MAFEX #170 - Batman: Hush (Jim Lee) - Huntress - Medicom Toys 2022 Tomorrow I should be getting my McFarlane Platinum Huntress in the mail (from BBTS) and I am giddy with excitement over opening and reviewing the two new Helena figures. But that excitement also served as a reminder that I had this beauty sitting in the wings for several years waiting for me to post her. In all honesty, I find purple characters to be the hardest to photograph. The slightest change in the lighting conditions or zoom level can make the color look completely different. It always takes a ton of color tweaking to ..read more

DC Multiverse - Shining Knight (Platinum Edition) - McFarlane Toys 2024 For over 60 years, the DC character Shining Knight remained largely unchanged. He was a rather stereotypical Arthurian knight with a Captain-America-like origin (a hero of old being revived in modern times, yada yada). He was a part of the Seven Soldiers of Victory and later All-Star Squadron. Plus he appeared in animation, live-action TV, and video games. In 2005, Grant Morrison worked his magic and revamped the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Among many reimaginings in these stories, Sir Justin the Shining Knight was now Y ..read more

Imaginext - DC Super Friends - Rivals Pack - Poison Ivy - Fisher-Price 2024 Poison Ivy has been having a bit of a renaissance in the comics recently. Her ongoing solo title is up to issue #26 already and is developing her character in new and interesting ways. The art by Marcio Takara is amazing and the first story arc is reminiscent to The Last of Us, which is gloriously dark. I've even been hearing comic shop chatter about Ivy being in the next Batman film. To be clear, people are wishing for her to be the next film villain. And I would love that too. Similar to Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy i ..read more

Imaginext - DC Super Friends - Rivals Pack - Harley Quinn - Fisher-Price 2024 I always find it exciting when a character who is known for being villainously deranged, or violent, or any type of kid-unfriendly attribute gets marketed to children. I remember years ago seeing a Lobo Imaginext in the store and sending a pic to my friends.  We were incredulous that this was a preschool toy. Even recently I saw the Suicide Squad Little People set from Fisher-Price featuring four murderers and the label "Suicide" on the packaging (Yes, I'm aware that this set is marketed to collectors, but it ..read more

Imaginext - DC Super Friends - Rivals Pack - Wonder Woman - Fisher-Price 2024 Every few years, DC revamps their effort to merchandise the collective "DC Girls" theme. The first notable time was 2012's Super Best Friends Forever animated shorts.  But the first significant girl-centric campaign came with the launch of DC Super Hero Girls in 2016. There were action figures, dolls, Legos, cartoons, comics, etc. To me, this was a genius move for DC/WB to mimic the success of Disney Princesses. And it was successful.. until it faded away (as all kid-focused properties do ..read more

Imaginext - DC Super Friends - Rivals Pack - Bumblebee - Fisher-Price 2024 When I think of criminally underused DC characters, Bumblebee always hits pretty high on that list. Karen Beecher first became Bumblebee in the 1977 issue of Teen Titans #45 and is considered the first Black female (costumed) hero in DC Comics (Nubia appeared three years earlier but wasn't considered a traditional costumed hero, and Vixen wasn't introduced until 1981). Bumblebee's powers and overall concept weren't groundbreaking. She was essentially DC's version of Marvel's Wasp (who has been around for 15 years alr ..read more

Imaginext - DC Super Friends - Batgirl Hero Hideout - Fisher-Price/Mattel 2024 I'm excited that Supergirl has become such a household name in the last 10 years. Between her solo live-action Supergirl TV show (on CBS then CW) and her role in DC Super Hero Girls franchise, she suddenly became a staple character in DC merchandising after decades of neglect. Sure, she had toys on the shelf before this, but her first true action figure was only made in 1998 (exactly 40 years after she was introduced). So despite her presence in the comics and supporting roles in cartoons, the general public didn ..read more

Imaginext - DC Super Friends - Batgirl Hero Hideout - Fisher-Price/Mattel 2024 The new girl-centric line of DC Super Friends Imaginext toys has started off with a bang. In the first wave of releases we've already seen seven key characters represented in a fresh new style, a colorful palette, and supported by a series of animated shorts from DC Kids on YouTube. The style of these figures is reminiscent of the Teen Titans Go Imaginext line that was released 7-10 years ago featuring larger, more animated heads and slimmer limbs. I think I will always prefer the traditional Imaginext proportion ..read more

Imaginext - DC Super Friends - Catwoman Playhouse - Fisher-Price/Mattel 2024 When I first saw images of this new girl-centric Imaginext DC Super Friends line popping up this past Spring, I didn't think I would make the effort to collect them. The larger cartoonish heads and the limited articulation are a bit of a buzzkill after years of collecting the main Imaginext line. But when I saw pics of this reimagined Catwoman design, it really grabbed my attention. Having Catwoman be portrayed as African American isn't a new concept. Three of her (relatively few) live-action incarnations have been ..read more

Imaginext - DC Super Friends - Wonder Woman - Fisher-Price/Mattel 2024 About five years ago I swore I would never buy another Wonder Woman Imaginext figure. After all the product related to her solo movies and Justice League, my Imaginext shelf was being overrun with Dianas (plus a lot of them were extremely similar). So flash forward to 2024 and I find myself breaking my word and buying two Wonder Women in a single month. The new girls' line with the new design style was an understandable purchase. But this figure in this post caught me by surprise. She is the exact same mold as her 2012 f ..read more