Funko has a lot of product lines that are completely off my radar. At times it's been pretty overwhelming. The current line that I keep seeing and overlooking is the Funko Gold line of vinyl figures. They are unarticulated, stand about 5" tall, are pretty naturally-proportioned (for Funko), and they feature a blocky aesthetic in the facial features and hands. The reason I didn't pay attention, though, was because of the subject matter. The figures all seemed to be of celebrity athletes and musicians. There are very few real people I would like to have represented in my collection - I steer towards ridiculous characters with outlandish costumes. So I knew in the back of my head that I could potentially partake in this line with the right female musician with the right iconic look. Then after a few years I spotted these TLC figures from their Waterfalls video. I have a personal connection as I jokingly sing this sing with the wrong lyrics more often than I care to admit. I think it's funny, but I'm probably being very annoying.
UNITING ALL WOMEN OF PLASTIC
Showing posts with label Real People. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Real People. Show all posts
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Music Video Series - BILLIE EILISH!
This figure had me really conflicted. Overall, action figures that are intended to be dark or spooky do not appeal to me at all. Another aesthetic I avoid is bloody, melting, or dirty designs. There's a visceral quality involved that doesn't mesh with my weak stomach. But on the other hand, I love love love character with wings. I am always intrigued by new construction by a reputable company (like Playmates). And I'm a genuine fan of Billie Eilish. So despite the creepy factors keeping me away, my overall curiosity got the better of me. "All the good girls go to hell" is a song and music video from her debut studio album. The video features an "angellic" Billie that falls into an oil spill and transforms into a dark angel in a world on fire. Playmates made a line of Billie Eilish themed products in 2020. Mostly larger dolls, but also this single action figure. The packaging is an event. There are instructions on the box to unfold it all into the large flaming set of the music video. Quite a feat. Let's check Billie out below!
Saturday, September 19, 2020
Real Life Action figures - RBG!
It's very difficult keeping this blog apolitical considering that women in a male-dominated arena is a strong political message in itself. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a prime real-world example of just that. As the second female US Supreme Court Justice ever (after Sandra Day O'Connor), she spearheaded many advancements against gender discrimination and toward gender equality (among many other notable achievements). I found this action figure a few months ago while on vacation. It was in a beachside candy shop among a slew of other "novelty" toys. I thought for a second it was going to have a cheap "boxing nun" gimmick or something, but no, it's actually quite well produced and clearly done with respect and love. The articulated elbows and great face sculpt sold me and I was excited to bring her home. I was at the gym yesterday when the news of her passing hit. I saw her picture popping up on all the TVs one-by-one and knew immediately what had happened. What a sad day.
Monday, May 27, 2019
Marvel Legends - MICHELLE "MJ" JONES!
I don't usually collect action figures of civilian characters. Hell, I even hesitate when buying Black Widow figures because her outfits are usually so non-descript (aka boring). I want outlandish colorful spandex, ideally with capes and masks. But sometimes the execution of a figure is so nice that I gleefully push aside my snobbery and take my prize to the registers. In the Spider-Man: Homecoming and Far From Home movies, the traditional role of Mary Jane "MJ" Watson is replaced with Michelle "MJ" Jones played by Zendaya. I liked the character and the actress in the first movie quite a bit, but she wouldn't have been on my list for a must-have Marvel Legends figure. However, once I saw her in person she was extremely hard to pass up. This is 100% due to the amazing face scans. Hasbro used an earlier incarnation of the technology for G.I.Joe Rise of Cobra products in 2009 with frightening results. The improvements are simply amazing (with the exception of the bafflingly bad Captain Marvel). Let's check MJ out!
Friday, February 22, 2019
History in Action - BESSIE COLEMAN!
When I started this blog seven years ago, I was thrilled with the idea of regular groupings of reviews based on a common theme. My first post was in late January so the natural first theme was Black History Month for February. I was really on top of things that first year - coming up with themes left and right, but soon I realized how stressful it was to put reviews on hold just so I could lump a few together. I made up for it by adding appropriate hashtags where applicable; "redhead", "felinoid", "fembots", etc, so those themed lists could be assembled at any point by clicking links on the hashtag list at the bottom of the page. By the way, I've continued to use the "BHM" (Black History Month) hashtag ever since, regardless of the actual month it's posted. This is all a long-winded way to say how excited I am that I just got my hands on the perfect figure for a February review - and I'm feeling very excited and nostalgic. HIA Toys ("History In Action") made this great series of historic action figures over a decade ago.
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
WWE Superstars - BECKY LYNCH!
