Poppy Playtime - KISSY MISSY!

Poppy Playtime - 12" Figures Series 1 - Kissy Missy - Phat Mojo Toys 2023

This is the figure that made me excited to start buying the Poppy Playtime figures that were hitting toy aisles this Summer. I always love modern 12" scale figures, but it seems that only a few toy licenses ever get that treatment: DC from Spinmaster, Marvel and Power Rangers from Hasbro, and Halo from Jazwares. (Plus the random one-offs like Lightyear from Mattel). But to see a new manufacturer with a new license like PhatMojo with Poppy Playtime is exciting. It's also cool to see a whole new genre (horror/horror gaming) in 12". This figure of Kissy Missy is appealing to me because her long limbs are inexplicably creepy and I love the simple gimmick of a spin-around head with a different facial expression. She is also surprisingly heavy and dense which is a far cry from the hollow plastic you typically see in this scale (and it allows her to stand firmly without fear of toppling over). I never saw this figure in stores, but she was readily available online. Let's check out the 12" Kissy Missy below!

Poppy Playtime - MOMMY LONG LEGS!

Poppy Playtime - 5" Figures Series 1 - Mommy Long Legs - Phat Mojo 2023

I legitimately think the most terrifying living toy in the Poppy Playtime game is Mommy Long Legs. This action figure seems so innocuous and sweet, but the few gameplay videos I've watched have changed my view of her completely. When you first meet her, Mommy Long Legs seems childlike and maternal. But throughout the game she becomes more unhinged; delivering the same mommyisms ("Play nice, now") in a more sinister tone and running in a spider-like fashion with her stretchy arms and legs. She has a "furious mode" where her skin becomes mottled and withered and her mouth forms an angry frown. But I personally find her "deranged mode" more scary. In this mode, she looks essentially the same as her happy appearance but her eyes are fully dilated and she acts and moves erratically. That juxtaposition of innocent appearance and unpredictable demeanor gives me chills. She's essentially a demonic Betty Spaghetty. Let's check out Mommy Long Legs below!

Poppy Playtime - KISSY MISSY!

Poppy Playtime - 5" Figures Series 1 - Kissy Missy - Phat Mojo Toys 2023

Poppy Playtime is a 2021 horror video game featuring an abandoned toy factory whose entire staff mysteriously disappeared ten years earlier and was shuttered. The factory is now in fact full of living malicious toys. You play a former employee who was lured to the factory with a letter from one of their missing coworkers. You try to escape the factory in maze-like corridors, being chased by the creepy toys and occasionally solving puzzles. I especially like the character design of the toys because they initially appear adorable, only to expose an extremely creepy or downright scary side. Kissy Missy is the pink female counterpart to the main male character, Huggy Wuggy (he looks like Kissy Missy but blue and no eyelashes). PhatMojo has definitely found a niche in the horror video game genre. Hopefully the Poppy Playtime line is as prolific as Bendy and the Ink Machine was because there are a lot of characters who would make great toys. Series 2 is already announced. Let's check out Kissy Missy below!

Bendy and the Dark Revival - INK AUDREY!

Bendy and the Ink Machine - Series 03 - Ink Audrey - PhatMojo 2019

PhatMojo has a way of surprising me with new action figures just appearing out of nowhere in the toy aisles. I actually think every wave of toys so far has been a surprise to me: Bendy waves I and II, Showdown Bandit, It, The Office... the only one I guess I was expecting was DuckTales (and I'm still eagerly awaiting that second series). This Ink Audrey figure is apparently the protagonist for the upcoming Bendy and the Dark Revival game due in January 2020. You will actually be exploring the Bendy world as Audrey. I'm assuming we'll witness her slow transformation into the ink monster we see here. Many of the Bendy figures from Series I and II come in both the black and white and yellow and white versions. I've always been jealous of the yellow ones because I think they look very striking. But this Ink Audrey is the first female figure in a yellow and black deco. I especially love the darker yellow eyes. These figures are also improving greatly with every wave and I'm always excited to see what they'll do next.

Bendy and the Ink Machine - ALLISON ANGEL!

Bendy and the Ink Machine - Series 02 - Allison Angel - PhatMojo 2018

Bendy and the Ink Machine is part of a great new evolution of video games featuring realistic textural worlds come to life. In Five Nights at Freddy's a haunted pizza joint where the animatronic mascots come to life. In Unravel, the hero Yarny is a sentient string man exploring his world. In Cuphead you're immersed in the world of classic rubber hose animation. In Showdown Bandit, and classic marionette shows has come to life. And in Bendy, an animation studio is somehow giving life to all its insane characters. I love this trend. I feel that creativity was missing from the genre for years and suddenly it's on overdrive. I don't actually know who this Allison Angel character is. I made the mistake of Googling her name at work trying to learn more, and I'm expecting the call from HR any minute. Her namesake seems to be quite popular if you're into the blonde busty type. This figure is pretty awesome looking though. She's creepy without being overtly "horror." I try to avoid gore in my hobbies. Let's check her out in detail below!

Showdown Bandit - MISS UNDERTAKER!

Showdown Bandit - Action Figures Series 01 - Miss Undertaker - Phat Mojo 2019

Autumn is my favorite season and Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, but October is also a month that has become extremely busy for me professionally the past few years. I tried to get a series of Halloween-themed posts ready before the end of the month, but alas, it is now November. So bear with me as I extend my holiday celebrations a bit.  Phat Mojo is a really fascinating toy company. Something about their products reminds me of the toy industry when I was a kid. I keep finding colorful, simply-articulated action figures on the shelves that I was in no way expecting. Showdown Bandit is a horror videogame from the makers of Bendy and the Ink Machine. It's features a defunct television studio where a Howdy Doody-type show was once filmed. The puppets are all now sentient in true Bendy/Five Nights at Freddy's fashion. This action figure line was a perfect surprise find in the lead-up to Halloween. Lorelei Undertaker looks like a weird witchy saloon girl, and I'm kind of obsessed. Let's check her out!

Bendy and the Ink Machine - ALICE ANGEL!

Bendy and the Ink Machine - Series 01 - Alice Angel - PhatMojo 2018

I'm loving the new video game trend of incorporating classic animation styles. Both Cuphead and Bendy and the Ink Machine are making a huge impact on the gaming world. And although I don't play video games myself, I'm kind of obsessed with them. Both games pay heavy homage to "rubber hose" style animation by greats like Max Fleischer and Tex Avery. What I especially love about Bendy and the Ink Machine is that it plays off the inherent creepiness of this early animation (at least I always thought it was creepy). In Bendy, you play a retired animator who is answering a mysterious call to return to his old animation studio - only to find that it is haunted and the old characters have come to life. Alice Angel is one of these newly-manifested characters. They each appear to have two forms, the original animated 2-D innocent style, as well as a second monstrous 3-D form where they usually look more realistic, but have deformities and are murderously insane. In Alice's case, half her face is melted and her halo is broken.