Masters of the WWE - BECKY LYNCH as TEELA!

Masters of the WWE Universe - Wave 05 - Becky Lynch as Teela - Mattel 2020

After four waves of all-male figures, I had pretty much given up hope for any female inclusion in the Masters of the WWE line. This line was actually on the shelves over a year before the first MOTU Origins wave hit, so our first look at the articulation and sculpt (and for quite a long time after) was these wrestler mashups. And of course if was almost a full year until we saw Teela and Evil-Lyn revealed and even knew female figures were an option. The best part is that I predicted a Becky Lynch Teela a long time ago. Becky seems to be one of the most merchandised female wresters and her red hair made her a nice match with Teela. I only wish her headsculpt had some kind of MOTU-themed adornment. But otherwise I think she's great. And to get my next prediction down on paper, I fully expect a Charlotte Flair as the Sorceress (specifically in her peacock-themed feather entrance outfit). As soon as I saw the Sorceress figure that comes with Grayskull I wished it to happen. Let's check out Becky Lynch below!

Masters of the WWE - STEPH as EVIL-LYN!

Masters of the WWE - Wave 05 - Stephanie McMahon as Evil-Lyn - Mattel 2021

I'll be honest, I wasn't over the moon about these Masters of the WWE Universe figures until I saw this Steph McMahon figure. The Becky Lynch figure is great and I really enjoy it, but out of the package she doesn't immediately read "MOTU" to me. I think this is because the head had no special adornments. But on the flipside, this Steph figure is almost too reminiscent of MOTU with Evil-Lyn's headdress being such a prominent feature. Luckily she has long flowing hair coming out the back and a great skull mask accessory to distinguish her. The mask is a signature look from Steph's Skull Queen entrance outfit. I think it's genius how reminiscent it looks like Castle Grayskull and adds an extra level of MOTU homage to the figure. I can't see what mashups Mattel will come up with next. I already predict a peacock-themed Charlotte Flair as Sorceress. But maybe we'll see an Alicia Fox as Panthor or Sasha Banks as She-Ra. There is endless potential. Let's check out Steph as Evil-Lyn below!

Masters of the WWE - CHYNA as SHE-RA!

Masters of the WWE Universe - Wave 08 - Chyna as She-Ra - Mattel 2021

In the past two years I've become a big fan of Mattel's Masters of the WWE series. Who would have thought that wrestling toys and He-Man toys would provide such a great mashup? I've eagerly looked forward to each new female in the line. And I'm pretty sad that this 8th Wave will be the final one. But for a final female figure, Chyna as She-Ra is quite a high note to go out on. As the most recognizable female wrestler, the late Chyna was an unexpected but fitting choice to become the Princess of Power. The tiara accessory in particular made me very excited for a future Filmation-style She-Ra, and also to attempt a kitbash version myself. (Although this proved very difficult... details below). But this Chyna figure on its own is great. The purple and silver deco is a rare combination for a hero, but it looks terrific and makes a great addition to my MOTUO collection. It's a bummer my prediction of a Charlotte as Sorceress figure (in a peacock feather deco) will never happen. Boo. Let's check out Chyna below!

Female Character ACTION FIGURE COMICS COVERS!

The Coolest Variant Cover Trend of Recent Years - Fantasy Action Figures

This is the first post I've made on this blog that doesn't have to do with real action figures or statues. Comic Book cover variants are a major trend in the hardcopy comic world. Back in the day, variants would be rare incentives for some super-special issue. But now it's actually rare when and issue doesn't have at least one variant. Different companies will have themes, like Lego covers or Women of Power. But my favorite by far has been the Action Figure covers. There are a few early examples of this kind of cover, but I believe the current trend was kicked off by the various Marvel Star Wars comics from Spring of 2015. There were tons of action figure variants across all the Star Wars titles at the time. Then later that Summer, Marvel's Secret Wars event used the same tactic and its momentum has only grown since then. There are usually a few Marvel Action Figure Variants each week now. And other publishers are picking up on the trend as well.  Let's check out a slew of these covers below!

Happy New Year!! - YEAR-END REVIEW!

This Year's Most Amazing Ladies - Hasbro, Mattel, Bandai, etc 2014

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you had a great (and safe) time celebrating.  I had these grand plans to take a gigantic photo of all the great action figures we've received this year.  I would have probably had to do this in my living room or maybe on the stairs just because of sheer space requirements; there were a lot of ladies this year! Unfortunately I got a cold and therefore was very sluggish wrapping up my end-of-the-year work duties and just ran out of time.  Instead I'm compiling a post full of photos and links highlighting one of the most prolific years for female action figure collectors yet.  Seriously, I'm highlighting 94 figures here - and that's by no means a complete list.  I hope to make this an annual tradition.  If nothing else than to remind me of the ridiculous amount of money I spend on toys in any given year.  I really need to start soliciting for free samples!  Anyway, onward to the first annual She's Fantastic year-end review!