Becky Lynch is an Irish professional wrestler and actress. She began wrestling in Ireland and throughout Europe in 2002 on the independent circuit, working regularly for the Queens of Chaos (France) promotion, where she won the World Queens of Chaos Championship in 2006. She also wrestled for One Pro Wrestling (England) and German Stampede Wrestling. She competed in the SuperGirls Wrestling (Canada offshoot) where she was the inaugural SuperGirls Champion. She also appeared at ChickFight III and the all-female Shimmer Women Athletes promotion where she was involved in a series of acclaimed matches with Daizee Haze. In September 2006, Becky suffered a head injury and next returned (to Shimmer) as a manager 5 years later. She signed with WWE in 2013 and arrived on the main roster in July 2015, where she soon became the inaugural SmackDown Women's Champion at Backlash (in September 2016), and again at Hell in a Cell in September 2018. (Thanks Wikipedia!)
Monday, October 15, 2018
WWE Superstars - NAOMI!
Naomi is an American wrestler, actress, model, dancer and singer. In August 2009, she signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was assigned to its past developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where she was the inaugural FCW Divas Champion. In August 2010, she competed in the all-female third season of NXT, where she came in second place. In January 2012, she made her main roster debut alongside Cameron, forming The Funkadactyls. Since July 2013, Naomi has appeared as one of the main cast members of the reality television series Total Divas. In February 2017, Naomi won the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship at the Elimination Chamber event, becoming the first African-American woman to capture the title. After vacating the title due to injury, Naomi regained the championship two months later at WrestleMania 33 and became the inaugural winner of the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal at the following year's WrestleMania. (Thanks Wikipedia!)
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Jurassic World - CLAIRE DEARING!
There's almost nothing I love more than a phenomenally talented actress. I especially love it when they are from my generation. A few great ones come to mind: Kate Winslet, Jessica Chastain, Emily Blunt, and of course Bryce Dallas Howard. I first saw her back in The Village in 2004 and I was instantly smitten. Something I also love about all these particular actors is that they intermix serious Oscar-worthy roles with lighthearted playful ones. Us nerdy folk probably best know Bryce as Gwen Stacy from Spider-Man 3, Victoria from Twilight, and Claire from Jurassic World, none of which are particularly powerful roles, but if you want a taste of her skills check out the Season 3 premiere of Black Mirror (Nosedive) on Netflix. She is just brilliant. I'm glad that Mattel waited until this second movie to get the license and create a thorough line of action figures. Claire's white executive outfit in the first movie was ridiculously iconic, but I honestly don't won't a toy immortalizing it. Let's check out this more utilitarian version below!
Friday, May 4, 2018
Jurassic Park - DR. ELLIE SATTLER!
I love when a new movie in an old franchise comes out and suddenly it prompts toys from all the classic films. When Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came out, Hasbro dove deep and gave us great action figures from all three previous movies. Then the more recent Power Rangers Legacy series from Bandai did the same thing (and will continue to do so until the property transfers to Hasbro next year). I completely missed out on all the Jurassic Park toys in the 1990s. I was obsessed with the movies and books, but for some reason I never thought to buy a single toy. By the time I had the idea to collect them all years later, they cost too much on the secondary market (mostly the Sarah Harding figure). So I was super excited to see that alongside all the modern Jurassic World figures hitting the shelves, Mattel was unveiling a Legacy collection which would finally give me a Dr. Sattler. Now we just have to hope for a Sarah Harding, Amanda Kirby, etc. Time will tell. Let's check out Ellie below!
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Valerian - LAURELINE!
I realized recently that I really don't trust Rotten Tomatoes scores one bit. I would say the majority of my favorite movies never rank above 40. I have never trusted critic reviews for anything - music, TV, movies, etc. - but I'll admit I was initially very optimistic when RT came along as an aggregate site for public film ratings. But then reality set in. People suck and they never like what I like. I don't mean to be elitist, but considering that the most popular film and TV franchises today are such vapid, hollow, and sensationalized productions says a lot. I really enjoyed Valerian. But I'm the only person I know who enjoyed it. It wasn't a perfect film, but I thought the majority of complaints were baseless. The two leads are relative unknowns in the acting world, their dynamic is intentionally weird, and their outfits are boring. But I didn't want a James Bond in space movie. I wanted lots of aliens, complex interspecies dynamics, and colorful imaginative settings, and Valerian delivered in spades. Let's check out Laurline below!
Saturday, November 25, 2017
WWE Superstars - CHARLOTTE, NIKKI, and BRIE!
