#99: Batman Legacy - Batman (Modern Age)

When I first saw images of the modern age Batman figure, I thought that the grimacing face was a bit much, and that I would skip the figure, even though I have been wanting a black and grey Batman without a yellow bat symbol on his chest. Thinking about it more, I decided that I can actually dig the face. Since this is a modern Batman, in my mind that means he is The Goddamn Batman, so it works for him to look really pissed off.

I believe this mold was originally used for one of the DC Super Heroes Batman figures, and there are certain details that help set it apart from the standard DCUC body, so that's cool. There are even bat symbols on the soles of his boots! He comes with a bat symbol base and a mini poster of Batman swooping around in a cave with bats flying around him. I think this is one of the better Batman figures that Mattel has made in the past few years, so for now I am considering it the definitive Batman in my collection.

#98: Doctor Who - The Master and Axon

When this set came out, it was the only way to get the original version of the Master, and it still is. Since it cost 40 bucks, I wasn't willing to pay that much because the Axon didn't interest me enough to justify the price. But Figureoftheday had it a couple weeks ago for 25 dollars, which was low enough to get me to spring for it.

The Axon figure pretty accurately represents the guy in a suit look of its TV appearance. It's my tallest Who figure, and definitely the bulkiest. The sculpt is pretty intricate, capturing all the somewhat disgusting texture of the Axon's body, with appropriate paintwork. Without elbows or knees, articulation is somewhat lacking. It's a big, weird looking alien, so it's cool to have around.

This Master is the first one to appear, played by Roger Delgado. I think this is one of the better likenesses on a Who figure, which is cool since the John Simm Master figure was a bit lacking in that department. All the standard Who figure articulation is here. He also comes with his tissue compression eliminator. He's pretty cool, and I'm glad I was able to get this set for a more reasonable price than it's original one. Last I checked, there are figures for three different incarnations of the Master, so it raises the question of how long it will be until an Eric Roberts version of the Master will be released.

#97: Batman - Ice Cannon Mr. Freeze

So when I went to that toy show a couple weeks ago, I saw some DC Super Heroes figures that were priced higher than I was willing to pay, including Mr. Freeze. Now, I don't want the current Batman Legacy release because I think the color scheme is pretty garish. So I checked on Ebay and found this guy for a reasonable price. What I realized after the auction had ended was that I had bid on the wrong figure. I was looking for the DC Super Heroes Mr. Freeze, but by not paying close enough attention, I had actually bid on the earlier release from the Batman line. Truly, there is a lesson there to not be so distracted by a low price that you don't realize you're not bidding on exactly the toy you want.

The main reason I wanted the DCSH version is due to its improved articulation. This version has no elbow, wrist, or ankle articulation, and the hips and knees are only swivels. Aside from articulation gripes, this is actually a pretty cool figure. One cool piece of articulation is that when you swivel the waist, the head swivels with it beneath the dome. That's a really cool way to have the head be poseable without removing the dome. Also, that huge gun? It squirts water. Yeah, an action feature. In this case, it doesn't really interfere with the aesthetics of the toy, because the hose is well integrated into the design.

Now that I have this Mr. Freeze in my collection, I probably won't be willing to shell out for the DCSH version, but if they re-release him again with a decent color scheme, I may end up with a replacement. For now, it's always good to have another member of Batman's rogues gallery.

#96: Star Wars The Vintage Collection - Han Solo (Yavin Ceremony)

I bought this Han to fill another hole in my collection: a regular, classic Han Solo. The Han that came with the Millennium Falcon is similar, but has piloting gloves and a headset. This one has a scene specific touch with the medal, but it can be removed, so it is otherwise the classic Han Solo look. Most of the figures I've been getting in this scale lately have been from the Marvel Universe line, so it is interesting to get a figure with a more realistic physique. I think he may be slightly too thin, or perhaps his head is slightly too large. Either way, I'm just glad to have the classic Han Solo look for my collection.

#95: Star Wars The Vintage Collection - Luke Skywalker (Death Star Escape)

Looking back, it's been about four whole months since my last new Star Wars toy. Damn that mid-year Star Wars toy drought! This Luke isn't even from one of the newest waves, but I never saw it in stores until I was visiting my home town a couple weeks ago.

Mainly I got this figure because I don't have a farm boy Luke yet. This one has the Stormtrooper belt, so he is kind of scene specific, but that's fine by me. The weirdest thing about him is that he doesn't come with a lightsaber. It's weird, because the only other Luke figure I can think of that doesn't include a lightsaber is the Luke in Stormtrooper armor. There's even one Luke figure that totally should not include a lightsaber which does anyway. They made a figure based on the final scene of  The Empire Strikes Back, where Luke is on the medical frigate, having just lost his hand (and lightsaber), and yet it still comes with one. But not this Luke! Instead, he comes with a grappling hook for chasm crossing, a blaster, and a comm-link that clips to his belt. Also, he's appropriately too short to be a Stormtrooper.

#94: Batman Legacy - Catman

Word on the street is that K-Mart is getting the second wave of Batman Legacy earlier than other stores for some reason, but there have been reports of this wave showing up at Wal-Marts as well. Why K-Mart? Because Mattel, that's why. Whatever the reason, I found Catman at a K-Mart, the only Batman Legacy figure in the store. 

The Catman figure is pretty cool, and I think it has some unique parts. The gloves and boots seem to be new, and the cape has added arm straps which I think are unique. It's a different look for a caped figure, and I think it's cool. The head is of course new, and it has something cool: sculpted in stubble. For accessories, there are a couple of knuckleduster claw things. Instead of a build a figure piece, Batman Legacy figures get stands and a mini poster. The stands are oval with the Bat logo and have the character's name along the side. Catman's poster is an image of him exchanging blows with Batman in midair high above the city. 

