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Best Toys of 2025: Counting Down the Top Toys of the Year with Preternia!
1 Plays4 minutes ago
It's time to run it back and count it down — we're rejoined by friend of the pod and pillar of the community, the link wizard himself, Preternia to talk about what we all thought were the best toys of 2025. Did your pick make the cut? Listen and find out!
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Intro and other voices by Joe Azzari
https://www.instagram.com/voicesbyjoe/
Theme Music is "Game Boy Horror" by the Zombie Dandies
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Updates
00:00:03
Speaker
Are you ready, kids? Get your parents' permission, check your mailbox, and grab your shopping cart. It's time for the Adventures in Collecting podcast. I'm Eric.
00:00:15
Speaker
And I'm Dave. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting, where we talk toy news, culture, and hauls, along with our journeys as collectors.
Health Anecdotes and Logo Announcement
00:00:28
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Adventures in Collecting. Hello, everyone. dave I apologize at my hoarseness. And if I start like doing this because I had the worst sinus infection on the planet for that's what I got for Christmas.
00:00:47
Speaker
Great. That's great. That's great for everybody. I got pink eye from sinus infection for Christmas. It's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year round, Dave. Oh, boy, was it?
00:00:58
Speaker
um happy new year by the way uh it's it's it's 2026 i i know we we joke around and say like hey we made it but like for real we we made it we made it through 2025 there's still as of as of recording there's still some time left it still might get me It's true It's true. We are looking a bit into the future. um So as is ah usually the case with our first episode of 2026 or first episode of the year, um we're going to be talking about our top tens. And as we promised earlier in in the year, we do have our ah special guest that joined us at mid-year, and he's he's coming back. So if you if you just kind of threw this on and didn't look at the title, you'll be pleasantly surprised, I hope. think it is. is the first time we've had the same person for both.
00:01:50
Speaker
We have. We have. I think this should be, if if we can continue to convince him to be on camera, I think this should be like our year, our, our bi-annual, not bi-annual, our twice a year appearance from, um, from, from, from this guest. But before we, before we hop into, our top tens and we actually have a nice little fun twist this year on our top tens, um, little
Merchandise Store and Giveaway Announcement
00:02:16
Speaker
bit of housekeeping. So first and foremost, um,
00:02:19
Speaker
We have a new logo and ah with our new logo, we opened our T public shop. Yes. um So ah the new logo designed lovingly by ah by friend of the pod and amazing artist ah Chris Ramo. You know him ah from his artwork at Plastic Vampire. um But you also ah know his amazing designs through the job at NECA. So he does the the packaging, um all of the Ben Cooper stuff that is is ah is new, like the stuff that was was never in a Ben Cooper retro style costume. that's That's Chris's art. So we are we are super excited to be able to say that ah you know we commissioned a piece from him and he he yoked up Archie for us. So we've got we've got a we've got a new Archie, we've got a new logo and um and you can get him on a shirt.
00:03:17
Speaker
And I think other things, too, if you if you go to our if you go to AIC podcast dot com forward slash links, um you will find a link to our our now merch store. um And there's other I think you can get on other stuff like you could get Dave, you can get socks. You could get a you could get ah a fanny pack a but bag as they call them in England.
00:03:40
Speaker
You could get some gym shorts, a hat. You could get your kids a shirt. You could put Archie on a mug. There's all there's all kinds of fun things that you can put Archie on. And and we'll work on getting some um so other designs up there too. But ah but yeah, if if you want to show a little extra support for the show outside of just listening and liking and subscribing and things, and um you think that this design is cool and it's something that you want to wear,
00:04:05
Speaker
You could do that now. So, ah yeah. So you can, again, just AICpodcast.com forward slash links and you could buy yourself shirt. And right now they're on sale for $16. They seem to do this like $16 sale pretty frequently. um yeah By the time this airs, they will be $23. So if you want to wait until they're 16 again, by all means, hang in there. Wait if you need one really that badly.
00:04:33
Speaker
you could get one I think we get like a dollar a shirt too, just full disclosure. If you if you buy one, I think that TeePublic gives us a dollar. so um That's nice of them.
