#56: Marvel Legends - Cable

I haven't been keeping up with the X-books, but it looks like Cable's techno-organic infection has spread, as the left side of his face has gone mechanical giving him the Terminator look. While he still is sporting pouches, they are not so numerous as those in the 90s heyday of pouch-mania. Gone, also are his giant shoulder pads. He does at least still have a couple of overly large sci-fi guns. Overall, Cable's a nice looking figure, enduring proof that a character can outlast horrible 90s design choices.

#55: Marvel Legend - Marvel's Phoenix

Okay, I know that in the post about the Rogue figure I said that the 90s looks are what I prefer for the X-Men, but Jean Grey is an exception. Her 90s look had those weird shoulder and thigh pads, and a headsock. Headsocks are the worst. But her Phoenix costume is pretty great. It's a nice color combination, and that jaunty sash just ties everything together. Hasbro is continuing to do a good job of giving a character long hair without it getting in the way of articulation too much, although in Phoenix's case, it is coupled with a somewhat overly long neck. Unless you count the jaunty sash as an accessory, Phoenix doesn't have any aside from the build-a-figure piece she is packaged with.

#54: Marvel Legends - Rogue

The weird 90s trend of putting leather jackets on superheroes was generally more on the terrible side. But in Rogue's case, I'd say it worked out pretty well. You can probably blame the Saturday morning X-Men cartoon, but that Jim Lee era is always going to be the most iconic iteration of the X-Men to me. So I'm pretty glad that Hasbro decided to make a Rogue figure with this look, and that it turned out well. Her hair is sculpted in a somewhat windblown position, which helps it avoid getting too much in the way of the head articulation. The tops of her boots and the ends of her gloves are separate pieces that rest on their respective limbs. Rogue's sole accessory is pretty cool: an alternate bare hand, so she can use her memory/power absorbing ability.

#53: Marvel Legends - Iceman

Remember how Hasbro used to release holographic versions of Star Wars characters, which were basically just unpainted versions of the character cast in translucent blue? With Iceman figures, that seems to be the standard figure. Have they ever released a non-ice form Bobby Drake figure from the comics? I'm not sure. Now a figure based on his early "snowball" appearance would be interesting. Anyway. This is a more modern Iceman. It seems to be mostly based on the Spider-Man body, what with the thin frame and extra rotating shoulder joints. But the head, forearms, hands, lower legs, and possibly feet are new sculpts. I'm not sure whether you'd count it as an accessory, but the spiky ice piece on his back is removable. The only paint on Iceman is some white for his eyes. It would be cool if he had included some sort of ice slide accessory like the smaller figure from the Wolvreine line, or the Toy Biz one I had as a kid. Even without, it's still a cool figure. Pun not intended (that time).

#52: Marvel Legends - Kitty Pryde

Following Wolverine is one of his surrogate daughter teenage sidekicks, Kitty Pryde AKA Shadowcat. Surprisingly, she isn't based on the female teenage body like the one used for Spider-Gwen, so she's not short. Her face looks fairly young, so maybe this is meant to be a younger Kitty Pryde. I'm glad they went with a more modern X-Men uniform, especially over that old blue Shadowcat costume she used to wear. Not surprisingly, she comes with a Lockheed accessory. He fits nicely on her shoulder with his wing sliding in the gap between her head and ponytail, as well as his tail wrapping around her shoulder to keep him stable.

#51: Marvel Legends - Wolverine

Oddly enough, this is my first Wolverine in the six inch scale. There have been a few released in the past couple of years, but I've been biding my time for one in his classic brown and yellow costume. I think my favorite part of the figure is how short it is. You wouldn't know it by Hugh Jackman, but Wolverine is a really short guy, and this figure properly portrays that. Each individual claw is removable, and their position can be somewhat adjusted. There is also an included alternate set of fists that don't have claws. Since the claws are removable, this seems kind of pointless, but I suppose that the minor visual difference will matter to some people.

#50: Marvel Collector Corps Pop! - Squirrel Girl

Now that she's in her own title, Squirrel Girl is finally coming into her own as a character and getting more widespread attention. Naturally, this means toys! There's a plush and a Minimate on the way, but Funko struck first with a Pop! version of this unbeatable hero. Squirrel Girl is exclusive to the Marvel Collector Corps service, so I had to subscribe. There is some other stuff in the box, but that's irrelevant here because none of it is Squirrel Girl. Due to licensing restrictions, Marvel and Star Wars Pops are bobbleheads. Her tail is heavy enough to make her lean backwards, but fortunately it goes low enough so that she can rest on it. When flat on her feet, it is slightly above the ground, so that may or may not be intentional. In a rare move, there is an accessory tiny Pop included, the squirrel Tippy Toe, who is sporting her trademark bow.

#49: World of Nintendo - Sheik

I'm still waiting for a figure of Zelda herself, but (spoiler alert for a 20 year old game!) since this is technically her, that is pretty cool too. Sheik has had more appearances in the Super Smash Bros series than the Legend of Zelda series that she's from. She's probably not the only character with that distinction, which I suppose is a bit odd. Sheik's accessory is a lyre. Normally for this line, the accessory is inside a box, and is meant to be a surprise. But in this case, the lyre is displayed in the packaging, and called out in the print as well. Maybe there was concern that people don't know what a lyre is.

