As a kid I was always mimicking the cartoon characters I idolized. It wasn't necessarily blatant or intentional. I wouldn't hold a stick aloft and shout "By the Honor of Grayskull" or anything so obvious. In fact, I think it was largely subconscious. I went through a phase where I couldn't pass a broomstick without performing some type of acrobatic vault. I realize as an adult I was mimicking Diana from Dungeons & Dragons. I once leapt off a dresser fully expecting to glide across the room to my bed a'la Princess Peach in Mario II (I was on crutches for months), and most disturbing to my young classmates, I went though a phase in 1987 where I chased kids around the playground with worms and slugs acting out all my Pythona fantasies. The opening sequence of G.I.Joe the Movie (1987) features the mysterious Pythona stealthily infiltrating the Cobra Terror Drome with a menagerie of gross biological weapons: electric eels, shellfish, tentacled larvae-like things, exploding spores, and her own acid-tipped claws.
UNITING ALL WOMEN OF PLASTIC
Showing posts with label NYCC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NYCC. Show all posts
Sunday, October 19, 2025
G.I.Joe Classified - PYTHONA!
Saturday, August 26, 2023
POP Funko - STAR SAPPHIRE!
Star Sapphire is a character that has undergone a lot of characters transitions. Her costumes, human hosts, allegiances, and power sets get revamped and retconned every few years. I always enjoyed this character as a cool pink female version of Green Lantern, but I honestly never fully invested in her because I thought the costume was embarrassingly skimpy and clearly catering to the lustful male gaze. Scantily clad female superheroes, especially when their outfits defy the laws of physics, rarely make it into my collection. I had accepted that Star Sapphire would always find herself excluded. But one of the great things to come out of 2011's New52 reboot at DC was that Star Sapphire finally had a costume that both looked cool and wasn't composed of hot-pink pasties. Aside from a couple Heroclix pieces, this NYCC Exclusive Funko Pop is the first time we've seen this costume in plastic. I hope McFarlane is taking notes and prepping a Multiverse figure as we speak. Let's check out Star Sapphire below!
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
POP Funko - POLARIS!
Late June is the time of year when I get really excited about Funko Pops. Any day now there will likely be a series of Summer Convention exclusive reveals (usually followed by a few random product leaks from Asia that end up being Fall Convention exclusives). The reason I get so excited is because there is a trend of having one single essential classic female character revealed each time. These are characters never seen in standard store assortments, but they are usually some of my favorite characters. In the past we've seen Spider-Woman, Huntress, Zatanna, Stargirl, etc. Maybe this year we'll finally see Firestar, or Hellcat, or Bette Kane, or Clea - anything is possible. The most recent was last Fall's Polaris in all her green Silver Age glory. She's an absolutely gorgeous Pop that is both an obscure yet quintessential character. The average MCU fan wouldn't recognize her, but any semi-serious comic reader would know her significance. Conventions are the perfect way to deliver these ladies to our collections.
Monday, February 10, 2020
POP Funko - HUNTRESS!
I saw Birds of Prey on Saturday night and I loved it. It seemed to take inspiration from some of my favorite movies: Scott Pilgrim, Kill Bill, Zombieland, and any other fast-paced wacky adventure you can think of. It was fun and entertaining (and I even appreciated the gore). Two of my very favorite comic characters (Cassandra Cain and Huntress) made their silver screen debut and (potentially) became known to the masses. If I was to cater Huntress' movie debut to my personal preferences, it would have been very very different. But that's not saying I didn't enjoy her quirky irrational violence and Drax-like social cues, I just love the cheesy comic version more. I have been waiting for a Huntress Funko Pop forever. Once we got the main Bat-Ladies like Batgirl, Harley, Catwoman, and Ivy, Huntress was the very next character on my list. It was a long wait, but this figure is perfect. The colors are bright, she's in her iconic Batman: Hush design. Now I want Bluebird and Black Bat! Let's Check out Helena below!
Monday, January 7, 2019
Marvel POP! Vinyl - SPIDER-WOMAN!
