let's check out Lost Galaxy Yellow below!

Power Rangers S.P.D. - YELLOW RANGER!

Power Rangers Lightning Collection - S.P.D. Yellow Ranger - Hasbro 2023

Power Rangers S.P.D. (Space Patrol Delta) is the the 13th season of the US Power Rangers franchise based on Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, the 28th Super Sentai series from 2004-2005. For a long time, this season was my least favorite by a longshot. When there are themes of mythical creatures, wild animals, dinosaurs, and other toyetic individualized avatars, the idea of space police just seemed boring. Plus the large numbers emblazoned on their torsos (Yellow is 4) just seemed unexciting. But these Lighting Collection figures have really made me appreciate the designs on their own merits. Also, I learned that all the Rangers have genetic powers in addition to any abilities gained through Morphing. S.P.D. Yellow, aka Elizabeth "Z" Delgado (played by Monica May) has the ability to duplicate herself. Also, I love that the main Ranger roster here is the "B-Squad" and the original "A-Squad" have been corrupted and are antagonists of the series. A very cool plot twist. Let's check out S.P.D. Yellow below!

Power Ranger - S.P.D. A-SQUAD PINK & RED!

Power Rangers Lightning Collection - S.P.D. A-Squad Red & Pink - Hasbro 2021

Power Rangers S.P.D. is probably my least favorite of the Power Rangers franchises. It stands for Space Police Delta and is probably the most militant of all the Super Sentai iterations and seems more like a Sci-Fi series than Sentai. But the real reason I didn't like it was because it was missing the interesting design theme like dinosaurs, wild animals, mythological creatures, etc. Instead the S.P.D. Rangers were differentiated simply by color and a number on their torso. However, the toys of these characters always appeal to me. They have a certain tactical detail that stands out among my other Ranger toys. The two figures in this post area identical sculpts with different paint jobs. The A-Squad was a team of Rangers that vanished without a trace and paved the way for the B-Squad to be promoted to active duty and be the focus of the series. But I always like the darker palette's of the A-Squad costumes. The Red figure was a Fan-Channel exclusive and the Pink figure was exclusive to Gamestop.

POP Funko - POLARIS!

Marvel POP! #927 - X-Men Polaris (GITD) - NYCC/GameStop Exc - Funko 2021

Late June is the time of year when I get really excited about Funko Pops. Any day now there will likely be a series of Summer Convention exclusive reveals (usually followed by a few random product leaks from Asia that end up being Fall Convention exclusives). The reason I get so excited is because there is a trend of having one single essential classic female character revealed each time. These are characters never seen in standard store assortments, but they are usually some of my favorite characters. In the past we've seen Spider-Woman, Huntress, Zatanna, Stargirl, etc. Maybe this year we'll finally see Firestar, or Hellcat, or Bette Kane, or Clea - anything is possible. The most recent was last Fall's Polaris in all her green Silver Age glory. She's an absolutely gorgeous Pop that is both an obscure yet quintessential character. The average MCU fan wouldn't recognize her, but any semi-serious comic reader would know her significance. Conventions are the perfect way to deliver these ladies to our collections.

Power Rangers - RITA REPULSA!

Power Ranger Lightning Collection - Lord Zedd & Rita Repulsa - Hasbro 2020

I always love a ridiculous over-the-top villain. I love crazy schemes, maniacal laughter, and a healthy dose of buffoonery. Rita Repulsa is a quintessential example of this type of character. I only peripherally watched Mighty Morphin Power Rangers when it originally aired, but her image still made a major impression on me. As an adult collector who decided to re-visit the Power Rangers franchise 10 or 15 years ago, I was truly surprised that she had never been merchandised. But with a few years Bandai gave us a 4" figure that would tide me over until now. This Lightning Collection wedding 2-pack is a GameStop exclusive and finally gives us the Rita we've always wanted. Of course, my personal preference would be to replace the bulky shapeless soft-goods gown with a sculpted rubber number, but beggars can't be choosers. The headsculpt, shoulderpiece, and hands are sculpted with fantastic detail. It makes me very excited for a potential Scorpina down the line! Let's check out Rita Repulsa below!

