Dungeons & Dragons - DORIC!

Dungeons & Dragons - Golden Archive Series - Doric (Tiefling Druid) - Hasbro 2023

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was such a surprising movie to me. It managed to satisfy the the diehard fans as well and the unindoctrinated. I personally fall between the two extremes, so I knew enough to notice a ton of Easter eggs, but not so critical of an eye to get annoyed at any inaccuracies. My favorite character was Doric (played by Sophia Lillis who I loved in It (2017)). Doric is a Tiefling Druid with wild change abilities that enable her to take the form a variety of creatures. This is the source of the largest fan gripe about the movie - her ability to transform into an Owlbear. The Owlbears are monstrosities (unnatural creatures) that she should not be able to turn into. But for the sake of cinematic impact, they had her doing this quite often. (Explained away by her theory that Owlbears are mislabeled as monstrosities and actually natural creatures). The toyline for the D&D movie is pretty fun, but the facial likenesses all seem a tad off to me. I still bought several though. Let's check out Doric below!

Marvel Legends - FEMALE TROOP BUILDERS!

Marvel Legends - S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent & Hydra Trooper 2-Pack - Hasbro 2023

Trooper Builders are a pretty great modern trend geared towards collectors. Typically only the A-list characters get the action figure treatment and presence in the toy aisles. And lately we've been luckily enough to get a steady flow of B and C list characters too. But unnamed soldier characters never seem to make the cut. Until, of course, companies like Hasbro started releasing them as online exclusives. Collectors could suddenly build armies of their favorite factions. I enjoyed seeing this trend, but I was never too interested since female characters weren't invited to the party. Until this year. G.I.Joe Classified had females introduced in three different two packs (Blue Ninjas, Steel Corps, and Cobra Valkyries). And now this amazing Marvel Legends set with a female S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent and Hydra Trooper (plus multiple alternate heads) to build out the two most popular Marvel factions. I'm excited to see what the next Hasbro set might be. (Fingers crossed for Star Wars female Storm Troopers!) Let's check them out below!

Marvel Legends - MS. MARVEL!

The Marvels - Totally Awesome Hulk BaF - Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel - Hasbro 2023

I'm not able to go see The Marvels until next weekend, but I'm pretty excited to learn more about Kamala Khan. I have read a lot of previous Ms. Marvel comics starring Kamala and I'm quite a fan. (Although I'm not current with my reading and I gather her origins and powers have changed a bit in the last year). I watched the Ms. Marvel show on Disney+ but wasn't a huge fan. I liked Iman Vallani's performance and I liked the fangirl angle, but I think this was just a case of me being a bit too far off the target demographic audience. The attempts of the show to skew younger just alienated me - which is a shame because I consume a lot of youthful media that I relate to just fine. But something about that show was just too hyper and erratic for my old brain. I'm hoping her presence in an ensemble movie like The Marvels will develop her into more of a Kamala I can relate to (not just a "this is awesome!" character). This figure is a great likeness and the new costume is cool. Let's check out Kamala below! 

Marvel Legends - CAPTAIN MARVEL!

The Marvels - Totally Awesome Hulk BaF - Captain Marvel - Hasbro 2023

I'm really excited ot see The Marvels in the next few days. I haven't made specific plans yet, but I'll definitely be seeing it in the theatre. While my most anticipated part is honestly going to be the further development of Monica Rambeau in the MCU, I'm also looking forward to seeing Carol grow into a more well-rounded character. I feel like our MCU exposure to Carol so far has always been in unique circumstances and also rather early on in her superhero life. I like Carol best in the comics when she's doing some classic superhero'ing (not necessarily saving the universe or learning about her powers). And I think The Marvels will give us more of the funny quippy Carol that I love. I was pretty unhappy with the unmasked Brie Larson headsculpts from the 2019 movie figures, and for a while I thought she likely had a likeness that just didn't translate well into plastic. But this figure is pretty great. The updated face scan and the Photo Real face printing is pretty impressive. Let's check out Carol below!

