Rescue Heroes - SANDY O'SHIN!

Rescue Heroes - Series 01 - Sandy O'Shin (Water Rescue) - Fisher-Price 2019

Preschool toys have come leaps and bounds since my childhood. For some reason action figures were always reserved for older children, and the only ones we actually did get were blocky and rather boring. But kids these days have a ton of really fun options. They have aisles full of cutesy articulated animal characters, super heroes, and the most recent additions: the new Rescue Heroes from Fisher-Price. This line is a reboot of a pretty successful run with the same name from 1998-2004. However, these new figures incorporate the design aesthetics of the wildly popular Imaginext line with the larger and more durable construction of the original Rescue Heroes. The initial lineup of characters has been available on the Walmart website for a few weeks. There are seven different figures so far - all featured on a series of animated shorts on YouTube Kids. I'm eagerly awaiting more brightly-colored, punny-named heroes. Let's check out Sandy O'Shin (oh brother, that name) below!

Rescue Heroes - SKY JUSTICE!

Rescue Heroes - Series 01 - Sky Justice & Hover Pack - Mattel/Fisher-Price 2019

When I started really getting into collecting Imaginext figures back in 2012, I was mostly excited about their DC Super Friends characters. But after a while I started diving deep into the history of Fisher-Price "adventure" toys and I discovered Rescue Heroes. These were larger scale figures (roughly 5-6" tall) featuring characters from various heroic professions: Fire fighters, police officers, lifeguards, etc. The line ran from 1998-2004 and had a ton of figures - including at least 19 females! But before you get excited, there were only three unique female characters, just with a zillion redecos. These figures themselves didn't really appeal to me, but I instantly had dreams of them being included in the smaller Imaginext line. Then in 2014, my dreams came true and handful of Imaginext Rescue Heroes were released (but it didn't last). Then there was nothing until this year's Toy Fair when Fisher-Price unveiled a whole new Rescue Heroes line in the original scale but with the Imaginext Aesthetic. Let's check out Sky Justice!

Marvel Legends - MICHELLE "MJ" JONES!

Marvel Legends - Spider-Man: FFH - Spider-Man & MJ Target Exc - Hasbro 2019

I don't usually collect action figures of civilian characters. Hell, I even hesitate when buying Black Widow figures because her outfits are usually so non-descript (aka boring). I want outlandish colorful spandex, ideally with capes and masks. But sometimes the execution of a figure is so nice that I gleefully push aside my snobbery and take my prize to the registers. In the Spider-Man: Homecoming and Far From Home movies, the traditional role of Mary Jane "MJ" Watson is replaced with Michelle "MJ" Jones played by Zendaya. I liked the character and the actress in the first movie quite a bit, but she wouldn't have been on my list for a must-have Marvel Legends figure. However, once I saw her in person she was extremely hard to pass up. This is 100% due to the amazing face scans. Hasbro used an earlier incarnation of the technology for G.I.Joe Rise of Cobra products in 2009 with frightening results. The improvements are simply amazing (with the exception of the bafflingly bad Captain Marvel). Let's check MJ out!

DC Direct - MARY MARVEL!

Shazam! - Series 01 - Mary Marvel (Standard Version) - DC Direct 2007

One of my favorite things about the 2019 Shazam! movie is that it rejuvenated my interest in Mary Marvel. I wasn't very familiar with this character before she became a regular character in the early 2000s in the pages of Infinite Crisis and 52. She somehow escaped my notice for most of my life. Of course, during this reintroduction period she was going through some major character arcs, changing outfits and allegiances every time I tuned in. But I also became retroactively aware of her amazing history as one of the first female costumed heroes (introduced in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 from 1942) and was really inrigued. But even still, I never went crazy trying to collect all her figures until I realized that she would be in the new Shazam! film (and we would even be getting a toy of her!) So, I've been going back and collecting a bunch of her merchandise and reading reprints of her classic stories - and needless to say she's become a favorite of mine. This DC Direct figure is my favorite so far. She's a classic beauty.

