It's pretty amazing that the first DCEU Wonder Woman we saw was so spot-on. Gal Gadot had a perfect blend of beauty, grit, and presence that set a high bar for all future live-action Dianas. Her four films, the Zack Snyder Cut, and two film Cameos (The Flash and Shazam) is a lot to live up to. I figure the new James Gunn casting will be leaked before too long and the comparisons will begin. But in the meantime, we are still getting slow trickle of Gal Gadot Wonder Woman product. This second wave of DC Defender Version (2.5" scale) Blokees features a DCEU Justice League assortment that thrilled me with the inclusion of both Mera and Wonder Woman. And if the DC lines are anything like the Transformers assortments, we are likely to see dozens of new characters over the next few years. I expect there to be themes like Batman '66, Teen Titans Go, or maybe Batman: Hush, but my fingers are crossed for some seriously obscure deep cuts. Let's check out Wonder Woman below!
UNITING ALL WOMEN OF PLASTIC
Showing posts with label Block Figures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Block Figures. Show all posts
Monday, August 10, 2026
DC Blokees - JUSTICE LEAGUE WONDER WOMAN!
Saturday, August 8, 2026
DC Blokees - JUSTICE LEAGUE MERA!
Although Mera's presence in the Justice League and Aquaman movies wasn't groundbreaking or even very memorable (I'm a big fan of the character and I can barely remember her role), that silver screen incarnation granted us eight action figures between 2017-2023 that fit in nicely with a comic-based display (thank goodness for a classic costume!). For comparison, the upcoming McFarlane Mera figure is only the third non-cinematic action figure of her we've ever seen (not counting the two Imaginext figures). So my little Mera shelf is dominated by representations of her fleeting three live-action appearances. This second wave of DC Defender Version (aka 2.5" scale) Blokees is based on the Justice League movie, but with a cartoon design aesthetic. The inclusion of Mera is what made me start obsessively collecting Blokees a few weeks ago. I had to make a detailed spreadsheet to sort out all the scales and characters. This could be a very slippery slope. Let's check out Mera below!
Thursday, August 6, 2026
DC Blokees - ARKHAM KNIGHT BATGIRL!
Blokees has been dominating both the collector and commercial toy markets in the last few years. They produce figures at a rapid pace, they have great character selection, they are inexpensive (these Blind Box model kits are $3), and they are fun to put together. Other cool thing is the wide variety of scales that exist within each license. These Defender scale figures are the smallest at around 2.5" tall. I think they are pretty fun and adorable. The Transformers Defender line is already up to Series 08 (in two short years), so I have hopes that same momentum will exist for DC and give us a flood of characters. My excitement for these is reminiscent of how I felt when I discovered Mini-Mates or Medicom Kubricks; A fun tiny scale, cool characters, and a lot of product. The Arkham Knight Batgirl design was never my favorite. I always felt that her cowl was too bulky and the gold gauntlets and boots contradicted the gritty aesthetic. But in this scale I find it much more palatable. Let's check out Batgirl below!
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
DC Blokees - ARKHAM KNIGHT CATWOMAN!
About ten years ago the Arkham Series of video games dominated the Gotham Girls merchandizing. For a brief period of time, I loved the new spin on my favorite characters. But I can admit it got old pretty quick. The darker, grittier designs were just too far of a stretch from the simplified comic designs that initially drew me to the characters. I would have been more excepting if almost every action figure of Catwoman between 2012 and 2018 wasn't in this style with a little tuft of hair on her forehead and unnecessary cleavage. But by the time her 2022 McFarlane figure was released, my criticism had abated a lot. So last week when I first learned that the third wave of the Blokees DC Defender blind box minis was Arkham themed, I was genuinely excited to hunt them down. And then within a couple days, my local toy shop got them in stock. Luckily the ladies are almost always the lightest figures in the assortment so they're relatively easy to pick. Let's check out Catwoman below!
Thursday, March 5, 2026
Lego LED Keychain - BUMBLEBEE GIRL!
A few weeks ago I trudged nine blocks through a foot of snow to visit Barnes & Noble and pick up the YA Graphic Novel Snowlands (I was impressed by the art at the NYCC Scholastic booth and marked the release date on my calendar. Then when the snow fell I thought I needed a new winter-themed book to read). Surprisingly, the store was crowded. But that meant I was stuck in the line for a while where I noticed this fantastic Bumblebee Girl LED Keyring hanging on a low peg in the impulse-buy gift section lining the checkout area. I've been obsessed with Lego minifigures featuring animal costumes for years. Plus I love bumblebee-themed ladies. And finally, I'm very fond of these 3" light-up keychains. I always stumble across them in odd places like museum giftshops, bookstores, or truckstops and they appeal to me greatly. I know it's an odd novelty item to post about here, but she hits a few key facets of my collecting experience so I'm making an exception. Let's check out Bumblebee Girl below!
