ALF the Animated Series - RHONDA!

ALF: The Animated Series - Collectible Figures - Rhonda - Coleco 1987

ALF: The Animated Series (1987-89) was a prequel spinoff to the extremely popular live-action ALF primetime show (1986-90). While I wasn't the biggest fan of ALF overall, he was hard to avoid in the era of 5 television stations. Plus, as a young kid, the humor was just raunchy enough to make me laugh. I was aware of the animated series but only have vague memories of it (there was also another series, ALF Tales). Mostly I remember ALF's home planet Melmac having the feel of 50s diner, which I thought was a really unexpected choice. But the strongest memory was the new design of ALF's girlfriend Rhonda. Her outlandish pink hair and doo-wap outfits were very fun (and a far cry from her bland live-action appearance the year prior). But surprsingly, I had nearly forgotten all about this show until last Summer when I walked into a vintage seaside toy shop while on vacation and found this little PVC of Rhonda. The rush of nostalgia for this little piece of plastic was palpable. Let's check out Rhonda below!

Groovie Goolies - BELLA LA GHOSTLY!

Filmation's Groovie Goolies - PVC Figurines - Bella La Ghostly - Chemtoy 1971

In 1970, Filmation aired an interesting cartoon called Groovie Goolies. This was an animated variety show that seemed like a mashup of The Addams Family and Laugh-In. There were quick "bad-dum-tss" joke vignettes, musical numbers, and wacky animated shorts. All the monsters lived together in Horrible Hall and had a beatnik vibe. My favorite is the building switchboard operator, the vampy Bella la Ghostly. Visually she looks like a typical cartoon vamp of the era, but with a bubbly Brooklyn-type accent a'la Janine Melnitz. There are several regular female characters in the show including Sabrina Spellman and Hagatha the Witch, but the tall Morticia-like characters are always my favorite. Despite the toyetic qualities of this series, the early 1970s weren't a time known for television merchandising. But luckily there was a line of PVC figurines by Chemtoy in 1971 (that now cost an absolute mint in collector's circles). I finally managed to nab Bella at a decent price. Let's check her out below!

Marvel Gallery - LADY DEADPOOL!

Marvel Gallery PVC Statues - Lady Deadpool - Diamond Select Toys 2016

For a few short years, Wanda Wilson was a pretty regular character in Marvel Comics. Wanda was Earth-3010's version of Deadpool. Known as Lady Deadpool in our world, she first appeared in 2010 and was instantly pretty iconic. Sporting a costume almost identical to Wade Wilson Deadpool except for a long exposed ponytail, she is the epitome of a reductive gender-swapped hero. There is nothing really new or reimagined about this character, but I personally felt drawn to her. And when the Deadpool Corps was established, she firmly establish her unique place in the comic universe. And she was pretty popular in the merchandise department as well. In three short years, she had three action figures, a mini-mate, multiple figurines, a Funko Pop, Heroclix, and several statues. By 2013, she was killed off, and by 2015 Gwenpool was introduced to fill the "female Deadpool" void, and Wanda was left in the dust. This Marvel Gallery statue is one of the nicest representations of her.  Let's check her out below!

Marvel Gallery - DAZZLER!

Marvel Gallery PVC Statues - Dazzler (Disco) - Diamond Select Toys 2020

Dazzler is a character with an interesting history. She was pitched as a joint venture between Casablanca Records and Marvel Comics in the late seventies to sell comics, cartoons, and music a'la The Monkees and The Archies. If her first concepts would have been accepted, she would be a black hero (modeled after Grace Jones) named Evelyn Free using the codename Disco Queen to fight villainy with her powers to force the truth out of people. Thank goodness her name was tweaked and her abilities changed to light-based powers, but it would be awesome to see a multiverse Grace Jones version some day. This Marvel Gallery PVC statue is my favorite piece of Dazzler merchandise in my collection. It captures great great classic disco look in a statuesque pose at a very reasonable price. The Marvel Gallery, DC Gallery, and Femme Fatales statue lines from DST are very impressive. I currently own eight and I only expect that number to grow. Let's check out Dazzler below!

