X Faction - IRON LADY!

Iron Lady (Unlicensed Pepper Potts Rescue) PVC Statue - X Faction Studio 2017

This was a figure I really struggled with. I've seen it popping up on eBay for a few years and I always been really intrigued. I love Rescue as a character. There have been so few female Iron "Men"  in the comics (Rhodey Stark and Antoinette Stark come to mind - but they are both one-and-done type characters). So when Pepper Potts donned the armor I finally thought we had one with staying power. And I have been proven right. The new movie has really solidified her in the public eye. And I really like the blue armor in the MCU. But it made me quickly nostalgic for the classic red armor (which I felt would be completely phased out in the blink of an eye). So I caved and bought this Iron Lady. There are two big moral problems with this figure. Firstly, she's unlicensed. I'm known to pick up the occasional bootlego, but in general I like to respect intellectual property. Secondly, there is some major dubious intent here. Be forewarned, this is an adults-only collectible. Let's check out Iron Lady below!

GG Bond (Pig Hero) - PHOEBE!

GG Bond (Pig Hero) - Super Cute Pets: Phoebe/Flamingo - JinJiang Toys 2017

GG Bond is a very popular animation franchise in China. It stars a young pig with superpowers named GG Bond (aka Pig Hero) and his pig friends. It's clearly aimed at children - complete with squeaky voices and morality lessons. The franchise currently has eight television seasons and four movies. I'm really not sure what season or film these particular toys are from, but it seems the characters all pilot robots that transform into "Super Cute Pets." The token female pig hero, Phoebe, pilots a bird - translated as Flamingo (but I think it's really a mis-translated "pink bird" because it looks nothing like a flamingo). The robot theme seems like a break from the typical look of the show, but I'm just learning about this now so who knows. I really dig the look of Phoebe's robot mode and I was so excited to get her. It seems like this same design may have been produced in varying levels of quality. I've seen pictures that look slightly better, and some that look slightly worse, but I'm happy with the one I got. Let's check her out!

Machine Change British Union - LING YAO!

Machine Change Union - Deformation Series - Lingyao (JQ6103) -  Jia Qi 2017

I'm so in love with the internet sometimes. In the pre-internet days, collecting was an often difficult, frustrating, and restrictive hobby. I didn't collect toys back then, but my Pez and Comic addictions were equally confined to a small bubble of local shops, regional trade shows, and the occasional reference book. I remember the day I decided to search for my favorite old toys on the internet and realized I was wading into a deep pool. That fateful first step was about 13 years ago, and honestly, since then I've often thought I had explored every inch of the toy internet. But every once in a while I stumble across a whole new unexplored facet and that old feeling rushes back. Over the Christmas holidays this year I discovered Chinese action figures. Not the type that show up on eBay, but weird quirky toys made in China for the Chinese market. I spent hours and hours discovering dozens of figures that I'm excited to review. The first figure will be this awesome pink and Purple fembot, Lingyao. Let's check her out below!

Marvel's Spider-Man - Anya Corazon SPIDER-GIRL!

Marvel's Spider-Man (Animated Series) - Spider-Girl - Action Toys/ZD Toys 2017

Anya Corazon is my favorite Spider-character ever. I have re-read the Spider-Girl: Family Values TPB a dozen times and it never gets old to me. There was something about her personality, combined with the great writing and art, that just made me fall in love with the character. I often preach about my observation that Batgirls and Spider-Girls parallel each other; Cassandra Cain and May Parker came out at roughly the same time, same with Burnside Batgirl and Spider-Gwen, but my two favorite parallels were Stephanie Brown and Anya Corazon. It's not too coincidental that Steph will be in the new season of Young Justice, just as Anya is announced to be a character in the upcoming Disney XD show Marvel's Spider-Man. I expect we'll see retail release Hasbro toys from this show eventually, but in the meantime we get these mysterious Chinese figures to tide us over and create nerdy intrigue. I'm super curious to see what else this company makes in the future. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled. Let's check out Anya below!

Marvel's Spider-Man - Animated SPIDER-GWEN!

Marvel's Spider-Man (Animated Series) - Spider-Gwen - Action Toys/ZD Toys 2017

I was very excited back in June when several news sites lit up with images of a mysterious set of Spider-Man figures showing up in China. These figures are based off an upcoming animated Disney XD show called Marvel's Spider-Man (August 19th premiere). When these images came out, not much was known about this show and these figures are probably the first real glimpse into the cast. The big question though is if these are licensed figures or straight-up bootlegs. The company name is pretty generic. It translates as "Action Toys" or "Moving Toys," their feet are embossed with "ZD Toys", and an accepted online colloquial title is Amitoys (but I can't figure out where that name came from). Last year this same company released a mysterious Marvel-Legends-like set of Avengers toys and currently they also have a few Guardians of the Galaxy figures trickling out. The figures are nicely made, inexpensive, accurate to the properties, and have original sculpts (and scales). These are very fascinating toys.