It's amazing that after years of the Four Horsemen's Figura Obscura exclusive figure releases, 2024 brought us not only the first female figure, but the first two. The Bastet figure in May was a very welcome surprise. But to then get a second female in The Ghost of Christmas Past a few months later was icing on the cake. After the Jacob Marley figure in 2023, I figured all the A Christmas Carol spirits would eventually be made, but the speed and execution was still unexpected. I especially enjoy the Four Horsemen's macabre interpretation of the Ghost, taking inspiration from The Weeping Woman and various White Lady folklore. I always felt that the Ghost of Christmas Past was the creepiest of the A Christmas Carol spirits, despite often being represented as simply angelic, so giving her some darker visages and an otherworldly second set of arms is a welcome redesign. I don't like my figures to be overly gory or scary and tend to gravitate toward vampy and creepy - so this figure seems custom-catered to me.
UNITING ALL WOMEN OF PLASTIC
Showing posts with label Hair-White. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hair-White. Show all posts
Thursday, January 9, 2025
Christmas Carol - THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST!
Friday, December 20, 2024
ThunderCats Ultimates - CHILLA!
ThunderCats is one of my childhood properties that I have a fierce love for. But as an adult, I can acknowledge that my obsession was purely based on general concept, toys, and character design. Because my knowledge of the characters who were not merchandised and even my memories of the actual cartoon are scant or non-existent. Until fans started begging Mattel for an action figure of Chilla back in 2016, I honestly never heard of her and would have wagered that there weren't any cool female villains in the series. I do have vague memories of the Lunataks, but thinking they were a bit silly. In concept they are a formidable collective of ancient evil warriors from each of Plun-Darr's moons. But in actuality, they are a bit like a bumbling group of misfits. With the sole exception of Chilla. On her own merits, she is very cool (pun intended). She had the most traditionally human body of the Lunataks and her abilities are reflected in her icy appearance (I love a monochromatic design and elemental powers).
Friday, November 22, 2024
Marvel Legends - PRIME SENTINEL!
I remember back in 2020 when a new tier for the X-Men Sentinel Haslab campaign was unveiled showing a female Prime Sentinel in 6" Marvel Legends scale. I was pretty obsessed. The Haslab campaign was expensive at $349.99, but somehow I convinced myself it would be a good investment and purchased two (despite having zero desire for a 26" Sentinel figure). But a year later when they arrived, I could not have predicted that I would be in the middle of moving house with all my belongings packed in boxes. There couldn't have been a more inconvenient time to get two large parcels that together were the size of my stove. In the new house, they got put in a basement closet and promptly got buried. A few months ago I decided to sell them unopened (and, yes, I did indeed profit handsomely) and just buy a loose Female Prime Sentinel on eBay. I don't know much about this figure except that the Prime Sentinels are cyborgs created by Bastion. But I think her design is striking. Let's check her out below!
Thursday, August 1, 2024
DC Universe Classics - SILVER BANSHEE!
My favorite villain in Superman's vast rogue's gallery is definitely Silver Banshee. I think villains that need to be stopped with brute force tend to be boring - and that rules out a ton of his foes. Second only to Kryptonite, Superman's most criminally underused weakness is magic. So a creepy nether-witch is a wonderfully contradictory image to his Boy Scout appeal. There have been two distinct versions of Silver Banshee in the comics (1987 and 2012 respectively) but both are young Gaelic girls named Siobhan who are stricken with a curse due to their family's legacy with the netherworld. Both versions of Siobhan take on a ghostly skeletal visage when they become the Silver Banshee and can emit a Death Wail that shrivels her victim into a lifeless husk. Shrieking skeletons are honestly a true childhood phobia of mine so I find her terrifying. In 2009, Target had a DC Universe Classics spinoff line for the Public Enemies animated movie that gave us this cool figure (and others). Let's check her out below!
Saturday, April 20, 2024
X-Men '97 - STORM!
I've been eagerly watching each episode of X-Men '97 on Disney+ since it debuted a month ago. Leading up to the first episode, I watched every episode of the original X-Men the Animated Series (which I had never completed before) and was excited to see how the adventures of all my favorite characters would continue. Without giving any spoilers, Storm's storyline was shockingly dramatic and upsetting (but by episode six it was all better) and I'm hoping she gets plenty of screentime in the final four episodes. Hasbro's new Epic Hero Series is a long overdue reboot of their 3.75" Marvel Universe line (2009-2015). (At least that's the way I view them). Regardless, it's nice to have the basic-level figures of all their different media franchises (Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, and now X-Men '97) in a consistent scale. I only wish they were produced with more regularity and with more properties. At the very least I would love to see a Jean Grey and maybe a Jubilee. Let's check out Storm below!
