Trollify - BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN!

Trollify by Good Luck Trolls - Frankenstein & The Bride - Kidrobot 2023

I have had a long fascination with Trolls. When I very young in the early 80s, my parents had a puzzle with a collage of vintage toys pictured on it. Buried in the heap was an image of a Troll doll from the 1960s. I was obsessed and would ask every adult I knew if they had Trolls when they were kids. Believe it or not, the toy line was a scarce thing then and the license was in a sort of hibernation. In the 90s, they came back in full force. They were everywhere and unavoidable. However, I did not like these at all. They had neon hair, they wore human clothes, and they had gemstones embedded in their bellies. The folklore-ish aspects we gone. The earthtone palettes, woodland aesthetic, and overall connection to nature were replaced by whatever trending fad the manufacturers could think of. My original childhood intrigue was rekindled in 2013 with the Zelfs line and ever since then I've been really appreciative of all the modern Troll spinoffs and homages. And these Trollify figures are a great example.

Spotlight on Adventure Time's FLAME PRINCESS!

A Collection of Little Orange Oligarchs - Funko & KidRobot 2015-2016

A great thing about being a collector is that sometimes you can let yourself be compulsive and buy things just because they're pretty - and no one in your life will think to question it. I've never seen a single episode of Cartoon Network's Adventure Time (despite years of friends pleading with me to do so). One thing I appreciate about the show though is the abundance of princesses. Princess Bubblegum, Marceline the Vampire Queen, and the Lumpy Space Princess are just a few of the colorful regular characters. My favorite visually was always Phoebe the Flame Princess. There's something about a monochromatic color scheme that just thrills me. Especially when it's applied to an elemental character like water, plant, wind, or fire. These Funko and Kidrobot products actually make the Flame Princess looks even cooler than her cartoon self. I bought the first one as a random item when trying to fill up a shopping cart to the free shipping threshold. But once I had her in hand I needed more orange goodness.

Kidrobot HARLEY QUINN!

DC Comics - Mini Series: 1 - New 52 Harley Quinn - Kidrobot 2015

I remember the first time I walked into a Kidrobot store.  It was in the early 2000s and I was spending my New Year's holiday in San Francisco.  Before my trip, a friend from Texas told me to check out the store.  I had no idea what to expect, but when I did the requisite touristy stroll through Haight-Ashbury I was immediately drawn into a wonderland of design and color.  Vinyl art figures were never really my thing, but this store totally won me over.  Not that I could afford a single thing in the store at the time.  Actually, the store outpriced me for many years, but I still always found myself wanting to browse whenever I found myself near a location.  It wasn't until a few months ago when I made my first purchase.  This of course was only a set of keychains, but it was a first tentative step down a slippery slope.  This first series of DC Minis are blind-boxed and stand about 3" tall (just a tiny bit shorter than Funko Pops). Hopefully we see a series two, or at least some more keychains.  Let's check out Harley below!

DC Comics - KIDROBOT KEYCHAINS!

DC Keychain Series - Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl - Kidrobot 2015

It seems like the older I get, the more I love super-cute things.  When I was younger I held on tightly to some silly preconceived notions of masculinity that would have had me sneering at today's popular toylines like Funko POP, Imaginext, and Mini-Mates.  Heck, I probably even would have turned my nose up at Legos.  It's been a long slow acceptance for me to admit that I simply just like what I like.  Sometimes those are gorey monster toys, sometimes they're adorable doe-eyed keychains.  Who cares. These Kidrobot keychains are pretty great. They're cute, well designed, and their paint apps are on point.  The best part is that I didn't realize that these are seemingly the precursors for the Kidrobot DC Blind Box figures that are in comic stores next week.  The Blind Box figures have a different character assortment and are roughly twice the size of these mini keychains with some limited articulation. Depending on character selection, I think I'll be hoarding both scales of these figures.  Let's check them out below!