When 3.75" action figures have translucent parts, my mind instantly goes to MicroMan toys - specifically the resurgence of products in the early oughts. For the first time since the original prolific toyline began in the 1970s, there was an abundance of female characters. They all had translucent bodies and an abundance of metallic armors and weapons. I was rather obsessed with them and managed to collect nearly 20 ladies. But they were very expensive and tricky to display, so I made to sad decision to sell them all. Now twenty years later, these Aquatech variants of the main five Armorsaurs pilots take me right back to that early fascination with the small lollipop-colored toys. I know these toys have only been on the shelves for a few weeks, but I'm already very excited to see what the future of this line holds. I hope they keep a steady stream of new figure variants coming, and maybe even new characters is the show introduces them. I could easily get hooked. Let's check out the Aquatech Paloma below!
UNITING ALL WOMEN OF PLASTIC
Showing posts with label Korea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Korea. Show all posts
Saturday, May 30, 2026
Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Armorsaurs - PALOMA!
I've been aware of MGA Entertainment toys for many years. They've been a major player in the pink aisles for years. While I wasn't personally wowed by their flagship Bratz, I was thoroughly impressed by the design and production of several other projects like Novi Stars and LaLaLoopsy. A few months ago I learned of their newest foray into the action figure market, Armorsaurs, and was really excited. Their previous "boy" lines like Ninjombie, Alien Racers, and Shrek just didn't appeal to me. But this new sentai-like action dinosaur line was just my speed. The kismet thing is MGA started their toy journey in the 90's with the Power Rangers license (making a variety of branded handheld games) so this seems like a return to form. I love that the main lineup of Armorsaurs pilots have two female characters.. and they each ride a velociraptor (a decidedly aggressive choice that I greatly appreciate). The whole line is very tempting. Let's check out Paloma below!
Monday, May 25, 2026
Armorsaurs - PRISCA!
In October 2025 a new live-action/CGI hybrid show premiered on Disney called Armorsaurs. I best describe it as a mash-up of Power Rangers and Dino-Riders. In this world, the ancient dinosaur extinction event is described as the dinosaurs all being "taken" by alien forces... only to be used in modern time invasion of Earth with advanced armor and tech (or maybe the invading dinos are completely robotic...it's hard to tell). There are five teen pilots recruited to pair with five earthborn (a'la Jurassic Park) dinosaur steeds. The pilots have a rare genetic anomaly that lets them telepathically connect with birds... and now dinosaurs. The show is based on South Korea's 2021 Armored Saurus. All the Armorsaurs action sequences are CGI and "human" unmasked scenes are live-action. I haven't proved it, but it appears that some/most of the CGI scenes are reused from the Korean show. It seems Korean toyline never produced pilot figures, so this new MGA line is very exciting. Let's check out Prisca below!
Monday, August 11, 2025
Auldey Transformers - ELITA-ONE!
I'm thrilled with the Alpha Elita Transformers blind box figures from Auldey. In quick succession they have given us the two most iconic female Transformers in amazing G1 designs and for a very reasonable price (for blind box imports of course). No, these figures do not actually transform. But for a collector of fembots with a penchant for classic animation designs, the modern Hasbro and Takaratomy transforming toys have so much kibble that the sleek animation references get lost pretty quickly. I realize that the female autobots in the G1 cartoon defied physics with their transformations even more than the male characters did, and that's exactly why these figures are so great. We've seen some great figures of Bumblebee, Megatron, and Optimus Prime that both closely resemble their animated appearance and also transform, but for the female characters we haven't been so lucky. Their petite designs just can't contain the sheer mass of their vehicle forms without a miracle of modern engineering.
Tuesday, July 29, 2025
Auldey Transformers One - ELITA-1!