00:04:44
Speaker
That's pretty cool. but ah yeah so that's ah That's one piece of housekeeping. The other piece of housekeeping, um I don't have a ah I don't have the post up yet because, like I said, we're recording into the future here. um It is not quite January 1st yet. But ah our January giveaway will be live at this point. Like, as you are listening to this episode, the January giveaway will be live. And it will be, at the very least...
00:05:13
Speaker
And X-Men 97 has Repulse made to order Sentinel. um We are collaborating with our friends at Power of X-Men. ah There may be something additional ah with the Sentinel.
00:05:28
Speaker
I'm not trying to be cute or coy. We have not figured that out yet.
Praise for X-Men 97 Sentinel and Guest Introduction
00:05:34
Speaker
It's work in progress, but know you're getting a Sentinel. like Yeah, like you're entering to get a Sentinel. Like, that's a thing that's definitely happening. If you go on our Instagram at AIC underscore podcast, there will be a pinned post. you will You will see that pinned post for the Sentinel. That is the first giveaway of the year.
00:05:52
Speaker
um We're starting off with a bang. So um I have my Sentinel right here. carefully bringing him out. There he is. It's like my little boy um or girl. It doesn't matter.
00:06:07
Speaker
I don't know why I gendered the Sentinel. It's a Sentinel. um But yeah, you will you will get a ah an opportunity to to win yourself an X-Men 97 Sentinel. This thing is absolutely gorgeous. um It looks great with the X-Men Marvel Legends figures. It feels awesome. It has like these really, you can hear the ratcheting joints.
00:06:30
Speaker
Um, it holds its position, uh, moves really well. I love the, um, the, the articulated fingers and stuff on it. Like you can, I'm not going to make it do anything obscene, but, um, you could do whatever you want to do with those fingers.
00:06:45
Speaker
You can have it point or give you a high five. Yeah. Um, honestly, this figure makes me feel sort of like, uh, acknowledge it's tribal chief.
00:06:55
Speaker
You can here. Let's do that. We can do that. He's he's going to acknowledge. I think it's the right hand. Yeah, it's the right hand. Yes, he's he's going to acknowledge the tribal chief. There we go. He's he's got his ones to the sky.
00:07:06
Speaker
But um the funny the best thing about this figure, Dave, is it makes me feel like Andy in Toy Story, like because it's just a really big action figure and it makes me feel like a little kid.
00:07:20
Speaker
Uh, yeah, I sat crisscross applesauce on the floor, opened them. Uh, yeah, very, very cool figure. So again, at that takes me back to an, uh, something we heard, something very profound. We heard attack Peter, good friend of the pod say like, you know, about the turtles, about the turtles, like that are just off camera.
00:07:41
Speaker
You expect toys to feel the way you did when you were smaller, but you're bigger. yeah So a bigger toy is going to feel bring back that nostalgia because it feels like how you did.
00:07:53
Speaker
Yeah. But this, this thing, I totally destroyed that quote, but Peter said best. Yeah, you get, you got there, you got there in the end. Um, but yeah, so you'll have an opportunity to win, um, one of these guys.
00:08:06
Speaker
Uh, yeah. So again, that's, that's going to be open all the entire month of January. I'm going to set him aside. That's a great January prize. Um, yeah, So the winner of the the holiday giveaway will have been announced at this point, and this giveaway will be live. So again, at AIC underscore podcast.
00:08:24
Speaker
on Instagram pinned post, um, follow the rules on there. It'll tell you what you need to do to enter and, uh, you have the whole month. So, uh, the winner for that will be announced on February 1st.
00:08:35
Speaker
um Um, Oh, I never, I'm going to just give a quick shout out to, uh, the, uh, GI Joe classified team. Congrats on the Archie. I was not a part of that video because I was mostly dead at the time. yeah And, um, um,
00:08:51
Speaker
I think I was in one of my like six hour congestion naps. Fugue state. was going on Yeah, basically. And awesome year for classified.
00:09:02
Speaker
um Awesome year for Legends 2 who finished second. Really awesome year for everybody who was involved. It was. You know, it was it was ah it was a crowded field. It was a good field. And just based off of, you know, the fact that we're only going to have two new entries next year. Yeah.