Sunday, January 7, 2024
Marvel Legends - NAMORITA!
Marvel Legends has a knack for releasing an in-demand character in the wrong costume. I've been predicting a Namorita figure for several years now. The original New Warriors lineup from 1990 is iconic and several characters have already been released. When this Void wave was announced, we already had 3 of the 6 members (plus the brown Nova on the way). So suddenly we got the final two, Namorita and Marvel Boy, announced. But Marvel Boy was in his 2014 costume and Namorita was in her blink-and-you-miss-it 2005 design that she only had for six issues. The saving grace is that both costumes are cool. To be fair, I always hated this Namorita design, but this figure makes me appreciate it in a new light. She's quite a stunning figure. The last few comic-based females in this line have been exceptionally and surprisingly beautiful (Clea and Daredevil Elektra come to mind). And the nice thing is that this sculpt will almost certainly be repurposed for her classic look. Let's check out Namorita below!
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Youngblood Bendems - VOGUE & RIPTIDE!
The news this week that LooseCollector will be producing action figures from Rob Liefeld's Extreme Universe has me very excited. In the late 80s and early 90s I was a huge fan of Rob Liefeld. His work on Hawk & Dove, X-Factor, New Mutants, and X-Force is some of the most nostalgic comic art of my adolescence. (I still read both his Hawk & Dove runs every few years). When the Image exodus happened in 1992, I was immediately obsessed with Youngblood. The characters were colorful and seemingly pulled inspiration from every trendy comic trope at the time, but with that signature Liefeld flare that embodied the era. The issues were beautiful, but sparse. The release schedule was very slow and the story was forgettable, but the character design and lore of this world still has my attention 30 years later. I have always wanted true action figures. Previous attempts have been almost entirely male-centric. Hopefully the Extreme Universe includes Youngblood or some other costumed heroines.
Monday, December 4, 2023
Marvel Legends Vintage - SPIRAL!
While the majority of the releases in the Marvel Legends Vintage carded line seem to be simple redecos or even straight-up re-releases, every once in a while they knock it out of the park with a wholly original character. I realize there was already a Marvel Legends Spiral made back in the Red Hulk wave, but that was already fifteen years ago (and light year's away in terms of sculpt and production quality). Spiral was introduced in the 1985 issue of Longshot #1 created by Arthur Adams and Ann Nocenti (two of my very favorite 80's talents). She soon left the Mojoverse and entered the main X-Men universe as a member of Mystique's Freedom Force. Given her extra arms and arsenal of blades, she is often downplayed as a simple swordwielder. But what always intrigued me about Spiral was her mystical spellcasting abilities, usually accompanied by a dance and a blur of elaborate hand gestures. She is a fascinating character with a sympathetic backstory. This figure is an unexpected but fantastic representation of her.
Monday, November 20, 2023
Marvel Legends - STORM!
One of the things I'm most curious about for the upcoming X-Men '97 show on Disney+ is the representation of Storm. In the original X-Men the Animated Series, her voice was so booming and theatrical that it was both humorous and iconic. In the end, I loved it. And I think it played a part developing her later comics persona as well. I kind of hope this characterization continues in the new show, but I expect that they will tone her down a bit for modern (more critical?) audiences. I don't think I've ever seen Storm in the combination of her white costume with her mohawk hairdo. Overall, I like it. It's a fun distinction from her previous appearances without doing something too far out of canon. I'm hope we get more Marvel Legends figures from this series. Beast, Jean Grey, and Jubilee are contenders. But until the show airs in early 2024, we don't really know the full roster. Perhaps some interesting villains alongside Magneto. (This could possibly be how we finally get Destiny!) Let's check out Storm below!
Sunday, November 5, 2023
Marvel Legends - CLEA!
About twenty years ago I saw a sketch by Arthur Adams (my favorite comic artist) of a character I had never seen before. She had bizarre antenna-like curls of hair, an outlandish collarpiece, and leggings with an overlapping circle pattern. I was intrigued, but completely clueless. The image was black and white, so I didn't know her clothes were purple or her hair was white (which would have been helpful clues in my search). But as it was, I didn't discover her name until a few years later when she appeared in New Avengers: Illuminati in 2006. Then I was off to the races. I never read much Doctor Strange so it made sense that I never knew her. But I quickly read all about her and became a fan. She was introduced back in 1964 and has been a consistent supporting character ever since (even though she didn't have a name for two years). But I've enjoyed seeing her prominence grow, culminating in her becoming the Sorcerer Supreme in 2021's Strange. This figure is unexpected, but absolutely gorgeous.
