#150: DC Universe Classics Joker

HAHAHAHA HHHHAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA
HHHEHEEEEEEHEHEHEEEHEEEHEHEHEE
HAHA
HA
HA
HA
HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

POW

Ahem.

At last we have arrived to the final Christmas gift, and quite possibly the last toy of the year (I'm heading to Target after I post this, we'll see what happens). The Joker is from A.J. I'm glad to have finally added this to my collection, it's a really cool figure. It's pretty much everything I would like out of a Joker figure, and it looks good with the Harley Quinn figure. He comes with a cool collection of accessories, most of which aren't in the picture here. Aside from the big mallet, he has a walking stick with a jester head, a fan of playing cards, and a Joker fish. The Joker fish is from a classic story in which the Joker tried to patent fish that he had altered to have the Joker grin. That story was adapted into one of my favorite episodes of the animated series. Anyway. With the addition of the Joker, I feel like my rogues' gallery for Batman is really taking shape, although there are still some sizable holes. This is definitely one of my favorite figures of the year, I think you should get one.

#149: Boba Fett (super deformed)

The next gift from Christmas is this plush super deformed Boba Fett, from my friend Natalie. I'm not sure if it or the Mighty Muggs Boba Fett is more cute. This is actually the second Star Wars plush in my collection, the first being a Salacious Crumb (Jabba's lizard-monkey) I picked up a few years ago.

#148: DC Universe Classics Green Lantern

A few days late, but now I'm getting to my Christmas gifts for this year. The Green Lantern was a gift from James. Despite his appearance in the Super Friends, and the really cool Green Lantern: First Flight cartoon, and the whole Blackest Night thing going on, Green Lantern is one of those figures that I would like to get, but not quiet enough to buy for myself. Those make the best gifts. Green Lantern here is a good figure, although the only uniquely sculpted elements on him are his head and his right hand. Oh, and he has the lantern, so he can charge his ring.

Although it will change pretty soon, Hal Jordan here is the only currently available member of the GL Corps in the DCUC line. Although the Green Lantern I've read the most of in the comics is Kyle Rayner, Hal Jordan is still the one I think of as the "real" Green Lantern, so I'm glad they made him first.

#147: Star Wars Legacy Collection Commander Cody

Cody is the only clone to have a given name used onscreen. Despite his prominence, it took about a year after the movie for him to get his first figure. This is actually his fourth figure. I skipped the holographic version, so this is my third Cody. It is an improvement over the original, since it doesn't have that odd wide stance, and lacks the not entirely convincing dirt on the lower legs. Another improvement this one makes is in its accessories. It comes with a little holoprojector and a projection of Palpatine. It also comes with Obi-Wan's lightsaber, which is supposed to plug into his belt, but the hole is too small for it. Also, the belt is upside down, which is pretty common on the clone figures. This is a nice improvement, and for now the best Cody figure you can get. I don't know if they'll upgrade him again, but if they do, hopefully they fix the belt.

#146: Star Wars Legacy Collection Plo Koon

Plo Koon is one of the Jedi fortunate enough to have screen time in both the movies and in the animated series. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't one of those lucky enough to survive the Jedi Purge. I have a Plo Koon from Revenge of the Sith, but I got this one because it has improved articulation. And a removable face mask! I think the removable face mask is the big selling point for me. It just sort of plugs into his face, which is so bumpy that there aren't any artificial looking holes for the mask to plug into. It holds pretty well, although I won't be surprised if it starts falling off during the warm weather. He also has a double bladed lightsaber gauntlet that his animated figure also has. He hasn't used it in the cartoon, so I'm not sure where it comes from. It seems kind of goofy, but whatever. As far as I'm concerned, this is the definitive Plo Koon figure.

#145: Star Wars Legacy Collection Agen Kolar

Agen Kolar! You may remember him as one of the three Jedi that the Emperor takes out with no effort when they try to arrest him. Now I have all the Jedi in that scene, which is the main reason I got this figure. Yeah, there is a battle pack with all the characters in it, but I didn't want to re-buy all the figures just for this guy. And this version is an improvement on previous releases, with all the articulation and whatnot.

This guy is the same species as Darth Maul. The Zabrak come in all sorts of colors, even blue. That's the only thing interesting I can think of that I know about this character. Outside of his appearance in the movie, I don't know anything else about him.

#144: DC Universe Classics Black Canary

I picked up Black Canary on the same trip that I picked up Deadshot. She's part of the still difficult to find wave 9, which incorporates some extra sculpting on the plastic tray the figures come in. In this case, it's a ripple meant to represent the sound waves from her Canary Cry, a neat touch. At first I thought it might have been cool if she had been sculpted with her mouth open, as if she were giving her cry. Then I realized it would probably be a bad idea.