DC Gallery - POISON IVY!

DC Gallery - PVC Statue Series - Poison Ivy - Diamond Select Toys 2020

Poison Ivy is one of those characters that is very hit-or-miss with merchandise. I personally feel that most of her products are a miss. The interesting thing about the personality of Pamela Isley is that she exudes a sense of cold sensuality and seductiveness, but without the obvious tropes of gravity-defying cleavage or tarty makeup. Not that those things are bad, but they just seem out of character for Poison Ivy. When I first saw this DC Gallery PVC statue from Diamond Select back in 2020, I remember not giving it much thought. I (wrongly) thought her legs looked stubby and I thought the base was too large for my personal aesthetics. But then a month ago I saw her in a display case in a comic shop and was suddenly mesmerized by how good the sculpt was. She seems lost in some deep Botticelli-esque botanical ecstasy, and I can't take my eyes off her. The flower base and flowing hair create a sense of movement that makes for dynamic views from any angle. She is amazing. Let's check out Poison Ivy below!

Justice Society - THE HUNTRESS!

The Justice Society of America - PVC Set 3 - The Huntress - DC Direct 2001

I'm a sucker for characters with complicated origins rooted in Golden and Silver Age comic lore. And if that character also happens to be cat-themed, it's all the better. Paula Brooks as the Huntress first appeared in the 1947 issue of Sensation Comics #68 as a villain of Wildcat. She was his most significant foe, but still only had a handful of appearances before fading away for nearly 20 years. By 1980, she had a meager 15 appearances over 33 years. I first discovered her in an early issue of Batman Family #7 (1976) fighting Batgirl and Robin, which was dated about a year before Helena Wayne was introduced as an all-new batman-universe character using her name. I was intrigued by Paula's Catwoman-esque vibe but didn't become fully obsessed until I found All-Star Comics #73 (1978) which featured a Huntress vs Huntress battle. Years later in 1987 she was finally given a backstory. She was now revealed to be the daughter of Tigress, a Zatara villain (who first appeared in Action Comics #1, 1938). 

X Faction - IRON LADY!

Iron Lady (Unlicensed Pepper Potts Rescue) PVC Statue - X Faction Studio 2017

This was a figure I really struggled with. I've seen it popping up on eBay for a few years and I always been really intrigued. I love Rescue as a character. There have been so few female Iron "Men"  in the comics (Rhodey Stark and Antoinette Stark come to mind - but they are both one-and-done type characters). So when Pepper Potts donned the armor I finally thought we had one with staying power. And I have been proven right. The new movie has really solidified her in the public eye. And I really like the blue armor in the MCU. But it made me quickly nostalgic for the classic red armor (which I felt would be completely phased out in the blink of an eye). So I caved and bought this Iron Lady. There are two big moral problems with this figure. Firstly, she's unlicensed. I'm known to pick up the occasional bootlego, but in general I like to respect intellectual property. Secondly, there is some major dubious intent here. Be forewarned, this is an adults-only collectible. Let's check out Iron Lady below!

Kulipari - STRAWBERRY BULLFROG RANGER!

Kulipari: An Army of Frogs - Ranger PVC Figure - Mattel 2015

There aren't nearly enough anthropomorphic toys in my opinion. Sure there have been extremely cool toylines like ThunderCats, Biker Mice from Mars, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that gave us some cool product. But female anthropomorphic action figures are still a rarity despite the genre's popularity. Earlier this year I was perusing Netflix and discovered this Netflix Original cartoon called Kulipari: An Army of Frogs. The cartoon has a pretty self-explanatory title, and while I enjoyed the character design and concept of the series, I am just not in the target demographic and didn't love the actual show. However, I was intrigued enough to look into any toys based on the property. Surprisingly there was a set of small 2.5-3" figures released by Mattel in 2015 (they may have been exclusive to Amazon).  The specific frogs themselves are unrelated to the cartoon, but I just couldn't resist adding a pink frog girl to my collection. I'm going to seek out more amphibious characters now. Let's check her out below!