Chronicle Collectibles - ALL-STAR BATGIRL!

Batgirl (Jim Lee) Statue - ThinkGeek/Gamestop Exc - Chronicle Collectibles 2019

All-Star Batgirl is an interesting iteration of the Barbara Gordon character. All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder was a limited series created by Frank Miller and Jim Lee from 2005-2008 (ten issues in 36 weeks.. sheesh). The title quickly became notorious for being over-the-top with story and dialogue. I'm not a huge fan of Frank Miller simply because I feel he bases his modern storylines on shock value (but I guess you need outrageous headlines to spark interest when the release schedules are so dragged out). The scandal-of-the-issue for Batgirl's first appearance (in Issue 6) was a bunch of dialogue that DC had to redact. It was a stunt worthy of a huge eyeroll (especially considering you could read the words through the redactions, which felt super intentional and cheesy). But that said, seeing a young energetic Barbara Gordon as Batgirl was really exciting. Cassie Cain was great, but our favorite redhead hadn't been in costume in so long. This statue was a welcome and nostalgic surprise. Let's check her out!

Star Wars - SECOND SISTER INQUISITOR (x2)!

Star Wars 6" Black Series #95 - Second Sister Inquisitor (& Variant) - Hasbro 2019 

When I first saw images of this Black Series Second Sister Inquisitor, I got really excited. Of course, that excitement was based on two big misconceptions and a subsequent errant theory. I assumed that this wave was all characters from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. And I thought that her red lightsaber was the same one shown wielded by Rey in the teaser trailer for the film. This made me wrongfully theorize that this movie would show Rey fully turn to the dark side and don a costume similar to Kylo Ren's. This thrilled me. I love the idea of a character switching allegiances in a grand way. But of course I was mistaken on every front. This character is an antagonist from the new game Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order. The Inquisitorius are an elite group of force-sensitive agents working for the empire. I forgot about the Seventh Sister Inquisitor which had a figure in the animated Rebels line. Maybe eventually we'll meet all the sisters? The game just released yesterday so I guess we'll see. Let's check her out below!

Batman vs TMNT - BATGIRL!

Batman vs TMNT - Batgirl & Donatello - Gamestop Exc - DC Collectibles 2019

Who would have expected that (1) there would be an animated Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, that (2) the movie would inspire a collector-grade toyline, and (3) that Batgirl would be included in the lineup?? I feel like this Batgirl figure has a very unlikely existence, but I'm so glad the stars aligned because she is such a great addition to my collection. A lot of recent animated DC movies have had styles that were a bit too cartoony, but this one leans a lot more toward comic styling. Plus the majority of Batgirl's Burnside comics were drawn in a more animated style, so this figure ends up being a surprisingly versatile design. (PS, she's voiced by Rachel Bloom). I haven't seen the movie, but I see from screengrabs and imdb that Poison Ivy and Harley also have roles.  I know it's impossible, but I would love to see them in this style as well, especially Ivy as she suffers from way too many cancelled or lackluster figures. Maybe GameStop and DC Collectibles will surprise us. Let's check out Batgirl below!

Power Rangers - PINK & YELLOW ZEO RANGERS!

Power Rangers Legacy GameStop Exc - Zeo 1 Pink and 2 Yellow - Bandai 2018

Power Rangers Zeo is the 4th season of the American Power Rangers franchise from 1996 and based on the Japanese Chouriki Sentai Ohranger. At first glance of the costume details and the Megazord, I always assumed this series was Egyptian themed (with weird "shape" vizors). But in reading about it now, I learned that they are based on an ancient unknown (fictional) Pangaean civilization. Each of the Ohrangers is also numbered - Pink 1, Yellow 2, Blue 3, Green 4, Red 5, and Gold 6. The visor symbols are representative of those numbers, Pink with a circle, Yellow with two lines, Blue with a triangle, Green with a square, etc. I always though the designs were random, so it's nice to know there's some sort of order. These two female Zeo Ranger figures were conspicuously absent from the waves hitting the big box stores and the rumors were that they would be GameStop exclusives. And sure enough this week they showed up at GameStops everywhere (on the website too). Let's check them out below!

