Transformers Hero Mashers Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Grimlock, and Maybe Starscream.

The next group of Hero Mashers are out, and Transformers are their game. These are nice as they stay close to the original classics with a few pulled from various other times. They are similar in build to the Marvel, with maybe removable hands this time as well. Optimus Prime and Megatron mid sized sets are pretty fun, with lots of extras. These are worth picking up a few, and maybe some Marvel too, to build some pretty crazy stuff. If you are not into mixing, some make really good stand alone action figures too.

McDonalds The Amazing Spider-Man Happy Meal 8 Blue Toys

I stuck with just the Happy Meal "blue" toys this time for the new Spider-Man movie. An interesting collection this time of figures, vehicles, spiders, cards, mask, and a book. Now on to next month with the return of Pokemon!

Marvel Super Hero Mashers Hulk Spider-Man and Captain America

The idea of build-able Super Hero characters has been tried several times but never so well as the new Marvel Super Hero Mashers. They have a good blend of action figure, and building set. Simply switch out legs and arms and heads to make some pretty cool or funny combinations. A ton of characters out there to start with and you have lots of customizable fun. I found that the best combos are simply doing just two, so start there as see if you like them.

Iron Man Micro Muggs Blind Box

The Iron Man Micro Muggs are pretty much a static figure, but they are clean and highly stylized which make them loads of fun. As you can see in the review, they come alive very easily.

Ultimate Spiderman Marvel Fighter Pods Series 1

Now that Star Wars Fighter Pods have made their waves known, Marvel is getting a treatment with Ultimate Spiderman. What I like most about Blind Bag stuff is that it doesn't take up much space. I can buy a few packs, and throw everything in a zip baggie and toss in a drawer. They are easy to travel to fine dining and the play is simple and easy. I would imagine that numerous series will follow.

Marvel Universe Sentinel Masterworks Series 2 Paint Varient

So last year about this time, i got a killer deal on the silver armed and legged Marvel Universe giant 16" Sentinel toy (A totally fantastic toy I might add). Some would complain though, as it did not have a color scheme that was in closer resemblance to the show and or comics? I thought it was fine. Well this week comes along, and I find that they made a repaint, and I got an even more killer deal for it (TJ Maxx). I have no problems having 2 as they attack in groups right?

Also I finally updated my old video editor out of the dungeons of an awful '08 program, and now can do somethings. Big BIG things are coming down the pipes people!

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Wolverine's Chopper Showdown 6866

Last month when I was working on Epic Lego Minifigures Battles 6, at the last minute I decided to pick up this set for the Wolverine and Deadpool minifigures. This of course mixed a few battles up, and I had to reshoot some stuff, but I really wanted seven battles. I probably would have never bought this set, if not for the minifigures. I am glad I did though, as it is a pretty solid set. Most of the time when buying LEGOs you can feel a little short changed. Not with this set, at $19.98 Walmart, you get a pretty good amount of brick. The chopper is really spiffy, as it looks menacing, fits a few figures, and does a few tricks.

The set looks to be modeled after the first Wolverine Origins movie, which gives you an initial premise to play from. It feels like a bonus to get three high level Minifigure characters, plus a motorcycle (and an extra Wolverine claw if you can spot).

Out of the Marvel sets offered this year, I would now place this as the best one to get first.

The Avengers Black Widow Movie Series with Grapple Blast

I almost forgot that after a entire summer of every week checking the Avengers shelf stocks for any sort of actual movie figure, I finally found a Black Widow. She must have been in a second or third wave of action figures, along with Nick Fury and some sort of green goblin guy. 

She's not really actress accurate, but that is okay, as I prefer figures like this to have timeless identification ambiguity (what the hell does that mean?). I think the painters might have been a little sloppy painting her eyes, as one is way higher than the other. Her back side is perfect though.

She has some good and bad for action figure standards. The Hasbro Marvel Supers have the worst hips. They are a combo of balls,  joints, hinges, and something else, and they always stick and are stuck in a direction that doesn't bend. I don't understand why they can't go with the Star Wars or GI Joe method which is way superior for Action Figuring. Her plastic is also a little soft, so its hard to bend her into great positions without bend-backing effect. Her guns are also the softest plastic I have ever encountered. Try getting her little hands to hold the gooey things is next to impossible. On the flip side, she looks like a Black Widow, and is no way a monstrosity with no joints and neon coloring like we would have got out of the 90's.

She is a fantastic action figure for general playing with.

Lego Marvel Avengers: Hulk's Helicarrier Break Out 6868

So my favorite Northwest local big box store (Fred Meyer) had Lego sets on sale, 15% off, plus additional 10% off with a coupon, IF you were savvy enough to pick through store ad. That made this normally overpriced set, feel a bit more regular priced. This set was necessity though, as I had to have a large Hulk for an upcoming video project. The kit contains 389 pieces and took me about an hour to build.

