#91: The New Batman Adventures - Batgirl

For those keeping track at home, I have four animated Batman figures, and have QC issues with two of them. When I opened Batgirl and was testing out her articulation, her right arm broke at the elbow. Fortunately I was able to get a replacement sent. I generally prefer the designs from The Animated Series over those of the New Batman Adventures, but I don't know if they'll do an AS Batgirl like they did for Batman, so I ordered Batgirl when I was able to. She comes with a stand, several different hands, a batarang, and a grapnel gun.

#90: Figma Fire Emblem Awakening - Lucina

Although the Super Mario license is with Bandai and its Figuarts line, the rest of the Nintendo characters are apparently still with Figma, like Lucina here. She's an important character in Fire Emblem Awakening, and one of the fighters in the latest iterations of Super Smash Bros. Both are good games, so I pre-ordered Lucina when I found out she was available. Like other Figma, Lucina includes alternate hands, a stand, and alternate hair and face pieces. There is also a hilt for her sword, which plugs into the sheath, if you don't want her wielding it. It is an otherwise non-functional sheathe, as the actual sword doesn't fit in it. I don't think I've seen that before. She's got the usual Figma style articulation, and even her cloak is articulated. Aside from her standard, serious face, Lucina includes a face that's blushing and has a small smile. Her alternate hair piece has a mask and shorter hair, depicting the time she spends posing as Marth.

#89: Transformers Generations Combiner Wars - Thundercracker

Thundercracker is a re-tool of Jetfire, which I also have. Thanks to my generally being a fan of the Seekers, and a coupon for a very nice discount, I decided to pick up a Thundercracker as well. Thanks to new arms, chest, head, and wings backpack, Thundercracker looks different enough that I'm not too bothered by similarities. Robot mode looks pretty cool. Fortunately, all of the guns that make him look way too busy are removable.

Transformation is perhaps simpler than I'd like for a toy in this size class. But the jet mode does look pretty cool, as long as you're looking at it from the top. The underside is just a mess of robot parts, basically. Fortunately in this mode, the guns (except for the one that has a projectile) don't look too out of place hanging off the bottom of the wings.

#88: Hot Toys Star Wars - Stormtrooper

The Hot Toys Stormtrooper was originally scheduled to come out in August. As luck would have it, it was actually released in March. In a first for me, there was a quality control issue with mine, where the leg was cracked so that the foot would not stay connected. Fortunately, I was able to get a replacement, but managed to not get around to blogging about it for way too long. So this is my first Hot Toys Star Wars figure. He's got the usual stand, and extra hands, as well as a trusty E-11 blaster (that can be holstered), and a blaster pistol.

#87: Militaries of Star Wars - Commander Gree

Running behind on posting about this one, but Commander Gree is a birthday gift from friend of the blog James. Commander Gree is a 1:6 scale figure from Sideshow. Like most figures in this scale, he comes with a nice assortment of accessories. There is an alternate head for if you want to display Gree without a helmet, macrobinoculars, a stand, a blaster pistol, a blaster, a blaster rifle, and an assortment of hands. There are the usual open and closed hands, as well as hands making signals, with varying numbers of fingers held up. Pretty cool for gesturing options. There are even an extra set of feet, with bent toes for posing.

#86: Marvel Legends - Savage Force - Chameleon

If an alternate head is a good way to potentially sell double the amount of a figure, then two alternate heads must be even more lucrative. Such is the case with "Savage Force" (it's a shared slot with Kraven), who comes packaged with Chameleon's head on the body. There's also a head for minor antagonist Hammerhead, and more importantly, one for J. Jonah Jameson. It's got a guy in a suit for a body. With its dark shirt it feels like a better fit for the gangster Hammerhead. But for me, this is a J. Jonah Jameson figure first and foremost. Other accessories include a pistol, an old timey looking tommy gun, and some sort of futuristic gun with a detachable drum magazine.

#85: Super Mario Hot Wheels - Cool-One (224/250 HW Screen Time 4/5)

I don't know why this exists. But it does. Normally when Hot Wheels cars are based on licensed properties, they are either completely new cars that resemble characters or they are regular cars with some sort of image printed onto the paintjob. They usually run a few dollars each. The licensed vehicles that make it into regularly priced assortments are usually just reproductions. So this is kind of an odd duck. It's a Super Mario licensed vehicle, but it's completely new, and it's in the standard assortment so it's only a buck. The Cool One is some sort of souped up hot rod van with a Mario inspired color scheme, "Super Mario" on the side, and an M logo on the front. I really only got this because of its ridiculousness.

