#14: LEGO Minifigures - Fisherman

This is hands down my favorite minifigure from this series. I'm not sure why, but when the lineup was revealed a while ago, this was the one I most looked forward to. Maybe it's the ridiculously oversized beard. Maybe it's the knitted cap. The fishing rod with line and a fish are cool accessories too. It doesn't even bother me too much that the color of the printed section of the overalls on the torso doesn't match the legs very well. King of the Minifigures, as far as I'm concerned.

#13: LEGO Minifigures - Samurai

After I got home and opened the minifigures I had picked up, I realized I hadn't read the dot code on the packaging as well as I would have hoped. Because I'm a crazy person who is crazy* I went back to Target that same evening to make sure I got the minifigures I wanted the most but hadn't picked up on my original trip.

The samurai is pretty cool. He's got a great expression on his face, like you know he'll cut you in half and not waste one thought about it afterwards. This is not a man to be messed with. Also, his sword is almost as big as him, which is always cool. The helmet has the little indentations on the side that mean a visor could be attached, and there is a little clip on the front, so you can attach LEGO posts to it. Or, his sword. The unorthodox sword helmet attack is sure to catch any opponent off guard.

*This is a quote, but I'm not sure from where.

#12: LEGO Minifigures - Gorilla Suit Guy

So I accidentally got two Gorilla Suit Guys. Here's what he looks like underneath the mask!

#11: LEGO Minifigures - Tennis Player

This is one of the minifigures I got by incorrectly reading the dot code on the package. Oops.

#10: LEGO Minifigures - Mummy

The mummy here is another one of the minifigures that I actually wanted, so fortunately I read the dot code on the packaging correctly. I'm digging that they are putting these monster minifigures in, although I did miss out on the zombie from the first series. One of the neat things about the mummy is that the paint is on the back of the torso as well, which in my experience isn't very common on LEGO minifigures. Even the arms get painted detail. Also, there's a giant scorpion. Sure, why not?

Hm, maybe it's a foam novelty scorpion hat. This isn't an ordinary mummy, it's a zany mummy!

#9: LEGO Minifigures - Sumo Wrestler

The Sumo Wrestler is another of the minifigures that I intended to get because hey, sumo wrestler. Although he is the same size as all the other minifigures, the lines on his chest are meant to suggest a larger physique. Like the karate guy, the sumo wrestler has a trophy, although this seems to be bronze rather than gold. I guess that explains the less than happy expression on his face.

#8: LEGO Minifigures - Space Villain

The creatively named Space Villain is one of the figures I was trying to get. How could I not want a cyborg with a pinchy arm, a laser blaster, and a pegleg? He's like some alternate universe version of Darth Vader, and I dig that.

#7: LEGO Minifigures - Snowboarder

This isn't one of the minifigures I wanted, but I ended up with it due to my misreading of the bumps on the package. It seems kind of appropriate, since I unintentionally bought a skier when the previous series was available. Maybe I'll accidentally buy the next Winter sports themed minifigure, too. Still, it's decent enough. The goggles flip up, that's cool I guess. The pants even have pockets painted on, that is nice attention to detail.

#6: LEGO Minifigures - Gorilla Suit Guy

The day after I found the LEGO minifigures at the out of town Target, I went to my local Target to see if they were in stock. They were. I sat down on the ground in the aisle for like 20 minutes trying to decipher the barely visible bumps in order to get the figures I wanted. As you will see, I wasn't entirely successful. First, this is one of the minifigures that I definitely wanted, the guy in a gorilla suit. Gorilla Suit Guy is his official name, according to the website. Until I got him out of the package, I thought it was meant to be an actual gorilla. The head underneath the gorilla mask is a guy with sweat running down his face, and on the back is a zipper. Nice attention to detail!

#5: LEGO Minifigures - Pilot

So I was visiting with my parents this past weekend, and we stopped at Target. Naturally, I went over to the toy section to look things over. I didn't find anything I wanted, but I did notice that the Valentine's Day section was up. I knew that the 3rd series of LEGO minifigures was supposedly showing up this month, and the previous series was in the Halloween section at Target, so I decided to check it out. I was right, there was a box of the series 3 minifigures in the Valentine's Day section. I really don't see why they have these in the holiday section rather than the LEGO section, but whatever. The first two series of minifigures could be identified by a barcode on the back of the package, but for the third series that has unfortunately been done away with. Now there are small bumps along the bottom of the package that can be used to identify the figure inside. I pulled up the chart on my phone and tried to make sense of what I was looking at. Since I wasn't on my own, I didn't want to spend too much time sorting through the minifigures and I only got one. Even though I was looking at the bumps from the wrong side of the packaging, I managed to correctly figure out that this pilot was inside. I don't know if this is intended to be a WWI style fighter pilot, but that's how I think of him. Hm, there is a bi-plane in that mummy set...