#48: Doctor Who - Sound FX Special Weapons Dalek

The Special Weapons Dalek is from the Seventh Doctor story "Remembrance of the Daleks" which was basically a 25th anniversary special for the show. The story features a couple different Dalek factions, and the special weapons Dalek is a standout from the standard design. Gone are the traditional eyestalk, plunger arm, and blaster, replaced with one big cannon. As a consequence, the only articulation featured on this Dalek is the up and down motion of the cannon. It also makes noise, and can play either a laser blast, or a laser blast followed by an explosion. The special weapons Dalek wasn't particularly chatty, even by Dalek standards, so it doesn't say "EXTERMINATE" like you might expect.

#47: Rock Candy - Modern Batgirl

So, it's another line of collectible vinyl figures from Funko, but less stylized. So far as I can tell, the Rock Candy line is only about DC superheroines. It's also I think the first collectible version of Batgirl's most recent Burnside iteration, which is cool (there is a Pop! coming out soon, and both Mattel and DC Collectibles have action figure versions in the works). Not that I really need another line of things to collect, but because it's Batgirl of Burnside, I decided to get it. It's in the 4-5 inch range of height, and completely unarticulated. There's also a stand, without which it has trouble staying upright.

#46: World of Nintendo - Shy Guy

Originally hailing from Super Mario Bros 2, the Shy Guys aren't quite as iconic as goombas or koopa troopas, but I've always liked their look. Not surprisingly, the Shy Guy has very little articulation. The arms are swivel-hinges and the feet are swivels. Really, that's about all you can expect with a design like that. His accessory is a propellor that plugs into the top of his head. I don't remember Shy Guys flying in SMB2, so I'm guessing that's an ability that showed up in a more recent appearance. I haven't played a new Super Mario game since the Gamecube, so I'm kind of out of the loop in that regard.

#45: World of Nintendo - Tanooki Mario

Second to Kuribo's shoe, the tanooki suit is the coolest power up in Super Mario Bros. 3. It combines the raccoon suit's ability of flight with the ability to turn into an invulnerable statue. It was also Mario's first foray into full bodysuit power ups. The original tanooki suit doesn't have the hat brim on it that this figure has, so this is apparently based on New Super Mario 3D Land. But I'm just going to pretend it's the original version, because Super Mario Bros 3 was such a huge cultural landmark. Mario isn't as well articulated here as is the Figuarts version, but it's good enough for the price. Mario's secret accessory is the super leaf power up.

#44: DC Comics Multiverse Batman v Superman - Aquaman

I never got around to buying a Khal Drogo figure, so this is my first Jason Momoa figure. Like the Flash and Cyborg, Aquaman had only a glorified cameo in Batman v Superman. Yet, out of the three, he is the only one who has an action figure already. This is almost a Star Wars level obscure character release, or it would be if Aquaman wasn't already a major character. Except for the fact that he has two hands, his movie look is basically the 90s comics version. Which is probably better for live action than his traditional costume. Seeing Jason Momoa in a scaly orange shirt might be cool, though. Accessory-wise, Aquaman includes a five pronged spear.

#43: World of Nintendo - Gravity Suit Samus

I don't remember if I ever saw one, but I intended to pass on the first World of Nintendo Samus because I already have the much fancier Figma Samus. But I am totally down for a gravity suit repaint. Beside granting improved jumping ability, what I like about the gravity suit is the purple. And this is the Super Smash Bros color variant I always use for Samus. It's a nice looking figure with decent articulation. The secret accessory is Samus in morph ball mode.

#42: Transformers Masterpiece - MP-29 Destron Laserwave

A while ago I was considering picking up the third party version of Shockwave because he is one of my favorite Decepticons, and no Masterpiece version of him had been announced. Then one was announced. I'm assuming that there will be a domestic Hasbro release at some point, but I decided to be impatient and just go for the Japanese release (I wonder how many Transformers geek points one earns from buying Japanese versions of the toys). Just like the original toy, Shockwave's alt-mode is a sci-fi ray gun. It's a pretty good size, just slightly small for my hands. If one wants to display him in this mode, there is a stand.

Shockwave's robot mode is very nice looking. They even did a good job of correcting the too skinny legs problem with the original toy. For accessories, he includes a few alternate hands, some of which are translucent due to the light up feature. As far as I can tell, his chest and the end of his left arm can light up. Batteries aren't included.  Also, there is a smaller version of himself in alt-mode. So that means you can have your Masterpiece Transformers dual wield Shockwave and Megatron. There are also Decepticon logo stickers which I haven't applied yet.

#41: S.H. Figuarts - Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury was one of the greatest rock vocalists of all time. If you disagree, you can just leave right now, because I don't need that kind of negativity on my blog. So when I saw there was a Figuarts Freddie Mercury coming out, you better believe that I pre-ordered one as soon as I could. Not surprisingly, this is based on Queen's appearance at Wembley Stadium. I think every figure based on Freddie Mercury uses this look. This is the typical Figuarts quality we're used to, although this is the first Figuarts toy I've bought that doesn't include a stand. There are the typical Figuarts alternate heads and hands, as well as a microphone (with and without stand). This is one the few figures I own that is based on a real person. Obviously, a lot of figures I own are based on people, but they're for the character they are playing, not the person themselves.

Here are the alternate shouting and singing faces for Freddie.

#40: DC Comics Designer Series (Greg Capullo) - Catwoman

Just to show you how far behind I am with this blog, this is a birthday gift. My birthday was over two months ago. This Catwoman is from the Designer Series, based on the artwork of Greg Capullo. The Snyder/Capullo run on Batman was overall pretty great. Greg Capullo's style looks very cool, and translates well to action figure. Since this is DC Collectibles, the scale is larger than Mattel toys, but at least it will fit in with my Capullo style Batman figure. Catwoman's sole accessory is her whip, which is made from a soft enough plastic that it can function as an actual tiny whip.