00:09:19
Speaker
It was a good a good field. Yep. And ah next year's going to interesting, Dave, because ah it is it is going to be the final year for the McFarlane DC multiverse, as as we know it.
00:09:30
Speaker
Presumably, as far as we know. Yeah. So, um will will will they get a will they get a ah big... push from the community on the way out. I wonder. Yeah. wonder But um yeah. OK, so with that, let's do the last kind of piece that we need here. I won't say last, but let's do the big piece to put 2025 in in the
Superlative Awards for Unique Figures
00:09:52
Speaker
rear view here. And let's talk top tens. And in order to do that, like like I insinuated, um we did have a guest at the halfway point. um he is the link wizard he needs no introduction you know him as paternia.com on uh on on all the socials john welcome back to the uh the show buddy oh it didn't turn him on hang on there we we go hi guys glad you're back the new logo is looking fantastic i love it
00:10:23
Speaker
Thank you very much, sir. Thank you. It is is an absolute pleasure to to pull you out from behind ah the other side of the camera and get you in front of it. We'll FaceTime action. um as Someone who's mostly appeared on accident in vlogs.
00:10:40
Speaker
in events there's I'm in countless people's interviews, just not being interviewed. It's exciting yeah for me. Taking pictures in the background. Mm-hmm.
00:10:53
Speaker
Well, we are we're here to revisit our lists. So we did this at the halfway point. We did this back in June. um i can actually say that my list is quite different from it from where I was at the halfway point. like ill ah Quite a few things have changed. I think there's...
00:11:10
Speaker
There might only be two. Yeah, I think there's only two things on there from, yeah, from my from the midway point. So a lot has changed for me. But we're going to do something that we've never done before and we have hinted at multiple times throughout ah the last couple years is we've added a superlative category. yeah um So the way that this is going to work is we're still going to do our top 10. Nothing is going to change there. And we'll do it, you know, kind of round robin style like we usually do.
00:11:37
Speaker
But each of us has selected a specific category that yeah is ah is being awarded to a figure outside of our top tens. um And there's no rules here. So this this is a category that was defined by each of us.
00:11:55
Speaker
Maybe it gets revisited next year. Maybe this is a one and done thing. But it's a way for us to... I think the idea is great. it's a way for us to recognize something absolutely crazy about a toy that we loved, but it didn't quite make the top 10.
00:12:11
Speaker
um And we're going to start with that. So we're going to start with those, those superlatives before we go into the top 10. So um who wants to go first with their superlative?
00:12:24
Speaker
um I guess I will. Cause mine's going to be, I'll say the most controversial in a way. Sure. i mean, they're all they're all I genuinely think they're all funny, but yeah. Yeah. um And this was ah as close to a number 11 as it was going to get for me, too.
00:12:40
Speaker
OK, even as we were kind of talking about the episode, I said, like, I'm having trouble. Finalizing the top 10, but the superlative was a way for me to. Acknowledge an eleven what was basically number 11, and i'm going to talk about my favorite accessory.
00:12:58
Speaker
Accessory of the year. ah For those listening on just the audio, Dave is air-quoting very heavily. Very heavily air-quoting accessory. And, um... It's the... The best way to explain it is it's the toy you didn't buy something for, but were pleasantly surprised by what you got.
00:13:20
Speaker
and it's like, oh, well, I didn't want this, but... Or I wasn't getting it for this, but now I have this really cool toy. um which is funny because I think this toy actually does come with the best accessory.
00:13:32
Speaker
um But this is the McFarland DC Multiverse Justice League versus Godzilla versus Kong Wonder Woman and Godzilla 2-pack.
00:13:44
Speaker
And um my favorite accessory was the Monsterverse Godzilla because we know how famously difficult the original...
00:13:57
Speaker
release of the modern Wonder Woman was to find to the point where still have not seen one, whether at a toy show, whether at a store.
00:14:07
Speaker
um i saw pictures online. So hey I saw one once at a toy show and it was the platinum edition one. So it was the one that was like thes this the the the silver kind of superpowers colors, like the really.
00:14:23
Speaker
like like toy yellow and reds. um And it was like two hundred and fifty dollars at a toy show. Yeah. really So not even like a regular one.
