Kotobukiya ArtFx BATGIRL!

DC Comics ArtFX 1/10 Scale Statue: Batgirl - Kotobukiya 2014

Kotobukiya's ArtFX statue line is the first series of "plastic" statues I've purchased.  Their Bishoujo lines of DC and Marvel characters as well as DC Collectibles' Ame-Comi series have been extremely tempting for me.  The price is much less than standard collector statues, and they come out much more frequently.  But there has always been a stylistic quality that led me to decide against taking the plunge (mainly they were too cartoony, too T&A, or both). But this ArtFX line seems perfect.  Sure, the faces seem to have a distinct anime style, but overall they are great comic representations.  My only qualm is that I wish there were more.  I think it's odd that we haven't seen a Harley Quinn or Poison Ivy yet.  Perhaps we'll see something new at Toy Fair next week.  I'm excited to see their new Super Powers statues, but hopefully that hype doesn't rule out future comic-styled characters.  There's so much potential I'd hate to see it squandered.  But I digress.  Let's check out Batgirl below!

Funko's Vinyl Vixens HARLEY QUINN Released!

Vinyl Vixens - Harley Quinn - Hot Topic Exc Pre-Release - Funko/Vinyl Sugar 2015

This figure was a surprise to see in stores before Toy Fair  A few months ago, I noticed a pinned post on a Funko forum asking people not to discuss or post pictures of the Vinyl Vixens before they were officially announced. I was clueless so of course I googled it and found these really cool glam shots of Catwoman, Harley, and Ivy in a new style from Funko. Then I hadn't heard anything until this morning when one popped up in my eBay feed with that little telltale "Hot Topic Exclusive Pre-Release" sticker. I hopped over to my local Hot Topic and sure enough they had three right on top of the new Harley display. I'm a little shocked at myself because I left the store empty-handed after some serious mental anguish. I love Harley. I love Harley even more when she's with Catwoman and Ivy. However, there were a couple aspects of this figure I was unprepared for (which turned me off). I'm still amazed that I overcame my temptation and made a rational collecting decision. I guess I'm growing up (a little).

Minecraft Overworld - ALEX!

Minecraft: Series 03 - Overworld Alex - Mojang/Jazwares 2015

I don't know a single thing about Minecraft.  Of course, the past few Christmases, Thanksgivings and Beach vacations I've lied and pretended I knew all about it to impress my nieces and nephews.  They're obsessed.  Every second of the day they're hunting, digging, and building with their adorable little noses pressed up against one electronic device or another.  I kind of hate the trend, but I try my best to be the cool uncle.  At least now I have a toy so I can speak with a little authenticity.  From what I've read right now, Alex is a female skin that appeared in Minecraft Version 1.8.  She is available to replace the main character, Steve.  These toys are simple and definitely not likely to appeal to the collector crowd.  They are, however, pretty darn popular with the kiddies.  More and more real estate in the toy aisles is dedicated to Minecraft (and its rival, Terraria) lately.  I don't think the trend will be going away any time soon either.  I think this figure is pretty cute and will definitely have a place on my hodgepodge videogame shelf (alongside diverse figures like Halo and Sonic).  Let's check out Alex below!

LEGO Mini-figures UNICORN GIRL!

Lego Minifigures Series 13 (71008) - Unicorn Girl - LEGO 2015

These LEGO Mini-Figure blind bags are getting pretty intense.  The sheer amount of new tooling that goes in to each new series is growing at an exponential rate.  Where previous waves seemed to take random existing pieces and use them in creative new ways, the more recent waves are seemingly doing the opposite.  Hopefully that holds true and we somehow get a slew of unicorn figures in the future.  I want a whole herd.  Pinto ones!  Palomino! Appaloosa!  As much as I find this Unicorn Girl the most adorable little thing in the universe, my aesthetics pull me towards more natural hues on my animals.  The purple mane and tail and the pink and blue stars on her chest wouldn't exactly be my first choice, but I'm still giddy over the girliness of it all.  The trend of having an animal-costumed character in nearly every wave is going strong and I couldn't be happier.  I predict a shark boy and a leopard girl in future waves.  Mark my words.  In the meantime, let's check out Unicorn Girl below!