Hulk is massive indeed, but lacking in movement. I guess I can understand no leg joints or waist, but a head joint would have enhanced him.  I will make him work through the magic of Dan.

This overall set is kind of so-so. The minifigure distribution to these sets are horrible at best. Now I have two Hawkeye's and Loki. Nick Fury would have made more sense for this set (or the other Shield truck set). Heck even some helicarrier troops to sit up top. I would have preferred the helicarrier to have at least one turbine to play with too.  We do get a nice white recliner for Loki's staff to sit on though.

As for Loki's cell, that was probably the most eye-rolling ridiculous containment scene in the movie. Where were the sharks with lasers attached to their heads? When they said, it just drops really fast to the ground, I asked, "and?..." To make matters worse, this toy doesn't even do that, it just pops open by way of controls up on top.

This set does have a redeeming jet though. On the box it looked pretty weak, but alas, I have already flown it around the house hyper-fast several times. The little bubble canopy is shiny and catches light really well.

So, overall the Helicarrier Breakout does grow on me a little. Yes, a lot more could have been included, had they rearranged some ideas, but heck that's what your imagination is for with Lego.

Gold star to the inclusion of Space Invaders on the computer screen.

BonkaZonks Marvel Series 1 Toy and Game Review

Today I am playing with Marvel BonkaZonks. They looked kind of fun and different, so I picked up the Face Case pack and also a Standard 4 pack. The Face Case runs about $12.99-14.99 and the four pack is about $5.99 or so. Target was cheaper, so I made sure to buy at Toys R Us. DOh! There are also blind packs, 2 for about $3.99. They are silly, but not too fantastic to really get into in the long run. As I said in the video, they missed an opportunity for different sizes of BonkaZonks. So far, I find playing any game other than tossing them into the container, pretty darn hard. One container is worth it though, for the game shelf.

Squinkies Marvel Avengers Movie Edition Capsule toys: Black Widow Hulk Iron Man Captain America Thor Hawkeye Nick Fury and Loki!

I can finally officially debut this video to the site, as it is cleared of all possible issues. For some reason the filters mistook this for the actual new movie, which is reasonable as this video is obviously high budget. This Marvel Avenger Squinkie set is your best fastest way to collect all main key characters at lowest cost. As you can see in the video, there are many fun things that you can put them through. My favorite is the mini Hulk, he is fun to put the "pressure" on. And if you are having a hard time finding any kind of Black Widow toy to have, here is your chance.

Unbelievable Backlog...

Between my B-Day stuff, and Easter sales, I have a lot of stuff to go through. That case of Joe's is enough to keep me warm all summer. I tried to find video review stuff today at ToysRUs, and I think I found a couple great things to play with. Stay tuned...

Marvel Universe: Storm - Auction ALERT!!!

Hey its Storm! I needed a Storm, now with a giant Sentinel running around this place. Overall, she's a slam grand of a Marvel Universe figure except for my classic beef.

No display stand!!!

OH WHERE TO BEGIN! That all the other Marvel Universe figures I have so far, have the best display stands on the market? Or that being a lady lady with a light frame figure, with heavy cape, makes it impossible to stand her without hunchiback?

Then to top things off, instead of killer display stand, we get a "Collectible Comic Shot" ARE YOU KIDDING ME? A Little postage, print on raw card stock, is collectable? Really??? I would have expected that in the 90's, and we called them POGs, and they did stuff! I am half tempted to ebay this damn thing... In fact, thats what I am going to do...

Go ahead and bid on the COLLECTIBLE COMIC SHOT OF STORM

Back to blog antics, I let Storm shoot her own card, revealing the Invisible Girl who was holding it up!

And to close, maybe if Juggernaut didn't use so much plastic, the would have had some left for Strom's stand. :(

So yeah, go ahead and get into the bidding war NOW

Marvel Universe 16" Sentinel - The Biggest Action Figure

Behold the mighty Sentinel!

Amazing figure, or would you say Miniature Robot Person Thing? The Sentinel is huge, and rightly so, as that is what the Sentinel is, HUGE! Safe to say, the Sentinel is now the largest Action Figure in the Toy Museum.

For such an enormous hunk of plastic, he functions pretty well. Full of joints and electronics, the Sentinel is not to disappoint. There are only a couple of loose joints in his left arm, but with so much weight, thats almost expected. His knees were so tight, I almost hurt myself trying to bend them. The Sentinel is well balanced for standing, I had no problem keeping him upright.

The sound effects are chilling. I do wish they were separated into sound effects and phrases. That way you would have more control in battle. It is fun though, he complains about his power core draining, and when it drains he talks slower and shuts down. Then he fake ejects the core, and apparently is better again (I found a neat substitute Power Core that I will show next time).

