#80: Marvel Legends - Ares

One of the weird things about the Marvel universe is that it has both Norse and Greek (and others?) gods running around acting as superheroes or villains. He's been a Thor villain, so he's here for the Ragnarok series. I'm not really familiar with the character at all, and if not for the build a figure, I wouldn't have bought him. But he's a cool looking figure, and he can do double duty as an Ares for Wonder Woman to fight, since I didn't feel like building that figure. He's a huge figure, befitting a literal god, and he fits right in with the Asgardians. He's got a ridiculously oversized sword and axe, as well as a dagger that fits into a sheathe on his leg. Also his helmet is removable. His face has a dark wash on it to make it look more shadowed under the helmet, so he looks kind of weird without it.

#79: Marvel Legends (Thor Ragnarok) - Hela

The Hela figure poses quite a quandary for me. See, there are two interchangeable heads. One has this absolutely fantastically ridiculous headgear, while the other one is goth Cate Blanchett. I can't decide which one I like more. As the primary antagonist from Ragnarok, I am glad that Hela wasn't relegated to a store exclusive, 2 pack, or a build a figure. She turned out to be a cool figure. My only complaint is that the hip joint is kind of loose, but that's probably just an issue with my specific figure. Aside from the two heads, her cape is removable, and she has some crazy looking sword.

#78: Marvel Legends (Thor Ragnarok) - Loki

Back when the Avengers figures came out, the only six inch figures were exclusives, but at least we got a Loki. Both previous Thor movies only got smaller 3 and 3/4 inch figures, but Loki's back in the six inch scale for Ragnarok. While I still like his Avengers outfit the best, the one is cool too. Bonus points for it including the half helmet with trademark horns. The helmet and cape are removable, and those are the only accessories. There are pegs for the cape to plug into on his shoulders, but the one on the left side has been exceedingly uncooperative. But it stays on well enough. The lower part of the tunic is a separate piece, so it has a tendency to slide up on the torso.

#77: Marvel Legends (Thor Ragnarok) - Thor

The toys for Ragnarok came out a couple months ago, but the movie isn't out until next month. So even though I'm behind on blogging about my toys, I'm still ahead of the movie game. Thor here is the only figure I saw in the store a day or so after the street date, so it's the first figure from the series that I picked up. So this is Thor in the gladiator scene from the trailer, which means he's wearing that cool helmet. Since Mjolnir has been destroyed, he's armed with two swords. It's a different look for Thor, but still manages to look appropriately Thor-like. Also I'm glad to finally get a movie Thor figure with a cool helmet on.

#76: S.H. Figuarts Pokemon - Team Rocket

Released alongside Ash is everyone's favorite duo of ne'er do wells, Team Rocket. Jessie and James (and Meowth!) are sold as a set. They look good and are well articulated, and have a couple alternate pieces. They each have an alternate screaming/alarmed face, as well as fists or open hands. Jessie gets an extra pointing hand while James gets the best extra hand: one holding a rose. James and his roses is one of those weird affectations that I really love, so I'm glad it got made into action figure form. There's also a stand, which I presume is for Jessie. With her outrageous anime hair, she can stand unassisted, but it does leave her with a pronounced lean. Meowth, like Pikachu, isn't particularly articulated. But he does get an alternate face with a stunned expression.

#75: S.H. Figuarts Pokemon - Ash and Pikachu

In honor of new ghost types showing up in Pokemon Go today, here's everybody's favorite kind of terrible Pokemon trainer, Ash Ketchum. In Figuarts form, he looks just like you remember from the original cartoon. The most important accessory in this set is Pikachu. It's got a couple points of articulation, and there's a plastic stand that can be used to help Pikachu sit on Ash's shoulder. Ash has a couple swappable right hands: a fist, a pointing hand, and one holding a Pokeball. His hat is removable, sort of. If you take it off, there's not a proper top of his head underneath, it's more so you can have Pikachu posing with the hat or whatever. There is an alternate hat-less head, however. There are definitely cheaper Ash figures out there, but this one is his classic look, has cool accessories, and is super posable.

#74: Figma The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Princess Zelda

Since it came out at that weird cusp when the Gamecube was on its way out, and the Wii was new, I never got around to actually playing Twilight Princess. Since they keep making Figmas of Nintendo characters that I want figures of, but based on games I haven't actually played (like the Link and Samus Figmas I already have), I'm just glad to have cool versions of those characters. She has the usual Figma alternate face and multiple sets of swappable hands as well as a stand. For accessories, she has a swords, and some sort of magical bow and arrow. It's a very cool looking Zelda figure. My only complaint is that her dress inhibits her leg articulation. That's always going to be a problem for a figure wearing a dress, unless you go with soft goods, though.