WWE Wrestling - SCARLETT!

WWE Series 120 - NXT First Time in the Line - Scarlett Bordeaux - Mattel 2021

When I picked up this Scarlett figure a couple months ago, it was my first standard WWE purchase in four years. Sure, I picked up a ton of the short-lived WWE Superstars line and a handful of the Masters of the WWE, but for the most part I was worn out from years of buying (gorgeous and inexpensive) figures of characters I knew hardly anything about. I made a vow to not buy any more unless they really called out to me. Then I saw this figure during the 2021 holiday season and I was super intrigued. I had never seen a WWE lady with a full-coverage unadorned bodysuit. Then her brilliantly white hair just made her pop all the more. In reality, this is a super simple figure for Mattel. There is zero deco and the buck required no new tooling, but she is still an impressive figure (that I imagine customizers will be hoarding). In a time when the female wrestling figure lineup on the shelves is dominated technicolor palettes, this stark design ends up being the true attention-grabber. Let's check her out below!

MOTU Origins - EVIL-LYN!

Masters of the Universe Origins - Evil-Lyn (Evil Warrior Goddess) - Mattel 2020

All throughout my childhood I would see the classic Evil-Lyn tossed by the wayside in my friend's toy bins. I was so jealous and covetous of this weird yellow-skinned villainess. It wasn't until the mid-2000s when I finally bought her for myself. And then I made the embarrassingly late realization that her toy design was so different from her Filmation look, and also that she shared Teela's body. Captain obvious here. But in my defense, the DVDs hadn't even been released at that point so I was going on 20-year-old memories. Even since then, though, I've been obsessed with the duality between the vintage toy look and Filmation look. I can never decide which I like better, but I usually steer toward the yellow just because I'm fond of bold colors. This Masters of the Universe Origins Evil-Lyn is the figure I didn't know I needed. She is colorful, fun, very poseable and owning her is like mainlining nostalgia. Now I'm just super excited for more of these Origins figures. Let's check her out below!

Legends of Dragonore - YONDARA!

Legends of Dragonore - Series 1 - Yondara (Heroic Chieftan) - Formo Toys 2023

The Legends of Dragonore is the inaugural line of action figures from newcomer, Formo Toys. Modern action figures constructed in a vintage Masters of the Universe aesthetic is nothing new. Funko had a barrage of Savage World products five years ago, Super7 had a terrific MOTU Vintage line, and of course Mattel has been running with the concept for several years with MOTU, WWE, and now TMNT licenses.  But this Legends of Dragonore line seems different. You can tell they spawn from the art toy world and are passionate about the design aesthetic and production quality. Plus when you have a named talent like Emiliano Santalucia working Creative Design, you know the toys will be great. His passion for MOTU helped launch the modern revitalization of the brand. These figures are really fun and colorful and gave us a wholly original set of characters for our vintage collections. Formo has already showed off Wave 1.5 and  2 and I have a feeling we'll see a lot more in the future. Let's check out Yondara below!

Turtles of Grayskull - TEELA!

Masters of the Universe X Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Teela - Mattel 2024

Toy property mashups are a pretty fun trend in modern toy lines. The longest-running and most notable examples are definitely Transformers with their early Crossovers lines with Star Wars and Marvel (2008-2010) and then their Collaborative line with Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, TMNT, Top Gun, etc (2019-present). But back in 2019, Mattel started doing mashups with their highly versatile Masters of the Universe Origins line and WWE. These we fun and I loved the three ladies produced: Chyna, Steph McMahon, and Becky Lynch. But it wasn't until the Turtles of Grayskull line where two truly iconic lines were combined that I got obsessed. While the two figures I've purchased haven't quite been the combination of two characters the way I expected, they are still fun reinterpretations of the characters in the other universe. In this case, Teela as an armored turtle warrior. She's very weird but very cool and I hope there are more in the works. Let's check out the Turtles of Grayskull Teela below!

Masters of the Universe - EVIL-LYN!

Masters of the Universe Origins - Cartoon Collection - Evil-Lyn - Mattel 2024

I love Evil-Lyn and I'm always ecstatic to add new representations to my collection. This newest MOTUO Cartoon Collection release is an especially interesting Evil-Lyn figure. There have been several versions of her in the "Origins" line already; the original vintage toy deco in bright yellow, followed by the more subdued 200x variant (plus the WWE Stephanie McMahon as an Evil-Lyn homage). This new figure is supposedly styled on the Filmation look, but honestly doesn't really look it. The coloring of her costume is right. But, to me, the two most interesting details of the Filmation design are that she has pale peachy skin and is always wearing a cloak. For this figure they gave her distinctly yellow skin and no cloak (she's even wearing a cloak on the packaging graphics). It almost seems like a weird mashup of several Evil-Lyn incarnations. She still looks good though so I'm not complaining (much). I may have to fashion my own cape out of spare parts. Let's check out the Cartoon Collection Evil-Lyn below!

