Lego Rogue One

I don't believe anything has been officially released yet, but it is inevitable that Lego will have sets based on Star Wars Rogue One. Today they posted this image to their Facebook.

Needless to say I'm excited beyond words that we may have a Star Wars move that isn't knee deep in Jedi.

Flash Friday: Happy Meal Car

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  You have my wife to thank for today's update.  I don't normally go to McDonald's so if she hadn't told me about the newest promotion I would have never known it was happening.  Right now McDonald's is putting superhero themed cars into their happy meals.  They also have Barbie Spy Squad themed stuff too if that's your thing.

Anytime there is a Flash car made there is always the joke made about why the world's fastest man would need a car.  Moving past that low hanging fruit we can see they certainly picked a fast looking car for the Flash.  The red paint job has gold glitter in it, although it certain lighting you probably won't notice it.  There is printing on the sides and the roof consisting of both Hot Wheels and Flash logos.  The car does have a pull-back motor to sending it racing across non-carpeted surfaces.

The rest of the car line up consists of Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Cyborg, Green Lantern, Robin, and the Joker.  I guess because this is considered the "boy toy" that they left out Wonder Woman.  I found it strange that they include a single villain to go with the seven heroes.  Finally if you need one or more of these in your collection, remember that McDonald's will sell you the toy without having to eat their food!

Baloo and Bagheera?

C'mon Baggy, get with the beat!

There are some insane deals on Disney Infinity figures right now.  Best Buy has some figures marked down to 5 dollars and most of the others down to 9.  In addition to that a lot of the discs are also half priced.  Toys R Us has buy one, get one for a dollar on all of there figures.  I had to get Baloo because Jungle Book is my favorite Disney movie.  As soon as my son saw Black Panther something clicked in his soul and he needed to have him.  When we got the two of them home I realized just how appropriate the paring was.

Flash Friday: Lego Mighty Micros

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  I had really wanted to post this last week, but sadly real life kept me from getting my order on time.  Ultimately that may have been a good thing, because I’ve had more time put my thoughts together.  Mighty Micros are a new Lego line that started showing up on store shelves this month.  For around 1o dollars you get two very small, almost kart-like vehicles and two mini-figures with short leg pieces.  The current wave contains both Marvel and DC characters; although we’ll be talking about the Flash set today.

  

The first thing you have to remember is these are small sets.  To get two vehicles at such a low price point they had to keep them pretty simple.  The Flash set totals 88 pieces.  That’s 88 pieces split between two figures, two vehicles, and accessories.  Flash gets a tiny race car and Captain Cold a tiny snow plow/tractor.  The Flash symbol on the front of his car is a printed piece; in fact there are no stickers at all in the set which was a really nice surprise.  Both vehicles in this set are pretty sturdy and roll around well.  If you have the urge to really build something out of Lego, these aren’t going to satisfy that, but they are fun to zoom around your desk.

For a Flash fan that isn’t normally interested in Lego this seems like a great set to grab to get a cheap Captain Cold and Flash figure.  Before this Flash was in two sets a Riddler themed set that ran about 20 dollars and the Grodd Goes Bananas set that was about 60.  Captain Cold was only available in the 60 dollar set.  The Might Micro figures are not the same as the ones that came in those sets though.  Besides the fact that the figures come with the short legs that are usually used to represent Lego children the face and chest designs are almost more simple and cartoonish.  The full sized Flash figure has a smaller lightning bolt symbol and detailed muscles on his chest print.  The Might Micro has a much larger symbol and belt print. 

The other big difference in the Flash figures is the face.  The full sized Flash has visible eyes when his mask is on.  The Might Micro has white eyes.  Between the white eyes and the split belt I can’t help but feel the figure was influenced by the Bruce Timm Justice League run.  I don’t have any facts to back that up, it just seems likely.