GOTG Miniature Figurines - NEBULA & GAMORA!

Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Figurine Set - Disney Store Exc - 2017

I just got back from seeing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and I loved it. One of the most impressive things about the film for me was the gender diversity. In many of the biggest action scenes there were more women on the screen then men. I kept thinking of the first Avengers movie and how Black Widow kind of got lost in the crowd. The Guardians really didn't suffer from that at all. I was impressed at how complex of a character Nebula has become. In the first movie she seemed a little 2-Dimensional, but now I totally get why Hasbro waited until this movie to give us a Legends figure of her. The new characters of Mantis and Ayesha were both great, too. The only thing I didn't love about the movie was baby Groot. I know I'm alone in this, but the adorable charms of that little guy have the opposite effect on me. These Disney Store PVC figures are pretty great. I'm excited to keep stalking the stores to see future movie assortments. Let's check out these exclusive Gamora and Nebula figurines below!

A Collection of Small HARLEY QUINN Figurines!

An Assortment of Harley PVCs - Schleich, Walgreens, & Deluxe Mini Figz - 2015-16

Oh Harley what am I going to do with you? You are popping up absolutely everywhere I look and I can barely keep up. I've been stockpiling little Harley Quinn figurines for years and lately I've decided to start combining some smaller reviews together. They are usually so small and inexpensive that they are hard to resist buying. But at the same time they often seem too insignificant to warrant a full post individually. Of course I always realize this after I excitedly photograph them as if they were the greatest find ever. So forgive the choppy nature of these photo sets, I truly intended them to be separate. Today's group will include the 2015 Schleich SDCC exclusive figurine (recently repackaged singly at Target), the 2015 Walgreen's figurine, and the recent Deluxe Mini-Figz blind bag figure. None of these items are particularly wonderful collectibles, but they are all fun little items that are near impossible to avoid picking up when you find them in a store. Let's check them out below!

Tiny Titans - CHROMIA, WINDBLADE & STRONGARM!

Transformers: Robots in Disguise - Tiny Titans Series 05 - Hasbro 2015

These awesome little figures were a complete surprise to me when I discovered them a few weeks ago. I was excited about the prospect of the Tiny Titans figures when series 01 first started showing up in the stores a little over a year ago. The token female of the Robots in Disguise animated series, Strongarm, was included in the blind bag first wave. I found her pretty quickly, but wasn't impressed at all. I didn't even think she was worthy of a review. I noticed a pretty quick succession of a second and third wave. No ladies were included so I pretty much just stopped paying attention. Then I stumbled across images of wave 5 which surprisingly had three really great looking fembots (including a second version of Strongarm that is vastly superior to the first). The fact that a G1 Chromia was included makes me super hopeful about interesting characters in futures waves. Arcee is a given, but my fingers are crossed for Elita-1, Firestar and Moonracer. Let's check out the three Wave 5 ladies below!

Arkham Knight Figural Keychain - HARLEY QUINN!

Batman: Arkham Knight - Collector Series Keychains - Elephant Gun LLC 2016

These new figural keychains from Elephant Gun are going to be a fun new obsession of mine.  I knew they were on the horizon but didn't realize how nice they would be until I saw them in person at Hot Topic last week.  The detail in the sculpt and paint apps is pretty impressive. Elephant Gun has historically been known for amazingly geeky car decals.  I you want a superhero family lined up on the rear window of your minvan, Elephant Gun is the place to go. I'm especially excited about the DC Bombshells series of keychains that are already starting to trickle out. I'm not a big enough fan of the Bombshells design to splurge on a statue, but for a 3" tall little figurine I'll gladly accept them into my collection. This Harley is smaller than an Eaglemoss, but larger than Heroclix. It's an interesting size. Last year at Toy Fair NY they showed off some product in the Wonderland Toy Co booth so hopefully I'll find some new goodies on display next month. Hopefully a Catwoman and Poison Ivy in this style at the very least.

Avengers Miniature Figurine - CAPTAIN MARVEL!