Wow, those are some skinny arms. I know it's a figure based on a comic book character, so realistic proportions (especially on a woman) are out the window, but for someone that's so good at hand to hand combat, Black Canary should have some thicker arms. If she had bare arms or a form fitting costume, that would be more excusable, but she is wearing a leather jacket.

Other than that, she's a cool figure. The most notable feature is that she is wearing actual fishnets. Since all the capes are plastic, this is probably the only DCUC figure that will have some sort of fabric on it. They could have just painted the fishnets on, and that probably would have been cheaper, so this is a bit of a mysterious move on Mattel's part since they are so cost-conscious otherwise.

#143: DC Universe Classics Deadshot

I was at Target last week and quite shocked that the shelves suddenly had a couple rows of DCUC figures. I can't remember the last time I've seen so many all at once, and there was actually a good selection of figures from different waves. I guess it was a Festivus miracle, as that is the day I was shopping.

Deadshot here was on that shelf, and although he's not a figure I would have gone out of my way to find, I decided to get him based mainly on his status as a Batman rogue. He's got a really goofy costume, so that wasn't selling him to me. Batman can always use more foes to punch. Also, his only appearance that I've read involved him fighting Batman on a giant typewriter. That kind of absurdity really gets me.

What I really like about this figure is that he has a lot more unique tooling than the average DCUC figure. None of his joints were stuck. If you aren't turned off by his costume (it's pretty awful, but I don't think it is delightfully awful like Killer Moth's), this is definitely a cool figure to pick up.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a good Christmas.

If you were asking for toys, I hope you got them. Unless it's something special or big (like the big Millennium Falcon I got last year) I don't ask for toys. Mostly, I just buy the toys I do want on site, for worry of not seeing them again. And I don't want to make my family look all over the place for something they might not be able to find.

So, I did get some toys from friends (which will show up here soon), but aside from that I got season 1 of The Clone Wars and some video games: Batman Arkham Asylum, Lego Rock Band, and Guitar Hero 5.

The year may be almost over, but I still have a small backlog of toys to post about.

Advent Day 24

Looks like Deadpool is in trouble!

Hey, it's the final day of the advent calendar, and look who's in the final box. Santa!

But can Santa take on an AT-ST all by himself?

Looks like a tall order, even for Santa.

It's a Christmas miracle! Santa is triumphant!

Included in the advent calendar was a woodsy backdrop, so here are the entire contents of the advent calendar, all gathered in one spot. And Deadpool. Merry Christmas!

#142: Star Wars Legacy Collection AT-ST

Last year, Hasbro released two big vehicles, a new Millennium Falcon and the AT-TE. This year, we got the Turbo Tank and a Clone Wars era Y-Wing. The AT-ST isn't quite in the same league as those in size, but with this new release, it gets the deluxe treatment, making for a fairly definitive release of this classic vehicle.

Unlike the previous version, the new AT-ST looks to be properly in scale with the figures. Another improvement is the articulation. The old one had an action feature where by pressing a button, the legs would move up and down to simulate walking, limiting the way it could be posed to just standing there. This one has joints all over the legs, presumably representing all the ways a "real" AT-ST would be able to move. It has two chin guns, the one pictured is more screen accurate, and the alternate one is bigger and fires missiles.

Also included is a pilot figure. It is lacking in articulation (no knees or ankles) and the arm articulation is questionable (the right elbow is stuck at a 90 degree angle, the left elbow is one of those annoying swivels). But it sits in the cockpit like it's supposed to.

This is a Wal-Mart exclusive, so you may or may not be able to find one, depending on your location. It's definitely worth picking up if you are interested, it's a really good update of an older toy, and it definitely blows its predecessor out of the water.

Advent Day 23

Today on the penultimate day of the advent calendar countdown, we get a bunch of vegetables. I'm beginning to think that if they had thrown in a couple Pilgrims and Native Americans, this would be a great Thanksgiving countdown.

Well, like the picture on the calendar shows, I put all the food in the sled from yesterday. It makes a good feeding trough. Isn't this a nice, festive scene?

Hm, wait a second. What's going on here?

Looks like trouble for Deadpool and his animal pals.

Advent Day 22

In another example of cultural miscommunication, today's gift looks to me like some sort of rowboat, but I think it's intended to be something else. The big picture on the front of the advent calendar shows it on the ground and filled with food, so I guess it is some sort of means of transporting cargo. There's also a big pitchfork thing.

Whatever it is, Deadpool thinks it makes a good spot to recline. And the pitchfork makes a good backscratcher.