I told myself a while ago that I was going to stop doing full photo reviews for Funko Pops. They're just so abundant (and stationary) that they don't make for exciting reviews. Instead, I now just post a few simple shots on instagram and leave the full photo sets for action figures. But then this NYCC 2018 Spider-Woman POP was announced and I knew I would backtrack and give her the full treatment. I love the bright iconic costume of the classic Jessica Drew Spider-Woman and I always thought she was a glaring omission from the Marvel POP lineup. Unfortunately she was a NYCC exclusive (shared with Entertainment Earth) so she wasn't super easy to come by. It was actually very hard for me to obtain one with a decent paint job (this particular lady was my third purchase). But I think she's my favorite Pop in years so she was worth it. I'm really hoping we somehow get a Rock Candy of her. The Pop, Pint-Size Hero and Mystery Mini need a taller companion. (C'mon subscription boxes!) Let's check out Spider-Woman below!
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Saga - LYING CAT, HAZEL, and IZABEL!
I don't think anything has made me happier this year than the release of two more Saga action figure sets from McFarlane Toys and Skybound Entertainment. Despite the insane popularity of this property in the comic community, the wide-scale release of these figures might not fare too well on the open market. So releasing them as limited convention exclusive editions is a perfect marketing plan. I hope the initial three sets have been profitable enough to warrant many more. The Stalk and Prince Robot are the highest on my wishlist for next year, with a Ghüs and Friendo right behind. But honestly almost every character would make an incredibly cool looking action figure. But for now we get new figures of the bounty hunter The Will, the spectral babysitter Izabel, the fib-finding Lying Cat, and the catalyst of the whole amazing story, Hazel. These figures couldn't be more well made and I hope everyone responsible for their production knows that. Let's check out the new batch in detail below!
Friday, November 25, 2016
POP NYCC Exclusive - BATGIRL!
This time last year I was frantically planning my Black Friday POP hunting. My mind was blown away by the first Batgirl POP in 5 years being unveiled in the GameStop Black Friday blind box sale. Then I discovered the rare Gold variant (which I never actually got) and that just sent me into a collector tizzy. I must've stopped by 10 GameStops trying to get them both. It felt very much like Charlie trying to find the Golden Ticket in Willy Wonka. But now a year later there is so much more Batgirl product than I ever could have expected. We recently got a newly sculpted Burnside Batgirl, we have this amazing NYCC exclusive, we are getting a BTAS Batgirl soon, and we got Batgirl Impopsters of Harley and Ivy. And that's not even mentioning the Classic and Burnside Rock Candy figures and the multiple Pint-Size Heroes. This NYCC Batgirl is a great sculpt. I hope it gets variants because this black-and-yellow look is not a common look for Barbara. I'd love to see this in the classic gray and blue colors. Let's check her out!
Monday, October 24, 2016
Dorbz NYCC Exclusive HARLEY QUINN!
I honestly had no intention of buying this Harley Quinn Dorbz when she was announced as a NYCC exclusive this year. I'm not usually a big fan of subtle variants, especially when the variation is just a different weapon. But then I saw her at Hot Topic and realized I wanted her to replace my standard edition Suicide Squad Harley. The baseball bat that the standard edition comes with is much more movie accurate, but overall I really disliked that edition because her face was printed on incorrectly. On every Harley I saw in the stores, her eyes were printed a fraction of an inch too high on her head. On her own, you might not notice this error, but when she was lined up with my other Dorbz, she looked really odd and un-dorb-like. But luckily this exclusive mallet version is perfect. I'm hoping we see more DC Dorbz on the horizon. The X-Men lineup looks great. There are now pics of Emma Frost, Psylocke, Storm, and Phoenix on Hottopic.com, but I don't want the DC ladies forgotten. Let's check out Harley below!
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Funko ReAction - The Dark Crystal's KIRA (WINGED)!