00:14:35
Speaker
we one of us has seen. um So, of course, I ordered this so that way i could have a modern Wonder Woman. um And i was like, well, I like Godzilla. We know how much I like Godzilla.
00:14:45
Speaker
It turns out this Godzilla, for what it is, is pretty great. You get the kind of blue charged up Godzilla. It's got the... A tail that you actually have to attach because he's so huge.
00:14:59
Speaker
Like, this is a big Godzilla. um Is he basically just like a puck or does he move or slugs? He's got um arm and leg and head articulation,
Top Toy Picks of the Year
00:15:11
Speaker
but that's about it.
00:15:12
Speaker
OK. And the tail, of course, because it's a. Attachable piece, but. I mean, like you can pose him to like turn his head and have arms up or have like the tiny Wonder Woman in his hand or something along those lines. or But the other really cool thing is the scale Wonder Woman for Godzilla, because you look at the normal multiverse figure, it's like, well, Godzilla is not much bigger than Wonder Woman. Like, how would they fight comic book style?
00:15:42
Speaker
And the answer is there's a tiny Wonder Woman in the package. So it's really kind of a two for one with best accessory. But like that Godzilla, when I saw it the first time, i'm like, oh this at Godzilla might actually rule. And it's, you know, you're not getting SH Monster Arts Godzilla.
00:16:00
Speaker
Like, do not think that that's what you're getting here. But if you want like a very like capable Godzilla in your collection, This is a really good Godzilla.
00:16:14
Speaker
Yeah. Lots of sculpts. Good detail. Sits on the shelf. Looks like Godzilla. Yeah. So he probably moves like a Playmates Godzilla. Yeah. Probably more detailed. Like the definitely more detailed than Playmates.
00:16:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. yeah that's not bad that wonder woman's amazing though that had that head sculpt like whoever's doing mcfarland's female head sculpts right now like the ice that they announced um don't know i'll say it's a zatanna they all look amazing that's that uh zatanna is amazing does look really good yeah i mean like he got somebody oh is it good on the little one too No, I meant on the Zatanna. Like, there's two different face skulls. Oh, are there? Oh, I didn't i even notice that. Yeah, the Platinum has a different one.
00:17:00
Speaker
Oh, okay. Man, that's going to be fun to get those ones when that when that drops. It's going to Wonder Woman all over again. Yeah, I think the the regular is has, like, the yellow corset, and the Platinum has the ah just, like, the blue jacket. But, yeah.
00:17:18
Speaker
And they're, like, a cool, like... for like
00:17:23
Speaker
Smirk. Yeah. Yeah. Smirk. That's cool. I mean, i guess it's cool. It sucks. You have to track down a platinum for both faces, but you know, that's, that's McFarlane collecting for, you know? And I, and I think, uh, um, chimp has different expressions too.
00:17:40
Speaker
And colors. Yes. Mouth open. Yeah, screaming versus neutral. yeah um John, do you want to your superlative next? I would love to.
00:17:50
Speaker
ah Mine is... Now, I don't collect a lot of wrestling figures, so I'm not sure what the mullet landscape is in the toy world right now, but I do have the best mullet of the year, and that would be the dirtbag version of Cal Kestis from the... ah Star Wars Black pack. It's actually a good pack altogether because it comes with like Turgle and a whole bunch of weird alien dudes, which is nice. But I mean like, why they might why did they go for like, I'm happy they did, but this is like the one of one of the wildest choices they're like to do like the real like,
00:18:25
Speaker
whatever, like I call Dirtbag Cal, but you've seen like the videos where people have him doing like the ah the that a South Park movie a song and stuff like that. Yeah. joe That's got some Joe dirt to it, too. So, yeah. yeah Have you played the game? Did you play Jedi Survivor at all?
00:18:42
Speaker
I haven't. You know, it's one of those games I bought with every intention to play. And I think I play like a game every like two years. that's so That's basically where I'm at in my life, and the last game that I played happened to be Jedi Survivor. And for so for some reason in the game, that there is a a a mechanic that lets you collect, like, mustaches and haircuts.
