Donatello
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - 2012 Cartoon
Rated 4.55 stars by Toasted Brains
In every adaptation of TMNT, Donatello serves as the inventor of the group, just like how Leo's the leader, Raph's the tough guy, and Mikey's the fun-loving one. In the 2012 series, he was nerdier than previous versions, but he and his brothers all shared the same love for old cartoons, video games, comic books… the usual stuff teenagers and nerds like. Plus, he was voiced by Rob Paulsen, the voice of Raphael from the original cartoon (inevitably leading to a same-voice joke when both generations of Turtles met). Although he's number #1 in NECA's 2012 line, he's the fourth figure I got, and the third I'll be reviewing. Again, May Thamtarana sculpted these versions of the turtles, and Donatello looks just as good as Leo and Mikey. His default portrait is a serious one, with blank white...[See More]

Beetlejuice (Wedding Tuxedo)
Beetlejuice (Neca) - Ultimate
Rated 4.45 stars by Toasted Brains
One of Tim Burton's most iconic works, Beetlejuice, was a hilarious film that combined heart, horror, and comedy in one memorable movie, but nobody was expecting a sequel to it. Warner Bros. likes to ride that nostalgia wave, and said sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, proved just as good as the original. Of course, there's merch for it, and NECA has put out more than a few figures already, including two "ultimate" versions of the ghost with the most, one in his iconic striped suit and another in his wedding tuxedo from the near end of the film. The packaging is pretty much the same with both figures, just with different pictures. The boxes are an off-white color with plenty of rectangles, and they bear the real Beetlejuice, Michael Keaton, on the front. It's pretty simple, but it fits the...[See More]

Scare Glow
Masters of the Universe - Chronicles (Mattel) - Basic Series
Rated 4.45 stars by Toasted Brains
Even years after its launch, Masters of the Universe is still popular, especially with the new movie hitting theaters in just a few days. With it, Mattel has been putting out some new toys, specifically new sub-lines, such as Chronicles, yet another highly articulated, collector-focused line, and is said to be taking the place of Masterverse. As much as I enjoy Masterverse, I'm open to a new line, and the figures have been well received. The first figure in the line is Scare Glow, who stands out as he's the only one so far not from the movie, and is also a Walmart exclusive. The packaging takes on a slightly different shape from Masterverse, but we're still getting great artwork depicting not just Scare Glow, but Prince Adam and Cringer as well. You still get figure photos and a bio on...[See More]

Robot Tokka and Robo Rahzar
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Multi-Packs
Rated 4.30 stars by Toasted Brains
For a line that's been going on for a few years now, NECA's TMNT '87 line has included plenty of characters and outfits from the show, and some that aren't. We got made-up outfits for existing characters (like Space Usagi and Samurai Michelangelo), a character from post-series material (Dark Leonardo from the IDW Saturday Morning Adventures comics), a character that wasn't in the show (Panda Khan), and now robotic versions of characters. Bebop and Rocksteady's robotic doppelgängers were released as part of Target's first Haulathon, and the latest event gives Tokka and Rahzar the cybernetic treatment. The pair here were designed by Sylvain Plantier, a.k.a. SNZ Toys, and sculpted by Tomasz Rozejowski (with Jay Kushwara tooling articulation, I believe). Their designs are based more off the...[See More]

Family Couch Gag (Homer / Marge / Bart / Maggie / Lisa)
Simpsons (McFarlane) (McFarlane Toys) - Box Sets
Rated 3.80 stars by Toasted Brains
The Simpsons has gotten plenty of great figures over the years, from the long-running and inclusive Playmates line to newer, more articulated figures by Super7 and Jakks Pacific, but in between those stood out a pretty unique line by McFarlane Toys. It was different as their products were less action figures and more "semi-poseable dioramas" like they were doing in the 2000s, but they did a great job representing select episodes and even the movie. I've gotten a few of their releases, both as a kid and as an adult, and my most recent purchase from said line is the Couch Gag deluxe boxed set, one of my most desired releases from the line (second only to the Itchy and Scratchy "Spay Anything" set). While most of McFarlane's Simpsons releases were in those annoying clamshells, this set came...[See More]

