MiniForce: Super Dino Power - LUCY!

MiniForce: Super Dinosaur Power - Lucy & Triceratops - Jumpgo 2020

With the myriad of MiniForce product that have saturated the Asian toy market since 2014, it was surprising that a 1:18 action figure line (with associated in-scale mecha) didn't hit the market for six years. I feel like similarly-themed Super Sentai toys in the American market seem to hit the shelves right away. But it wasn't until the fifth season, MiniForce Super Dinosaur Power Season 1, that this line finally got made. Interestingly, the core MiniForce Agents were released in a variety of sets with different transforming armor or beasts over the course of several years and from several different toy manufacturers, but the human figures seemingly stayed the same throughout. Therefore I wasn't picky about which 3.75" Lucy set I ordered, but I'm glad I got one with her Triceratops beast because I love a good human-and-steed combo. I only wish there were more costumed female characters in this show so I could get more toys. Although with current shipping and tariffs, maybe that's a blessing. Let's check out Lucy below!

MiniForce: Super Dino Power 2 - LINA!

MiniForce: Super Dinosaur Power 2 - Armorbot Series - Lina - Toytron 2021

MiniForce is a long-running Korean animated series from SAMG (nine seasons between 2014 and now) that is notable for merging genre styles in a kid-oriented format. The show features a team of cute anthropomorphic animals who can turn into human-like Agents or Rangers (in a Super Sentai aesthetic). Then these rangers can pilot various mecha or robots (in a Transformers or Robotech aesthetic), and again back to Sentai when in season 6 and 7, the mecha would transform into dinosaurs (akin to Zords). for the majority of the series, there was only one token female, a pink fox named Lucy. But in the 6th Season (Super Dinosaur Power 2 - 2020-2021), a new white bunny character named Lina was introduced (sometimes translated as Rina) who turned into an orange ranger and piloted the Stegosaurus Armorbot. (Note that one of the core characters, Max, is a yellow beaver who is often represented with an orange hue. When Lina joined, he consistently appeared more yellow and her more orange).

Masters of the Universe - QUEEN MARLENA!

Masters of the Universe - Collectible Figures #58 - Queen Marlena - Altaya 2024

As much as my nostalgic obsessions tend to focus on witchy villain or strong hero characters, another powerful archetype for my childhood fascinations is the maternal character. These are rarely costumed characters and rarely ever get merchandised. But when they do, they are special. Queen Marlena is a quintessential example. As the mother of the most powerful man and woman in the universe, as well as the Queen of Eternia alongside King Randor, she was a constant voice of reason in my adolescent TV viewing. What I never expected, of course, was the events that unfolded in the infamous He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special where Queen Marlena was revealed an astronaut from Earth that was stranded on Eternia. I both loved and hated this development. I loved the new unique history of the character, but I having Earth be mentioned took me out of the fantasy (similar to the live action film). I was extremely happy to get Marlena included in this Altaya figurine line. Let's check her out below!

She-Ra the Princess of Power - SHADOW WEAVER!

Masters of the Universe - Collectible Fig #32 - Shadow Weaver - Altaya 2023/24

In my humble opinion, Shadow Weaver was the character that made She-Ra the Princess of Power (1985-1987) such a great show. The heroes in the Great Rebellion were all great. But, objectively, the were all pretty girly with pastel colors and toyetic (doll-like) features. The main antagonist was Hordak, who I really appreciated because he attracted the male He-Man audience. (If Hordak was more powerful that Skeletor, than She-Ra must be taken seriously, right?) But with such a female-centric show, the female villains were going to be the focus for the hardcore fans. Most of these villains were bumbling caricatures. The voices alone made them silly, let alone the many botched schemes throughout the series. But standing right by Hordak's side, and appearing in nearly every episode, was Shadow Weaver, the creepy and powerful spellcaster who provided a sharp contrast to all the pastel heroes and incompetent villains. She balanced the abundant stereotypes and leant a strong cool factor to the show. 