The Bat-Family Ladies of PINT-SIZE HEROES!

Pint-Size Heroes Blind-Bags - DC Series 01 (Batman) - Funko 2016

The folks at Funko must spend every day eating cotton candy, making friendship bracelets and having sing-a-longs. The sheer amount of cuteness coming from their headquarters and flooding the stores is almost unbearable. Just at a time when I was seriously reconsidering my Funko Pop habits (sheerly out of concerns for space), they came and unveiled a perfectly tiny and adorable line of all my favorite characters. I'm really smitten over these little guys and I desperately hope there will be tons more in the future. The Spider-Man boxes are starting to show up now with a handful of cool Marvel ladies... but I already want more. There's something really nice about blindbags that are really easy to squeeze for your favorite characters. And if that doesn't work, there is a tiny window in the corner of each bag that will give you a peek at the color of the figure inside. (But be warned the Marvel set has a card inside each bag which makes the process much more difficult). Let's check out the Pint-Size Bat-Ladies!

Batman Returns CATWOMAN Dorbz!

Batman Returns - SDCC / GameStop Exclusive Dorbz 3-Pack - Funko 2016

I just can't get enough Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman toys in my life. I'm thinking the 25th Anniversary of Batman Returns in 2017 is playing a big part in the recent burst of products. The Mini Mez-Itz and upcoming NECA 1:4 scale figures join this surprise SDCC Exclusive Dorbz set to really bolster our Pfeiffer collections. (I'm still waiting on a mini-bust though!) This three pack was a shared Summer Exclusive between SDCC and GameStop. I heard that most GameStop stores only got one or two sets, but they were available on GameStop.com on SDCC Preview Night so hopefully everyone was able to snag a set if they wanted it. I'm becoming very addicted to Funko's secondary product lines like Rock Candy and Dorbz and I'm already eager for the NYCC exclusives. Since Funko products have a knack for making me appreciate underwhelming costumes, I'd love to see their take on a Batman & Robin Alicia Silverstone Batgirl. Fingers crossed that we'll get her! Let's check out this Catwoman Dorbz below!

Funko POP Suicide Squad HARLEY QUINN(S)!

Suicide Squad POP! Heroes - Harley Quinn (and Two Variants) - Funko 2016

I had a crazy day yesterday hunting down all the Harley Quinn variants before they became impossible to find. I'm officially limiting myself to sculptural variants (metallics and black & white repaints are just taking up too much space). I was in Target yesterday afternoon when I randomly stumbled across the standard Suicide Squad Harley Pop. I was ecstatic because I didn't expect her until later in the Summer. Then I looked on the back of the box and saw that there were two variants available as well. As soon as I got back to work I discovered that these were exclusive to Hot Topic and GameStop (I and *just* discovered a second ago that there's a Walmart Exclusive Dr. Quinzel-- arghh!). Anyway, it took some store-hopping, but within a few hours I had them all. The GameStop ones had showed up last Friday and were already hard to track down, but the Hot Topic ones were newly delivered and were in abundance. Let's check out this growing Harley Pop collection below!

GameStop Exclusive Funko BATGIRL POP!

DC Super Heroes - POP! heroes #3 - Batgirl - Funko 2015

You can probably guess what I was doing on Black Friday. For the first time ever, there were Black Friday exclusive Funko POPs at GameStop and Hot Topic. As far as the ladies go, there was a Black-suited Batgirl using the 2010 mold (along with a 1:8 Gold Chase variant) at GameStop and a Black & White Harley (w/Mallet) at Hot Topic.  The Hot Topics around me were sold out before Friday so I didn't have a chance. But luckily I was able to snag a bunch of GameStop Mystery Boxes and got two Batgirls. It's been many years since this Batgirl has been released so getting a repaint was a welcome addition to my collection. Unfortunately her quality control is pretty low in my opinion. She's the worst of my four Batgirl POPs by far (and I don't even like the old metallic variant). Both my Batgirls had pretty unfortunate paint issues.  I think her production was rushed and some quick decisions were made, leading to a sloppy product. I guess I expect higher standards for exclusives. Let's check her out below!