Wednesday, December 31, 2025
Be@rbricks - SPIDER-WOMEN!
Be@rbricks are a 2001 spin-off of Medicom Toy's popular Kubrick line. The standard Be@rbrick figures are 7cm tall and feature a generic anthropomorphic bear sculpt with a potbelly and ears in a block-figure style. I find the combination of this default sculpt overlayed with recognizable character designs to be fun and quirky. The concept has been duplicated often, notably with Disney's 2008 Vinylmation line, but I find the original Be@rbricks to be the most appealing. Twenty-five years into the line, and the character selection is predictably daunting. Luckily I always narrow my focus my to superheroes which makes the hunt a lot more reasonable. Recently I discovered that a Spider-Man wave was released in 2022 with a variety of Spider-Ladies. They were pretty easy and inexpensive to pick up on eBay, but now I'm inspired to pick up others like DC and MCU. I suspect I will have a large assortment of these odd little bears by this time next year. But in the meantime, let's check out the Spider-Ladies below!
Saturday, August 30, 2025
Tron Kubrick - YORI!
I've had this set for ages but finally got around to opening it last week. I frankly don't remember purchasing this, but when I was moving house four years ago, I found it buried in a closet encased up in bubble wrap with zero recollection of how I got it. I probably paid a fortune and blocked out the memory over guilt. It was funny to mark it off my "must have" checklist by accidentally discovering that I already owned it. I also found multiple Planet of the Apes Kubrick sets in the same box so it was a thrilling discovery. This figure is notable for being the first toy of Yori ever. As the token female of Tron (1982), and a pretty significant character, she was criminally neglected in the merchandise department. So far I have three Yori items, but hopefully there will be momentum for more in the future, but I definitely would love to see more. I think a company like NECA should take the reigns and give us a full vintage line (hopefully with characters unmade in the DST line). Let's check out Yori below!
Thursday, September 14, 2023
Minecraft - ALEX!
It's been a moment since I've reviewed a Minecraft toy, and it's fun to bring it back to the original female character from the franchise, Alex. I still don't know much about Minecraft (eight years since my first review of an Alex toy), but I've grown to really appreciate the blocky pixelated style which lends itself to fun toyetic action figures. But as fun as I think these toys are, they naturally get a little repetitive. Gender is often expressed with nothing more than a geometric ponytail, and I appreciate that simplicity. The one thing about this specific character's popularity in the toy lines is that she keeps getting released in various scales, and I just eat that up. This 2021 Mattel figure is my fourth Alex, but in a scale distinctly different than my previous three. Other than size, accessories, and the company producing them, the figures are comically similar, but the idea of lining them all up makes it totally worth the purchase to me. I get a bit obsessive like that. Let's check out this 3.25" Mattel Alex below!
Monday, January 24, 2022
A Trio of ROBLOX LADIES!
Whenever a toy line really establishes itself in the toy aisles, I know I'll eventually have to make a purchase to see what all the fuss is about. I have been noticing Roblox figures from Jazwares in stores for quite a few years now, and I honestly was never super tempted. They were blocky and simple with odd facial expressions. But on the plus side, the themes always seemed fun. I swear every time I glanced at the displays I would see a different mermaid character. I managed to avoid any purchases (not counting their non-blocky Imagination Collection) until a fateful day back in October when I saw three characters lined up: a mermaid, a centaur, and a spider sorceress. The assortment just made me happy and I finally brought a few of these figures home. Plus I was excited to add the first female centaur and first mermaid of color to my collection. And after playing with these figures and swapping parts, I get the appeal. I'm open to buying more if they call to me. Let's check out these Roblox ladies below!
Saturday, July 24, 2021
Marvel Mini-Mates - SPIDER-WOMAN!
I generally like the trend of superheroes donning utilitarian versions of their costumes. Burnside Batgirl, Darwyn Cooke Catwoman, and most of the Marvel Ultimate Universe are all amazing. But the pendulum almost always swings back and the bright spandex makes a glorious return. Jessica Drew's Spider-Woman had a remarkably unchanged costume from her debut in 1978 all the way until 2015 when she donned this modern utilitarian getup consisting of a form-fitting (leather?) jacket and yellow glasses. She wore it for roughly two years in her solo titles, then was out of the limelight until her new 2020 title featuring a black variation of her classic costume. I was hesitant about this jacketed version at first, but it grew on me and I'm glad we got some merchandise to commemorate this phase in her evolution. And of course Marvel Mini-Mates would have to include her. No other toy line has shown more dedication to the pantheon of Spider-Ladies than them. Let's check her out below!
Thursday, July 22, 2021
Minecraft Dungeons - GRETA!