Marvel Avengers Figurine Set - Disney Store Exclusive - 2015

For years I've been noticing these Marvel Figurine Sets at the Disney Store.  Spider-Woman, Ms. Marvel, Jean Grey, Rogue, Storm, and Black Widow have all made appearances in these sets over the years, but the high price ($20-25 range) and the good-but-not-great sculpts kept me from actually buying any. Then on Force Friday when I was standing in line in the Disney Store I took notice of this Captain Marvel figurine included in the new Avengers set.  For once the sculpt was terrific, the paint was on-point, and the price was totally justified.  Another thing that kept me from buying the other sets is that the female characters always had goofy bases; Spider-Woman was clinging to a brick wall, Ms. Marvel was floating on a cloud, etc. I'm not a fan of that aesthetic personally.  The simple black flight stand that Captain Marvel is on, however, is perfectly acceptable to me. This looks like a miniaturized Bowen statue and I think it's simply gorgeous.  Let's check out Captain Marvel below!

Target Exclusive MONSTER HIGH Figurines!

Monster High -  Scary Cute Howl-oween Figures - Target - Just Play Toys 2014

I don't know anything about Monster High.  I don't collect dolls (contrary to what my father thinks) and I've never seen the cartoons.  Despite that though, it's hard not be at least peripherally aware of this uber-popular brand.  The impact these characters have had on the toy world is undeniable.  I personally love how they took a girly medium (fashion dolls) and made it edgy and cool.  The fact that Toys R Us has an entire girl's aisle that isn't pink is startling.  Plus they regularly have convention exclusives aimed at adults (which greatly increases their street cred in my opinion).  I've always wanted some representation of this brand in my collection, but I just couldn't get past the "doll-ness" of them.  Then luckily these Target exclusive Halloween figures came around.  They aren't too large; They aren't too expensive; And the series seems finite.  Basically they are the perfect resolution to my Monster High vacancy.  Now I'm secretly hoping they make some more characters.  Let's check out these 5 ladies below!

DC Direct's QUEEN BEE!

Silver Age Justice League of America (Villains) - 7-Piece PVC Set - DC Direct 2001

Welcome to Bee Week here at She's Fantastic!  Due to a wonderfully insectile beauty that should be arriving in my mailbox at the end of this week, I decided to do a anticipatory review series of some of my favorite bee-themed ladies out there.   Queen Zazzala is an alien from a civilization where insects have evolved into humanoid form.  Queen Bee is obsessed with her own immortality and having her hive of bee-men loot other planets.  She is such a classic DC villain that it's a little shocking that we don't see more of her.  In her more modern incarnations, she is very alien/insectile looking, but I much prefer this classic look.  DC Direct used to be great at putting out high end collectible figurine sets.  These were usually full of characters that you would be unlikely to see in a full 6-7" scale.  The best thing about them for me is their size.  They're not as tiny as you would think from a PVC figurine and are actually perfectly in scale with modern G.I.Joes.  Let's check out Queen Bee below!

Snoopy's Sister BELLE!

Peanuts Collectible Miniature Figurines - Series 01 - Schleich 2014

Peanuts is one of the longest running comic strips of all time.  The characters are recognized worldwide and are virtually unchanged from their original designs.  That's why I was surprised to see a "girl Snoopy" show up in a random ebay search of mine a few months ago.  I had never heard of such a character - despite some heavy exposure to the property throughout my life.  I called my brother who is a bona fide Peanuts fanatic (and the reason behind the "heavy exposure" mentioned above) and he informed me that this was Belle, Snoopy's sister (i was half hoping it was Snoopy in drag a'la Bugs Bunny).  Then last week I was in TRU and saw a new Peanuts display from Schleich. While some characters were glaringly absent (Peppermint Patty), there was indeed a Belle.  It was kismet and she left the store with me without a second thought.  Belle was introduced in 1976 among a litter a long-lost siblings of Snoopy.  She was raised a block away from Charlie Brown's house but they never knew. 

Assault on Arkham HARLEY QUINN!

