Rock Candy - BATGIRL (CLASSIC)!

DC Comics - Rock Candy - Series 01 - Batgirl (Classic) - Vinyl Sugar/Funko 2016

Batgirl's classic look is one of the most nostalgic costumes for me in all of comicdom. In the late eighties I lived in a small town with three thriving comic shops and even a baseball card shop with a few long boxes of back issues in the corner. In all my hours spent flipping through backissues, my biggest treasures were always old copies of Batman Family. These comics were about 50 pages each (a major bargain in dollar bins!) and included original stories as well as reprinted silver age stories. As the name Family in the title suggests, these stories all seemed to feature the secondary characters in the Batman universe. This version of Batgirl was a major presence in these issues and I was smitten over her. Of course, in the present-day comics on the the same time, Batgirl was being crippled by the Joker, so my discovery of her coexisted with my first bouts of nerd rage. Still, my memories are mostly fond ones, and this Rock Candy vinyl figure brings all those nostalgic feelings racing back. Thanks Funko!

Rock Candy - BATGIRL (BURNSIDE)!

DC Comics - Rock Candy - Series 01 - Batgirl (Burnside) - Vinyl Sugar/Funko 2016

Vinyl Sugar has a lot of interesting product lines in the Funko arsenal. Up until now, the only ones I have been buying are Dorbz, but the Vinyl Vixens were always very tempting to me, basically because the character lineup seems specifically tailored to me. All my favorite Bat-family characters in one female-centric collector line. However, the design of those figures is very off-putting to me. The scale and proportions reminded me of Bratz a little too much. Not to mention the eyes with their creepy sexy gazes (imo). I would always stop and look at these figures in stores but would walk away wishing they were smaller, had more proportionate heads, and looked cuter. I honestly never expected such a product to exist, but then a year later here we have Rock Candy, the smaller, cuter Vinyl Vixens. While this is still not my ideal collectible, I am really excited about this line. I'm especially impressed that the first wave has two distinct Batgirls. Let's check out the first official Burnside Batgirl product below!

Gotham Mini-Mates - SELINA KYLE!

Gotham "Before the Legend" Mini-Mates Box Set Series 02 - Selina - DST 2016

And here we thought we would never see DC Mini-Mates again!  Gotham, Flash, Supergirl, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow all have the potential to bring us unexpected DC merchandising in the coming years. And I'm really hoping Mini-Mates are a part of that equation because these are some of my favorite collectibles out there. We got some great DC minimates with the C3 line in 2004 and again with the main line between 2007-8, but when you compare that to Marvel's 13 years of figures you can imagine all the missed potential. It's amazing to me that I have 5 different MM Psylockes, but this is only the second Catwoman. We should have a figure for Selina in every outfit she ever considered wearing. I've never known a character to have so many diverse yet iconic looks. But I digress. Gotham seems to still be going strong, but I'm not sure how much merchandising we'll continue to see. Seems like we get one more wave of Minimates and Select after this, then who knows. Fingers crossed for more!

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!

Marvel Mini-Busts - SPIDER-GIRL(S)!

Marvel Universe Mini-Busts - Spider-Girl & Symbiote - Bowen Designs 2010

Six years ago I was in a totally different place collection-wise. I was extremely streamlined, I had many rules and guidelines, and I had a much more restrictive budget. But that doesn't mean I didn't crave lots of product that was hitting the shelves back then. Missing this Spider-Girl 2-Pack was one of my big regrets. At the time the only statue had ever let myself buy was a clearanced Firestar bust from a store that was going out of business, but I wanted these two Spider-Girls so bad. Years later I finally own the set (at a fraction of the original price I might add). And it's just in time for my burgeoning Spider-Lady collection. Within a month or so we'll be getting Silk and Ashley Barton Marvel Legends figures and I'll be dedicating a whole shelf to the collection. As much as I enjoyed the character of Spider-Girl, I never took a liking to her comics. So these busts were the first exposure I had to the black symbiote Spider-Girl. It's a very cool look and I'm glad to have it represented in my collection finally.

Star Wars 6" Black Series - AHSOKA TANO!

Star Wars: The Black Series #20 (Rebels) - Ahsoka Tano - Hasbro 2016

Ahsoka Tano is exactly the type of figure I was hoping for when the 6" Black Series was announced all those years ago. As much as I love Rey and Leia, they aren't the most visually exciting characters. My favorite thing about the Star Wars universe is the various alien races. And there are tons of great alien females that I would love to see in this style (Hera Syndulla, Aayla Secura, Shaak Ti, Asajj Ventress, Luminaria Unduli, Taun We, etc.), and Ahsoka Tano is a great start to the roster. Ashoka first appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars as a Padawan apprentice of Anakin Skywalker. She was one of the central characters in that series, as well as in the current series Star Wars: Rebels. I think it's great to see an animated character stylized in a lifelike way to fit in with the movie lines. I know they are also doing this with the upcoming Sabine Wren, and I hope the trend continues. Mostly because the expanded universe incorporates many more alien females. Fingers crossed! Let's check out Ahsoka Tano below!

Mini Mez-Itz Batman Returns CATWOMAN!

Mini Mez-Itz Batman Returns Box Set - Catwoman - Mezco 2016

I love Mini Mez-Itz. The only trick to collecting them is harnessing your inner patience. It seems like the average figure gets delayed multiple times - sometime years late. But they almost always come out eventually (the only exception has been a few minor variants, like the unmasked Batman '66 Catwoman and Riddler). This Batman Returns Box Set was originally slated for last September, and honestly a delay of eight months is not that bad compared to previous waits. This is now the 4th (distinctly) different Catwoman Mez-Itz released (I say distinctly because there's a slightly redecoed comic-version Catwoman out there that I don't count). I'm hoping now that we'll get a BTAS version next. The only remaining Bat-lady on the horizon is a Suicide Squad Harley Quinn due out this Summer (supposedly). Although with the deadline of the movie's opening date, they may actually make it out on time. In the meantime, let's check out this awesome Batman Returns Catwoman Mini Mez-Itz below!

Imaginext Blind Bag - CATWOMAN!

Imaginext DC Super Friends Series 01 - Catwoman - Mattel/Fisher-Price 2016

I love Imaginext so much. I really do. But I must admit they can be some of the hardest toys to find. The Target exclusive Cheetah and Sinestro set is impossibly scarce and the Batgirl figure disappeared from the shelves in a flash. As far as I can tell, this DC Super Friends blind bag series only ever appeared in UK grocery stores. I was trying to be patient, but I caved and ended up getting Catwoman from eBay. I hope they show up here in the States eventually because I would love some of the others (1st Appearance Batman is my jam). Plus that "Series 1" on the packaging fills me with a great hope for future waves. I both wish for this possibility and fear the frustrating toy hunts it will mean for me. But they're so cool and inexpensive that I'll still be on the hook for whatever they release. At the very least I think a Supergirl and Hawkgirl must be in our future, not to mention all the random non-licensed blind bag figures yet to be unveiled. I can't wait. Let's check out this purple-painted femme fatale below!