While I always have the best intentions to post more frequently, I do have to admit that this will probably be the last of the batch of 5 posts for 2018. Hope springs eternal, but the academic year is filled with exciting research and writing, conference attendance, teaching, and other professional projects. Also, my daughter is now 3 years old,  taller than ever, absolutely infatuated with He-Man and MOTU, and most of my free time is now devoted to watching He-Man with her and building Castle Grayskull out of playdough. Also, we are embarking on a cross-state move in just a few short day ..read more

Although I have made many posts about the Alien figures in my husband’s collection, they never cease to amaze me. For instance, this is a really big Alien: The photo quality is kind of bad here, and the scale is a bit harder to see, but if you remember the aliens from previous posts (such as An Alien and A Predator and An Alien Exercise), the Alien figures in the foreground are already big, so this Alien is REALLY big. In fact, her little spiny antennae-like things at the back of her head caused me to do a double take. (This display is from the top of the Expedit and I thought a real bug was ..read more

In the last post I thought a bit about how the performance of care enters into collecting action figures in the way that my husband collects. I don’t think anything exemplifies that sense of care and arrangement more than . . . ACTION FIGURE ARCADE: I have no idea who that red suited guy is, but he is enjoying the most perfect and lovingly scaled little action figure arcade. To the side are red vinyl seats and a chrome table, just like you would expect in a bar-cade. For my husband arranging this block of the Expedit was all about the accomplishments of getting the scale correct. I imagine th ..read more

Somewhere in a block of the Expedit nearby is this scene: If you remember Ed-209 (and all the other action figures I would rather have than Ed-209– see E290,) here Ed-209 appears to be joined by a bunch of other metallic guys, like Robocop, the Terminator with and without skin, and Rambo. Also, maybe that robot from Futurama? It doesn’t look like him, but maybe. What I like about this setup is that like the previous “ready to go” figures there is a sense of coherence, dramatic action, and maybe a theme, but this also follows a kind of grey and silver color scheme. These silver figures feel mu ..read more

After over a year of time dedicated pretty much solely to research, teaching, service, and parenting, I thought it would be fitting to make another semi-annual batch of blog posts. It has not escaped pretty much anyone’s notice that many things have happened in the past year. Yet, or maybe because of this, my husband’s action figure collecting continues to seemingly center on 80s nostalgia. While the Netflix miniseries The Toys that Made Us and my daughter’s increasing love of He-Man, Skeletor, Battlecat, and everything MOTU has inescapably made me more knowledgeable, I will continue along the ..read more

So, I really don’t like to do this and don’t plan to make corrections often, but this is a rough transcript from my conversation with my husband last night: Justin: “It’s Ed-209. Ed. 209. And he’s from Robocop and not Terminator.” Me: “Well, you can’t make these things up.” Justin: “Apparently you can. Also, that’s not the playable mini arcade figure. It’s a coin bank we got from Nerd Block.” Me: “Oh. I wondered where the on switch was.” So, only in honor of the fact I don’t want people trying to play a coin bank, here are photos of the actual playable figure, which, true to form, as it turns ..read more

For my final post of the evening, I offer you this tiny unassuming action “figure” to the left of the feral looking Garbage Pail Kid. It is super hard to make out, but that is a tiny/mini PLAYABLE arcade figure for Space Invaders. I have to be impressed. I saw both Wreck It Ralph and Fist Full of Quarters. (Also, we recently watched Tommy, which I had never seen before, but is really really sad.) However, the reason why I wanted to end with this post is that for me the mini arcade classic game figure also captures something about the nostalgia of action figures and probably action figure colle ..read more

All I can say about this display is that it has been a labor of love for my husband. I know it was arranged to mirror some Marvel comic book cover, but I do not know which one. I also only know/remember this detail and the significance of this arrangement because there were a few nights a couple weeks ago where action figures were falling from the shelf and Expedit. (You do not know the thrill of living until you wake up at 3am to the sound of thudding plastic feet from your bed.) Also, on a side note, though our Boston terrier, Melvin (of #MelvinWatchesMovies,) is very keenly aware of people ..read more

Here is a MOTUC (Masters of the Universe Classics) figure. She appears to be female and is dressed in yellow and blue. Also, she is maybe a disco dancer. I am sure Justin would have been happier with a post on Wonder Woman, who is both identifiable and has a good head sculpt. (See what I did there, Justin? I heard you approximately 2 days ago.) However, I’m still hoping to perhaps see Wonder Woman, or else think about that post a bit further. I’ve read a bunch of tweets on Wonder Woman, but as of yet am not sure what to say. All I know is that she’s a DC character and that there are, like, two ..read more

This post is one I can be a bit more confident about since it is about an action figure procured MUCH more recently. Here is what I am about 92% confident is E-290 from the Terminator movie: He looks super cute, but this is the weird old robot in the Terminator movie that starts killing people during a demo of his capabilities. I am not sure why this was such an important figure for my husband, but he described it as a “unicorn figure.” I am guessing that means it is rare and he derives particular enjoyment from having found it/bought it? I am not sure why. It looks sort of like the homicidal ..read more