The Toy Collectors

[kamikazekeeg]

Nice!  He's one of my favorites for sure.  I got the Genghis and Rasputin cartoon frogs today, myself.  Just need to eventually get the damned display case I want.

There's an Ultimate version of TMNT 2 Shredder coming at some point in the future, too.

They all look good, it's been hard to not get them, but I really don't need another series to collect, and I mostly just focus on collecting Leonardo, which I have a small collection of now.  But Super Shredder is so cool, I just had to grab it.  Now I just need them to re-release Leonardo as a solo release again.

[kamikazekeeg]

I've been rewatching a lot of One Piece lately and I was feeling that I was wanting toys of the show, but when I went to look, there's surprisingly very little in the way of toys for the show, which is odd to me for such a big and popular show.  I can of course buy 8 million different statues and figurines, but it seems like there aren't many action figures and the ones I could find on like Amazon are clearly just bootlegs of toys that I'm guessing aren't available anymore or are wildly expensive.  Thankfully it looks like Bandai is doing some new action figures, starting with three from One Piece, so I picked up the One Piece Anime Heroes Zoro to see if I would like the line.



They are slightly bigger than I was expecting, I think I had in my head that they were smaller based on what I saw online, but that's because of the Loyal Subjects toyline that is out there that doesn't seem very good and is quite small.  This Zoro matches up even with a Marvel Legends Iron Man I have, so it's basically 6 inch scale, when I thought it was more 5 inch.  Detailing looks good too, which is weird to say, but McFarlane has been doing anime stuff lately for like My Hero that looks rough, so it's nice for a Japanese company to get it right lol  Posing isn't bad, it's nothing crazy, it's only a 20 dollar figure, but the arms got a lot of poseability.  Legs seem okay, but the design of this figure, I won't be doing much with them or else his long robe thing would be poking out in weird ways.  I'm totally good with this though, so I'm gonna buy Sanji and Luffy next.  I really hope they do the full crew also, I don't want to buy these and they don't plan to do the rest.  They also need to be in scale as Franky and Brooke are very large.

[kamikazekeeg]

Ended up picking up Sanji and Luffy also, these are pretty solid figures, nothing super special about them, but they really nail the visuals and pose pretty well.  Only thing I would've liked to see are alternate heads with them.  Sanji needs like a scowling look with a cigarette in it, Soro needs a sword grip mouth, and Luffy needs some big goofy smile one.  Otherwise good stuff, gonna grab the rest whenever they came out.

[pzeke]

Finally picked up the best Kevin Nash action figure! lol

Until either Mattel or Ringside Collectibles comes out with something better, yeah, you're not wrong with that statement.

[...] but McFarlane has been doing anime stuff lately for like My Hero that looks rough [...]

McFarlane did a number of releases based on anime characters back in the day (Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Tenchi Muyo, Trigun), but his market has always been centered around western-styled figures, so that's why they tend to look somewhat "iffy". Even so, it'd be criminal to deny that the first wave of My Hero Academia had some class A defects, which I've yet to understand how they managed to slip through QC, not to mention the prototypes for some actually looked better than the final product, which is sad. Overall, though, for me when it comes to McFarlane all I care for is Spawn; I've contemplated numerous times getting some of the DC stuff, but other than Batman Beyond, nothing else has genuinely piqued my interest. In fact, I actually find it funny that some of the Fortnite figures have appealed more to me than the DC stuff. Granted, I haven't gotten any, and doubt I ever will, but they do have their appeal.

Ended up picking up Sanji and Luffy also, these are pretty solid figures, nothing super special about them, but they really nail the visuals and pose pretty well.

They're cool-looking, but kind of have a Happy Meal thing going on, especially Luffy.

Anyway, here's part of my latest haul:



I got this one mainly because I've always wanted a deluxe-sized Spawn figure ever since missing out on the ones from 2005, all of which happen to go for ten times their original price now. All in all, it fills the spot I wanted it to fill, but the gun it comes with really cheapens it a lot. Also, not that I want to knock it any further, but the necroplasm accessory is rather dull, too. The figure is solid, though, and I like it.



