Star Wars Rebels HERA SYNDULLA!

Star Wars Rebels - Mission Series 19 - 2-Pack w/ Stormtrooper - Hasbro 2015

One of my favorite things about Star Wars is all the cool alien races. My favorite alien species by a longshot are the Twi'lek with their signature head-tails. I'm about to start re-watching the original trilogy again for the first time in a decade, but I'm pretty sure the only Twi-lek characters introduced were Bib Fortuna and Oola, Jabba the Hut's majordomo and slave/dancer. From those auspicious beginnings, the Twi-lek race has been widely utilized in the Star Wars expanded universe. Some impressive new(er) female characters include Aayla Secura, Darth Talon, and now Hera Syndulla. Hera is a major character in the new Star Wars Rebels CGI-animated television show. She is the fearless pilot of The Ghost and daughter of the character Cham Syndulla (from Star Wars: The Clone Wars). This figure is very basic, but charming in its simplicity. To me, it harkens back to the early days of Kenner, except there are girls who surprisingly aren't princesses, slaves, or prostitutes. Amazing what 30 years can do.

Sonic the Hedgehog's CREAM THE RABBIT!

Sonic the Hedgehog: SonicX - Cream and Cheese - Toy Island 2005

This action figure makes me a little sad because it represents the last Sonic girl on my list of must-haves.  There are some alternate versions of some characters I don't technically have, but for the most part this is it.  I now own all the Toy Island, Jazwares, and Tomy ladies.  Cream the Rabbit was no easy girl to catch either.  I've been hunting her down for years and I rarely see her under $80.  Luckily I recently acquired her cheaply, albeit loose and without her companion Cheese.  Cream is a young 6-yo rabbit in the Sonic Universe.  She is known to everyone as the daughter of Vanilla the Rabbit but has an interesting creation history.  Cream was originally intended to be a young fox relative of Tails, then later she was designed as a squirrel.  We only ever saw the final version though when she made her debut in 2003's Sonic Heroes.  Cream is a (flying) sidekick for playable characters like Amy Rose and Blaze the Cat.  Let's check out the rare figure in detail below!

DC Comics - KIDROBOT KEYCHAINS!

DC Keychain Series - Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl - Kidrobot 2015

It seems like the older I get, the more I love super-cute things.  When I was younger I held on tightly to some silly preconceived notions of masculinity that would have had me sneering at today's popular toylines like Funko POP, Imaginext, and Mini-Mates.  Heck, I probably even would have turned my nose up at Legos.  It's been a long slow acceptance for me to admit that I simply just like what I like.  Sometimes those are gorey monster toys, sometimes they're adorable doe-eyed keychains.  Who cares. These Kidrobot keychains are pretty great. They're cute, well designed, and their paint apps are on point.  The best part is that I didn't realize that these are seemingly the precursors for the Kidrobot DC Blind Box figures that are in comic stores next week.  The Blind Box figures have a different character assortment and are roughly twice the size of these mini keychains with some limited articulation. Depending on character selection, I think I'll be hoarding both scales of these figures.  Let's check them out below!

Halo - COMMANDER PALMER!

HALO 4 - Series 03: Commander Sarah Palmer - McFarlane Toys 2015

Halo is one of those toy lines that I have no interest in, but then I keep getting suckered in by cool action figures that magically appear when the shelves seem to be devoid of my typical superhero fare.  This is now my 5th Halo toy which is surprising because I've never played the game, or even seen any gameplay aside from random commercials and that election day episode of The Good Wife.  (Interesting connection I just discovered: Ridley Scott, director the Good Wife is directing a digital feature called Halo: Nightfall featuring Good Wife star (and future Luke Cage), Mike Colter.  Nice cross-promotion there.  But I digress).  Commander Palmer gets some special attention because she's the only character I have two of.  I couldn't resist her SprüKits model from earlier this year, although I may have skipped it if I knew this version was on the horizon.  This figure is of typical high quality along with my other McFarlane toys.  If other companies out there put this much effort into quality I'd be one happy boy.