Funko POP! DC Super Heroes ROLLER HARLEY!

POP! Heroes #66 - DC Super Heroes New 52 Harley Quinn - Funko 2015

Funko has a bit of a Harley Quinn addiction. Aside from the headline SuperBats characters, Harley seems to get the most love from Funko.  I now have seven different Harley Pops, one Harley Minipop, a Harley Magnetic Block figure, and there are upcoming Harley Mystery Minis and Wacky Wobbers.  For all intents and purposes, Catwoman is a more iconic character than Harley, but she's received only two Pops, a plushie Pop, and a Wobbler.  (I think we desperately need a comic style Catwoman Pop).  This Roller Harley Pop is awesome.  I think she's the best of the seven so far.  She's currently only available at Hot Topic as an Exclusive Pre-Release (exactly like the Arkham Asylum Harley).  My store didn't have them this past Monday, but they did get a massive shipment in Wednesday.  The only QC problem I've seen is the Hammer Mallet tends to droop on most of the figures.  I picked the best one and it's still a little saggy.  Let's check out Roller Harley below!

Transformers Legion Class - STRONGARM!

Transformers: Robots in Disguise - Legion Class - Strongarm - Hasbro 2014

I resisted this mini figure for a while.  I'm not quite sure why because now that I have her I think she's pretty great.  Strongarm is Bumblebee's second-in-command in the upcoming Transformers: Robots in Disguise show on the Cartoon Network.  I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of her in the toy aisles in the coming years.  The show hasn't even started yet and there are already four versions of her out there: the full-size  Deluxe Class, the blocky "1 Step Changer", a tiny PVC Tiny Titans blind bag, and this Cyberverse-scaled Legion Class figure.  I'm personally looking forward to the Kre-O figure.  She's already rolling out with the fervor of Prime Arcee and I expect it to keep coming.  There's even already a repainted Deluxe mold named Gurujibi solicited by TakaraTomy. These Legion Class figures have suddenly evolved into a bonafide little sub-collection for me.  The addition of Windshear and Strongarm to my shelves in a few short weeks makes for an impressive looking group of mini fembots!

POP Universal Monsters BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN!

POP! Movies #113 - Universal Monsters - Hot Topic Exc GITD - Funko 2014

The Bride of Frankenstein is easily the most iconic female monster of all time. She isn't exactly scary like her male counterparts, but she is definitely a very original looking character. That said, there are surprisingly few action figures made of her. In fact, if you discount dolls and bendies, there wasn't a true action figure of her released until 1998 (that's 67 years after her silver screen debut). Early Universal Monsters lines left her out in favor of characters like the Phantom of the Opera and the Hunchback of Notre Dame (both of which seem lesser on the cult-favorite scale than the Monster's Bride). I always struggle with what to call her, technically she should be "Frankenstein's Monster's Bride" but that just sounds silly. From what I remember of the film, I think they just refer to her as the Bride. I tend to get tied up in semantics. Funko released two version of this POP! figure in 2014: the standard release and this Hot Topic exclusive version which has a glow-in-the-dark face. Let's check out this beauty below!

Funko ReAction BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN!

ReAction Figures: Universal Monsters 1 - Bride of Frankenstein - Funko 2014

Funko's ReAction line is one of my favorite new lines of 2014.  When I first started becoming a serious toy collector back in the early 2000s, one of my favorite reference websites was Kevin Lentz's 3 3/4-Inch Archives.  The site hasn't been updated in about 7 years at this point, but I'm sure if it were, it would be brimming with excitement over these new figures.  There's something extremely charming and nostalgic about action figures from the late 70s and early 80s that gets lost on modern toys.  Funko's ReAction line is doing a great job of bringing that feeling back. While many of the (modern) ReAction properties don't appeal to me (Buffy, Nightmare Before Christmas, etc), most of the retro properties have me giddy.  For example, this Bride of Frankenstein figure finally fills the void left by her absence in Remco's 1979 Universal Studio's Mini Monster line.  As someone who was combing through those archives realizing the lack of women over the years, this line is a godsend.  Let's check her out below!