When I got my first Auldey Transformers figure last month (a beautiful G1 Arcee), I instantly started researching what other toys this company had made. I knew there was a G1 Elita-1 coming in wave two, but a quick search on eBay pulled up a bunch of listings for this Transformers One Elita figure that I previously knew nothing about. All the images I saw were clearly digital renderings, but I was so impressed by Arcee, that I bought this figure blindly. I was admittedly surprised when the figure arrived in a simple (printed) cardboard shipper box with a plastic tray inside. She was nearly twice and tall as the Arcee from a few weeks before and she was essentially a statue with almost no articulation. She was inexpensive so I wasn't upset, but I had a lot of errant preconceived notions I needed to accept. But the fact that she still looks very cool and imposing (she's about the same height as the large Yolopark Cogged Elita-1 figure) makes me glad to have her in my collection. Let's check out Elita-1 below!
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
MiniForce: Super Dino Power - LUCY!
With the myriad of MiniForce product that have saturated the Asian toy market since 2014, it was surprising that a 1:18 action figure line (with associated in-scale mecha) didn't hit the market for six years. I feel like similarly-themed Super Sentai toys in the American market seem to hit the shelves right away. But it wasn't until the fifth season, MiniForce Super Dinosaur Power Season 1, that this line finally got made. Interestingly, the core MiniForce Agents were released in a variety of sets with different transforming armor or beasts over the course of several years and from several different toy manufacturers, but the human figures seemingly stayed the same throughout. Therefore I wasn't picky about which 3.75" Lucy set I ordered, but I'm glad I got one with her Triceratops beast because I love a good human-and-steed combo. I only wish there were more costumed female characters in this show so I could get more toys. Although with current shipping and tariffs, maybe that's a blessing. Let's check out Lucy below!
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
MiniForce: Super Dino Power 2 - LINA!
MiniForce is a long-running Korean animated series from SAMG (nine seasons between 2014 and now) that is notable for merging genre styles in a kid-oriented format. The show features a team of cute anthropomorphic animals who can turn into human-like Agents or Rangers (in a Super Sentai aesthetic). Then these rangers can pilot various mecha or robots (in a Transformers or Robotech aesthetic), and again back to Sentai when in season 6 and 7, the mecha would transform into dinosaurs (akin to Zords). for the majority of the series, there was only one token female, a pink fox named Lucy. But in the 6th Season (Super Dinosaur Power 2 - 2020-2021), a new white bunny character named Lina was introduced (sometimes translated as Rina) who turned into an orange ranger and piloted the Stegosaurus Armorbot. (Note that one of the core characters, Max, is a yellow beaver who is often represented with an orange hue. When Lina joined, he consistently appeared more yellow and her more orange).
Friday, June 13, 2025
Auldey Transformers - ARCEE!
With all the movie and modern television versions of Arcee and Elita-1 action figures filling the toy shelves in recent years, it is really nice to see a series super classic G1 figures. Auldey is Chinese company with origins making knockoff racecar toys and yoyos in the early 90s. Over the years, they have legitimized their business and become well-known for producing toys from popular brands like Pokemon and Super Wings. But this Transformers blind box series is the first thing that got me excited. The sculpts are very representative of the 80's animated look and the figure scales vary drastically depending on the character.. but reflect the actual character scale in the vintage cartoon. (Arcee is on the small side). This was my first Auldey purchase but I have a movie Elita-1 on the way and there is a classic G1 Elita-1 coming in wave 2. I'm very hopeful we might see some more classic ladies. I for some reason keep envisioning a Firestar as a chase figure. Here's hoping! Let's check out Arcee below!
Saturday, April 12, 2025
Hero Inside - MUMMYGIRL!
Hero Inside is a 2023 South Korean animated series featuring young comic geeks who can summon characters from within comic pages. It's a really great premise with a potential for almost limitless interesting characters (actually, there are only 100 comics with this power). I've been watching the show on Tubi (Season 3 debuts later in 2025) and I'm really enjoying it. The characters summoned from the comics are diverse and fun. The standout for me is Mummygirl, the daughter of a great pharaoh with the ability to generate and control her bandages. It's hard to describe, but it's very dynamic to see. I'm glad she was selected for the first wave of action figures. These toys are great, but information on them is sparse. I can see semi-recent press releases from Aurora announcing that they are expanding into action figures (from the plush toy market), but not much aside from that. I hope this is only the tip of the iceberg and many more exciting toys are coming. Let's check out Mummygirl below!