Much like the Flash, the two Captain Colds are very different.  Let’s talk cold guns first.  The full sized gun is a gigantic collection of thrown together pieces that in my opinion tries to do too much.  The entire lower section cold be left off and it would only improve the look.  The Might Micro cold gun is a ray gun with a few clear blue bricks attached to it.  The large Captain’s torso is done very realistically while the Micro’s is again cartoony and simplified. 

The full sized Captain Cold’s face was always a little wrinklier than I wanted, but was otherwise very good.  The Micro version is cartoony but isn’t so over the top.  Regardless of the design, both figures are instantly recognizable as the captain.  The parka hood on both figures is identical.

The Mighty Micros are a very fun line.  At the price it’s hard not to recommend them.  But I did want to show off the differences between the minifigures. 

Youtube: Kids Edition

I’ve been thinking a lot about today’s update and it was something I’d be totally unaware of if it wasn’t for my 3 year old son.  People, I have to let you know, you’re kids are watching some weird shit on Youtube.  Truth be told, everyone is watching weird shit on Youtube but I was still surprised to see the things that were hypnotizing my son.  It’s not just my kid either; I was talking with a few other father’s and found out that their kids are watching the exact same channels.  I’m not going to directly name or link to any of the Youtubers I’m mentioning here.  And while I may find the content weird, I’m not really attacking them.

Eggs.  I don’t know how my son found them originally, I don’t know how he still finds them; but videos about toy eggs are huge.  So here is the thing.  In other countries there are lots of chocolate eggs with toys inside them, but America doesn’t trust its children no to eat toys so they are illegal here.  Instead these videos focus on toys hidden in plastic eggs, paper mache eggs, or even eggs made out of play-doh.  After the narrator talks about the eggs they then open them up and reveal the toys inside.  Sometimes it’s just the toy.  Other times there may be things like slime or glitter in there too.  The eggs range in all sizes.  Some are barely big enough to hide a matchbox car and others are huge.  These eggs hold a power over my son that I don’t understand. 

Fan Fiction.  This one takes a serious second place to the eggs.  There are a number of videos where people are playing out stories with their toys.  Usually this involves massive crossovers where the Toy Story cast is helping the Transformer Rescuebots participate in a race again Lightning McQueen.  Sometimes narrated by children and their parents, but most of them are just done by adults.  They get odd.  I mean every version of fan fiction gets strange, and this is safe for kids, it’s just strange.

Bootleg videos.  The final one is the most horrifying.  Crappy 3d animated Spidermen in rainbow colors dancing to songs meant for toddlers.  Like the fan fiction these routinely mix characters from different franchises.  Some of these are serious nightmare fuel and I’m glad that my son doesn’t seem to care for these ones.

As I said previous, none of these things are unsafe for kids in moderation.  I was just amazed that these things exist and I wouldn’t even know about them if I didn’t monitor what he was doing/watching.  To the people making these things, more power to you.  You’re entertaining thousands of kids from the looks of your page views.

Disney Infinity 3.0: Marvel

Disney Infinity's 3.0 edition has been going strong with the Star Wars releases.  I haven't played the Force Awakens playset yet, but I can say that the Prequel playset is fun, the Original Trilogy playset is amazing, and the light up figures work better than imagined.  The Marvel news has been pretty quiet though.  We knew that there was a Marvel Battlegrounds playset coming out.  That it would allow up to four people to play and that one of the figures included would be an unmasked Captain America.  Unmasked if the perfect way to symbolize the movie universe because no one keeps their damn masks on, but that is a rant for another day.  But seriously, superheroes in movies and television need to keep their damn masks on.

The new Marvel lineup has been revealed even though many of the figures had already been teased or easily guessed by looking at Marvel's movie lineup.  An amazing looking Black Panther will be hitting the shelves along side Vision, Ant-Man, Black Suited Spiderman, and a pack of Power Discs.  Black Suited Spidey was a Vita exclusive for 2.0, but will finally be available to everyone.  The Power Disc pack includes The Tesseract, Nova Corps, Darkhawk, and Ghost Rider's Bike.  Which means everyone who buys that pack, really just buying it for that awesome motorcycle.