I pretty much gave up trying to get the Mighty Morphin team since I became interested in the line rather late, plus Walmart kept restocking figures from other series that, while cool-looking, I wasn't particularly attached to. Fortunately on one visit they had the Black Ranger and Goldar, one of each, which I didn't think twice grabbing, then after that I got the White and Blue Ranger online at a really good price. The rest I'll hopefully get soonish. Other than the original series, I'm somewhat interested in the Zeo team, but I'm mostly hopeful that Hasbro ends up releasing figures for the Turbo Rangers, especially the Phantom Ranger. That'd be cool!



Originally I was invested in getting more of these figures, but their build quality is disappointing, so I think this one will be my last...although admittedly I'm still inclined in getting Heavy Arms and/or Tallgeese. Hopefully by the time they decide to release some Zakus, Epyon or more of the EW Gundams, or perhaps even Physalis (doubt it) they'll improve the quality of the figures. We'll see...



And last, but not least, I'm not into cars, much less into collectible toy cars, but I saw these at Walgreens and truly felt smitten, so I grabbed and took them home with me. I must say that I'm quite happy I got them.

[kamikazekeeg]

I got the White and Green Ranger, but I'm only planning on owning them unless I can get the rest of the team really cheap.  I'm actually waiting more for them to do the Power Rangers Movie figures because I think those figures would look great, having more of an armored look, some metallic sheen to the paint, I'll definitely have a full team of that.  Also I'll probably grab the Leonardo TMNT Power Rangers figure whenever that releases because the art for their designs is pretty cool.

[pzeke]

I actually got those for cheap; the White Ranger was the one I paid the most for, and it really was just $20, shipped. Patience, that's all that's needed. Granted, the Red Ranger will probably elude me the longest, but still...

As for a release of the Movie Rangers, I wouldn't be opposed to it. Hasbro is doing a "cel-shaded" release of the MM Pink Ranger, so I hope that's not how they would potentially try to emulate a metallic sheen effect - I know a good number of people seem to be happy for this figure, but I'm not feeling it at all, it looks ugly and cheap to me; and I think that's saying a lot given how Hasbro has been dropping the ball lately. I mean, they might as well copy the chrome effect from the original 1995 figures and call it a day.

On that note, Super7 is set to release MMPR figures next year, sometime in spring, with the first wave consisting of the Green and Yellow Ranger, the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord, Goldar, and a Putty Patroller. In all honesty I'm not liking the unmasked heads for the Green Ranger at all, but I'm tempted to slurge on these, albeit I can do without the Putty Patroller figure. Decisions, decisions...

Anyway, these came in a few days ago...



Got this set just for the Venompool BAF, but Carnage, Phage, and the movie Venom look pretty nice. I will say, however, that even if you're not into Venom or Deadpool, or simply have grown tired of them thanks to their over-saturation, it'd be insane to deny this wave's BAF as being quite possibly one of the best in the series so far. Heck, it's possibly one of the best Marvel Legends figures Hasbro has put out as far as BAFs go (ToyBiz still takes the cake); it's an entirely new sculpt and the details are on point (even though the nails were left unpainted, but that's an easy fix). Props to Mayshelf for such incredible work.

Lastly, check this shit out:





Thankfully everything is in one piece, but this is the first time ever in the many years I've been buying online that I receive something "packaged" this way in the mail. Like the only other thing I've received that comes close to mind is many, many years ago when I got a PS2 game from someone on eBay wrapped only with two sheets of A4 paper. What's even more absurd is that this was shipped media with priority mail tape plastered all over. At least there was no postage due, so there's that.

[kamikazekeeg]

Yeah the cell shaded stuff does nothing for me, like they did the sparkle thing to I believe and I have no interest in variants like that.  For the Power Rangers movie figures, they'd at least be all new figures, wearing armored suits instead of just thin spandex and have a different design to aspects of them.