The WWE Superstars line is a very interesting experiment in the action figure aisles. Women have been a rapidly increasing force in the world of WWE. There are female figures in almost every regular Mattel wave, the Total Divas reality show is in its 7th season, and even the popular Netflix show GLOW is highlighting the early rise of female wrestlers in the sport. So Mattel saw this popularity, as well as the success of female-centric toy lines like the DC Super Hero Girls, and created this WWE Superstars line aimed at girls. Similar to DCSHG, this line features 12" dolls as well as 6" action figures. The interesting thing to me is that most stores seem to stock them in the boy aisles, potentially missing their intended target audience. But fear not, they seem to be pretty successful so far and a second action figure series featuring Alexa Bliss, Natalya, and a new version of Charlotte Flair are already on the way. Let's check out the first series (Charlotte Flair, Nikki Bella and Brie Bella) in detail below!
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
DC Justice League Multiverse - MERA!
I'm super nervous about the upcoming Justice League movie. Despite the amazing spectacle of the Wonder Woman film, I am not very confident that lightning will strike twice. I guess I will know for sure in a couple weeks. (The trailers are not helping though!) Despite my trepidations, one thing I am definitely looking forward to is the unexpected inclusion of Mera in the movie. Not only is it awesome to get an underused fan-favorite character in the cast, but she might have one of the best costumes of all the DCU designs. It feels very cinematic while retaining all the charm of her standard comic look. The Amazon-exclusive DC Multiverse figure was an unexpected reveal at SDCC this year and it was honestly the most exciting news for me of the entire show. I was so happy with the quality of the Wonder Woman Multiverse line, that I was hungry for more figures right away. Mera totally fits the bill. She even looks like an aquatic Themysciran with all that costume detail and metallic highlights. Let's check her out below!
Monday, October 16, 2017
WWE Wrestling - NIA JAX!
There comes a point in action figure collecting when you feel like you've seen everything. Every type of person, every type of alien, every color hair, every oversized weapon imaginable. But then it hits you like a ton of bricks when you see a plus-size female action figure hanging in the aisle and it stops you dead in your tracks. It's amazing to me that there hasn't been more body diversity in this hobby. Considering the real-world diversity of body types we see every day, the only bucks we see range from adolescent to muscular, but nothing beyond that. Sure I understand that most male figures are idealized Supermen as well, but not all. Without hesitation from the toy companies we get every male from Tyrion Lannister to Andre the Giant. There was an Amanda Waller JLU figure years ago. But that is literally the only female figure I can think of who broke the body mold before this Nia Jax hit the shelves. It's about time. Now we just need an MLF Thumbelina! Anyone? Just me? Fine. Let's check out Nia Jax!
Monday, October 2, 2017
Thor Ragnarok - VALKYRIE!
I'm really looking forward to Thor: Ragnarok. My excitement is mostly focused on my obsession with Cate Blanchett, but I'm also pretty intrigued to see how Tess Thompson's portrayal of Valkyrie will be. I honestly don't have a fixed opinion on how Valkyrie should act. I have a generic impression of her being humorless gruff warrior, but it's a vague idea (and likely outdated). The one aspect of Valkyrie I did have a solid idea on was her appearance. I won't lie and say I wasn't hoping for a more traditional Valkyrie; super-tall, broad-shouldered, blonde-braided Brienne-of-Tarth Norse warrior type. This is purely based on my nostalgia for the comic design. But I am very open-minded and excited to see this new envisioning of the character in action. Hopefully she isn't just a replacement for Sif and gets a chance to shine and be an individual. It can be tough being a supporting character in a big superhero movie. (And if she's popular enough, we might even get a figure of her in her white armor!) Let's check out Valkyrie below!
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Marvel Legends - JESSICA JONES!
Fun fact: Krysten Ritter and I were born in the same small little town and went to High Schools that were about 20 minutes apart (but I'm 3 years older). I've never met her, but I'm sure we had to be in close proximity quite a bit. There was nothing really to do in the boonies, so between the mall (I was the cool guy at the popcorn stand!), football games, the county fair, and the local amusement park, I think I'll go ahead and officially name us besties. When I first heard she was cast as Jessica Jones, I'll admit I was a little nervous. I was afraid that she couldn't embody that tough grittiness that I loved in Alias. But after the first episode I was hooked (and in all honesty, that's when I googled her and discovered the hometown connection). She really does a fantastic job portraying a very difficult character. I'm assuming this figure is utilizing the same new face scanning technique that debuted with Gamora in June, because this figure looks just like my buddy Krys-krys. Let's check out Jessica Jones below!