Thundertron / Nightstrike / Calcitron
Transformers - Legacy - United (Hasbro) - Multi-Packs
Rated 4.50 stars by Karl T. Face
Yo ho ho! Ah, the Star Raiders. Essentially an excuse to work in characters from diverse continuities, they're good old-fashioned space pirates the nerds can geek out over. And here's the captain now! Hailing from Transformers Prime, 'tron is a straight-up pirate. Tall hat, big ol' beard, massive shoulders, hook hand, peg leg (optional), and armor that mimics coattails. The shoulders rise high enough to give the impression of a tall collar, but the head ends up looking oddly narrow. The usual lion face stares out from the chest. Articulation is fairly standard, apart from the right ankle. The wrist swivels are rather stubborn, but at least they're sturdy. Accessories include his cutlass (thankfully without an integral action feature this time) and a foot for the peg leg. Said foot can be...[See More]

Blanka
Street Fighter (SOTA Toys) - Round 2
Rated 4.45 stars by Toasted Brains
While we've gotten plenty of great Street Fighter figures in recent years, ranging from the many characters and variants by Storm overseas, to the more recent, cheaper but just as enjoyable line by Jada. Before they came along, a now-defunct company known as SOTA Toys (who's president Jerry Macaluso is returning to the figure world with Syndicate Collectibles) presented the world with a truly great Street Fighter line. I've heard a lot of good things about it, but it took me until three days ago to finally get something from the line. The figure comes packaged in a plastic clamshell, something you'd see more often in the 2000s than today, and it also means you'll need an exacto knife or scissors to get it open. The graphics are pretty good, with a blue background and cross-sell for other...[See More]

Chilla
ThunderCats (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.00 stars by Toasted Brains
Thundercats was a pretty standard 80s action cartoon: you had a group of heroes facing off against a supervillain and their henchmen on a daily basis, with some child characters and a funny animal sidekick thrown in. Season 2 shook things up a bit with the inclusion of not only more Thundercats, but a new group of villains known as the Lunataks. They didn't work for Mumm-Ra, and also didn't get along as well as the Mutants did, but nevertheless presented new problems for the heroes, and were well liked by fans. Super7 waited until wave 8 of their Ultimates to start doing them, but my first Lunatak, Chilla, is the second one they've put out. The Lunataks had some pretty funky designs, and Chilla is the most humanoid of them, but she shared some of the same design aspects as the others,...[See More]

Santa Jack
Nightmare Before Christmas (Neca) - Ultimate
Rated 4.60 stars by Toasted Brains
Too early to feel Christmassy? It usually isn't, but it's feeling that way now that temperatures are rising. Since NECA's new Nightmare Before Christmas figures were all ready for release near the holidays, they obviously had to do a Santa Jack Skellington. The more Jack, the merrier! The same crew behind the other figures - Marty Henley, Kyle Windrix, and Andrew Lawson - did Santa Jack, and they didn't reuse any of the expressions the regular Jack had. However, this Jack only has three heads: one happy, one surprised, and one winking. Like before, the work here matches the source material very well, and the clean paint certainly helps. You can use these with the regular Jack… if you don't mind the obvious sockets on the top and sides of the heads. These are for the Santa cap and beard,...[See More]

Necromancer
Spawn (McFarlane Toys) - Series 14 - Dark Ages Spawn 2
Rated 4.50 stars by Henchmen4Hire
Remember when McFarlanes were worth buying? I do, you could get them cheap at discount stores and they came packed with accessories, and the figure was pretty cool to boot! Even the packaging was awesome, lots of graphics, they even came with instructions on where to put all those crazy weapons and items! The 90s were great times for McFarlane, seemed like they were doing lots of cool stuff like Danger Girl and Metal Gear Solid. Here's a great example, I got the Necromancer figure from the Spawn: Dark Ages line for a buck! The accessories alone made this worth the buy, but the figure made me freak, it looks just like my friend Catherine (a little too much eye-shadow, but still!) Don't you just love it when a figure looks like someone you know? Creepy and cool. So here we go, a review!...[See More]

Psylocke vs Thanos
Marvel Legends - Infinite Series (Hasbro) - Gamerverse
Rated 4.50 stars by Toasted Brains
Capcom has had a notable history with Marvel fighting games, first starting off with X-Men, and then a game with various Marvel characters. It soon led to having Marvel's heroes take on the Street Fighter universe, and then more of Capcom's characters, creating one of the most iconic fighting games/crossovers of all time. There have been a handful of Marvel vs. Capcom collectibles over the years, and the most recent are part of Hasbro's "Gamerverse" sub-line for Legends. The first release was a Target exclusive, pitting Psylocke against Thanos. The packaging is a window box, and a very cool one at that. The box has a dark, starry purple motif with pixel art character names on the front. The sides have not only the names and photos of the figures, but portraits similar to the first MvC....[See More]