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Miniforce X - LUCYBOT!
This figure has been a thorn in my side for many years. I have ordered her multiple times but have been scammed repeatedly. Recently I tried again, after a several year hiatus, and was successful. Albeit, for a knockoff version, as the original is now scarce and expensive. The anthropomorphic fox character, Lucy, has had several bot forms over the many seasons of Miniforce, but I love this one because it looks the most like a G1 Transformer. Miniforce (and many other kid-focused South Korean shows I've seen) is amazing because it blends genres seamlessly. Lucy is a cute cartoony pink fox that would appeal to very young children. But when the action arises, she can change into a human Super-Sentai-esque warrior. And then that human form can pilot different robot mecha (like we see here), and then those bots even combine into a mega-bot. I can imagine kids growing with this series and just latching on to different aspects as their interests change. It's rather genius. Let's check out the knockoff Lucybot below!
Monday, January 13, 2025
GoGo Dino - VIKI MECHA!
GoGo Dino is a long-running South Korean animated preschool show that first aired in 2016. The character designs look similar to Super Wings, another South Korean import, but instead of aircraft, they are all cutesy robot dinosaurs (see the box side below). I regularly dive into Korean pop culture to check out the toys, so I've been aware of the property for almost ten years, but I wasn't interested until I saw this new toyline. The newest iteration of the show has the five main robo-dinos transform into cool humanoid mecha. Two things to know: the popularity of this show apparently exploded in China and production of the shows seems to have moved there. The show logo on the packaging translates to "Bang Bang Dragon Adventure Pioneer 2", but who knows what the title will be when it is finally adapted for English audiences. The mecha each has an additional elemental theme, so Viki is a Brachiosaurus as well as "Water" alongside teammates Thunder, Hurricane, Fire, etc. Let's check out Viki below!
Monday, February 5, 2018
MiniForce Rangers - LUCY THE FOX!
MiniForce is a Korean animated show starring four cute chibi-type animal heroes - Volt the Squirrel (Blue), Max the Beaver (Yellow), Lucy the Fox (Pink), and Sammy the Owl (Red). When they jump into action, there is a transformation sequence when they become human-like Rangers. When their Ranger skills aren't enough, their weapons can transform into Force Weapons. When that's not enough, they dispatch their Force Cars which race to the rescue. When the cars aren't enough, each car transforms into a Force Bot (in whose heads the Rangers are tiny pilots). When the robot fighting skills aren't enough, they can unleash these unique powered up weapons - Force Flash, Force Jet, Force Ring, etc - often requiring a combination of effort. Speaking of combinations, the Force Bots pair off to combine into Sammy-Lucy-Tron and Volt-Max-Tron. And predictably, these two can combine into the ultimate Force Giantron. It's a nesting doll of Eastern genres in an 11-minute preschool show and it's amazing.
Friday, May 22, 2015
Cubix: Robots For Everyone - ABBY!
Cubix was a Korean CGI-cartoon that was translated for English audiences in 2001. The main character was a boy named Connor who lived in Bubble Town in the year 2044 when robots outnumber humans. When Connor arrives to Bubble Town, he does not have his own robot, but soon he manages to fix Cubix, the "Unfixable Robot." Cubix ends up having unexpected abilities and his relationship with Connor is the focus of the show. Abby is Connor's nosy neighbor who shows him the ropes of the robot world. They first met when she sent her robot pet Dondon to fly over and spy on him. This action figure is a random acquisition for me. I got her in an eBay lot several years ago. She's not the type of figure I would ever make an effort to buy on her own, but for some reason never wanted to part with her. When I realized she was made by the commendable, but defunct, Trendmasters (90's Godzilla, Voltron: 3rd Dimension, Mars Attacks), I knew I had to give her a proper review. Let's check out Abby below!
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