Daria & Jane
Squads (Mondo) - Basic Series
Rated 4.50 stars by RMaster007
Unlike the dumpster fire it is now, MTV was the home to plenty of music videos and iconic series. Beavis and Butt-Head is one everybody remembers, but it also managed to spawn a spin-off in Daria, revolving around one of the few sane people in Highland moving out and experiencing the usual struggles of adolescence. While different in tone from its successor, it's relatable topics and well-written stories made it just as popular, but it hasn't gotten much in the way of merchandise. Last year, Mondo sought to change that with a two-pack of figures, as part of their new "Squads" line. Mondo figures tend to have attractive box art, and Daria is no exception. Done by Pam Wishbow, the front flap has a very pop art-esque illustration of Daria and Jane, surrounded by all sorts of junk. The style...[See More]

Sonic (with Star Spring)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Jakks Pacific) - Basic Series
Rated 4.00 stars by RMaster007
For someone who rarely plays Sonic games, I've been a big fan of the merchandise the franchise has gotten. Hell, I even own a bubble bath bottle (it's amazing what you can find at thrift stores), but the action figures are what I most enjoy. I've grown up with the Toy Island, Jazwares, and Tomy lines, but I got very few of them when they were out. Then we got Jakks Pacific, who has been putting out an expansive and well-made line for a few years now. Rather than cover each wave, since I don't think I've completed any of them, I'll be covering them in batches, starting with the main three heroes: Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Jakks has kept the packaging motif pretty uniform for the line, with the cardbacks featuring a blue background, a yellow ring behind the bubble, and a render of Sonic...[See More]

Tatsu
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 1990 Movie (Neca) - Basic Series
Rated 4.90 stars by RMaster007
The NECA TMNT movie line has become a slow burn as of late, as they've been going through all the key characters at a steady rate. The main cast of the first movie has been made into figures, with the exception of Tatsu. There were many requests for Shredder's second-in-command, but supposed issues in securing the actor's likeness prevented it. Eventually, NECA was able to sort things out, and at long last, he's joined the line. Unlike the two-packs, the single-packed movie figures have made use of some unique packaging art, and Tatsu's has a sketchy red motif, with his portrait on the front. Out of all the movie Ultimates, this one is the best one, with a more menacing-looking box that stands out from the rest of the singles. There's only a single tie in the tray, thankfully, and...[See More]

Punk Rock Donatello
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7) - Ultimates!
Rated 4.40 stars by RMaster007
First they did the regular turtles, then they did the "Disguise" sub-line variants, so what was Super7's next step? Rock 'N Rollin' Turtles. The originals had the turtles each representing a different genre of rock (and one of them rap), and since Super7 loves their music figures, it's not much of a surprise they'd do them. What was surprising was that instead of Undercover Don, S7 jumped right to Punker Don. Was it because they were already doing a turtle in a trenchcoat (Raphael) or they just found the punk getup more visually appealing? I guess we'll never know. Donatello must've been working on a hair growth formula, or at least a wig, because this version of him's sporting a rockin' mohawk. The original prototype for the figure (read Rad Plastic to see it) had a thinner and wilder...[See More]

Robotic Bebop
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7) - Ultimates!
Rated 4.55 stars by RMaster007
It's been over a year since Super7 integrated Robotic Rocksteady into their TMNT Ultimates line, bringing back an unexpected deep-cut that was originally released around the time the OG Turtles line shifted away from new characters and started doing variants. Before him, wave 7 was slated to include Bebop's metal doppelgänger, but for some reason (likely having three huge figures), the wave was pushed back, by a lot. It finally came out a few months ago, and now it's time to see if it was worth the wait. Like Robosteady, Robobop's head is a blockier version of the regular Bebop, and Four Horsemen recreated it in a larger scale near perfectly. The eyes on the original were cast in a translucent red plastic, either encased in the back of the head or sharing a piece with the mohawk. That...[See More]