#84: LEGO Minifigures Series 14 - Plant Monster

Since I accidentally didn't get the Plant Monster on my first try, I was extra careful when checking for it this time. For a guy in a costume, he looks pretty upset about something. Maybe he is not a guy in a costume and being eaten feet first by the plant monster? Or maybe he's some sort of human plant mutant hybrid, and he's reflecting on the loss of his humanity?

#83: LEGO Minifigure Series 14 - Square Foot

When I was posting about the minifigures I got from series 14, I realized I wanted Square Foot. Sure, he's basically a repaint of the yeti from a couple series ago, but it's a LEGO bigfoot. Fortunately, there were still plenty of them on the pegs locally, so I was able to find one. Square Foot's sole accessory is a camera. It seems the famously camera shy cryptid is something of a photographer himself. The camera is the piece I felt for when looking for him, although the head piece might be helpful to feel for as well.

#82: Marvel Legends - Hellcat

Okay, I only got Hellcat because of Jessica Jones. When it comes to Marvel TV shows, Hasbro doesn't seem interested in making figures. There have been a couple Funko Pops, but my first inclination for toy buying is a more standard style action figure. Although she doesn't adopt the Hellcat identity during Jessica Jones, Patsy/Trish Walker does play an important role in the show, and definitely shows steps towards being ready to go out and fight crime herself. Between this figure, the appearance in Jessica Jones, and her new solo comic, Hellcat's getting a lot more exposure than she's had in a long time.

#81: Batman The Animated Series - Harley Quinn

Batman The Animated Series was one of the finest incarnations of Batman in any medium, and one of its great contributions to the Batman mythos was Harley Quinn. Harley is the figure I've most been waiting for since the introduction of the new animated line. Harley includes one of the Joker fish, a pop-gun, the usual stand for the line, and a few alternate hands. It's a good representation of Harley, although the  diamond patterns on her costume are not entirely properly aligned.

#80: Assassin's Creed - Shay Cormac (Templar Outfit)

I didn't realize there was a Shay Cormac figure until James blogged about finding one. Thanks, James! Assassin's Creed Rogue was a sort of odd duck game. It was released at the same time as Unity, but on the last gen systems, and it got basically no promotion at all. But I thought it was the better game, serving as a bridge between III and Black Flag. Shay is an Assassin turned Templar, and this is the Templar outfit that he wears on the cover. Shay's well armed with a sword, a dagger, two pistols, and a rifle. Oddly, he doesn't have a hidden blade. Even though he switched sides to the Templars, he kept using a hidden blade in the game, so it as an odd omission. But it's a McFarlane figure, so it looks great.

#79: LEGO Creator - Christmas tree (30286)

This is an inexpensive little set that I bought mainly to have a toy Christmas tree. It's a pretty simple build for the tree, and also includes some wrapped gifts and a toy train. I keep thinking the red and white gift looks like a piece of cake. The star seems oddly placed on the tree. It seems like it should be on the very top rather than near it. I'm not going to complain too much. It does what I want it to.

#78: Marvel Legends Infinite Series - Marvel's Scarlet Spider

The Clone Saga is one of the most infamous storylines in Spider-Man's history, indicative of the 90s excess that almost crippled the comics industry. One of the major players in that story was Ben Reilly, the clone of Peter Parker who fought crime as the Scarlet Spider. In spite of the ridiculous ankle pouches, I do like the design of the costume, and the hoodie is an interesting addition for a superhero costume. He includes a few different hand options: fists, open hands, and web-shooting hands. The build a figure for this wave is the Rhino, and there are two Rhino heads included.

#77: Batman Unlimited - Batman and Cyberex

This is probably the most toy-ish thing I have bought recently, but it's just so ridiculous that I couldn't resist. It's Batman riding a robot dinosaur. This is part of the Batman Unlimited line, which I guess ties in to some animated movies. It doesn't really matter. The Batman figure is about three to four inches, has no cape, and has limited articulation. He's mainly there to sit on Cyberex's back. Cyberex is a pretty good size, over a foot long. His main feature is that if you squeeze the tail, a big disc launching cannon pops out of his back. The discs can store in the legs when not in use. Also, his chest can be used as a holding cell for whichever archvillain Batman is fighting at the time. And his tail ends in a big bat shaped blade. So ridiculous. In the best possible way.

