When I first started collecting action figures seriously (about 25 years ago), I was obsessed with finding female characters from all the iconic properties of my youth. I was especially intent on finding a female Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. This is when I discovered Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa. But I also learned about this infamous 1994 issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Special #11 wherein April O'Neil became the Fifth Turtle for a single 26-page story. April had infiltrated a lab to get some Anti-mutagen for Splinter's birthday (she wrongly assumed he wanted to return to his human form). But she was captured and turned into a turtle by the aliens secretly running the lab. In the end, there was only enough Anti-mutagen to return her to human form (and defeat the mutated alien enemy). It was a simple one-off story, but it notably had the first female turtle (three years before Venus). The comic issue is notoriously hard to come by, regularly fetching hundreds on eBay in good condition.
UNITING ALL WOMEN OF PLASTIC
Showing posts with label Custom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Custom. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
April O'Neil as THE FIFTH TURTLE!
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Injustice 2 - SUPERGIRL (and Customization)!
This figure made me laugh a little when I found her in Walmart last week (in the Entertainment section with the Funko stuff FYI). I laughed because I thought this figure is very decent with a lot of potential. But the hairstyle was so distracting to me that it ruined the whole figure. It was a... wait for it... Injustice. It literally says "Injustice Supergirl" all over the packaging - and I couldn't agree more. I have seen images from the Injustice 2 game and I know the actual character design has odd hair. Plus the Hiya Toys Supergirl figure from the same game a few years ago had a similarly off-putting design. But this didn't stop me from picking her up with a the idea that I could pretty easily modify her hair to my liking. I haven't attempted anything like this in a while and seemed like a simple single-piece mod. And honestly it was. I ended up liking her quite a bit, but my fingers are still crossed for a classic Kara someday (right after the classic Wonder Woman we've be clamoring for). Let's check out Supergirl below!
Sunday, June 17, 2018
Black Panther Basic - SHURI!
I think I'm the only person I know who wasn't blown away by the Black Panther movie. My expectations were set really high, and by the time I saw it, it was almost inevitable that I would be let down. My biggest complaint it that the Dora Milaje didn't really have a chance to shine. I was expecting some crazy spectacle on par with the beach invasion in Wonder Woman. I also really disliked the Erik Killmonger character. I usually love all villains but I found him disappointing and overly cocky. Some things I loved about the movie included the snowy Jabari tribe on the mountain, Wakanda itself, and T'Challa's genius little sister, Shuri. She was just so smart, funny, competent and cool. I hope that she will get the full Marvel Legends treatment when the sequel hits, but in the meantime I was excited we got this basic series figure to tide us over. I got her when she first came out, but I waited to post a review until I got a chance to customize her a little (her figure was a little too basic IMO). Let's check out Shuri below!
Monday, November 28, 2016
MOTUC Filmation Style - EVIL LYN!
Evil-Lyn is the most iconic witch from my childhood. Her wicked undermining of Skeletor was something I looked forward to every day after school and was one of the main reasons that I developed an early fascination with villainesses. The original action figure was something I always wanted but never laid eyes on outside of the Sears catalogs. I remember the night in my post-college years when it donned on me that I could easily buy her on eBay. Within a week I was tearing open a box with my childhood treasures (Evil-Lyn and Teela) and I couldn't have been happier. It wasn't until relatively recently that I realized all the differences between the animated Filmation look and the toy version. Of course I immediately wanted an animated variant in MOTUC, but I honestly never expected one. It's kind of fitting that she is the last MOTU female to be released by Mattel. She isn't a perfect figure by any means, but I personally think she pretty great despite her flaws. Let's check her out in detail below!
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Masters of the Universe - TEELA (and Customization!)
Teela is probably the greatest female character in the original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series. The Sorceress and Evil-Lyn were awesome, but at the same time they were pretty archetypal witch/mage types. Teela, on the other hand, was the daughter of King Randor's weaponer, Man-at-Arms, and Captain of the Royal Guard. Most of the time she was tasked with protecting the seemingly aloof Prince Adam - much to the amusement of the viewing audience. The first Teela figure in the MOTUC line was amazing. Her only issues are that she looks pretty modern in comparison to more recent figures that favorite the simplified Filmation style. She's also very expensive to acquire on the secondary market. So this Teela 2.0 figure was a much-demanded figure that had everyone's hopes high. Then the production figures were shown with a misshapen face and the disappointed grumbles could be heard across the blogosphere. I can be pretty handy with minor touch-ups to figures so I was excited to try my hand at fixing this figure. I'm super happy with the results. Pics and details at the bottom. Let's check out Teela 2.0!