Fastest Feline in the Universe - CHEETARA!

Masters of the Universe x ThunderCats - Wave 01 - Cheetara - -Mattel 2025

The MOTU mashup toylines continue to impress me. There is seemingly endless potential for crossover properties based on this classic MOTU aesthetic. Some notable mashup projects have included WWE, Stranger Things, and Transformers. But I personally feel the most exciting toys have come when two similar-but-distinctly-different licenses get to play off each other. We saw this with the Turtles of Grayskull line (April and Teela), and now with MOTU x ThunderCats. As a child of the 80s, I always wanted this crossover. They were both iconic fantasy cartoons that could potentially blend together nicely. But the action figures were just too different, both in scale and construction. Beyond being just a creative mashup of the two properties, this new line seems like a long overdue wish fulfillment to have these two genres occupy the same play space. And the fact that they come with the pieces to create the classic looks solidifies that theory. They're fantastic. Let's check out Cheetara below!

A Long Overdue 2020 YEAR-END REVIEW!

A Collection of 2020's Most Amazing Female Action Figures All In One Post

I think 2020 was an interesting year for everyone on the planet. Purely from a collecting perspective, everything was different from the previous year. People were stuck at home, stores were closed, factory production was halted, shipment routes were congested, and mail order became commonplace. Before this, I almost never ordered new toys online if it could be avoided. I much preferred to find things in store and select the best paint jobs. But suddenly the shelves were sparse and production quotas were determined by preorders. That didn't mean it wasn't a landmark year for action figure collectors though. Three of the most popular toylines in the stores today were launched in 2020 (DC Multivese by McFarlane, Masters of the Universe Origins by Mattel, and G.I.Joe Classified by Hasbro). I really like posting these summaries of all the figures I reviewed from a certain production year. And I like the fact that I'm way behind because it provides a great look back. Let's look back to the amazing ladies of 2020!

A Long Overdue 2018 YEAR-END REVIEW!

A Collection of 2018's Most Amazing Female Action Figures All In One Post

Yes you are reading that right. 2018. I had a desire to do a year-end review for 2020, but I'm pretty obsessive-compulsive and my last annual post like that was for 2017 (so unfortunately I have some catching-up to do). But looking back on a recent yesteryear is pretty fun. It's so easy in this collecting life to get caught up in what's coming next on the horizon, but we are living through some amazing times and it's nice to slow down and celebrate the hobby. Action figures are getting better and better every year and the nostalgia game in the toy aisles is stronger than ever.  I find myself holding a new toy every few months that surprises me with it's very existence. So looking back on 2018 is very humbling. I remember opening all these toys like it was yesterday. But even I can admit that they are already overshadowed by newer shinier purchases. I'm looking forward to posting a similar 2019 review in the coming months. It will be nice to be all current by this time next year. Let's check out 2018 below!

A Long Overdue 2021 YEAR-END REVIEW!

A Collection of 2021's Most Amazing Female Action Figures All In One Post

My annual exercise in procrastination is upon us. At this point I'm only four years behind in my Year-End-Reviews, but I can't deny that I love taking this look back even moreso because of the buffer of a few years. I have this habit where I always deem my most recent purchase as "my favorite." So if I were posting a 2024 review right now, I don't think I could be objective in my appreciation. But looking back at 2021, the true gems pop out easily. It was a really interesting year. People were getting used to pandemic commerce. Supply lines were improving. And several media properties were being merchandised after months of uncertainty and hesitation. Plus several of my most-wanted figures were produced this year (specifically from Marvel Legends). Also, the 3.75" video game lines were still in full swing, but winding down. (They were basically nonexistent a year later). I also moved house in 2021 and was a little distracted from how great the toy hauls were. Let's take a reminiscent trip back to 2021 below!

A Long Overdue 2015 YEAR-END REVIEW!

A Collection of 2015's Most Amazing Female Action Figures All In One Post

Sorry for the insane delay with this post. I did my first year-end review last year (for 2014) right after New Year's Day, and in that post I wrote that it had been a surprisingly gratifying process that I wanted to do annually. I still fully intend to do that, but this year so far has been a whirlwind and this post took a long time (there are 115 images and links). I'll try to be more on top of things for next year I swear. I like doing these posts because it can be so easy to "horde and forget" - there's always something new around the corner and it's easy to grumble about missed exclusives, cancelled items, and things as trivial as a not-quite-right paint color. But I like to put on the brakes every now and then and look back at what twelve brief months have added to my burgeoning collection. We truly are in the middle of the Golden Age for collectibles, but it's easy to lose sight of that in the rush to get the next new thing. Take a gander at this selection (by no means complete) and realize how lucky we are. Sermon over :)