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Thor Ragnarok Marvel Legends - HELA!
Today was a great day for a toy hunt. August 1st was the street date for all the Thor Ragnarok toys as well as all the Justice League merchandise. It didn't hurt that I happened to be home sick so was able to be at the stores as they opened. (And it's nearly impossible to find a silver lining in having a cold in Summer). So I was home by noon with my bounty (I had to go to 3 TRUs and two Targets to get everything I wanted) but then I was too exhausted and sick to photograph them until late this evening. Under normal circumstances I would have just waited, but I was too impatient and wanted to free this beauty from her box. Marvel Legends has just been making perfect action figures recently. Maybe I'm foggy from meds, but I have no criticisms of this figure whatsoever. When I first saw the imagery of Cate Blanchett as Hela I was not impressed (I thought it looked like the movie Rita Repulsa), but over the months it has really grown on me and now I can't wait to see her on the screen in November. Let's check out Hela below!
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Aliens Day - Space Marine VASQUEZ!
As much as I enjoy all aspects of pop culture - especially pop culture nostalgia related to my childhood in the 1980s - I usually shy away from the grittier properties when it comes to my action figure collections. When I look at my toys I want to see bright colors, ridiculous costumes, and upbeat properties. So militant characters with guns and dour faces rarely make the cut. I've made a few exception recently when it comes to the Aliens line by Neca. The main release figures look great, and I really appreciate looking at them in the stores, but the gimmick that pushes me over the edge and gets me to open my wallet are the fun Alien Day repaints in bright classic Kenner colors. Last year we saw Ripley in her purple shirt and yellow boots, and this year we get Vasquez in her blue bandanna and bright red shirt. But where Ripley was sold at TRU, this Vasquez is exclusive to thenecastore.com. She may still be available, but on some screens it says she's sold out. Hopefully everyone got her. Let's check out Vasquez below!
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
The Walking Dead's SASHA WILLIAMS!
With the advent of McFarlane Toys' new Color Top series, I fully expected my Walking Dead collection to grind to a halt. Coincidentally this revelation came to me at just about the same time that I stopped watching the show so I wasn't terribly upset. But at the same time, there were a couple great characters that I felt deserved inclusion in the line before it ended: Rosita and Sasha. There was a digital sculpt of Rosita floating around the internet (which I have a gut feeling will never see the light of day), but I honestly thought Sasha was a lost cause. Then McFarlane surprised us by announcing this awesome figure as an exclusive addition to Series 10 available only at Walgreens. The figures in this series have been hit or miss as far as character likenesses go, but it's befitting that possibly the last female turns out to be one of the best. They are really going out with a bang. Sasha first appeared halfway through the third season and I instantly knew she was a strong and formidable character. Let's check her out below!
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
WWE Elite Collection - ASUKA!
There's something I have always loved about action figures with removable masks. My first action figure ever was a Remco G.I.Joe knockoff with an orange dragon mask and armor that you could take off. Then I was obsessed with "head-flipping" characters like Tigersharks and Mon-Starr from Silverhawks. But soon I found Zartan with a classic snap-on mask again and became a purist for that kind of simple accessory. It's still a pretty rare feature for a female action figure to have, so when I see one I always have to buy it. Aside from the cool mask, this Asuka figure also has the most outlandish outfit I have ever seen on a toy, and she's not even in a superhero costume! Plus she has a very different body style than 90% of the other WWE girls in this line (and my collection definitely needs some more diverse body types). Overall she's a great addition to my WWE ladies. Sometimes the higher price of the Elite figures can be hard to justify, but this one is unique enough to get a pass. Let's check out Asuka below!
Monday, June 26, 2017
WWE Wrestling - TAMINA!
I'm back again with another review of a figure from a line I swore I was done collecting. Mattel's WWE line never ceases to impress me with their inexpensive but unique looking toys. This Tamina figure has a body that we've seen re-used a billion times over the years, but her haircut and black outfit - not to mention that cocked-eyebrow taunt - make her a stand out figure to me. I've had her opened and photographed for months, but kept putting off posting her. Then I recently bought two more WWE ladies (with similar irresistible qualities) and that gave me the proper motivation to avoid a backlog and get this post up. Tamina was introduced as a villain in Raw in 2010. She then went on to SmackDown and NXT, and took part in the Divas Championship and the NXT Women's Championship. Eventually formed a trio with Naomi and Sasha Banks as Team B.A.D. (Beautiful and Dangerous) who were antagonists for Team Bella. (That's the story behind her shirt on this figure). Let's check out Tamina below!
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