The Dark Crystal is my favorite fantasy movie of all time. The story is spooky, insightful, and classic. As a kid it frightened and intrigued me, and as an adult the puppeteering details and production quality amaze me. When I started collecting toys, I knew without a doubt my collection would be incomplete without the world of Thra on my shelves. That's when I learned the sad merchandise history: a cancelled toyline, rare miniature pewters, and a slew of awesome but pricey statues. When ReAction first announced they were releasing the 1979 Alien prototypes, my first thought was "Oh my God we're going to get the cancelled Dark Crystal figures!" Three years later I'm actually holding the first couple figures. And although they are not the actual old Aviva molds, they are a thousand times better. The detail and love put into these is undeniable. The first two box sets were exclusives from SDCC & NYCC this year, but the rest of the gang will start showing up in stores next week. Let's check out Kira below!
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Photos from NYCC 2015!
New York Comic Con seems to have less and less toy presence every year. Hasbro and Mattel were always staples on the showroom floor and all the smaller toy companies would really step up to compete. But in the last few years things have changed. Hasbro has only been holding pre-show press events outside the con (and hosting a few panels) and Mattel has been either a no-show, or had a small presence in the lobby. When I saw that Funko had a huge block reserved on the floor map this year, I was excited that this would maybe usher in a new resurgence of impressive toy displays. But alas, their area was essentially a giant waiting queue to buy their exclusives, with no other products on display. Someday I think NYCC will regain its position as a venue for introducing lots of new toy product. The wait between SDCC and Toy Fair seems longer and longer each year. But in the meantime, we still have a great handful of products to look at. Let's check them out below!
Friday, October 10, 2014
Photos from NYCC 2014!
If I was to be perfectly honest, I would have to say that this year's New York ComicCon was the most disappointing toy-wise than it has been in a long long time. There was a lack of vendors. Mattel was absent; Hasbro is continuing the tradition of setting up shop several blocks away (and by appointment only); and DCC showed us nothing new. And on top of that, my favorite small vendor seemed to be a no-show as well. This is a booth that usually has tons of large bins of loose action figures in little baggies. You have to be patient to get close enough because this booth magically turns everyone into kids digging for buried treasure. I always look forward to spending a good hour there, and I was sad that I couldn't find it (although it may have been there for all I know.. I was an unplanned mess this year tbh). Despite my overall disappointment on the toy front, I still enjoyed myself and found a few great gems to share. Let's check them out below!
Friday, November 1, 2013
Super Best Friends Forever POISON IVY!
Lauren Faust is the animator behind the huge cartoon hits Powerpuff Girls and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. In 2012, Lauren put her talents toward a series of animated shorts for the Cartoon Network's DC Nation show. Super Best Friends Forever featured the mini-adventures of Batgirl, Supergirl and Wonder Girl. Although there were only five shorts ever produced, they made quite an impact and the three main heroines were immortalized in an SDCC '13 Exclusive Box Set of PVC Figures (essentially plastic statues). I was on the fence about these figures and still haven't purchased them (NOTE: They're being released individually with alternate heads in December). But then they announced Poison Ivy as the NYCC '13 Exclusive (to which I was already going), and I knew they got me. Poison Ivy only appeared for about two seconds in the second episode of SBFF. Literally the entire short was about the girls racing to get to Ivy, then there's a couple closing shots of her just standing there. So, needless to say, this figure came as a bit of a shock. Let's check out Poison Ivy below!
Friday, October 11, 2013
Photos From NYCC 2013!
Welcome to the photo documentation of my second annual trip to the New York Comic Con. This year I waited until early September to get tickets only to discover they were almost all sold out. I was able to get a single ticket for 3pm-9pm on Thursday the 10th. I'm typing this introduction a couple days in advance so I can just upload photos easily from my phone. The pros of me going early are the 1) it's cheaper, 2) it will likely be less crowded, and 3) it will be unlikely that exclusives will have sold out. The negatives sides are that there's less going on (special-guest-wise, etc) and sometimes the big-brand exhibitors save reveals till the last day (ie Mattel showing the Huntress prototype last year after I had left). I hope to see lots of cool stuff but I don't have too many expectations. I'm actually more excited about shopping than seeing new toy reveals. But I'm sure once I get there I'll be like a kid at an Easter egg hunt. Everything past this first paragraph break will have been written during or after NYCC. My fingers are crossed!
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