Sunday, September 17, 2023
LooseCollector - TAARNA and AVIS!
Taarna is the character from the self-titled final segment in the 1981 animated anthology film, Heavy Metal. I always thought this was an animated story based on an established character in Heavy Metal Magazine, but today I discovered that she was introduced both on screen and in print simultaneously in Aug-Sept 1981. Additionally, I learned she was actually based on the Arzach (Arzak) comics by Moebius that featured a lone (male) character soaring on a pterosaur-like creature over a desolate fantasy landscape. The same comic inspired Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) and I can totally see the the similarities. I grew up seeing the classic image of Taarna riding Avis through the clouds with her sword held high (the same image on the back of the packaging below). It was on posters and t-shirts frequently and is very nostalgic to me. But I didn't see the movie until the early nineties when it started airing on MTV and Sci-Fi. It was cool the finally see this famous image in motion. (Sexy erotic 18+ motion).
Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Marvel Legends - STORM!
When I first started reading superhero comics in the 80s, I was always consistently and predictably drawn to team books with matching costumes. The New Mutants were the most accessible example and grabbed the majority of my attention, but I also loved Sun Devils, Atari Force, and Challengers of the Unknown. And honestly I'm still a sucker for that aesthetic. I always equate the X-Men with this matching uniform design, but in actuality, they almost never sport a unified look. They wore their original matching costumes for four years from 1963-1967, and then they wore unique individualized costumes for 24 years until Uncanny X-Men #275 in 1991. In this issue, the X-Men were in a transition period. The X-Tinction Agenda storyline had just ended and the launching of X-Force #1, the new X-Factor roster (Polaris!), and the splitting of the X-Men into blue and gold teams in two different titles was just a few months away. All the memorable iconic 90's mutant moments all happened within a few short months in 1991.
Thursday, May 18, 2023
MOTU Revelation - DARK-LYN!
Masters of the Universe: Revelation seemed to focus a lot on character growth and transformation. Because of the time-jump in the storyline and the un-doing of Eternian power balance as we have always known it, almost every character had multiple distinct looks. This was especially true of the two token females: Teela and Evil-Lyn. When all is said and done, each of these ladies will have had three very distinct Masterverse figures (even more if you count the alternate heads), and this was only from a single season. [Spoilers for the next few sentences] Dark-Lyn is the final form of Evil-Lyn when she steals the Power of Grayskull from Skeletor (then Skelegod). I will admit this is my least favorite design of all the female characters in Revelation. I don't hate it, but it pales in comparison to the Sorceress Evil-Lyn design and the final version of Teela. Where the Skelegod upgrade was cool and colorful with big horns and green power effects, the only visual upgrade here seems to be her height and musculature.
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Lightyear 5" - DARBY STEEL!
One of the most surprising and enjoyable (for me at least) revelations in the movie Lightyear was the introduction of Darby Steel. I can admit that from the promotional images and early toy reveals, I completely thought this was a male character. But, no, Darby is a cranky and cantankerous ex-con who has a Suicide-Squad-style agreement to shorten her sentence by joining Izzy and the Junior Zap Patrol. For the majority of the movie she is wearing the hodgepodge dented and reclaimed armor that the rest of the resistance group are wearing (not the most visually appealing design for my collection). But by the end of the movie, she gets the full Star Command Space Ranger uniform - and thankfully she got a toy in this look. I never saw this figure in stores, but she was readily available online. Darby's specialty (i.e. criminality) in the movie was her MacGyver-like ability to turn anything into an explosion. She's so fun and unexpected for a saccharine Pixar property. Let's check out Darby Steel below!
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Marvel Gallery - STORM!
I am infinitely impressed by Diamond Select's Marvel Gallery and DC Gallery series of PVC statues. The funny thing is that I don't really pay attention to them in the convention and solicitation areas. Rather, whenever I walk into this one local comic shop of mine, a store that seems to stock every single Diamond Select product, I see a new Gallery statue that I can't live without. I restrain myself and only buy one at a time, and this store is on the other side of my city (and they never order TPBs) so I only go there every few months. And this is a great thing because these statues only fit on the top of my shelves and a windowsill, and I'm quickly running out of room. My newest "must-have" is this very classic looking Storm. I saw it for a first time a few weeks ago (despite visiting the DST booth at multiple conventions since it was released in 2021). The sculpt is perfect and the pose is streamlined and dynamic (and not to overuse the word, but she is statuesque). Let's check out the Marvel Gallery Storm below!