The other interesting thing to note is many of these packages have a wi-fi icon on them.  This is to let players know that these figures will require a software update on Disney Infinity to work.  Most consoles are connected to the internet but this an important fact for those who may have difficulty getting their game system online.

Lego Mystery Machine

The August Lego sets have started to sneak onto the store shelves.  That might not mean a lot to some people but I’ve been anxiously awaiting their release.  The reason I’m so excited is that this year Lego has created a line of Scooby Doo toys.  I’ve always liked Scooby Doo but that love has been rekindled lately.  A while back I realized even though I had all these streaming services I couldn’t show my son the original Scooby Doo Where are You? cartoons.  Just showing him the show opening had him excited so at that point I pretty much had to order the DVD set.  We’ve watched all four discs, two full seasons of Scooby Doo and we both loved every second of it.  Charlie the Robot is easily my son’s favorite.

So the Scooby Doo line consists of sets across all sorts of different price ranges.  The smallest is a Mummy set, then Headless Horseman/biplane, then the Mystery Machine, a haunted lighthouse, and finally a huge haunted house.  I showed incredible restraint and only picked up the Mystery Machine.  That night I started up a mini-marathon of Mystery Incorporated and started putting the set together.  The Mystery Machine comes with Fred, Shaggy, Scooby, a Zombie, and a tree monster.  Notice it doesn’t include the girls.  Sadly to get everyone you’d have to pick up the big haunted house as well.  I get separating the figures but having to pick up the big set to round out the gang sucks.

What also sucks about the wonderful Mystery Machine model is the number of stickers.  It makes sense, the less printed pieces Lego makes the cheaper it is for them but the Mystery Machine comes with 23 stickers.  If you don’t have a steady hand you’ll probably want someone’s help when putting this one together.  The other thing I didn’t love is it is going to be a tight, tight fit to get everyone in the van.  Lego is a strange size.  Make a vehicle fit the right amount of people and it looks out of scale.  I think they could have gotten away making the van a little larger than it is. 

All that said, it is a fantastic toy.  Looking at it just makes me happy.  The sides fold out so you can see in the back easily and the roof lifts off for the same ease of access.  The mini-figures are great.  In the other sets all the villains can be unmasked to show that they’re really people.  It’s that level of detail that makes these sets so much fun.  I had so much fun I couldn’t resist throwing together my version of the Wacky Races.  I had so much fun with the Scooby Doo sets I’ve already got some customer Lego ideas in the planning stages.  I won’t spoil it now but I’ll give some hints.  The first and easier is putting together a few of my favorite supporting cast members.  The second would be more involved and would be building another Hanna-Barbera character that would be right at home in that race picture…

SDCC Thomas the Tank

I was going to write something about my anger at comic convention exclusives when I saw one that I had to talk about individually.  Mattel and DC comics have decided to cross DC’s superheroes with Thomas the Tank Engine.  Once you see the pictures you’ll wonder why they decided to do this because the results are terrifying.  The five piece set includes Superman, Batman, Joker, Harley Quinn, and Cyborg. 

As the father of a 3 year old there are a lot of trains on my television.  Dinosaur Train and Chugginton are the ones we usually watch.  My son has seen Thomas, but thankfully he’s bored by it.  I say thankfully because the show is like watching paint dry and those trains are creepy looking.  The DC mash up somehow makes them look even scarier.  I thought Joker was the scariest looking until I really focused on Batman.  It looks like someone put a bloated Michael Keaton into a trash compactor and then glued him to the front of a train.  If you’re interested in these nightmares on wheels you can check out mattycollector.com for details.

Misty Knight Action Figure

In the coming weeks of Iron Fist 101 we’re going to talk about Misty Knight.  The character is very important to Iron Fist stories so she’s always been a favorite of mine.  I never expected to see her in action figure form.  I’m beyond happy that she is going to be in the newest Spider-Man Infinite Legends Series.  She certainly deserves a figure; she’s been in Iron Fist, Daughters of the Dragon, and Heroes for Hire.  The character has been around for years. 