Super 7 generally does stuff just out of a price range I enjoy with a collection, though I did buy the Super 7 TMNT Leonardo and I'm buying the Sewer Samurai Leonardo since they have a lot of nostalgia for me and look great as throwbacks to the original toy line.  I am guaranteed to buy a Dragonzord from Super 7 though whenever they release that, as the T-Rex looks awesome.  No interest in the rangers or villains, mostly because I think the Lightining Collection is mostly just as good, like sure they are bigger scale and are gonna have more detail, but the Hasbro stuff poses well and looks good and is more affordable.  The Zords are dope though, those would tempt me for sure, but I'm just sticking with the Dragonzord as it's my favorite.

New toys recently was that I picked up Skelegod, I kept seeing stuff on it and though I have no MOTU attachment and haven't seen the new show, I think Skelegod is badass and he looks great, though I got a weak ankle on mine that I'm trying to fix.  I'm unlikely to get into the full line, even if I like the new show, but maybe some stuff here and there will interest me.



And I got lucky and found a set of the previous MOTU WWE figures and got the Ultimate Warrior I was looking for.  I missed out on the first wave version, which is the better look, but getting at least one version is good.  I buy these to have a cool sorta retro-looking WWE figure collection rather than having fantasy versions of wrestlers lol

[pzeke]

Absolutely, the armor details on the MMPR would look nice for sure. A few days ago Hasbro teased what appeared to be a Ninja Ranger in their latest livestream, so maybe down the pike the Movie Rangers will follow. In the meantime, Phantom Ranger is set to be released in the upcoming 10th wave, so I'm definitely getting it. It's weird they decided to release it as part of the "In Space" series, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. If they're indeed going to follow with a release of the Ninja Rangers, then I hope they eventually release Ninjor.

In regards to the Super7 stuff, after some consideration, I'm leaning mostly toward the Dinozord and Goldar since they're the ones that truly caught my eyes the most when I saw them for the first time. As far as I know, they have plans for a Dragonzord, which it's safe to assume they'll do for the second wave since I'm guessing they didn't want the first one to be slightly Tommy-centric...although, in all honesty, it would've made sense to release both at the same time - I wouldn't have minded.

Anyway, I'm really not feeling Skelegod at all. I like the sculpt, but the paint apps not so much - that thing on his chest looks awful. Also, for some reason the head seems disproportionate.

Lastly, the Walmart I frequent is flooded with those MOTU WWE figures. They've dropped the price twice now and nobody seems to bat an eye. The MOTU stuff flies off the shelves every time they restock them, though.

[kamikazekeeg]

Lastly, the Walmart I frequent is flooded with those MOTU WWE figures. They've dropped the price twice now and nobody seems to bat an eye. The MOTU stuff flies off the shelves every time they restock them, though.

I've seen pictures of stores that have like 5+ of this Ultimate Warrior and I think some places just randomly get stockpiled with them, like I usually hit about 3 to 4 Walmarts in my general area throughout the month and I've never seen more than like a couple on the pegs at a time at best, most of the time they've been gone or they aren't ones I want.  I only got lucky that I got the first Macho Man, because I stumbled across it early on, grabbed it because I thought it was the only one I'd want, and then a few months later I thought I'd want more and then it immediately got impossible to find lol  I'm just hoping to catch Brett Hart, Andre, and Sergeant Slaughter online so I don't have to go hunting for them. 

There's only a couple left that I actually want, I found a listing on Walmart for one of those random buys, where you buy at the base price and then just get randomly shipped a figure listed and so I'm hoping I get the original Ultimate Warrior and maybe Sting from that.  The only others I need otherwise are NWO Macho Man and maybe Rey Mysterio as those were the last ones that would look fine in terms removing all the armor for a classic wrestler look and I actually want them.

[pzeke]

Yeah, I saw the listing you're referring. It said "in store only" on my end, though.

Regardless, I hope you can get the last few figures you want.

[kamikazekeeg]

WWE is doing the thing I was kinda hoping they would do is that after they were done with the Masters of the Universe styled toys, they'd move into just regular versions of the wrestlers, since that's what I was mostly collecting them for.  Nothing in this first wave and I'm still grabbing the Sgt. Slaughter and Andre tomorrow, but it looks like I might have a line of wrestling figures I might keep up with.  I'm really looking forward to seeing a classic Kane and Undertaker, along with getting a regular Ultimate Warrior, since I missed out on the original MOTU one.