Masters of the Universe - SHOKOTI!

Masters of the Universe - Collectible Figures #50 - Shokoti - Altaya 2023/2024

One of my favorite things about He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983-1985) is that Filmation didn't shy away from having deep historical lore embedded into their storytelling. The fact that we learned about ancient Eternian civilizations on a regular basis was a powerful fuel for the fantasy genre. In the two-episode story arc "The House of Shokoti" (episodes 40 and 41), we meet the ancient sorceress Shokoti who once ruled over the dark half of Eternia but has been imprisoned for centuries in a magical pyramid until the events of this storyline release her. Ever since I first saw images of Skokoti a decade or so ago (I don't remember her episodes when they originally aired), I have been rather obsessed with her design. I view it as quintessentially Eternian with her relatively simple costume with headdress and cape, blue skin, and vampy demeanor (she has fangs!).  I would love for her history to be fleshed out more in the modern comics, she's too interesting to be so isolated. Let's check out Shakoti below!

She-Ra the Princess of Power - GRANITA!

Masters of the Universe - Collectible Figures #48 - Granita - Altaya 2023/2024

Granita has always been one of my favorite deep-dive MOTU/POP characters. She only appeared in two episode of She-Ra the Princess of Power as a member of the Rock People, but her otherworldly appearance and wonderful color scheme made a lasting impression on me. As a former art student, I was obsessed with Complimentary Colors and the way certain color pairings would "pop." But my least favorite was always red and green. I couldn't see the pair without thinking is was somethings related to Christmas. But I eventually realized that pastel versions of those same colors had the same effect without the connotations. So Granita with her two-hued green and two-hued pink opened up a whole new world of color theory for me. When I have a toy of her in a MOTU/POP lineup, eyes my instantly goes to her. It's interesting that she was included in this Altaya figurine line (of 77 pieces) over more popular characters like Frosta or Castaspella, but I'll take her gladly. Let's checkout Granita below!

Masters of the Universe - DREE-ELLE!

Masters of the Universe - 1:6 Orko (Timed Edition) - Mini Dree-Elle - Mondo 2024

This is the first Mondo figure I've ever opened. I also own She-Ra and Teela (and have Evil-Lyn and Goddess pre-ordered), but I don't know where to display those yet, so they are still nestled in their shipper boxes waiting patiently for me to make some decisions. But when I was photographing my Altaya Dree-Elle earlier this week, I knew I had to free this Mondo mini-Dree-Elle from her plastic prison and get her in my photo tent. It was very interesting that the 1:6 scale Orko came with two mini bonus figures. I don't believe any Mondo 1:6 figures have included anything like this before. It's also funny to call them "mini" - because they are almost twice as large as the MOTUC Trollans (So I would call these 1:8 or 1:6 scale). But I'm a sucker for the 80s animation of my youth so I couldn't resist splurging on her. I view Dree-Elle as one of the quirkiest recurring characters in MOTU. Now comes the the grand experiment to see if I can recoup my money by selling the Orkos. Let's check out Dree-Elle below!

Masters of the Universe - DREE-ELLE!

Masters of the Universe - Collectible Figures #28 - Dree-Elle - Altaya 2023/2024

A side-obsession of my action figure hobby has been European magazine figurines. In the United States, the only series to really gain popularity was the British Eaglemoss Figurine collection which gave us hundreds of Marvel and DC figurines between 2005 and 2021. The typical business model is for a monthly character-specific magazine (which read almost like illustrated hardcopy wikipedia page) plus a figurine of that character. This seems like a super popular format and multiple publishers from different countries have produced figurine and magazines. One of my lesser-known favorites are the Marvel and Go Nagai Robot Collection series from the Italian Centauria. But a few years ago I discovered this amazing MOTU Collection from the Spanish Altaya. To the best of my knowledge, they released 77 figurines in Spain and France. I managed to pick up 20. I would have bought several more, but the secondary market prices plus shipping added up fast. Luckily I got all the ladies. Let's check out Dree-Elle below!