Lisa
Simpsons (Jakks Pacific) - Basic Series
Rated 4.45 stars by RMaster007
Jakks Pacific's Simpsons line only hit stores back in the summer, and already we have plenty of figures and products. The second wave of 5" figures came out last month or so, and they've been slowly but surely hitting major retailers. One of the figures in the wave, Homer, is just a restock from the previous wave, but the other three are new: Lisa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, and Moe Szyslak. First up is Lisa, another instance of a character nearly getting a Super7 figure only for it to be cancelled and Jakks do them instead. She also already received a smaller-scale figure before this larger counterpart, but the 5" scale version looks a little off. The face appears a little wider than it should be, and like Homer, it was a pretty rough transition. I assume most fans won't have as much of...[See More]

He-Man (Holiday)
Masters of the Universe (Super7) - Club Grayskull
Rated 4.45 stars by RMaster007
Christmas is drawing very near, and action figures and other toys are hot commodities right now. Often around this time, companies will put out special holiday-themed products, such as Super7. When they got the MOTU license, that included Mattel passing the Classics line over to them, and with it, the "Club Grayskull" sub-line of cartoon-accurate characters. Everyone knows about the He-Man/She-Ra crossover Christmas special, so it gave S7 the chance to do a festive version of Eternia's hero. Unlike the cardbacks Classics got, the Club Grayskull figures came in window boxes, and for this version of He-Man, it was more unique. There's all over the ground and on the castle, and one spine of the box has an Orko snowman. The back doesn't have much more than a unique illustration, and it looks...[See More]

Cryin' Houn' (Stump Wrestling)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Neca) - Adventures
Rated 4.45 stars by RMaster007
"Mah name… mah name is Cryin' Houn'! Mah first name, being the name before mah last name, is Cryin'! Mah name, taken together… mah name is Cryin' Houn'! Mah name is Cry-" Shut up already. When NECA revealed their Stump Wrestling Turtles, it was clear to fans that we'd get some complementary characters. They put out Leatherhead, but he fought Ace Duck, not the turtles. Rather, they fought the strong, four-armed (and annoying) Cryin' Houn'. Unlike the other recent Adventures figures, Houn' was first to market at Walmart rather than Target, but he's showing up at the latter now, and you should be able to find the other wrestling figures with no issue. Cryin' Houn' resembles a big, ugly dog, hence his name. While his debut issue was drawn by Jim Lawson, Houn's sculpt, done by Tony Cipriano,...[See More]

Throttle
Biker Mice From Mars (Nacelle Company) - Basic Series
Rated 4.80 stars by RMaster007
The 80s and 90s were a time for many a unique property in both toys and television, with everyone striving to be the next He-Man or TMNT. One of those concepts was Biker Mice from Mars, and clearly, they were doing something right, as it proved enough of a cult classic to be brought back in the 2000s. The Nacelle Company, who now owns the property, is seeking to bring back the show yet again, but first, they put out a new line of figures. They've been out for a while now, mainly through comic and collectible retailers, but Walmart has them in as well for a little cheaper. The packaging is very uniform on these, being window boxes with a primarily orange motif, though each character has a unique bio on the back. They're based of the Galoob line, and while simple, they do the job well....[See More]

Alligaticon
Transformers (Super7) - Ultimate
Rated 4.00 stars by RMaster007
With the vast amount of characters in the Transformers universe, there's plenty to choose from when it comes to toys. Hasbro's ongoing Legacy line takes cues from nearly every adaptation of the franchise, but with Super7, they've stuck to just G1. They've done a few deep-cut characters, but the most noteworthy one is Alligaticon. For those unfamiliar with Alligaticon, he comes from the 1980s series' "City of Steel" episode, in which the Decepticons plot to take over New York. Optimus Prime tries to infiltrate their base, but is captured and subsequently disassembled, and most of his parts are reconstructed into a robot alligator. Hey, it was an 80s cartoon, they were allowed to get silly and weird. Despite being the first robot alligator in the franchise, Skullcruncher was the first who...[See More]