Batman: Assault on Arkham - Best Buy Exclusive Figurine - Warner Bros 2014

First off, I apologize for the inactivity on this website lately.  I've had two wonderfully relaxing week-long vacations in the last month and I was totally disconnected from technology both times.  Luckily I didn't stop amassing ideas and toys for future reviews during my hiatus so now I'm back with plenty of ammunition.  Last Tuesday I went on a hunt for the newly released Batman: Assault on Arkham original movie from Warner Bros Animation.  I had a hunch a few weeks before and googled to see if there might be an exclusive figurine.  My hunch was correct and I found a blurry solicit image of a Harley figurine sporting this very cool new look.  This costume is my favorite redesign - after the original, of course.  I would love to see this in a large scale from DC Collectibles like the Justice League: War and Throne of Atlantis figures.  The movie is a story set in the world of the Arkham videogame franchise, but incorporating many elements of the New52 Suicide Squad - and I think the costume is a great blend of the two.

Transformers: Prime ARCEE Miniature PVC Figure!

Transformers: Prime Miniature 3" PVC Arcee figure - Unknown Manufacturer 2014
 
I've been seeing this little figure popping up on eBay from Chinese sellers (listed as a "cake topper") for quite a few months now.  I saved it in my Watch list and kind of forgot about it.  Then a few weeks ago I finally took the plunge.  Not that it was much of a plunge since I only paid a few dollars total.  I'm really glad I did get her though because it turns out that she's a very fun and detailed little figure that just happens to be in scale with the Heroes of Cybertron figures from the early 2000s (a massive perk in my opinion).  I often find myself pondering why this version of Arcee is getting so much merchandising.  I boil it down to the fact that she's finally a headline character.  She's surprisingly featured in every graphic for the cartoon.  But I also think a big part of it has to do with the fact that she's blue now.  As comfortable as toy companies seem to be getting with female characters in "boy" toy lines, I think pink characters will continue to suffer the same old exclusion for many years to come.  I'll take what I can get though.  Pink, Blue, Polka Dot, whatever.  Let's check out Arcee below!

Super Best Friends Forever POISON IVY!

Animated Style PVC Figure - NYCC 2013 Exclusive - DC Collectibles 2013

Lauren Faust is the animator behind the huge cartoon hits Powerpuff Girls and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.  In 2012, Lauren put her talents toward a series of animated shorts for the Cartoon Network's DC Nation show.  Super Best Friends Forever featured the mini-adventures of Batgirl, Supergirl and Wonder Girl.  Although there were only five shorts ever produced, they made quite an impact and the three main heroines were immortalized in an SDCC '13 Exclusive Box Set of PVC Figures (essentially plastic statues).  I was on the fence about these figures and still haven't purchased them (NOTE: They're being released individually with alternate heads in December).  But then they announced Poison Ivy as the NYCC '13 Exclusive (to which I was already going), and I knew they got me.  Poison Ivy only appeared for about two seconds in the second episode of SBFF.  Literally the entire short was about the girls racing to get to Ivy, then there's a couple closing shots of her just standing there.  So, needless to say, this figure came as a bit of a shock.  Let's check out Poison Ivy below!

Miniature Women of FILMATION'S GHOSTBUSTERS!

3-Inch PVC Figures of Futura, Jessica, and Mysteria - Yolanda 1987

In the 1980s there was a bit of a copyright dispute over the name Ghostbusters.  In 1975, there was a live action children's show called The Ghost Busters about a team of "bumbling detectives who would investigate ghostly occurrences."  It lasted only 15 episodes and was largely forgettable.  When Columbia pictures produced the 1984 box-office hit Ghostbusters, they were unaware of the earlier Filmation property and had to pay 500K in licensing fees to Filmation.  During the process, Filmation wanted to gain the rights to produce an animated series based off the new Columbia film.  These rights were never granted, and instead Filmation went on to produce an updated animated version of their 1975 show.  Whether this was out of spite, or just taking advantage of the name recognition, who knows.  Eventually, an animated version of the Columbia movie was produced by DiC and named The Real Ghostbusters.  The Filmation Ghostbusters animated series was a quite a success.  It kind of had a Scooby-Doo meets the Addams Family vibe.