#3: K'Nex Mario Kart Wii - Luigi building set

I got Mario, so I got Luigi so I could have both of the Mario Brothers. He's taller than Mario, and his overalls are a darker blue. There's not really much else to say, so have a comic to pad out this post:

#2: K'Nex Mario Kart Wii - Mario building set

After I picked up Bowser, naturally I got Mario too. He's my namesake, after all. One thing that sets these apart from LEGO minifigures is that it's not the same base body used every time, so each character gets its own shape. I would totally buy a LEGO Mario minifigure too, but I do like this approach. He moves at the neck, shoulders, wrists, and hips. Unlike Bowser, there is no movement at all in the waist. He comes packaged in three pieces. Now I'm really hoping they come out with a second series of these. We need Peach and Toad!

#1: K'Nex Mario Kart Wii - Bowser building set

So far I've been passing on all the K'Nex Mario Kart building sets because I don't have room for the tracks, and the cars that are sold by themselves don't interest me enough to want to buy them. Then I heard they were putting out individually packed minifigures, so I figured it would be a good opportunity to get just the characters I like (you see that Hasbro, this is how you should release the Kre-o minifigures!). I heard that Bowser was going to be shortpacked at only two to a case, (because K'Nex hates you, that's why) so I was worried I wouldn't be able to find one. As it turns out, I found both Bowsers. A few days before I found these, I noticed an empty spot on one of the shelves with a tag for the minifigures, so I was keeping an eye out for them. The case must have been put out not too long before I got there, because it looked pretty full. Both of the Bowsers were easy to find, one was right in the front, and the other was actually on top of all the other packages. Maybe someone picked them out and decided they didn't want them? Whatever happened, it worked out for me. It's definitely nice to be able to see which minifigure is in the packaging without having to resort to some mysterious bump codes or feeling through the packaging.

Bowser here is one of the largest minifigures I've seen. On the whole, these seem to be about the same size as Minimates, but Bowser is pretty massive due to his bulk. That's probably a factor in why he's shortpacked, he has so much more mass than the others and is thus less profitable. While Bowser is a minifigure, he is packaged as a building set, so there is some assembly required. He comes in six pieces which are easy enough to fit together, although instructions are included. He moves at the hips, shoulders, wrists, neck, and (kind of) at the waist–the shell kind of gets in the way of that. Of the minifigures I got from the series, this is definitely my favorite.

#146: LEGO Harry Potter - The Lab

This set was in the stocking stuffer area at Target, but it was four bucks and I wasn't willing to pay that for basically just a Harry Potter minifigure. Then after Christmas, that whole section got marked down to half off, and two bucks sounded like a good deal. The set isn't named on the package, but there's a number, so I looked it up on Brickipedia, and this is the name they went with, so it's good enough for me. Basically I just got this set for the Harry minifigure. He's got a head with two expressions: one side is worried looking, and the other (pictured) has a kind of smirk. The wand seems a bit long, almost long enough to be a broomstick. The other part of the set is some sort of potions rack. There's a hollow space in the middle where a letter to Harry and a fang (I'm guessing it's a basilisk fang) are held. It seems kind of weird. Also, there's a spider!

#145: Minecraft - Foam Pickaxe

It's all well and good to have a good idea what gifts you'll be receiving for Christmas, but when you get something that's a total surprise it's like being a kid again. This gift is from my brother and I wasn't expecting it at all. It's totally cool.

In case you aren't familiar with Minecraft, it's an independently produced game from Sweden that basically involves wandering around some mysterious landscape mining and building. And watching out for monsters, of course. This video is a nice introduction to the game, so you can go check it out. I'll wait.

Think Geek has a habit of coming up with really cool products (like the Tauntaun sleeping bag for a while back) and this is another great idea. Minecraft has a low-res look to it, and this pickaxe is an accurate reproduction of the in game item. I think I'm going to go mine for some diamonds...

#144: Batman The Brave And The Bold - Sea Spear Aquaman

Another Christmas gift, this one is from AJ. The Brave and the Bold was a great cartoon, but I never bought into the toy line because with all my DCUC figures, I don't need more of the same characters in a different scale. For what it's worth, I do feel that the BatB version of Aquaman is my favorite take on the character, which of course is helped by the voice work of John Di Maggio. So even though I already have the DCUC Aquaman, this is a cool figure to have as well. Like all BatB figures, Aquaman has holes along his arms, legs, and on his back allowing different weapons to be plugged in. If you have a lot of figures from the line, you can come up with your own variations, which I imagine would be fun. Aquaman comes with a trident, and there is a certain amount of amusement to be had by plugging it into his arms or legs, which just looks absurd but is rather funny. I'm not going to start collecting this line, especially since it's on the way out now, but Aquaman is cool.

#143: Thor The Mighty Avenger - Ram Smash Volstagg

Since I was unable to find a Volstagg figure, I was beginning to think I would have to use a Punisher figure to fill out my Warriors Three. Fortunately James had seen several of them and gave me one for Christmas. Thanks, James!

I think Volstagg officially is the winner of the facial hair contest of my collection with that awesome beard. It barely even gets in the way of moving his head, which is a nice bonus. Like all Thor toys, there's the standard oversized goofy weapon. In this case it's a spinning axe ram. So when you push in the piston, the axes spin. Okay. Fortunately, Volstagg includes a proper battle axe. All told, it's a good figure, even if the legs are a bit hindered by the armor. Now if I can find Sif...

#142: Mega Bloks Hello Kitty - Hello Kitty with lollipop

I wouldn't say I'm a Hello Kitty fan, exactly. But it's something that's iconically cute, with an insane amount of branding. Have you seen the Hello Kitty microwave at Target? Yes, it's something that exists, and it is hardly the strangest officially licensed Hello Kitty product out there. So you combine that with the appeal of the LEGO blindpacked minifigure craze? Well, I caved. There's something compelling about having a LEGO compatible Hello Kitty minifigure. This is the first one I pulled from the display, I felt the packaging to see which accessory was included, and figured this would be a good one to have. I like that the lollipop is so ridiculously oversized, although I suppose it could also be interpreted as a table tennis paddle. Unlike the display plates for the LEGO minifigures, Hello Kitty has a brick to stand on. Only her neck and shoulders are articulated, but that's all that could really be expected of a character with such odd anatomy.

#141: Transformers Generations - Sergeant Kup

Recently Target had Generations figures on sale for $6.99, which is almost half off the normal price. That's the kind of deal I can't resist, so I decided to pick up Kup. Overall, he's pretty cool, although the arms are a bit wonky. The articulation on them is kind of hard to deal with, there are just too many joints in the elbow area. Also, the huge panels hanging off the lower arms kind of get in the way. Otherwise, he's cool. I like how they incorporated the gun into the altmode, where it plugs into the bottom of the truck and the end of its barrel functions as an exhaust pipe. Neat!

#140: Star Wars The Vintage Collection - Boba Fett (Prototype Armor)

Another year, another mail away figure. Another mail away Boba Fett. As I've mentioned before, I'm a total sucker for this sort of thing, as mail away figures are a fond memory of childhood. Previously there has been a small subline of figures based on concept art, but this takes a slightly different approach. Basically, this is a white Boba Fett, like the concept art Boba Fett figure, but this is based on the actual prototype costume that was made. Black repaints have been a longstanding trend, maybe this will start a wave of white repaints. Since it is just a repaint, it's fortunate that they picked one of the better Boba Fett molds to work with, unlike the one that's currently available in the Saga Legends line.

Maybe next year, we'll get a clear plastic "stealth" Boba Fett as a mail away figure?