Friday, August 21, 2015
DC Mini-Busts - CATWOMAN (and Customization!)
I love my Catwoman mini-bust collection. It took me years to succumb to the temptations of statue collecting, but when I finally did, it was Miss Kyle who pushed me over the edge. This newest Jim Lee designed bust is my sixth (Three Women of DCU busts, DKR, and Halle Berry). Plus there are Julie Newmar and a BTAS versions due out by the end of the year. Now all we need is a Michelle Pfeiffer version and I'll be happy. I've been very excited for this bust since it was first solicited, but I must admit the final product was a pretty big let-down for me. The Joe Menna sculpt is beautiful, but the face paint was a far cry from the paint master. What drives me nuts is that the paint apps on a character like Catwoman are so minimal. It's literally just her face and a zipper. Luckily I'm patient with a paintbrush so I was able to revamp her until I was happy. All the customized pics start around halfway down this post. Let's check out this JimLee designed New 52 Catwoman mini-bust below!
Sunday, August 3, 2014
DC Comics World's Finest HUNTRESS!
Huntress is one of the most underrated heroines in the Bat-universe. She's been a constant presence since her introduction in the late 1970s, but she always seems to be on the back burners in comparison to the other ladies. I was really excited when this two pack was announced. Not only was it great to get a new Huntress figure, but having her packaged with her longtime friend Power Girl was a total bonus. Upon getting her, however, I was struck by the differences between the solicit images and the final product I was holding in my hands. In my mind, there are some major production issues with this figure. You can tell the engineers who prepped her for mass production made a few errors and, in my opinion, greatly changed the look of the figure. I never let my disappointments get me down though, and I quickly put her under the knife and tried my best to restore her to her paint-master glory. I have lots of before-and-after shots below. But for now, let's check out the lovely Helena in her original form!
Monday, June 16, 2014
KRE-O G.I.Joe LADY JAYE (with Lego Hair)!
As much as I have been loving the Kre-O mini-figures over the past few years, a major bone of contention for me has been the hairpieces for the G.I.Joe ladies. Scarlett's hair was a masculine looking bit of plastic that barely stayed on her head and Baroness's hair is ill-formed and keeps "squeezing together" to rise up off of her scalp. The most recent travesty has been Lady Jaye: who just doesn't come with hair at all. Instead she comes with her trademark cap that her vintage figure wore (despite the fact that any hat-wearing interpretations of Jaye have always had plenty of her signature brown wisps showing from underneath). This Kreon version is just weak. Way back when I reviewed Scarlett and Jinx, a reader mentioned that people have been using Lego parts to replace Scarlett's awful hairpiece. Luckily I remembered this and immediately began searching for a good hairpiece for Lady Jaye. It took a lot of research, but I think I hit the jackpot. Check it out below and let me know what you think.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Marvel Legends JEAN GREY (and Customization)!
Jean Grey is the matriarchal guineapig of mutantdom. She has been through more character upheavals than almost any other superhero I can think of. We're not talking about the run-of-the-mill costume change every decade. No. Jean Grey has changed powers, names, costumes, allegiances, identities, and even mortality status with alarming regularity. One of the most beloved iterations of Marvel Girl was the early 1990's Jim Lee & Chris Claremont version that we see here. This look is not my favorite by any stretch of the imagination (it always seemed very illogical to be hanging out at the mansion in a uniform like that), but lately I've really come to appreciate the design as a relic of a bygone era of comics. I'm frankly surprised we haven't seen this costume in 6" action figure scale before this. And, noting that, it's a shame this didn't get put off a little bit longer until the new Moonstone body becomes the standard buck (which I'm hoping will happen soon!). Let's check her out below!