#4: G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra - Snake Eyes Ninja Commando

Whenever there's a new Joe line, you know that Snake Eyes can't be far behind. Many, many Snake Eyes. If I recall correctly, the Pursuit of Cobra line has three Snake Eyes figures so far. I've already got a few in my collection, so why another one? From what I've heard, this is a pretty cool version of the character, and its accessories are pretty hard to beat. Snake Eyes is mostly known for being a bad ass ninja, but his original figure had more of a special ops commando feel to it. So, accessory count: two swords with removable sheaths, a different sword, two pistols, a sub-machine gun, a rifle, two silencers, an alternate head (balaclava and goggles combo or standard visor), knife. Silencers! That is so cool. One of the pistols and the sub-machine gun can be fitted with the silencers. I'm sure other figures have had silencers for their guns, but this is my first, and I think they're pretty damn neat. From what I can tell, this version of Snake Eyes seems to be easier to find than the Shock Trooper I posted about yesterday. So if you have room in your collection for yet another version of Snake Eyes, you should be able to find this one easily enough.

#3: G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra - Cobra Shock Trooper

So I was at Target and saw an endcap display with some newer Joe and Star Wars figures, including the Cobra Shock Trooper. I went back a couple days later and they were all gone. Good thing I happened to visit that day!

Continuing the Pursuit of Cobra's trend, the Shock Trooper has a bunch of accessories. The helmet and gasmask are both removable (there is also a pair of goggles that can sit on the helmet which isn't pictured because I accidentally left them behind in my bedroom when I took this picture). For weapons, there is a sub-machine gun, a machine gun, a pistol, a shotgun, a huge friggin' hammer, and what I believe are supposed to be shock sticks. They look like nunchucks, though. My favorite accessory is the riot shield. Especially since it so prominently says "COBRA" on it. Way to get the brand out there, guys! Also, there's a walkie-talkie that plugs into the back of the trooper's vest. He can't hold all of the accessories at once, which is the main drawback to having so many.

It's a pretty cool figure, and so I'm not surprised that it has proven to be so popular. At least, drawing from my completely unscientific sample of one store. But it's a cool Cobra trooper, so I'm guessing it's hard to find in general. Good luck on the hunt if you do want to pick up one of these guys!

#2: Star Wars The Clone Wars - Clone Trooper Draa

Well, this is shocking. My second entry for the year, and already we've come to my first clone trooper. So this guy has some green markings to set him apart as well as more accessories than the standard trooper. He's got the standard blaster, a blaster rifle, another blaster rifle, and a backpack. He's all set to go!

I haven't given it much thought, but now I'm wondering how many clone troopers I've amassed now. A couple years, I got them all together for a picture and even then it was a pretty sizable group. Maybe I'll do something like that again, when I have the time and feel the inclination to do so.

#1 (and #151): Doctor Who Regenerating Weeping Angel

So as I mentioned in the post about the Cyberman, I had another Doctor Who figure that broke. I tried contacting the website I bought it from to see about getting a replacement, but they wouldn't take any opened merchandise and referred me to the company that sells the toys here in the States. They were kind enough to send a replacement free of charge, and didn't even want me to send them the broken figure. Thanks, Underground Toys! I assumed I would be sending the damaged figure back, so I didn't included it as one of last year's entries. Since I still have it, and it's the same figure, I'm doing a dual entry this time.

The Weeping Angels are probably my favorite antagonists that have been introduced during the current run of Doctor Who. They're quite creepy, and with the appearance of angel statues are visually interesting as well. So naturally, I wanted an action figure. I missed out on the first version which is designed to hold the face covering 'weeping' pose. Fortunately with their more recent appearance came new figures. There are a few variants of this: the calm face, the angry face, and a clear version.

With the first figure, the arm snapped off after I had left it in the freezer for a while in hopes of unsticking the bicep joint. Unfortunately, on the newer figure, both bicep joints are stuck, so I am not even going to try unsticking them this time. On the positive side, since this figure isn't designed to hold the 'weeping' pose, it doesn't bother me too much that the biceps won't rotate. At least the arms can still go up and down, and the wrists rotate. As for the broken figure, I will probably glue the arm back on.