Lady SQUINKIES of the DC Universe!

The Cutest Little Collectible Rubber Heroines and Villianesses from Blip Toys

My nieces and nephews have been obsessed with these little toys for years. I personally never understood the fascination.  To me, they looked like overpriced gumball machine toys.   They're made of a really soft rubber, often sloppily painted, and they just seemed silly.  I guess it's just a matter of perspective though, because as soon as I heard there were DC characters being made, I was on the prowl like nobody's business.  There are presently four DC sets available.  DC Universe Series 1 & Series 2 are readily available at Toys R Us, Target, and presumably everywhere that carries Squinkies.  The Justice League and Batman sets are rumored to be exclusive to Walgreens (which is where I found mine).  Squinkies are less than an inch tall, come in individual plastic capsules, and can be played with in a large playset (which are glorified gumball machines which will dispense your toys).  They are usually sold in 2 formats: 1) Blindbagged single figures, or 2) Carded complete sets (usually sets of 12).  On to the Ladies!

Transformers: Prime Cyberverse FLAMEWAR!

Tranformers: Prime - Cyberverse - Legion Class Series 2:12 from Hasbro

Arcee gets a surprise evil doppelganger in the form of the Flamewar.  This figure totally snuck up on me.  I saw her in Target without having heard of her at all (then again, I'm a very inconsistent Transformers fan, so I probably just missed the news).  She is pretty much a straight repaint of the Cyberverse Arcee (that I loosely reviewed here).  Normally I wouldn't buy a such a blatant duplication, but I have a penchant for villianesses, so a non-arachnid female decepticon was just too much to pass up.   In the store, I seriously thought she was simply an Arcee with orange highlights, but side-by-side, they look pretty different.  This character appears to have never been in a cartoon, but has been around for at least seven years in the comic and toy worlds.  Check out more of her character details here and here.

Hot Toys DKR Cosbaby CATWOMAN!

Dark Knight Rises Catwoman Mini-Cosbaby from Hot Toys

There's a new contender for the cutest freakin Catwoman ever!  I thought the DKR Funko Pop would be the reigning champion for the foreseeable future, then along comes this pesky little Cosbaby to mess things up.  When the first DC Cosbabies came out in 2009 (from DC Direct & Hot Toys), I would have wagered some serious money that the line would not be successful at all.  I sneered at them, I mocked them, I ignored them, I paid twice MSRP for them a year later when I reluctantly caved.  They're insanely cute. This new Catwoman is from a new series of 9 Cosbabies from the Nolan film trilogy just hitting the market now. Run out and grab them asap before you end up a victim of the secondary market like I did.  My figure came blindpacked -which seems a little crazy at a $9 pricepoint -but most online toy retailers seem to be offering them individually or in sets of 3 grouped by movie.

Dark Knight Rises CATWOMAN Movie Masters!

Both Versions of Mattel's 6" Movie Masters Catwoman - Mattel 2012

If I confessed how much gas I wasted driving around trying to hunt down these two figures you would be ashamed of me. I broke down and ordered them on Amazon for $16.99 each (free shipping) a few weeks ago. I ordered two and luckily received both variations. I don't know why I hesitated so long, I think next time I will order right away, although I will always wax poetically about the thrill of the hunt. These figures are arguably the best Anne Hathaway Catwoman products made so far. They don't have a perfect likeness, but when you consider price, playability, and overall aesthetics, they really can't be beat. The two versions are "Goggles-up" and "Goggles-down."  There was some talk about the variation actually being the same figure, just with a packaging variation, but I assure you, the goggles do not move and they are indeed unique headsculpts (or at least different head-accessorizations).  They apparently have equal distribution, so no inflated "chase" prices should affect either one in the secondary market.

Dark Knight Rises CATWOMAN BEARBRICK!

Bearbrick Series 24 Secret Figure from MediCom Toy Inc

The Medicom Company of Japan makes the most wonderfully quirky toys.  Their line of Kubrick brick figures continues to amaze me with adorable representations of some of the most randomly awesome characters.  Where else will you find a toy of Gumby's mother, Edward Scissorhands' topiaries, or Audrey Tautou as Amélie?  The whole line is a collector's dream because nothing about it is predictable or boring.  Their Bearbrick line is somewhat less appealing to me.  This line uses a standard buck of a potbellied teddy bear, which in my humble opinion can tend to limit the aesthetic of the toys, especially when it comes to female characters.  When the first DKR products started being revealed, I started googling for a Catwoman Kubrick from the movie (which I still assume is inevitable).  One fateful day my search returned images of this Catwoman Bearbrick.  She was a "Mystery Figure" meaning that she wasn't included in the Series 24 solicit images (which had been circulating for a while) and only became known once she hit the stores.

Vintage Goodness: The Women of DINO RIDERS!

Harness the Power of the Dinosaurs with these 1989 Figures from TYCO

My parents didn't buy me many toys as a child.  We weren't poor by any means, but I have three siblings so hand-me-downs were a way of life for us.  As a result, I was endlessly coveting my young classmates with all their shiny new toys and I would beg to run errands with my mom just to escape her grasp for a moment to gaze in wonder at the toy aisles.  The build-up of this little story is that I have a very fond memory of finding a Dino Riders toy in my elementary school playground.  He was a green lizard-man with a gold-plated chest and a clear dome over his head.  I know I should have taken him to the lost-and-found box in the office.. but if you could have just seen that gold armour glinting so magically in the sunlight, you would have secretly slipped him into your overall bib too.  Dino Riders were awesome little toys with weaponized dinosaurs and warring alien invaders.. it was weird and brilliant and is one of the more recognizable toy franchises of the late 80's.

McFarlane Toys DANGER GIRL Series!

J. Scott Campbell's Amazing Trio in a Great 1999 Release from McFarlane Toys

The Nineties were a difficult time for comics fans.  There was decade's worth of painful, yet necessary transition that we all waded through in one way or another.  On the positive side, creator-owned comics and independent companies finally became major players; paper and color quality skyrocketed; and diversity in the types of comics on the market exploded. On the negative side, prices rose drastically; cheesy gimmicks overshadowed story/art quality (holographic prismatic glow-in-the-dark polybagged-with-collectible-card nonsense); most titles took on an awkwardly forced "extreme" tone (overly sexualized and overly violent); and overall comics just became very difficult to read.  At this time, I turned most of my attention to Dark Horse and VIZ comics who were steadily translating some amazing Manga titles and my distaste for what was happening to my beloved characters over in superhero

Eaglemoss Chess HUNTRESS Revealed!

DC Chess Collection #21 White Rook - from Eaglemoss Publications

I'm loving Eaglemoss these days!  I just bought the Poison Ivy piece last week and I'm getting very excited to collect all the bat-ladies together.  This time last year there were rumors of the line getting the axe; pre-orders being cancelled; uncertainty of how the DC reboot would affect merchandising; and just general doom and gloom about the whole series.  But now we've seen solicit pics for about 2/3 of the pieces and about 1/3 are actually in the stores.  While I am sad that we won't be getting Oracle or Stephanie Brown Batgirl, the excellent Babs Batgirl and the rumored upcoming Black Bat help ease the pain.  I love the look of this Huntress.  I was never the biggest fan of the previous Eaglemoss Huntress (although she was still amazing.. see pics here and here), but this figure makes up for her in spades.  She looks sexy, tough, and no-nonsense.  She should be on the shelves in November.