00:19:07
Speaker
That's amazing. And you can customize Cal, like... more than just like the lightsaber hilts and colors and but builds and everything like you can actually customize him. So like you can put him in like a Clint Eastwood looking like Serape with the handlebar mustache and the and the the mullet. Like there is just the level of customization of the character that's is crazy, which makes that choice for the figure even crazier. That like that's the thing that they were like, yeah, let's.
00:19:41
Speaker
out of the thousands of combinations that you could that's the one like somebody yeah somebody somebody was into this look because i mean even when i talked to like the star wars guys at hasbro i was like when did like i was asking them about like where they come up with like their likenesses and stuff like when they're doing like video game figures and they're like you know they kind of i guess they have to go back and forth with lucasfilm on that stuff and like they landed on that somehow and hey yeah it's the best And I mean you know what? Even so, he's actually like, he's he's an Amazon exclusive. So like you can actually get him pretty cheap and he is totally worth it. Like he's, ever since i ever since he's I've gotten him, he's hung out on my desk. I love him.
00:20:21
Speaker
He's just the best. That's great. He's like, yes, go with that. Yeah. Love giving awards to mullets. All right. So I'll finish up with my superlative and I have, I have legitimately hinted at this particular superlative because I, there are two figures that came out this year that could have been the answer to this, this superlative. And it was going to be one.
00:20:44
Speaker
And I'll, I'll tell you the runner up after I show you the real one, but my superlative, I have to leave on the floor because it's too large, but, um, It is the the figure moat that you would most likely bring to a fight.
00:20:58
Speaker
And it's the Nacelle Cowboys Mesa terrible. When I tell you that this figure is heavy. like that's like it is it's remarkably heavy like it is and i i should have written down the weight because i did weigh this against its competitor and it is heavier like it's it's it's significantly heavier than gamer verse juggernaut which would have been the answer to this until this came very very close to the end of the year here but um
00:21:31
Speaker
If you put this in a pillowcase and swung it at somebody, i you you might actually, like... on alive them. um it It's it's that heavy and it's solid. Like if you've ever had like, you know, if you're not familiar with any of the Nacelle stuff, their figures are like kind of chunky, um whatever, whatever type of plastic that they use. They're just very solid feeling figures.
00:21:58
Speaker
And this thing is the epitome of that. I mean, ah dude i like it's like his his like hump a lump on his back yeah is this is this is solid plastic like that's not it's not hollow in there so he's he's like just a solid there's there's no seam like if you look across the top like this is just a solid molded chunk of plastic like i'm looking for no there's no seam like even if you look under the arm
00:22:31
Speaker
I am like, see, there's no semen there. Like this is. he Yeah, it's just a giant mold. This is season in the cell line i've I've most been looking forward to. So I can't wait to finally see them. I've yet to because.
00:22:45
Speaker
It's it's just. It's a beast. And like I said, the the runner up would have been ah Juggernaut, the the Marvel Legends game reverse Juggernaut. You can take a two handed swing with that and like.
00:22:58
Speaker
is helen Is he bigger than Juggernaut? I mean, he looks huge while you're holding him. hes Hang on. I'm gonna i'm actually going to... That's a great point. I'm going to show you compared to the Juggernaut because he's right.
00:23:12
Speaker
He is... Man, just holding this figure, he's he's significantly lighter. So, like, here's here's Juggernaut, right? Here's Terrible.
00:23:25
Speaker
He's a little bit squatter than him. yeah Yeah, but it's not by much. Like, that's probably close. He's... Like I said, I put them on a i put them on a food scale. He's heavier. This is this is heavier. If I'm bringing one to a fight, it's going to be this one. and i'm And I'm swinging them either by the legs or the hump.
00:23:44
Speaker
He got the horns, too. Yeah. like Yeah, it's dangerous. Yeah, it's a solid, solid figure. So yeah, if if youre if you if you need to defend yourself, keep it terrible by your bedside.
00:23:56
Speaker
I'm sure Brian would love to hear that, that you're keeping terrible by by your bedside, just just in case. um yeah so that's that's our superlatives uh so so yeah may well maybe we'll revisit this idea to have that brought up at toy fair just to see what when anyone's yeah yeah that's gonna be great it's gonna great oh toy fair yeah that is soon geez um scary All right. So with that, let's jump into our top tens. I'll just keep us I'll just keep us going. I'll I'll start us off since I will do kind of we'll just keep going around that way. So, um like I said, my list from the half year halfway point um has changed on your screen, Eric.