Masters of the Universe Classics - QUEEN ANGELLA!

MOTUC Club Eternia - Angella - Mattycollector.com Exclusive - Mattel 2015

Every time I get a new MOTUC figure, I confidently proclaim it to be my favorite action figure ever. This Queen Angella of Brightmoon figure is definitely no exception. She's one of the most dynamic and interesting figures in my POP collection. Angella was far from my favorite character in the cartoon. There's no good reason for this, I just never thought she was that interesting in comparison to the rest of the Great Rebllion. Plus her hair always annoyed me. When this figure was first teased, I thought the re-use of DCUC Hawkgirl's wings was lazy, and when the first reports found her height to be significantly shorter than previous POP girls (including her daughter Glimmer), my expectations were lowered to pretty dismal levels. However, as soon as I got this figure in my hands, all my fears were assuaged.  The wings look a thousand times better on Angella than Hawkgirl, and although she is shorter than the rest of the girls, I will personally only be displaying her with a flight stand, effectively eliminating the problem.

Microman - LADY COMMAND!

Microman Lady Command (Reissue) - Regular Assortment - Takara 1999

Microman is the grandfather to modern action figures.  They burst onto the scene in 1974 with small scales, interchangeable parts, and an average of 30 points of articulation per figure - a set of characteristics that is still impressive even by today's standards.  G.I.Joe and Transformers owe their development to these fantastic toys. Their unique scale and articulation is a clear inspiration for modern 3.75" figures, and later robot-themed Microman waves were literally rebranded to become the earliest Transformers.  I also love that Microman has such a unique, timeless style.  The bright colors mixed with their trademark metallic heads and occasional translucent pieces is still recognizable and utilized by the brand today.  The Lady Command series was rare and represented the only females in the original run (1974-1984).  So when a major resurgence in the line happened in 1999, they were some of the most popular reissues.  Let's check them out in detail below!

X-Men Ninja Force - DEATHBIRD!

Marvel Comics - X-Men Ninja Force: Space Ninja Deathbird - ToyBiz 1997

Deathbird is one of my favorite villains in the Marvel Universe. My first exposure to her was in the Spotlight on Starjammers special from 1990. Soon she was making regular cameos during Jim Lee's run on X-Men. It wasn't long before I was seeking out her earliest appearances in Ms. Marvel. I was pretty smitten. Deathbird is a Shi'ar mutant and sister of Lilandra (Empress of the Shi-ar Empire and love interest of Charles Xavier). She is a delightfully wicked character. (Plus her renewed popularity paved the way for Cerise, my favorite new addition to Excalibur in 1992). This Deathbird figure epitomizes what was awesome about ToyBiz figures in the 90s. It's an amazing character choice and it's a great, non-gimmicky execution (all "ninja" naming conventions to the contrary). The only critique I have of this figure is that she has a pretty busted face. Luckily she was always sporting some hideous growl in the comics and her headpiece obscures much of her face. Let's check out Deathbird below!

Justice Society of America - HAWKGIRL!

JSA: Series 01 - Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders) - DC Direct 2007

There have been a ton of great Hawkgirl action figures over the years.  I can think of five great ones right off the top of my head... and those are only the ones from DC Direct.  Not to mention the extensive number of animated Hawkgirl figures.  Yet despite the abundance of these feathered heroines, it's easy for me to confidently claim this version as my favorite.  Surprisingly, this was only the second collector-oriented Hawkgirl figure (after DC Direct's Hawkman & Hawkgirl 2-Pack from 2000), yet to me it stands out from the pack.  The two main focal points for me are (1) the amazing sculpt by Sam Greenwell.  She looks feminine and strong - which are the main components I look for in my action figures. And (2) the removable mask.  Normally I think this functionality would be a recipe for disaster on an action figure, but it is literally perfect.  I don't know if that credit also goes to Sam Greenwell or the DC Direct production engineers, but either way it's a fantastic achievement.  Let's check out Hawkgirl below!