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.

Marvel Legends - SPIDER-WOMAN!

Marvel Legends - Spider-Woman - Marvel Unlimited Exc - Hasbro 2025

Once again the Marvel Unlimited exclusive figure has given us a fun variant we might have never seen in plastic otherwise. In June 2024, there was a variant cover of Spider-Woman #7 by artist Peach Momoko featuring Jessica Drew in a black spider suit with some face markings that implied this was a symbiote. This was a one-off image that did not correlate to the story (very similar to 2020's Kamala Khan as Spider-Girl, which was also from a single cover illustration). But it makes for a perfect exclusive figure. Meaning: this is not a crucial, nor even canonical, figure to own; but she's awesome for super-fans; and she is made from some simple repurposed parts (The 2019 Polaris head was a surprising choice, but it works well). I'm already so curious what obscure figure will be revealed for next year's subscription. I have a ton of ideas. But I will personally get most excited for any new Spider-Lady figure to my collection (so I knew this Momoko design was an instant must-have). Let's check out Spider-Woman below!

Marvel Legends - JEAN GREY!

Marvel Legends Vintage - Uncanny X-Men - Jean Grey (X-Factor) - Hasbro 2025

I think the inevitable dilemma of any hardcore X-Men fan is "what is your favorite version of Jean Grey?" As arguably the most powerful of the core X-Men roster, she has been the epicenter of multiple iconic storylines and had numerous iconic costumes in the process. I personally love her in green and yellow. My favorite is her skirted costume with the domino mask from 1967-1976, but this X-Factor (1986) costume and her green Phoenix suit (1976) are close runners-up. X-Factor was a book with a great premise - the original five X-Men brought back as government mutant hunters who were secretly saving all their targets. In the beginning, they all wore these classic "X" costumes in bold colors. Jean's was classic green and yellow for the first 25 issues until she swapped it for the red and yellow costume (I fully expect this figure to be repainted in red someday). This figure was a Target exclusive in the Summer of 2025 and became quite the shelfwarmer. She's great though. Let's check out Jean below!

Thrilljoy Pixl - SHE-RA!

Thrilljoy PIXL - Masters of the Universe - Blind Box S1 - She-Ra - Thrilljoy 2026

I'm a sucker for a tiny cartoony She-Ra figure. Unlike a lot of iconic heroes, She-Ra doesn't get this playful treatment very often. She's had a handful of Funko Pops (2013, 2021a, 2021b, and 2022), a very cool Dorbz, a criminally-scarce Rock Candy, an "unreleased" Eternia Mini, and a recent Funko Mystery Mini. That may seem like a decent list, but He-Man literally has dozens of figures in this aesthetic, so her exclusion from a lot of these lines is very noticeable to me. Luckily, Thrilljoy, the new vinyl collectible company by Brian Mariotti (the former CEO of Funko), has produced a She-Ra vinyl in two scales so far (plus a variant). That's a very strong showing right out of the gate for me. The character selection for Thrilljoy seems a bit random without the clearly defined "waves" of characters belonging to the same license we've come to expect. But that kind of excited me because I immediately dreamed of a Cheetara and Jem to display along with her. Fingers crossed! Let's check out She-Ra below!