About six years ago I was in a toy buying drought and on my millionth fruitless toy hunting trip I randomly ended up buying a small Minecraft figure from Jazwares. I was aware of the Minecraft game buzz among all my young relatives, but truly knew nothing about the property aside from the exaggerated pixel designs. When I got the figure in hand I found the simplicity to be quite charming and fun. It reminded me of wooden block toys I had as a child mixed with the 8-bit game graphics of my adolescence. Plus the sole female toy shared my name. All-in-all I was really pleased with my random toy purchase, but always assumed it would be my last. But then a year and a half later I saw that same character, but now with snap-on armor. I knew I would be hooked after that second purchase. However, the toy lines dried up until the recent Minecraft: Dungeons game was released - and subsequently introduced a ton of new characters. Greta is the newest lady on the shelves - let's check her out below!
Monday, November 30, 2020
The Ladies of MINECRAFT: DUNGEONS!
When I was a kid my mom was always doing counted cross-stitch. It was her relaxing hobby when watching TV or sitting on the bench swing while my siblings and I played in the yard. At one point, she told me if I drew out designs on graph paper, she could stitch it for me. It wasn't long before I had stacks of paper and developed my own little cubist universe. Those memories are what attract me to the simple pixelated designs of Minecraft. But over the past five years, I admit I started to completely ignore the toys. It seemed that the token female character, Alex, was just going to rehashed over and over with only the slightest changes - and frankly I was bored. That's why I was so excited to see a new wave of toys for the 2020 Minecraft Dungeons game that included two female characters in the first offering. Of all the Minecraft players I personally know, I would say 3/4 of them are girls, so it makes sense for Mojang to try to finally repair the gender gap. Let's check out Valorie and Adriene below!
Monday, September 30, 2019
Mini-Mates SPIDER-GIRL (ANYA CORAZON)!
It's been a long time since I've given a single Mini-Mate its own review. Instead, I stockpile them and review a whole bunch at a time. But over the years, my favorite personal theme in my Mini-Mate collection has been the vast assortment of Spider-Ladies. There have been so many, in fact, that I didn't even realize that my absolute favorite Spider-person, Anya Corazon as Spider-Girl, hadn't been included yet. (She is such a great iteration of the Spider-Girl mantle and I really hope she gets another solo series some day). I love that Diamond Select Toys does such deep-dives into character selection. I actually have faith that we will many more Spiders down the line: Scream, Agony, Mania, Lady Spider, Charlotte Ritter, Spider-Woman in her modern costume, and maybe even a Valerie Spider-Woman from Electric Company. If anything, DST has proven that the sky is the limit. I'm really excited to see what new product they will show in a few days at NYCC. I'll be there with bells on. Let's check out Anya below!
Friday, August 31, 2018
DC Comics ViniMates - CATWOMAN!
About an hour ago I got into a drunken conversation about who played the best Catwoman (and I swear I didn't even have to initiate this topic). The general consensus was that Michelle Pfeiffer's 1992 performance in Batman Returns was the winner. But that brought up a whole conversation about how there really hasn't been a terrible Catwoman. Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, Lee Meriwether, Michelle, and Anna Hathaway each brought their own flavor to the role. (Since Halle Berry was technically a different character I exclude her). But that makes we worried about the future Gotham City Sirens movie since one character can only have so much good luck. For a few years there, we saw a constant flow of Selina merchandise. But in the past few years it has slowed to a trickle. This DST Vinimate is a great addition to my growing collection (I now own six!) and it's especially nice since seeing Catwoman on the shelves lately has been a rare occurrence. Now we just need Poison Ivy and Huntress! Let's check out Selina below!
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
DC Comics ViniMates - BATWOMAN!
This year has been absolutely wild for fans of Batwoman. It had been so long since we had seen any new Batwoman merchandise so the fact that we suddenly got a Multiverse figure, a Lego minifigure, an Imaginext figure, a Jada Toys Nano, and this Vinimate (Note to mention Bombshells stuff: Pop, Dorbz, Rock Candy, DCC Action figure, and various Cryptozoic stuff). I don't know how long it has been known that she will be a part of the DC/CW Universe, but I feel like that must have played a part in this flood of toys. I love everything about the character Batwoman. Her first incarnation was nothing more than Batman's beard as a reactionary measure to my favorite piece of literary McCarthyism, Seduction of the Innocent (and of course Bat-Girl filled the same role for Robin). So in my favorite comic-related turnabout, in 2006 DC resurrected this forgotten character as a kickass lesbian with compelling and relevant stories. She's been a consistently strong member of the Gotham nightlife ever since.
Friday, March 23, 2018
MOTU Mega Construx - TEELA!
