With all the Funko Pops I've bought of the years (dozens, possible even hundreds), I surprisingly never pickup up a single Wonder Woman. I have countless Batgirls and Harley Quinns, but for some reason Diana never made the cut. She is the most merchandised heroine out there, so I suppose I was intimidated by the notion of a potential deluge of star-spangled Amazons into my overcrowded toy room if I were to purchase a single one. Whatever the reason, it wasn't conscious. I've some to really appreciate the aesthetic of a "classic" Wonder Woman. I put that in quotes because everyone has their own definition of that word. For me, it's the Wonder Woman that I saw in coloring books and on lunchboxes throughout my childhood in the 80s. When I saw this Wonder Woman Thrilljoy PIX at Box Lunch a couple weeks ago, I immediately appreciated the design and knew she deserved to be purchased as the third figure in my new 80s' Ladies collection. Let's check out Wonder Woman below.
UNITING ALL WOMEN OF PLASTIC
Showing posts with label Vinyl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vinyl. Show all posts
Saturday, August 29, 2026
Thrilljoy Pix - WONDER WOMAN!
Monday, August 17, 2026
Thrilljoy Pixl - SHE-RA!
I'm a sucker for a tiny cartoony She-Ra figure. Unlike a lot of iconic heroes, She-Ra doesn't get this playful treatment very often. She's had a handful of Funko Pops (2013, 2021a, 2021b, and 2022), a very cool Dorbz, a criminally-scarce Rock Candy, an "unreleased" Eternia Mini, and a recent Funko Mystery Mini. That may seem like a decent list, but He-Man literally has dozens of figures in this aesthetic, so her exclusion from a lot of these lines is very noticeable to me. Luckily, Thrilljoy, the new vinyl collectible company by Brian Mariotti (the former CEO of Funko), has produced a She-Ra vinyl in two scales so far (plus a variant). That's a very strong showing right out of the gate for me. The character selection for Thrilljoy seems a bit random without the clearly defined "waves" of characters belonging to the same license we've come to expect. But that kind of excited me because I immediately dreamed of a Cheetara and Jem to display along with her. Fingers crossed! Let's check out She-Ra below!
Sunday, August 16, 2026
Thrilljoy Pix - SHE-RA (CHASE)!
I'm still pretty surprised the 40th Anniversary of She-Ra: The Princess of Power in 2025 didn't have more fanfare. There were rumors flying of a ton of Mattel product that unfortunately never surfaced. There were justifiable excuses of tariffs and shipping delays, but I now think they were simply wishful thinking. Still, we got a New Etheria She-Ra, Origins Despara and Shadow Weaver, the Origins Swiftwind set. And the (super expensive) Mondo She-Ra and Swiftwind pre-orders. A surprise for me was this Event Exclusive She-Ra Thrilljoy PIX. I discovered it after coming home from NYCC last year with my newly-acquired Batgirl '66 PIX and curiously Googling the Thrilljoy catalog. I'm not normally a fan of Chase figures, because they typically have a paint deco I don't particularly covet, and I get frustrating with the blind box experience. But in this case I really want the Chase variant (which has a shield) and I was luckily enough to get one on the first try. Finally got a lucky break. Let's check out She-Ra below!
Saturday, August 15, 2026
Thrilljoy Pixl - BATGIRL '66!
No, you're not experiencing déjà vu. This figure is virtually identical to the Thrilljoy PIX Batgirl I posted yesterday, but half the size. Actually my only complaint with my scant Thrilljoy PIX purchases is that they seem fractionally larger than I would prefer, so these 2.5-3" PIXL figures are a great solution. I only fear that they won't have the wide characters selection I predict the larger figures will have. Plus the larger blind-box assortment cases mean it will be harder to get your specific character (I picked up mine on eBay to avoid the stress and because I didn't know where to buy them - I have since seen them at Hot Topic). I don't expect to be buying a ton of these vinyls. I have hopes I can get some more key iconic characters like Cheetara and Jem - that will honestly be the only way I stay engaged in this collection. But so far I've been enjoying my little foray into the Thrilljoy universe and I look forward to seeing their booth at NYCC in a couple months. Let's check out the Batgirl '66 PIXL below!
Friday, August 14, 2026
Thrilljoy PIX - BATGIRL '66!