The Color Scheme is balanced. I have heard in some circles, its not 90's Cartoon or Comic accurate? Really, why would that be a problem? I see a little cracking in the leg paint, but that might be on purpose. It doesn't really matter when he's stepping on Wolverine anyways (oh yeah, Wolverine comes with him).

I am so fortunate to find this toy on such a great deal At Walmart. So good, I might have bought another one for troop building, and convinced a friend to buy another one, Bwa-ha ha. Sentinel's are more fun when attacking in groups. Of course, now I need to find more X-Men to fight it with.

I wonder what the smallest figure is in the Toy Museum? See next time.

Captain America; The First Avenger, Comic Series Battlefield #03

The super hero movie I would like to see the most this summer in a summer of "Sort-of-See" super heroes is Captain America! Believe it or not, I have yet to see Thor, X-Men First Class, or Green Lantern. There are just too many super hero choices this year, which makes me all the more uninterested. I miss the days where its just one "must see" movie. So far, Bridesmaids was way better than another superhero origin story, and Super 8 was the best wink at the 80's style since well, the 80's. I'm just bummed they didn't have Captain America ready for 4th of July Weekend. What's up with that??!

I only planned on getting the comic series Battlefield version because he looks so GI Joe compatible. I wish Hasbro would use the same GI Joe figure build with the Captain America line (and other lines). His hip joints, again, are a mess! They are a little better than last year's Iron Man toys, but they still need work. The joints are very very stiff, breakable stiff almost. Its always a trick to get the joint turned and lined up so he can kick or sit. With GI Joe, there is no articulation fumbling. I guess its crouch accuracy they are going for. He does have pretty good feet articulation, both side to side and front and back. His hands hold the weapons well, and the shield has both clamp to arm, and post for back holding. No display base, which is a huge annoyance.

It didn't take long out of box for me to have a GI Joe Captain America team battle.

There was a couple scary moments, but in the end, Hawk and Captain America cornered Cobra Commander and the Heavy Water cube.

...aaaaand world is saved!

Marvel Universe; World War Hulk

You might have noticed yesterday's Apocalypse knock down by World War Hulk. WWH is SOO much cooler than Apocalypse.

A few ounces lighter, he holds up better, and with weapons! Cool weapons!! I know Apocalypse is all powerful, but at least a ray gun or something to humor me with. WWH has a sword, a battle axe, and a shield. Heck, his loin cloth looks like a weapon.

This figure begs stop motion, but he does drop weapons easily, and is a little loose, so that might end in vain, but I will try sometime. The problem with the portly MU figures, is there tiny joints can't hold too much weight. WWH's hip has popped out of joint twice. Easily fixable, but kind of a design flub.

I highly recommend this toy over Apocalypse.

I Cus, You Cus, We all Cus, for Marvel Universe's Apocalypse

My last Apocalypse toy was a Toy Biz figure from the 90's. I found him for a dollar, and he was worth it. His arm broke off, and had to be held on with poster tack. To be honest, I've never been a fan of Apocalypse. His name is really hard to spell for one reason. Clearly whoever first drew him had a bad experience with orthodontic headgear (not that anyone has had good experiences). He looked pretty good in this modern package though, so I thought what the Apocalypse?

Kind of thinking that I want my original back instead now (I sold it years ago). This figure is too hulking for his points of articulation, so he sags, bends, tilts, and bulges all over the place. It's not even an appropriate size, shouldn't he be like ten of these figures?

Bah, now I don't know what to do with him!

Who dare challenge Apocalypse?

Hulk does, and wins.

Marvel Universe, Juggernaut

I really shouldn't be blogging right now, I'm a little "Dizzy" after watching the Packers hold on and defeat the stinky Steelers! Finally I win a Super Bowl, after a few bad years! What better way to celebrate than to show off the mighty Juggernaut! I have down well resisting these incredible Marvel Universe figures up until late, until now. I just couldn't pass up on Juggernaut, he is so well made, and looks just like he should look, no figure flaws what so ever.

My best recollection of Juggernaut was from a 1990's X-Men episode. You know the one where they had trouble defeating him, until one smarty X-Men guy was like, "We have to do this as a Team!" So Like, Wolverine used his claws to take off Juggernaut's helmet, while Jubilee distracted him with fireworks, while Jean Grey got in his mind, while.... Who else did what, I am "Dizzy" and blanking on it.

Uh-oh, Looks like Lego Army Men want a piece of him. I wouldn't do that Lego Army men...

Oooh, Yeah, saw that one coming...

Ouch, And that...

Uugh, and that...

Should of had more back ups Lego Men.

Excuse me now, while I throw up...