Monday, September 2, 2013
Man of Steel - Movie Masters FAORA!
As much as I enjoyed the the performances of the entire cast of Man of Steel, the standout for me was Antje Traue as Faora. Female villians in the Superman franchise are few and far between, but when they're good, they're REALLY good. Faora came across as the most ruthless and vengeful of all the Kryptonian criminals. I knew of course that she was a character from all the promotional materials, but I was shocked when I finally saw how much screen time she received. I've only seen the film once, but I feel like the had the most screen time of any of the three villains. Plus her prescence was perfectly menacing. The toy doesn't exactly capture the character unfortunately. She has a bit of blank look and a masculine prescence (which totally inspired me to customize her a bit - as shown below). Finding this action figure in a store proved to be a daunting task. I found mine in a Target about a month ago and haven't seen one since. Let's check her out in detail below!
Friday, April 26, 2013
Batman Unlimited BATGIRL (and Customization)!
Batgirl is one of my favorite superheroes of all time. I like almost every incarnation of her, and the newly reinstated Barbara Gordon under the cowl in the DCU New 52 is definitely no exception. She retains all the character traits that I've always loved about Babs, but she seems tougher all-around. Her costume is pretty classic, but with updated armor detailing and a new Black, Gold, and Purple color scheme (although it seems the Purple has officially been ditched in the most recent comics). Overall it's a terrific update to a well-loved and greatly-missed character. Mattel is the first company to make a toy of her in the new duds (not counting the Heroclix, Eaglemoss, and Squinkies pieces). At first, I would have sworn this was a straight repaint of the Batgirl figure we've seen from Mattel since back in the DCSH days. But in actuality, this figure uses almost all new (or newly tool'd) parts and is a great and unique addition to any Batgirl collection. Let's check her out in detail below!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Customized MADAME HYDRA!
Madame Masque was one of my biggest disappointments of the year. Finding out that we were getting such a cool second-tier character as a variant was amazing news. The prototypes looked wonderful. Then, the actual production samples started showing up. Suddenly her face looked pinched and pulled into a very mannish exaggeration of what we were shown before. I almost didn't buy the figure, but then I thought how it would be a fun chance to experiment with customization. I rarely do customizations unless it's a subtle altering of the same character. I may break from that pattern some day, but it keeps my goals in check for now. I reviewed both Madame Masque and Madame Hydra earlier this month and within the review, I challenged myself to fix her as best as I could by the end of January. The fact that Hasbro casts their figures in flesh-colored plastic is actually a blessing in this case. You can sand down and buff that plastic easily and really alter a figure with minimal effort and damage. Check out the step-by-step photos below.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Customized BATGIRL Statue!
This was only the second time I had ever attempted a custom job but I'm very happy with the results. I'm a huge fan of Jack Matthews and Adam Hughes and I loved this line of statues, but I desperately wanted a more serious look for Batgirl. I didn't hate the original. but it stood out like a sore thumb when displayed with the rest of the Cover Girls.. who have been for the most part sexy, statuesque, intimidating, and confident. Batgirl looked bubbly and cute with a good-girl pinup quality... like you could say "boo" and scare her away. I think a separate line of campy statues like this would be successful, but i was really upset when I saw the original design because I thought Babs would be more fierce. I was pretty limited with how much I could alter her, and I would have preferred a more dynamic pose, but the "bring it on" posture works and it looks good with the rest of my Cover Girls. I did this custom a little over a year ago in fall of 2011 but am just getting around to posting it now. Enjoy!
Monday, February 20, 2012
Customized CATWOMAN Statue!
DC Direct's Batman Family Multi-Part Statue
I don't do customs too often. I usually only attempt them to make a figure better (as opposed to making an entirely new character). And this motivation usually only happens when I make an excitable purchase but am disappointed in some details of the product. This was the case with the Catwoman figure in the Batman Family Multi-Part Statue from DC Direct in 2010. Now, I purchased this entire statue with the full intent of breaking up the characters into individual statues (Specifically to add the Huntress figure to my Cover Girls collection). Huntress, Commisioner Gordon, Batman, and Robin were all great, but Batwoman, Nightwing, and Catwoman all needed some tweaking in my opinion.
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