The last thing I ever expected was to start collecting a new Vinyl figure line. Funko provided me many years of fantastic products. I was an early adopter with the first Funko Force line in 2010 (coincidentally my first purchase was that 2010 SDCC Exclusive silver Batgirl) and I continued gleefully until recently in the last few years when the character selection just stopped being appealing to me (or were so scarce I couldn't obtain them). So I had checked out of the vinyl market and thought I would focus on true action figures going forward. But then at NYCC last October I walked by the Thrilljoy booth and saw this convention exclusive Batgirl '66 figure. Regular readers will know I'm a total sucker for a Yvonne Craig Batgirl. There was miraculously no line and I spontaneously bought her. And within a few months I also bought a She-Ra. I currently only own five Thrilljoy products (one purchased today at Box Lunch), and I'm kind of excited to see what random characters might come next. Let's check out Batgirl below!
Monday, January 12, 2026
Titan Vinyls - LADIES OF STAR TREK!
It's been a while since I've purchased or reviewed any Star Trek merchandise. But the upcoming waves of figures from Nacelle Toys have me excited and looking back to what I already own. I realized that I never posted these fun super-deformed vinyls from Titan. I've have them for nearly 9 years and I love how odd they are. I also love that they included so many of the women from Star Trek: The Original Series. I will always loved the TOS episodes most and the trifecta of Uhura, Rand, and Chapel bring me a lot of joy. Nacelle's announcement of all three ladies in Wave 3 of their new Star Trek is a gift. I'm still feeling loss over the cancelled Diamond Select/Art Asylum figures of Rand and Chapel... 17 years ago (I can hold a grudge). I kind of miss these Titan Vinyls. Somewhere I have Ghostbusters and Edwards Scissorhands ones too. They remind me a lot of the KidRobot Vinyls (of which I have many). Let's check out the ladies of Star Trek: The Original Series below!
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Hocus Pocus - THE SANDERSON SISTERS!
Hocus Pocus is a movie that was almost completely off my radar until very recently. It was released in 1993, when I was in high school, but I was only vaguely aware of it. I gather that it flopped at the box office but gained a massive cult following through continual airing on the Disney Channel and Freeform in the three decades since (neither of which channels I has access to until the last 5 years or so). I even worked at video rental stores for many years and we just didn't stock it. I was forced to watch it a few years ago for the first time. This was by friends who had a deep nostalgia for it from their childhood. Without that wistful slant, I honestly wasn't a huge fan. It was very over-the-top and silly with caricatures I found too childish (and I am very immature). But that said, I was glad to finally see this cult hit. I loved the colorful design of the Sanderson Sisters as well as the actors playing them. I've wanted to add them to my collection in some way, but none of the product so far felt quite right.
Monday, October 27, 2025
POP Funko - MELANIE DANIELS!
The Birds had a powerful impact on me as a child. My Dad loved Alfred Hitchcock and we would always tune in to his (often wildly inappropriate for kids) films when they aired on TV. The Birds was always my favorite. But ironically. this was because I loved birds so much. You might think that a bird lover would hate a movie where all the birds are portrayed as violent unpredictable antagonists, but I was fascinated. I also loved the open-ended mystery of the attacks (fun fact: years later they discovered that the real-life incidents that inspired the film were caused by toxic algae). But when I was a kid, I was left wondering if my birds might suddenly attack me, too. The star of the film was Tippi Hedren (mother of Melanie Griffith and grandmother of Dakota Johnson). Her character, Melanie Daniels, was beautiful, smart, and mysterious and really made the movie great. In 2008, I missed out on a Barbie of The Birds. This Funko Pop 17 years later finally let's me add a piece memorabilia to my collection. Let's check her out below!
Wednesday, October 1, 2025
POP Funko - HALLOW'S EVE!
I'm a spineless weakling. I broke my Funko Pop collecting parameters by picking up a modern character. I typically try to limit all my Pops to nostalgic Comic, Movie, and TV characters from my 1980's youth. But I have a strong fondness for Halloween and this time two years ago I fell head over heels for the new Spider-Man villain, Hallow's Eve. So when I saw this Pop in Gamestop last week, I couldn't resist. Hallow's Eve is a longtime civilian character in the Spider-Man universe. Janine Godbe was simply Ben Reilly's love interest for nearly 30 years of comics before she was swept up in a storyline involving Limbo and the Goblin Queen, and emerged as Hallow's Eve. I would describe her as a sympathetic villain and a great lead character. She has a bag of cursed masks that imbue her with the traits of that mask character, often with corruptive effects. Her stories are a lot of fun and I can't wait to start re-reading her TPB tonight, it's my annual October tradition. Let's check out Hallow's Eve below!