Ever since Mega Brands was acquired by Mattel back in 2014 there has been speculation and fan demand for Masters of the Universe in the Mega Blox line. Although the Barbie and Hot Wheels brands are the superstars of the Mattel portfolio, MOTU easily has the most fervent fans. A few years before, Hasbro unveiled their own brick-figure line, Kre-O, and had success introducing their most famous brands into the style (like Transformers, G.I.Joe, and Trolls). So when Mattel joined the brick-party, fans wanted the same treatment. Surprisingly, Barbie and Hot Wheels Mega-Blox came out pretty much right away, but it took a few years for this new Mega Contrux Heroes assortment to be unveiled which contains random characters from properties like Star Trek, Aliens, Futurama, and of course MOTU. It was actually originally reported at SDCC 2017 that only He-Man and Skeletor would be made, but a few months later at NYCC, they thankfully showed off a new Beast-Man and Teela. Let's check her out below!
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Mini-Mates - DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN!
I started collecting Mini-Mates when these ladies were already long gone off the shelves. But when I finally discovered them years later, I was instantly covetous yet instantly disappointed because the set was selling for roughly $300 on eBay. I set up a Saved Search for years and just assumed it would never happen for me. But then last year I snagged a set loose for about $20 and I was ecstatic. (Now they go for around $75 and I can't explain the fluctuations). Desperately Seeking Susan is one of those quintessential 1980's movie that I desperately wanted to see as a kid but was never allowed to. And although I had an amazing childhood, I seem to spend my adult life making up for not being spoiled by collecting anything nostalgic to me. For some reason this set makes me want an entire 80's themed Minimate collection. I can imagine a Pee-Wee, Cyndi Lauper, Boy George, Elvira, Grace Jones, Michael Jackson, etc, etc. I would buy them all. I hope DST reads this. Let's check out Susan and Roberta below!
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Mini-Mate Women of GUARDIANS of the GALAXY V2!
I just bought my tickets to go see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 this Friday and I'm getting pretty hyped up. I've managed to accumulate a decent amount of merchandise from the movie already. Lots of Funko stuff, Marvel Legends, animated spin-off figures from Hasbro, etc. But the first figures I actually picked up were these Diamond Select Mini-Mates. Mini-Mates never fail with Marvel movie products. Even movies that are mysteriously never fully merchandised (like any of the recent X-Men films or Dr. Strange) will get a full lineup of characters in Minimate form. This GOTG2 series was actually the first time I saw that Ayesha would be in the movie. I was first exposed to Ayesha when she was known as "Her" (the counterpart to Adam Warlock aka "Him"). It's funny how there will be a Marvel Legends Adam Warlock (who I'm not sure is even in the film) but Ayesha is left out. At least DST will always give us a full roster. Let's check out the Gamora, Nebula, Mantis, and Ayesha below!
Saturday, January 28, 2017
January 2017 Collection of MARVEL MINI-MATES!
This has been an amazing month for Minimates. It's uncanny how they come in such surges (at least the interesting female characters). We can go through an eleven month dry spell only to have six new figures come out within a week of each other. It can be pretty overwhelming. I'm combining the Marvel Series 69 releases with the first series of Marvel Blind Bag figures for this review. The Mini-Mates Series 69 is dubbed "Most Wanted" and is definitely impressive for including both an Enchantress and Tigra. (Indeed two of my most wanted figures). The Series 01 Marvel Bling-Bags offered us amazing figures of Silk and X-23 Wolverine, a cool unhooded variant of Spider-Gwen, and an unexpected Deadpool 2099. I'm really excited to see what other figures they squeeze into future blind bag assortments. I'm hoping we'll see a Gwenpool, Moongirl, and Riri Ironheart at the very least. Toy Fair always has a few fun reveals and I'm certainly looking forward to it. Let's check out all the ladies below!
Monday, December 12, 2016
Marvel Mini-Mates - SQUIRREL GIRL!
I've noticed something really interesting in the past few years. That is that female mini-mates come out in huge bursts. Last January we got a Spider-Gwen, Siryn, Domino, Copycat, Thor, Captain Marvel, and Dazzler within a few weeks of each other. And right now we're on the cusp of another Minimate avalanche. In a few days I should have a new Enchantress, Tigra, Deadpool 2099, Wolverine (Laura), Silk, and unmasked Spider-Gwen. Not to mention this awesome Squirrel Girl. This figure was announced in a simple slide at the end of the DST panel at NYCC (and SDCC maybe?). I didn't expect to find her so soon but I was hunting down the Walgreen's Ms. Marvel POP a few weeks ago and I discovered her. Hopefully they get inspired to complete the Great Lakes Avengers roster like they have been with Squadron Supreme. I would love a Dinah Soar more than anything. She's both ridiculous and awesome, just like Squirrel Girl. Let's check out this sciuromorphic beauty below!
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