Beast Morphers - YELLOW RANGER & ROXY!

Power Ranger Beast Morphers - Yellow Ranger & Cybervillain Roxy - Hasbro 2019

Power Rangers Beast Morphers is the 26th iteration of the American Power Rangers franchise, but interestingly, it is based of the 36th iteration of the Japanese Super Sentai series from back in 2012. This is the first year that the US series is using a previously-skipped chapter from the Japanese show.  The themes are a mix of animal heroes and computer virus villains. At first glance, I was unimpressed with the designs of the Rangers. The Yellow Ranger, Zoey, is an avatar of a Jackrabbit. But I personally think the costumes lack imagination, and I really dislike the "sunglasses" features on all the characters. However, as soon as I saw the main female villain, Roxy, I was hooked. Cybervillain Roxy has one of the best Sentai villain designs I've ever seen. And learning that she was the first attempt at a Yellow Ranger that was essentially corrupted by a computer virus makes me like the main Yellow Ranger a lot more. (Now I really how we get a 12" Roxy figure as well). Let's check them out below!

Overwatch Ultimates - ANA (SHRIKE)!

Overwatch Ultimates: Series 01 Single-Pack Figures - Ana (Shrike) - Hasbro 2019

Of all the amazing figures in Hasbro's new Overwatch Ultimates line, I think this figure of Ana in her Shrike skin is the least impressive. While other characters are a colorful and fun blend of genres (mecha, fantasy, anime, etc), this one just looks dark and nondescript. That said, it's still a pretty cool figure. The teal, purple, and yellow details really add a lot of pop, but the overall look is still pretty shrouded and menacing. From what I can gather from my research, Ana is a character with many different skins. This Shrike skin is not her most iconic, so its inclusion left a lot of collectors flummoxed.  A cool skill I learned is that she can fire darts at her allies to heal them. Darts of healing potion is a pretty original concept for me. There was an announcement today of a GameStop 4-pack that includes (among other things) a new version of Pharah in a different skin. So I think it's possible that we might see an Ana in her classic blue-hooded look eventually. Only time will tell though. Let's check out Ana (Shrike) below!

Marvel Select - ROGUE!

Marvel Select - X-Men: Rogue (90s Jim Lee Version) - Diamond Select Toys 2019

I love a good villain-turned-hero. One of my first exposures to Rogue was her appearances in ROM: Spaceknight when she was my favorite member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. I also had a few random issues of Dazzler when she was being all villainous. All my comics in the mid-to-late eighties were from 25¢ boxes so I was living 3-5 years in the past. I didn't even realize she joined the X-Men until way late in the game. Then the double-whammy of the X-Men the Animated Series and the Lee/Claremont run in the comics launched her into superstardom. To this day I still run into people who aren't even into the genre, but if comics or X-Men come up, they inevitably start gushing over Rogue (and Storm). The Marvel Select line is really impressive lately. This Rogue figure is the second of four females due out this year (Psylocke and Captain Marvel are still coming). And the quality is getting better and better, so DST reveals at SDCC are something I'm really looking forward to. Let's check out Rogue below!

DC Direct - VIXEN!

Justice League of America (Ed Benes) - Series 01 - Vixen - DC Direct 2007

I mentioned during my recent DC Multiverse Vixen review that I was suddenly inspired to collect all the Vixen figures ever made (there aren't many). This presented me with a bit of moral issue though because I specifically remember being highly disappointed with this 2007 DC Direct figure when it was released (and vowing not to buy it). Vixen had been around for decades but was just being launched into A-level status by being included in the new roster of the Justice League in 2006. This figure was meant to commemorate her new status, but to me she looked like an awkwardly failed attempt at over-sexualization. Her breasts are larger than her head and laughably exposed. Bared cleavage can be beautiful and provocative, but this is pure male titillation and impracticality. Her hips and thighs look unproportionally narrow compared to her shoulders and chest. And the odd articulation in her arms makes her look like she is in a permanent state of airing out her armpits. This figure's popularity has been a mystery to me for years.