Advent Day 21

Today in the advent calendar, we get Mama Firefox. With three days left in the advent calendar, will this be the last animal friend we get?

Deadpool is having a little trouble explaining exactly why he had his ear against baby fox's stomach.

Advent Day 20

The advent calendar seems to be turning this blog into Cute Overload, because today we get two baby foxes. These aren't just any foxes, they are the rare monochrome fox species.

Deadpool is testing out the theory that these are actually Firefoxes, and if you hold them to your ear, you can hear the internet.

Advent Day 19

Hey, another tree. Hm. That also fits in the slot that I put the mushrooms in yesterday.

Don't worry mushrooms, Deadpool still loves you.

Advent Day 18

Today the advent calendar gives us a pretty sizable new gift: a tree trunk with some flowers growing at its base. There is a conspicuous hole in it, and I think that may be where those orange mushroom things are supposed to go.

Story time for the baby animals!

#141: Star Wars Legacy Collection Rum Sleg

Rum Sleg here is one of those background characters that don't have lines or do anything important onscreen, but they look cool and allow Hasbro to make new figures instead of even more retreads of the mainstays like Darth Vader. He definitely looks cool, and that was his main selling point for me. With the skeletal mask on underneath his helmet, I think he looks like some sort of phantom spaceman. In fact, he kind of reminds me of the Vashta Nerada figure from Doctor Who. But Doctor Who figures are kind of expensive, so I probably won't get one of those. Rum Sleg is just as cool. His helmet is removable, and it attaches by a couple of hoses to a removable gas tank that plugs into his back. With his helmet off, I think his mask is even somewhat reminiscent of the goalie mask a certain Jason wears. He's also sporting a couple of mismatched blasters and has a holster for each. Lacking only ankle articulation, Rum Sleg is probably my favorite figure based on a completely random background character for the year.

I had been looking for this guy a while, and never saw him even though I knew he was out there. On one visit to Target, every figure from his wave except for him was on the shelves. But when I did find him, there were two on the shelves. It is a good reminder that patience pays off. Usually.

Advent Day 17

The word for today is quantity, as the advent calendar has graced us with not one but four separate gifts today. There's maybe a turnip and maybe a beet and a couple of rodents. Mice, I suppose.

Deadpool has called the exterminator.

Advent Day 16

Today the advent calendar follows an established pattern of giving us an animal and a baby version of the same animal by giving us a baby badger.

Deadpool is trying to make sure all the kids play nice together. The grown animals aren't sure what to make of this.

Advent Day 15

Oops! Looks like I opened the boxes for the 14th and the 15th in the wrong order!


Today (or yesterday, really) the advent calendar gave us a baby boar. Boar, baby boar, then badger definitely makes a lot more sense.

Either way, Deadpool looooooooooves baby animals!

Advent Day 14

Badgers? Badgers? We don't need no stinking badgers!

Deadpool is trying to teach this badger the dance, but it's not going well.

Advent Day 13

Taking a break from the animal kingdom, today the advent calendar has given us something for the animals to eat. Some pears and some carrots.

The raccoons are all over it. Deadpool wonders if they will provide proper nutrition for a growing baby raccoon.

Advent Day 12

Continuing the trend of giving us animals, today's gift from the advent calendar is a wild boar.

Blitzen is glad to see it.

Advent Day 11

Today in the advent calendar is another raccoon. Perhaps the previous raccoon's parent? Only fully mature raccoons are able to move their heads.

Deadpool doesn't think this raccoon is quite as cute.

Advent Day 10

Today is a special day because the advent calendar has blessed us with not one, but two items! There is a baby raccoon and a pile of... apples?

Deadpool thinks the baby raccoon is the cutest thing ever!

#140: Hot Wheels '81 DeLorean DMC-12

Thanks to hearing about this on the blogosphere, for the first time in my adult life I actively looked for a Hot Wheels toy. After a couple weeks, I finally found the DeLorean. Thanks in large part to the Back to the Future films, I think DeLoreans are really cool. So of course I wanted to get this one as soon as I learned of its existence. With my BttF II DeLorean, this makes two DeLoreans in my collection. I wonder how many people have modded these to make them resemble Doc Brown's time machine already. The packaging claims that the back hatch opens up, but I haven't been able to pry mine open, and I don't want to force it and end up breaking it. I don't own any of the Back to the Future Minimates, but if I want to crossover Batman and Back to the Future, now I can at least do it in vehicle form.

Advent Day 9

Today's gift from the mysterious advent land is a tree. It also fits in the spot that I had the orange mushrooms plugged into, but it can't stand on its own, so it's getting that spot for now. Hopefully all will be made clear by Christmas. Deadpool thinks the tree makes an inferior pillow.