Misty comes with a pistol, her glorious hair, and a torso for the Rhino build a figure.  I’m surprised they used a design that covers up her bionic arm but at least the right hand gives it away.  The rest of this wave is pretty amazing too.  White Tiger gets her first figure.  There is a great Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider and a really mean looking Kraven figure.  On top of that it also contains the Scarlett Spider.  I’d add something snarky about Spiderman in a hoodie but for some reason I can’t explain I’m really fond of that costume.

BJ and the Bear Thunder Roller

Before fully getting into today’s topic I feel the need to explain a little bit.  Since the Mallrats lines, “Why don't they ever bring back or remake good shows, like BJ and the Bear.  Now there's a concept I can't get enough of, a man and his monkey.” I feel like the show has become a one note joke.  I honestly love the show.  I picked up a horrible quality bootleg years ago and have watched every grainy episode.  It’s pure 80's cheese in every way, shape, and form. Again this is said in a non-ironic way, even the theme song makes me happy.

While I had a toy of BJ’s semi when I was a kid, I have no idea what ever happened to my toy cars after I grew up.  I wanted that big red rig to sit on my shelf though, so I kept an open search on eBay.  I’m not the only one out there for a soft spot for Greg Evigan, those toys were expensive.  Expensive enough that I never pulled the trigger and ordered one.  I hadn’t been on ebay for a couple months so when I returned last week I was amazed at all the red trucks on my search page.

I don’t pay attention to the toy car market.  I had a worker at Toys R Us tell me that the local action figure collectors had nothing on their toy car guys.  Just like anything else, there is apparently a huge obsessive market.  So I missed that Hot Wheels had released a BJ and the Bear truck.  I quickly checked the stores around me and came up completely empty.  Instead of doing a circuit of stores every week I decided to just order the truck on eBay.

There isn’t a whole lot to say about the toy itself.  The paint job is accurate to the show.  Under the driver’s window it even has the Billy Joe McKay scripting.  The packaging is basic, clean, and has a bit of a retro feel to it.  The only thing that may be confusing is it is sold as a Thunder Roller.  The Thunder Roller is just the name of Hot Wheels’ Kenworth K-100 cab over semi truck.  It’s a model they’ve been using since 1983 and has multiple different color variations.  If you’re a fan of truckers with a heart of gold you should track one down.  I’m going to go dig out my bootlegs.

Hasbro Chopper

My house is all aboard the Star Wars Rebel train.  To be honest it is a little too Jedi centric for my tastes.  I don't think the series really needed a Jedi, being named Rebels and all that but people got to have their laser swords or it isn't Star Wars to them.  Much like the Clone Wars the first season has some rocky episodes.  The series did hit its stride though and the last couple of episodes were really fantastic.  It’s interesting that to keep a Star Wars feel the designs take a lot of influence from the original Ralph McQuarrie art.  That includes the design of the group’s astromech Chopper.  Those little arms on his head are straight out of the R2 concept designs.

Chopper is rude, violent, and easily my favorite character on the show.  That’s not really surprising knowing my love for astromechs.  I said he was rude but I left out that he was an asshole.  I don't think that's an exaggeration either.   I haven’t bought a normal Star Wars figure in years, but I really wanted a Chopper to sit on my astromech shelf.  I figured it would be an easy find in the store.  I mean when was the last time it was difficult to find Star Wars toys?  I started looking right after watching the pilot.  They weren’t on the shelves yet.   I thought the show was just too new and they had to be coming soon.  That was around November/December in 2014.