Thursday, August 28, 2025
POP Funko - TRON'S YORI!
When most people hear about modern movie sequels or reboots of classic pop culture films, there is a mixed bag of reactions. There is always an initial pang of nostalgic excitement, usually followed by the creeping dread that these things very rarely turn out well. But a third reaction I always have is speculative excitement about the potential classic product to ride the wave of renewed media interest in the property. When I first heard about Tron: Ares a couple years ago, my overriding reaction was that we might finally get more Yori products. Tron is a classic movie from my youth. It was one of the only VHS rentals my siblings and I could agree on. We frankly didn't understand the plot too well, but the visuals were mesmerizing and we loved it. The token female character, Yori, has been criminally under-merchandised. While the male characters got multiple vintage (and modern) toylines, Yori didn't appear in plastic for 20 years with a small Kubrick figure, and then another 20 until the next (Super7 ReAction).
Saturday, June 21, 2025
Kamen Rider - CRANE ORPHNOCH!
Kamen Rider 555 is the 13th installment in the Kamen Rider series from 2003. The villains of this series are the Orphnoch, a mutated evolution of zombie-like human monsters with animal or plant characteristics. Several of these Orphnochs retain their human morality and work to protect humanity. The Wolf, Horse, and Wildcat Orphnochs are the main characters of the series, but Crane is a major recurring "good" character with a seemingly massive fanbase (if the merchandise and subsequent CCG and videogame appearances is any indication). I've always been really drawn to the Kamen Rider monster aesthetic... especially when there is a strong animal theme. I bought this figure blindly back in 2004 and only worked to learn about her later. The Orphnochs have an added appeal of being a monochromatic gray/stone palette which looks awesome in group scenes. There are quite a few females represented, but Crane was always the standout to me. Let's check her out below!
Saturday, November 16, 2024
POP Funko - SPINNERET!
I've been collecting toys for a long time and sometimes I get cocky thinking I can predict release and distribution patterns. But I'm often wrong. When this Spinneret Funko Pop was announced last year, I knew I had to get her. I've slowed down my Pop purchases a lot, but Bat-Family and Spider-Family females will always have a place on my shelf. The problem was that this was an online exclusive, and I am very picky about paint, especially with Spider-characters where web patterns tend to get sloppy (I had to order eight Spider-Woman Pops back in 2018 before I got a good one). But Spinneret was exclusive to Entertainment Earth, which I've noticed has a relationship with both FYE and Go! Calendars and Games, where you can almost always find EE exclusives (in limited quantities) in person. So I waited. And waited. Eventually she sold out on the EE website and eBay images were annoyingly all solicit renders. I thought I was screwed. But luckily I found a ton of her from vendors at NY Comic Con 2024.
Friday, November 1, 2024
POP Funko - SCREAM!
Ever since the first Venom movie came out in 2018, I have been hoping for Scream to hit the silver screen. There was a cameo tease of a yellow symbiote specimen, but it seems like it just wasn't meant to be. However, 2023 saw the release of Spider-Man 2 by Insomniac Games for Playstation which featured Scream in a pretty prominent role. This wasn't her first appearance in a video game (in fact, I believe it's the sixth), but this was the first significant boss fight appearance. significant enough to inspire merchandise. This design of Scream is slightly altered from her traditional Donna Diego look. Most notably, her face and hair are now a deep ruddy color (as opposed to the black face with bold streaks of yellow in her hair). At first, I didn't like the change, but it quickly grew on me. And I like that the symbiote looks different when bonded with different hosts (the video game features a new host for Scream). I'm hoping her newfound fame inspires a new Legends figure. But in the meantime, check out her Funko Pop below!
Saturday, October 26, 2024
Trollify - BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN!
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.
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Saban's Little Mermaid - HEDWIG!