Now here's hoping I can find Batgirl!

#93: Transformers Animated - Shockwave and Bumblebee

When I went to the toy show with the Jameses, this was my only other purchase. I already have Animated Shockwave, but it's the standard release that isn't purple. Later, Hasbro released this Target exclusive version, which showed up and quickly went into clearance mode. Unfortunately I never got my hands on one at the time, and now it's pricier than I'm willing to pay in the secondary market. So when I saw it at the toy show for a very reasonable price, I bought it.

Included with Shockwave is a small Activators version of Bumblebee. I never bought any of the Activators toys, but it is pretty fun. When you push the button on Bumblebee's roof (I think it's a siren bubble) it automatically unfolds thanks to a spring loaded mechanism. You unfold his arms and legs a little, and you've got Bumblebee in bot mode. Pretty cool. I'm considering it a free bonus with Shockwave, so I've got no complaints.

As I mentioned before, I already have the non-purple version of this Shockwave, so I knew exactly what I was getting here. A rare quadruple-changer, Shockwave is pretty great. The old one is on top of my shelves, so I had forgotten how insanely tall he is for a Voyager class toy. He's almost nine inches tall, which is a good two or three inches taller than most Voyagers. He's pretty badass, and I'm glad I was finally able to get my hands on one without overpaying.

#92: Marvel Universe - Thanos

So a couple weeks ago I went to a toy show in San Jose with my Articulated Monster co-hosts, James and James. A couple days beforehand, I was thinking about the Thanos figure and how unlikely I would be to find one in stores. So I did a bit of research into how much it would cost me to get it from an online source and decided that if I could find one cheaper at the show, I would pick it up. At one of the first booths we visited, I saw Thanos, and since the price was slightly lower than online prices, I went for it. Moments later, I was struck by a couple doubts. First I was worried that I would find one cheaper elsewhere at the show, which I fortunately did not. Second I was worried that I was supporting scalpers by buying a fairly current product. This may or may not be true, and the seller may just be someone that orders full cases of figures from online. He certainly did have a wide selection of hard to find and easy to find figures.

So anyway, as a big cosmic villain (AKA Marvel's version of Darkseid) Thanos was a figure I definitely wanted to add to my collection. Sharing a base body with Juggernaut, he's appropriately bulky, with a good amount of articulation. There's a nice wash to bring out the details of his muscles. He comes packaged with the Infinity Gauntlet on, and if you want a regular version of Thanos, there's an alternate normal gloved left hand. Also, a stand which he really doesn't need.

True facts: The other day, I found Thanos at Target. Which is currently having a $6.99 sale on Marvel Universe figures. As Liz Lemon would say: Blerg!

#91: Transformers Generations - Scourge

With the toy reset at Target came new stock of Transformers Reveal the Shield and Generations toys. Naturally this includes, Thundercracker, Warpath, and Wheeljack, which I had previously purchased online. Some times patience pays off, but I tend to think it'll lead to missing out. Also that includes Scourge which I decided to get mostly as a companion for my Cyclonus. The recent Galvatron they made is reportedly not very good, so I will wait for a new version to be released if I want to complete the trio.

This version of Scourge turns into a pretty cool looking flying wing jet thing. It's pretty massively wide, barely fitting in the bubble. I like the way it looks, although it would be an improvement if the blue stripe continued along the edges of the wings rather than abruptly ending as it does.

Robot mode is pretty good, too. The feet are pretty huge, so that's good for stability. Also, he is rocking some great facial hair. Poseability is decent enough, although the shoulders are a bit restricted. He comes with two guns which can be connected to form a bigger gun. A neat feature that I didn't notice until after I had taken the pictures is that the wings open up, giving a cooler appearance in robot mode. Also, the inside of the wings can be used to store the guns, which is something I wondered about when I first opened the toy, as there's no place on the plane's body for them to plug in otherwise.

#90: Batman Legacy - Prototype Suit Batman and Lt. Jim Gordon

As I was waiting for Target to finish its toy aisle reset, I was pondering how much I wanted the Jim Gordon figure. Since it comes in a two pack with the prototype suit Batman which I wasn't interested in, I tried to decide if I wanted it enough to effectively pay double price for one figure. The only alternative would be to find a Gordon loose online, but I try to avoid loose figures when possible, as I'm somewhat picky about that sort of thing, and part of the fun of toys for me is getting them out of the packaging. So the second time that I saw the set on the shelves, I decided that I would cave and buy the set.

The prototype suit Batman was originally released in the Movie Masters line. It's actually a pretty good figure, although not the most exciting choice. Has there ever been some sort of proto-Batman figure from the comics made? Thanks to the typical Mattel packaging, the left leg is a bit warped, but I am hoping to to fix that by giving it some time with a rubber band. The ski mask is made of a soft rubber, and is fortunately removable. It looks a bit too bulky while on the head, and the likeness of Christian Bale is pretty good. A stapler would have been a cool accessory for this figure.

I'm digging the Gordon figure, partly because it is free of packaging deformation, partly just because it's a Gary Oldman figure, partly because he's got a gun, and in general it's just good. The likeness is maybe not as good as the Christian Bale, but it gets the job done. So, the gun. In the Movie Masters line, there weren't any proper accessories, just bits of "evidence" included with the figures. Joker came with a joker card, Harvey and Two-Face each came with a full scale replica of his coin. The rest were junk, like an oversized Batman cowl, or an oversized Scarecrow mask. So ultimately I suppose it is a good thing that Gordon wasn't part of the Movie Masters line, because a gun is a much better accessory than whatever he might have come with otherwise.

I definitely feel like I overpaid for the set, but the prototype Batman isn't too terrible. If you don't mind loose figures, it's probably a better idea to just get Gordon online instead of buying the set.