It’s been months.  The Star Wars shelves in the stores are still an odd sight.  There are handfuls of Zeb and Stormtrooper two packs mixed in with the C-3PO and R2 two packs.  The Star Wars black series seems to be just collecting dust,  Chopper is still nowhere to be found.  I’ve checked all of the stores in my area and they are all the same.  I know I’m not the only one in this situation because Chopper figures are going for over 30 dollars on eBay.  I really want one of his figures but I don’t 30 dollars want one.  Recently a new wave of Classic and Rebels figures are hitting the shelves.  More Ezras and even an Inquisitor were on the pegs the last time I looked.  Hopefully that means that more Choppers are on their way. 

BTW I didn’t have a problem getting a Lego version of Chopper, but that’s a story for different day.

Baby Skeletor

MattyCollector has announced they will be releasing a Baby Skeletor figure.  The figure will measure 12” tall with articulation in the legs, shoulders, and neck.  The figure comes with a removable T-shirt that says “Born to Rule” and a rattle version of his Havoc staff.  The box he comes in will look like an Eternian bathroom and Baby Skeletor comes with a tiny toilet for him to sit on.  The figure will be in line with Matty Collector’s prices, so he will run you 35 dollars if you need to own this tiny terror.

So you may be asking yourself why this exists.  It’s a pretty valid question actually.  The figure is based off a Robot Chicken sketch where Skeletor turns himself into a baby to sneak into King Randor’s castle.  It’s Robot Chicken so Skeletor ends up with a spanking fetish at the end of it.  Anyway it’s not the first Masters of the Universe figure to be produced because of Robot Chicken, but it may end up being the strangest. 

Lego: Edge of the Empire

I’ve been very happy with Fantasy Flight’s Edge of the Empire role playing game.  It receives a lot of criticism because of its use of proprietary dice but I think the system works perfectly.  I started with Star Wars RPGs way back in the West End.  The license has gone through a lot of variations and a handful of different companies before arriving at where it is today. 

I’ve been running an Edge of the Empire campaign for a few months now and despite some rocky parts I couldn’t be happier about where the game is headed.  Because I enjoyed it so much I ended up creating Lego figures of all the characters.  Ofanea Antath is the Twi’lek, the astromech is R2-X8 (Rx for short), Miran Quix is holding the knives, and Jelnik Pelo is holding a blaster.

The group is currently exploring ancient ruins for a Datacron, on the run from a Hutt crime lord, searching for leads on a mysterious Crystal Nexu statue, and hunting down an ex-partner who betrayed them all.  Needless to say there is a lot going on and the player’s don’t currently know the half of it.  If you like to throw dice and pretend you’re a scoundrel I can’t recommend Edge of the Empire enough.

Pop! Sharknado

Funko has a army of vinyl figures on store shelves right now and it doesn’t look like they are going to stop any time soon.  The group has covered comics, Disney, Star Wars, wrestling, television shows, and horror movies.  There are solicits for new figures all the time and I usually don’t mention them unless they really stand out to me.  Well in June Funko is releasing a Sharknado.  A tiny shark suspended in a tornado that you can place on your desk or shelf.  It’s adorable.  I might need it.  I probably need it.

It’s good timing of course, because Syfy will be debuting the Sharknado sequel this summer; the amazingly named “Sharknado 2: The Second One”.  Just as everyone is talking about the movie the vinyl figure will be showing up on store shelves.  It’s almost like they planned it that way.  I still think Sharktopus is superior to Sharknado, so I hope that Funko one day sees things my way and gives us Pop! Sharktopus.   

Baked Potato

That F’ing Monkey is not a great repository of Mr. Potato Head trivia and news.  Sure I had one as a kid but even then I don’t remember playing with it often.  I do remember walking around with his pipe and pretending I was smoking, so it isn’t surprising that he doesn’t come with that accessory anymore.  For the past couple of years they’ve really been trying to push Potato Head as a pop culture thing.  I believe it started with Darth Tater and then spilled over a bunch of different movie properties.