I love a good sea witch. There is something so captivating about a mer-creature with villainous intent that it trumps all my other vampy character obsessions. An interesting thing about all the various interpretations of The Little Mermaid in popular culture is that the antagonist is always a fairly unique creation. In Toei's 1975 film, she is a very creepy-looking stingray. In the 1989 Disney film, she is voluptuous baudy octopus. And in the 1991 television series, Saban's The Adventures of the Little Mermaid, she is a crone named Hedwig with a mermaid-like tail that has dragon (or eel-like) details. I think she is a fun variation. I especially love that she rides on the back of a stingray and has fingers that magically grow into long tendrils. I believe this 1991 "collectible figure" from The Toy Group is the only time she was merchandised. She is made from a dense, but pliable, plastic similar to a floating bath toy. While I would have loved an actual action figure, I doubt the animated details would have been captured so well.
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
Saban's Little Mermaid - MARINA!
I am a big fan of The Little Mermaid. I love mermaids in general, Hans Christian Anderson's folktale, and almost all interpretations of the story in popular culture. But, oddly enough, I'm not a huge fan of the Disney version with Ariel. I don't hate it or anything, but it's pretty far down my list. My favorite is the 1975 anime film by Toei Animation. It's well-animated and sticks to the original story. A close second though is Saban's Adventures of the Little Mermaid from 1991. The story is more cutesy and the animation isn't as refined, but there are a lot of notable similarities, mostly in the little mermaid herself. In both versions, she is a young blonde mermaid named Marina drawn with an anime influence. In the 1975 movie, she is topless with strategically flowing hair. But in the 1991 show, she has scales that continue up her torso in a design I find very appealing (the Disney seashell bra always seemed silly to me... and uncomfortable). I love Marina's two-tone green tail especially (but I could do without the little earrings).
Thursday, May 30, 2024
POP Funko - SPOILER!
Stephanie Brown needs so much more merchandise. I have high hopes we'll be seeing this new design in the McFarlane DC Multiverse line soon. The recent Cassandra Cain Target Exclusive figure was branded with the Batgirls comics title (which is a current ongoing series featuring Cass and Steph patrolling the city with Babs in their earpiece). So my hopes are high. But in the meantime, Funko has graced us with both ladies in their Pop line for Batman: The Joker War Zone (a 2020 comic that first focused on these two teaming up). Having Cass and Steph in Pop form really expands the Funko Bat-roster. My wishlist is now only an unlikely Kathy Kane Batwoman, Bette Kane Bat-Girl, Helena Wayne Huntress, and Bluebird. And that's a very short list for me. This design of Spoiler is an interesting blend of her traditional Spoiler costume with her Batgirl uniform, but I like it a lot. FYI In the Batgirls comic, Steph (wearing this same outfit) now goes by Batgirl. Let's check out Spoiler below!
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
POP Funko - CASSANDRA CAIN BATGIRL!
It has been five long years since Funko has had a new comic-based DC Bat-character that got me excited. Back in 2019 they released a Batwoman and Huntress that gave me high hopes that we'd finally start seeing all the cool Bat-family characters that had been ignored up till then. But my hopes were dashed. There was nothing for years. I was still happy to get live-action versions of Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Batwoman, but the comic stuff was always my favorite. In 2020 there was a comic (that I haven't read yet) called Batman: The Joker War Zone that featured Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown teaming up on a side adventure. I always liked their friendship dynamic ever since Cass handed the Batgirl mantle to Steph way back in 2009. And I've been enjoying the current ongoing title, Batgirls, featuring Steph and Cass patrolling the city (with Babs in their earpieces). But this Joker War Zone story is what cemented their adventuring partnership and inspired these long overdue Funko Pops. Let's check out Cass!
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!
Friday, July 14, 2023
POP Funko - ARCEE!
I've been wishing for a Funko Pop of Arcee for a while now. A simple goal I have for a lot of my collections is to assemble a complete "Ladies of the 80s" lineup. It's fun to see which collectible line will give me that roster the fastest. Mini-Mates, Super7 ReAction, and Super7 Ultimates are all top contenders. But I think that Funko may have them all beat. So far we have She-Ra, Cheetara, Jem, Pizzazz, Scarlett, Baroness, Jun the Swan, Sorceress, Evil-Lyn, and even Thundarr's Ariel. (I don't have Rainbow Brite or Strawberry Shortcake, but they should be included). I still hope for a traditional animated pink Arcee Pop but this Transformers: The Rise of the Beasts cinematic version is a great stand-in. It's was exciting to see her on the big screen and I love how much merchandizing momentum she is getting (hopefully with a renewed focus on the classic design as well). There have been more and more G1 Transformers characters getting the Funko treatment so my fingers are crossed that second Arcee isn't far behind.
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