A Handful of Miniature SUPER MARIO PRINCESSES!

Princess Peach & Princess Daisy - K'NEX & Popco Entertainment 2013 & 2009
 
I can't help but think that every geek out there has a soft spot for Super Mario Bros.  For me, this game was my first exposure to home video games (aside from Pong and early TI computer games like Parsec, Alpiner, and Munch Man).  Super Mario Bros was different though.  It was in-depth, it was challenging, it was full of wacky scenarios, and it had a musical score that really got your heart racing in those underground levels.  The goal was, predictably, to rescue the princess from the evil Bowser.  Princess Toadstool, as she was known back then, was an early version of the Blonde-haired, pink-dressed damsel that became an awesome playable character in Super Mario Bros 2 and has since starred in tons of games (including her own).  Princess Peach (The brunette, Yellow-dressed princess) has had an equally prominant role in the Mario mythos since her debut in Game Boy's Super Mario Land in 1989.  Their characters have each had a ton of merchandising over the years, but I am only highlighting two of the more recent (and more accessible) products to have surfaced in recent years.  Let's check them out below!

DC Direct's PROMETHEA (with SOPHIE)!

Alan Moore's Promethea & Sophie Bangs - DC Direct & ABC Comics 2002
 
Promethea is one of my favorite creations of Alan Moore, the profound writer behind such modern classics as Watchmen, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, V for Vendetta, and others.  (Plus very notable work with such established characters as Batman, Swamp Thing, and of course Marvelman).  Promethea was also my first exposure to the brilliantly experimental comic art of J.H.Williams III who is currently thrilling the readers of Batwoman with his innovative manipulations of sequential art (Just pick up a Batwoman graphic novel and check out what genius things that man can do with a page of comic panels).  With both the art and storylines of Promethea being so extremely solid, it was no surprise that these characters were given the action figure treatment relatively early (3 years after their debut).  These figures are great.  Yes, they are a little pre-posed, but the beautiful Tim Bruckner sculpts and high quality production from DC Direct make them must-haves for any collector of indie characters.

WWE Superstar ROSA MENDES!

WWE Superstar #46 Rosa Mendes - Mattel 2013

Wrestling figures have come a long way over the years.  I've praised Mattel's amazing work with their WWE line many times in previous reviews and this figure gets all the same accolades.  The only frustrating thing about this figure is that (as beautiful as she is) I just don't care about wrestling.  Meanwhile I have a great love for DC Comics characters, but I feel that Mattel has let that line deteriorate into a mere shadow of what it could be.  That said, I love good female figures regardless of the property, so keep these wrestling ladies coming Mattel!  Rosa Mendes is a Canadian wrestler and former model who first started working with WWE in 2006.  Early on, they played her up as a fan of Beth Phoenix who would often be seen in the audience holding signs and cheering Beth on.  Eventually they had her jump the guardrail and join in the fight to defend Beth against Melina.  I thought that was a pretty cool and creative way to introduce a new wrestler.  Let's check out this figure in detail below!

The Women of TERRAHAWKS!

Captain Mary Falconer, Captain Kate Kestrel, and Zelda - BanDai 1983
 
Gerry Anderson had made quite a name for himself in the science fiction arena with his early hits including Thunderbirds (1965), Stingray (1964), and Captain Scarlet (1967).  When Terrahawks debuted in 1983, it had been 10 years since he had produced a 100% puppetry show.  His previous specialty of Supermarionation was out of budget for this new production and so he dubbed his new process of using latex puppets instead of marionettes, Supermacromation.  While originally thought of as a step backward in the Anderson technique, the latex puppets with no strings allowed for much smoother motions.  The storyline of Terrahawks is a typical adventure of a specialized Earth force fighting an encroaching menace.  In this case it is the alien android Zelda and her hoards of invaders from the planet Guk.  The Terrahawks are a team of five Earth pilots (and an array of R2D2-type robots) that pilot various bird-themed ships.  This series was also known for including a lot more humor than previous Anderson properties.  Let's check out these figures below!