Sunday, October 23, 2022
LooseCollector - LADY DEATH!
The 1990's was an interesting decade in comics. The popularity of Indie comics skyrocketed, everything got an extreme makeover, and overpriced cover gimmicks drained our wallets. An interesting subgenre of the creator-owned comic movement also emerged: Bad Girl Comics. Sure, there had been examples of Bad Girl Comics for decades (Vampirella is a prime example), but in the 90's it exploded and was given a name. The formula was pretty simple: minimal clothing, dark powers or large weapons (or both!), and dubious morals. There were hundreds of these characters in a blur of big hair and thongs. I wasn't a huge fan I must admit. But I have found it interesting to see which select few have stood the test of time. And I think that Lady Death wins that category hands-down. Most action figures of Bad Girl characters were pretty horrendous with awkward proportions and often frightening paint, but Lady Death always stood out for having terrific toys. First from Moore Collectibles and later from Art Asylum.
Monday, September 19, 2022
League of Legends - ASHE!
I love a good surprise figure. I hadn't seen any information on new League of Legends products in almost a year. In fact, I believe I've only ever seen three figures in this 6" Champion Collection so far (and they have been busy shelfwarming all the Targets in my area since last Fall). The figures looked cool, but without momentum and character variety, a line won't last long in the competitive action figure market, and I assumed the line was done. But Spin Master toys is notorious for releasing toys with no advanced warning. So a couple weeks ago a connection on Instagram casually mentioned this Ashe the Frost Archer figure. She was hidden in a multi-product Amazon listing with those first three figures from last year. An old listing, but now with a new fourth product offering. I had her in hand a few days later and I'm kind of obsessed. I don't know anything about League of Legends or Ashe herself, but I love a well-designed fantasy figure, and Ashe definitely fits the bill. Let's check her out below!
Sunday, February 27, 2022
MOTU Minis - SORCERESS!
The Eternia Minis line thrills me. Something about collecting them reminds me of those miniature ThunderCats PVC figures with removable weapons that I loved as a kid. They are so tiny and fun. And I love that they are now branching out into new iterations of the MOTU franchise. The original Mattycollector line had Vintage He-man, She-Ra and 200x designs. The modern store versions also incorporate both vintage and 200x, as well as Masters of the Universe: Revelation and Netflix's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (hopefully She-Ra gets included soon!) They keep adding random additional characters with no preamble. I just ordered the CGI Evil-Lyn on BBTS yesterday. According to the cardback, Evil-Lyn is a single 4th addition to the CGI lineup. Which to me seems odd - having 3 additional characters then two months later adding a 4th. But it keeps me on my toes and I'm always googling to see what's next. (C'mon Princess of Power!) Let's check out Sorceress below!
Monday, February 14, 2022
He-Man Animated Series - SORCERESS!
The Season 2 trailer for Netflix's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe CGI show was just released so the timing is perfect to finally review this Sorceress figure from Season one. I'm going to give a few spoilers here, so if you haven't finished the season from last Summer, then skip ahead to the pics and don't read anything. This He-Man show is unique because all the characters get powered up from the power of Grayskull. The battlecry is even "We have the power!" I love this adaptation. Every character gets a chance to shine. One of my favorite characters is Adam's friend Teela, who when powered up becomes Sorceress. This toy is aimed at kids and has limited articulation, but I'm obsessed with her. The only way I would like her more is if there was a small hairpiece that could be popped on to better represent her Teela form. It would be like a little topknot that looks like a palm tree. This line is a lot of fun. I can't wait to get Ram-Ma'am and Mosquitara. Let's check out Sorceress below!
Sunday, January 23, 2022
WWE Wrestling - SCARLETT!
When I picked up this Scarlett figure a couple months ago, it was my first standard WWE purchase in four years. Sure, I picked up a ton of the short-lived WWE Superstars line and a handful of the Masters of the WWE, but for the most part I was worn out from years of buying (gorgeous and inexpensive) figures of characters I knew hardly anything about. I made a vow to not buy any more unless they really called out to me. Then I saw this figure during the 2021 holiday season and I was super intrigued. I had never seen a WWE lady with a full-coverage unadorned bodysuit. Then her brilliantly white hair just made her pop all the more. In reality, this is a super simple figure for Mattel. There is zero deco and the buck required no new tooling, but she is still an impressive figure (that I imagine customizers will be hoarding). In a time when the female wrestling figure lineup on the shelves is dominated technicolor palettes, this stark design ends up being the true attention-grabber. Let's check her out below!
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