Star Wars: The Bad Batch - OMEGA!

Star Wars Black Series The Bad Batch #10 - Omega (Kamino) - Hasbro 2022

I still haven't seen any episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, but all the young kids in my life seem to love it. When I first saw this Omega figure, I honestly thought it was a adolescent male character, but I was happy to leard that she was female because I was super curious about a smaller youthful sculpt in the Black Series line. Omega is a clone of the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett (supposedly a pure replication of him). She stayed on Kamino during the Clone Wars, but when the main conflict was over, she became intrigued by Clone Force 99 (aka The Bad Batch) and eventually joined them. the Bad Batch were a group of Mandalorian clone with specific mutations that granted them individual enhanced abilities (like sight, strength, or intelligence). The mutations had an unforeseen side-effect that allowed the clones to disobey Order 66 (the programmed directive to view all Jedi as enemies). It's a great plot for a show and make me excited to watch it someday. Let's check out Omega below!

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts - NIGHTBIRD!

Transformers Studio Series #104 - Rise of the Beasts Nightbird - Hasbro 2023

Nightbird was a very interesting choice for a villain in the 2023 Transformers: Rise of the Beasts movie. The mute female robot was introduced in the 1985 Transformers episode Enter The Nightbird as a creation of human scientists. She was quickly stolen by the Decepticons and used as a weapon against the Autobots. I was obsessed with this episode as a kid and am so shocked that this single-episode character has had such a legacy. This is actually my tenth action figure of her (mostly third-party homages though). In Rise of the Beasts, she is quite reimagined. She is a Terrorcon under Unicron who transforms into a muscle car and tries to thwart the Autobots and Maximals. I honestly don't remember her talking in the movie, but she is voiced by MJ Rodriguez, so I guess she is no longer mute. I had some issues with the cinematic redesign initially, but it has really grown on me (although the copper-colored details still baffle me). Let's check out the Studio Series Nightbird below!

Marvel Legends - CLEA!

Marvel Knights Legends - Mindless Ones Build-a-Figure - Clea - Hasbro 2023

About twenty years ago I saw a sketch by Arthur Adams (my favorite comic artist) of a character I had never seen before. She had bizarre antenna-like curls of hair, an outlandish collarpiece, and leggings with an overlapping circle pattern. I was intrigued, but completely clueless. The image was black and white, so I didn't know her clothes were purple or her hair was white (which would have been helpful clues in my search). But as it was, I didn't discover her name until a few years later when she appeared in New Avengers: Illuminati in 2006. Then I was off to the races. I never read much Doctor Strange so it made sense that I never knew her. But I quickly read all about her and became a fan. She was introduced back in 1964 and has been a consistent supporting character ever since (even though she didn't have a name for two years). But I've enjoyed seeing her prominence grow, culminating in her becoming the Sorcerer Supreme in 2021's Strange. This figure is unexpected, but absolutely gorgeous.

DC Rebirth - SUPERGIRL!

DC Multiverse - Target Exclusive Supergirl Rebirth - McFarlane Toys 2023

It seems to be very difficult to get a good, classic-looking Kara Zor-El Supergirl. I have quite a few in my collection, but there just always seems to be something slightly off about them. Luckily Supergirl always tends to sport a pretty classic costume. She goes through eras with a slightly tweaked costume, but it consistently comes back to the basic look. I personally think this newest Target Exclusive DC Multiverse Gold Label figure is the best Supergirl in my collection. Sure, she has a couple problems. Firstly, her eyes are often overstamped which makes her look a little angry (it you're patient you can find one with better eyes). And secondly, her thigh-high boots have been swapped for red leggings. I didn't even notice this  detail until I got her home. It honestly doesn't bother me too much (because thigh-high boots are impractical in battle), but it's baffling that McFarlane skipped this detail, especially since she has no special accessories. Either cost-saving cuts or simple oversight. Let's check out Supergirl below!