Avengers Assemble BLACK WIDOW!

Avengers Assemble - Inferno Cannon Black Widow - Hasbro 2013
 
Finally a 3.75" Black Widow figure that I can be proud of!  Avengers Assemble is a new animated series that began airing on Disney XD in May of 2013.  I personally have not watched any of these episodes, but I've seen lots of print advertisements in the comics and I think the character design is really well done; simplified enough to give it that "animated" feel, but realistic enough to make it appeal to the comic and movie fans.  This figure used the same body as the Avengers Movie Black Widow, but with a newly sculpted head and accessories.  The accessories aren't nearly as cool (or appropriate for this character) as previous versions, but that's par for the course when it comes to a line targeted at kids.  Black Widow is still a surprising choice to me as the sole female member of the modern Avengers.  I would think Captain Marvel or Spider-Woman would have more mass appeal (and pack more of a punch), but she's really growing on me.  The espionage angle is a skill none of the other members come close to mastering, so she's actually a very worthy addition to the roster.  Let's check out this figure below!

Transformers: Prime - Beast Hunters ARCEE!

Transformers: Prime - Beast Hunters  - Deluxe Class Series 2:12 - Hasbro 2013

Now this is the kind of retooling I can really get down with.  In March of 2012, Hasbro released their third Transformers: Prime Arcee figure in just a few months.  At the time, I thought it was crazy that a single character should get so much attention (and so quickly).  Plus all three toys were completely unique sculpts.  Flash forward a year and half and we now have a fourth Arcee figure.  This figure, however, is a retooling of the Transformers: Prime - Robots in Disguise Deluxe Arcee - but it is a fantastic retooling that is sure to please fans and collectors alike.   The base body is identical, but there is a total repaint and tons of added sculptural details (including a new head) that really give her a Beast Hunters feel.  When you stand them next to each other, they are different enough that their distinctions outweigh their similarities, and that is a fantastic thing.  I tend to feel a little taken advantage of when a character is re-released with only minor tweaks or repaints.  This job gets an A+ though.  Let's check her out below!

The Women of WILDCATS!

Jim Lee's Classic Covert Action Team, WildC.A.T.s - PlayMates 1994-1995

The early 1990s were an interesting few years for comics fans.   There was essentially a creator's rights movement happening right under our noses.   All the major artists and writers from DC and Marvel left their mainstream projects in favor of the Image Comics mantra of creator ownership and control.  It wasn't until a decade later when I started hearing the term "intellectual property" in everyday lingo.   But by that point, I felt like I was an SME after witnessing the great comic creator exodus of 1992.   The first wave of titles included Spawn, Savage Dragon, Youngblood, and of course, WildC.A.T.s, the superhuman team title by (now former) X-Men superstar, Jim Lee.   WildC.A.T.s had a trio of stand out women who luckily got the action figure treatment early on.   Playmates always does a decent job with the ladies.   Some of these figures are nicer than the others, but for the most part they are all great representations (especially for the time period) of some classic characters.  Let's check them all out below!

Man of Steel - Movie Masters FAORA!

Man of Steel - Movie Masters: Series 2 - Faora - Mattel 2013
 
As much as I enjoyed the the performances of the entire cast of Man of Steel, the standout for me was Antje Traue as Faora.  Female villians in the Superman franchise are few and far between, but when they're good, they're REALLY good.   Faora came across as the most ruthless and vengeful of all the Kryptonian criminals.  I knew of course that she was a character from all the promotional materials, but I was shocked when I finally saw how much screen time she received.  I've only seen the film once, but I feel like the had the most screen time of any of the three villains.  Plus her prescence was perfectly menacing.  The toy doesn't exactly capture the character unfortunately.  She has a bit of blank look and a masculine prescence (which totally inspired me to customize her a bit - as shown below).  Finding this action figure in a store proved to be a daunting task.   I found mine in a Target about a month ago and haven't seen one since. Let's check her out in detail below!