Coming in September are 3” vinyl potato heads.  These tiny taters are dressed to represent different things like surfers, race fans, and doctors.  It looks like they’re trying to capitalize on the niche the Smurfs filled in the 80s.   Oh, you like coffee so here is a coffee drinking smurf for your desk!  The initial solicits only show illustrations of the product so you can’t even see if the face pieces can be removed.  I’m sure I could do some research here and find that out for you, but I’m not really talking about these guys because I’m excited for them.  I’m talking about them because one of them is funny as all hell.

Among the rapper and the hippie they are releasing a Baked Potato.  Take a closer look at the picture above.  Those eyes.  That smile.  That potato is high as fuck.  Stoners everywhere are going to be buying the baked potato.  If I’m right, he could become pretty hard to find, maybe even a collector’s item if he gets pulled from the line. 

Flash Friday: itty bitty Flash

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  I know it’s been forever since I’ve done one of these, but I really haven’t been picking up too much Flash merchandise lately.  Of course the big news is the Flash television show, but there are a lot of sites covering every detail of that.  Today’s update is happening because I ended up at the mall with some family.  As we’re leaving the Hallmark I see a familiar red outside the corner of my eye.  I turn to get a better look and see shelves of small plush characters.  Sure enough there is a scarlet speedster in the mix.  As my mind is processing finding a Flash toy in a Hallmark I hear, “What are you waiting for, you know you’re going to buy it.”  My family knows me well.

 

I can’t lie; the Flash itty bitty is fucking adorable.  There isn’t a whole lot you can say about a tiny plush figure.  He runs 6.95 and Hallmark was running some kind of special if you wanted four of them.  They’d even pack them in what looked like a fast food drink carrier.  There are four DC itty bittys; it isn’t hard to guess who the other three are.  That’s right Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman are all included. 

The majority of the line is dominated by Disney.  Classic Disney characters, princesses, and Monsters Inc are all already on the shelves.  Star Wars will be joining them in September.  The itty bittys are cute, have a low price point, and are covering pop culture icons.  Too me it seems like these are made to compete with Funco’s Pop series. 

See you next Friday for even more Flash Friday goodness!

Batman at Toy Fair 2014

Toy Fair is this weekend and lots of pictures are spilling out onto the internet.  Yesterday a lot of DC's new products were shown.  One of those pictures were of the best Batman figure I've ever seen.  In the past 20 years of my life I can't say I've purchased a Batman figure unless he was packaged with another character that I wanted. 

This figure is the Animated Series brought to life and it is wonderful.  There is a Catwoman in the line too, but I'm just blown away by the Bat.  Hopefully it sells well and they eventually branch out into Justice League figures like this.

Flash Friday: Speed Strike Flash

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  I know it’s been a while since we’ve seen the Scarlet Speedster here on That F’ing Monkey but I haven’t had much to talk about until now.  There is some cool Flash news coming down the pike so I’d expect to see Flash Fridays more frequently.  Today’s topic I found by complete accident.  I was walking down the aisle at Target when I saw the new Batman line.  One of the figures caught my eye and when I pulled him from the peg it revealed the Flash Figure behind him.

Speed Strike Flash isn’t going to be on the top of anyone’s wish list because of its sculpt.  The clunky belt is an odd choice.   But I don’t want to sound like I’m bad mouthing this figure because I think it’s important to point out that this is the only non-Bat related figure in the line.  Seriously it’s Batman, Bat Villains, and the Flash.  After years of complaining that there isn’t enough Flash merchandise on the shelves I’m not going to complain about this one.

We do have to mention that Flash comes with two spinning weapons, or as the toy packaging puts it “Dual Weapons Spin!”  If you go by the information posted on the back of the package I guess the weapons are supposed to be made out of Speed Force energy.  Although I don’t think they are going to be much help fighting a fire.  Still the weapons are an odd shape….

Of course they are, because they turn into inline roller skates. 

WWE Stackdown

Over the years building blocks like Lego and Mega Bloks have come out with all sorts of licensed sets.  Movies, cartoons,  games, comics, and sports have shown up in one brick from or another.  While there have been a few surprises down the line, I feel I have a pretty good grasp on what is happening in those toy lines.  I was completely surprised to learn about the WWE Stackdown sets and even more surprised to find out they were already showing up on the shelves of toy stores.