#76: Age of Ultron Marvel Legends Infinite Series - Thor, Black Widow, Bruce Banner, Hawkeye

For whatever reason, Hasbro did not see fit to make figures of the new additions to the Avengers line up, and only released about half of the team to retail. Fortunately, this Amazon exclusive box set is available to help fill that hole. I never got around to getting the six inch Thor figure from the first time around, so I am glad to have this one. He is appropriately tall and muscular looking, with a pretty good likeness to Chris Hemsworth. Naturally, Mjolnir is included. Despite the stiff heavy cape, he stands pretty well. Black Widow is basically a re-release of the Winter Soldier figure. That was hard to find, so it will be a nice addition for people who never found that one. This time around, she only has one head, and a few extra paint applications to show her shock powers are activated. Fittingly, she comes armed this time with her shock batons. Her hands aren't really sculpted to hold them, but they can be coaxed to loosely stay in there. My figure came with her right arm not completely inserted, so after some fiddling and sore fingers I was able to get it fully inserted.

Bruce Banner is a figure that hasn't been made before as a Marvel Legends figure. Since it's just "guy in plainclothes" I can understand not releasing this one as a regular retail figure. His legs are somewhat warped from the packaging, but at least he stands. Hawkeye is basically a re-release of the first movie figure, but with a non-sunglasses wearing head. Hasbro couldn't be bothered updating to his new costume, I guess. Naturally, he comes with a bow and quiver. Despite Hasbro's peculiar marketing strategy necessitating this box set, I'm glad to have it to fill out my Avengers roster.

#75: Star Wars The Black Series - Luke Skywalker and Wampa

It has been my intention when collecting the new six inch Star Wars figures to stick with what I consider the best representation of a character, so I don't end up with a bunch of multiples of a character in different outfits. I already have my favorite version of Luke. But then Hasbro decided to do a couple Hoth themed two packs, Han and a tauntaun, and Luke and a wampa. So I needed that wampa. Luke is in his Hoth patrol outfit, which he's wearing when he runs afoul of the wampa. He includes a DL-44 blaster and his lightsaber (which has a removable blade) that can hang from his belt. He's a cool figure, but I wouldn't have bought him by himself. The wampa is the star of this set, and it's really cool. It's appropriately massive, if they were doing Star Wars build a figures, it would have been a good fit for that. It looks angry and has splatterings of blood on its fur. The arm does not appear to be removable, alas.

A few days ago, I was lamenting that I hadn't bought the pilot or Bespin Luke figures so that I could borrow the lightsaber for Rey and Finn to use. Then after I opened this set, I realized that wasn't a problem anymore. Bonus!

#74: Star Wars The Black Series - Bossk

Aside from Boba Fett, I figure Bossk is the coolest of the bounty hunters that Darth Vader rounds up during Empire Strikes Back. A lizard man in a yellow spacesuit, whose only line is growling at a passing Imperial, is cool with me. He had a handful of appearances in the Expanded Universe, but with the new continuity, his non-movie appearances are limited to the Clone Wars cartoon. For all we know, he'll show up in one of the new movies. Bossk makes for a nice looking figure, with a detailed costume complete with harness. He's also armed with a blaster that doesn't fit in his claws very well. Bossk's jaw is kind of articulated. It can be closed, but it goes right back to its original open position. The head has very little up and down movement, so the jaw can't really be opened any further.

#73: Star Wars The Black Series - Emperor Palpatine

For the first Palpatine figure in the six inch scale, Hasbro went classic. This is the Emperor as he appears in Return of the Jedi: an old man with a cane. So no lightsaber. The Emperor is an interesting mix of plastic and soft goods. There is a soft good outer robe, with a plastic inner robe. The inner robe is split along the sides, so there are theoretically more posing options with his legs. But it's stiff enough plastic that there's not too much to do. Fair enough, as he wasn't doing much in the way of acrobatics by then. When done with soft goods, the Emperor's hood has always been difficult to pull off. In this case, it is a good attempt. The hood is stitched in a way that it holds the general shape well enough, but it doesn't sit quite low enough for my tastes. I suppose it's difficult to get the right interplay of light and shadow in the reduced scale. Palpatine's only accessory is his walking stick, although some Force lightning bolts would have been a cool addition.

#72: Star Wars The Black Series - Poe Dameron

Until the next wave hits, here's the last of the Force Awakens figures that I bought, Poe Dameron (fun fact: I was born in Dameron Hospital). Poe is the first of the main characters to get two different six inch figures, the other one being a two pack in which he is wearing his Resistance jacket costume. I like the pilot jumpsuit look more, so this is the Poe I went with. This is one of the less accurate face sculpts for the new characters. It doesn't really look like Oscar Isaac very much at all, and the expression is a bit glum. For accessories, Poe has a blaster that can be holstered on his belt, and a removable flight helmet.