Obviously when you think wrestling you think about building blocks; it’s a natural combination.  Well that’s not true on any planet I’ve been to.  That doesn’t mean that the sets can’t be a lot of fun though.  The flagship of the series launch is the Train and Rumble set.  The two story set has plenty of workout gear for your wrestlers to train with.  Have your wrestlers throw each other into a locker, weight bench, or off a scaffolding.  It also comes with Rey Mysterio and Sheamus figures. 

Sin Cara comes with a figure catapult, a giant ring to jump through, and some torches that are probably meant to represent pyro.  So you pretty much are given props to create a Sin Cara entrance.  I can’t imagine that adding a lot to the value but the figure is the real star of this pack anyway.  Considering the original Sin Cara's track record they really should have packaged him with some medical supplies.  Maybe a wheelchair or a stretcher. 

Kofi Kingston actually comes with some things that can be used.  His set includes scaffolding, a ladder, and he comes with a title belt.  Want to put on ladder matches with your figures?  You’re going to have to get the Kofi set.  What to have a title belt?  You’re going to have to get the Kofi set.  Out of all the sets, this is the one that seems the most wrestling related.  In fact the other sets just start to get weird.

Damien Sandow, the intellectual savior of the masses, comes with an office.  Seriously he comes with a chair, a table, and a presentation board that has one of his shirt designs on it.  He also comes with a microphone, a must have if you want your figures to cut promos on each other.  The table is not meant to be used during your matches because it doesn’t even split in half. 

Then we have Santino.  I get that Santino is used as a comedy gimmick.  The man’s sense of humor and timing are great.  His set comes with a giant cage that he and a cobra can fit into.  Yes his finisher is called the cobra but he isn’t carting a real cobra out.  And why would he go in the cage with a cobra?  I’m very confused by the whole thing.

Finally is the Undertaker set.  He’s the biggest name attached to any of these sets so it isn’t surprising that it looks cool.  It is an odd mix of Undertaker images though.  The set has cemetery gates and a funeral urn that has been used in many of the Undertaker’s stories.  If you package these items with a demonic looking Undertaker it makes sense.  Instead you get “American Badass” Undertaker riding a motorcycle.  The figure and bike on their own do represent a version of the Undertaker; they just don’t go with the other accessories at all. 

That’s it for the first wave of Stackdown.  There were some seriously strange decisions made when designing these sets.  I hope they take off enough that we see at least another wave, because I can’t wait to see the oddities they come up with for wave 2.

Itty Bitty Plush

I’ve been a huge fan of Art and Franco’s for a very, very long time.  I was thrilled when their Tiny Titans book became as popular as it did.  My son may have been named after a certain Wolf Boy; okay he was totally named after Patrick the Wolf Boy.  The Tiny, ‘Lil, and Itty Bitty line is moving across all sorts of comic publishers now and I can’t be happier. 

One of the newer titles is Itty Bitty Hellboy.  This isn’t the first time Hellboy has been showed younger.  Obviously there is the famous “Pamcakes” comic.  Bill Wray also did the Hellboy Junior stories.  Bill is famous from Mad and Ren & Stimpy; his Hellboy Junior stories are set in a similar tone.  The Itty Bitty Hellboy has more of that Tiny Titans feel.  It’s a cute, punny book that makes Hellboy available to an all age’s audience. 

Someone saw the Itty Bitty designs and must have said “those characters are so cute I wish I could hug them.”  Because there is a line of plush Itty Bitty plush coming out.  To start with you can pick up a Hellboy or an Abe.  If these sell well I can’t imagine they wouldn’t add others to the line.  I won't lie, I'd be pretty tempted if they added a Roger to the line.  Both Hellboy and Abe sell for under 20 dollars and should be available for pre-order at your local comic shop or favorite comic website. 

Aw Yeah.