00:24:37
Speaker
Sure. because i don't know if we're on the same order. So is that you next or John next? Okay, you next. All right. So um like i said, my list has changed considerably since um since the beginning of the beginning of the year or the midway point of the year. a lot has come out in this back half. And my number 10 is something that is a very, very late. I think it's actually...
00:24:59
Speaker
not counting my superlative it is the latest addition to my list it is something that came in very very recently something that i've been excited for it is the plunder beak captain long bill um the plunderlings world the world of plunderlings the plunder verse um is is amazing uh the the latest edition i'm i love birds i'm ah um'm a birding guy um And I love all three of these. This pick could have been any of them. If you've, if you've played with a plunderling before, you will be very familiar with how they move, um, the type of articulation. Obviously the new thing for these guys is the, um, the modular wings right now it's in kind of medium form, but there's an extra piece. You can pop this off and put on an extra piece. Um,
00:25:50
Speaker
They fold down to look really kind of cape-like. ah They are positioned as the villains in the Plunderverse, so these are your your heels. um Again, you got the magnetic hats, which is great. And then these guys, too, have articulated beaks and and tongues in there.
00:26:09
Speaker
The tongue on this one's kind of hard to get out. The beak is just shaped in a way that my pinky does not want to get in there, but I can assure you that... Yeah, that tongue. I usually take the sword out of his hand and move the tongue out with the sword. um But yeah, so that's that's my number 10, starting us off with ah with a plunder beak.
00:26:27
Speaker
Yeah, those You know what i liked about the plunder beaks was that there was no pre-order for them. They just came out. yeah there's something There's definitely something in this world where we pre-order everything, where like if something's in stock, I'm like more likely to give it a chance, because...
00:26:43
Speaker
I can just have it right now, like instead of, you know, pre-ordering and then waiting a year for it. And it's right here, you know? Yep. And they ship really quickly too. Yeah. I mean, give them all the credit in the world. They ran like two Kickstarters and then I guess they figured out what they wanted one they wanted to do and they could just do it that's awesome.
00:27:02
Speaker
Yep. And there's a second half of this coming too. There's ah frogs, plunder frogs are coming as kind of like a wave wave two of this ah this series. So yeah.
00:27:15
Speaker
So plunder beaks. Dave, you're up with your number 10. My number 10 is returning from the first half list. Down a few spots, but still hanging on.
00:27:27
Speaker
And I know this is a ah figure Eric really enjoys as well. I can actually show it instead of holding up the picture. I have it. So um this is Zombie Sailor Toys, Wrestling Seals and Faces. This is Series 3, Yoshihiro Tajiri.
00:27:45
Speaker
um you know Tajiri was a big favorite of mine as a kid. He's somebody who's been like under merchandised a lot. I'll say I don't think there's maybe a couple RAs like.
00:27:58
Speaker
Yeah, he hasn't had a a figure since Jack's. There was an ECW figure. But um yeah, i I just absolutely love the figure. You know, he always ah they they've really nailed the face on this one and the the baggy pants.
00:28:15
Speaker
Tajiri's awesome. Yeah, he's got that crazed look in his eyes. he's got he And something about the hands, too, the way the hands are molded in that, like... And he's got, like, the crouch, like, the slouch down, like, it's perfect.
00:28:28
Speaker
Awesome, awesome figure. I'm surprised he's never signed a Legends contract or anything. I mean, I know he wasn't really in WWE w that much. He was there longer than you think.
00:28:39
Speaker
Was he? and And now that they own ECW... And he's still active too. Yeah. Yeah. We saw him at GCW. Yeah. We saw him wrestle at GCW last year, two years ago. Yeah. Last January.
00:28:53
Speaker
Yeah. Last January. That's right. um Almost a year to the year to the day of this, actually. It was very early January. yeah Yeah. Very cool. takes to you for your number 10.
00:29:05
Speaker
All right, my list also has pretty much completely changed since halfway through the year. um There's a lot of stuff. And it just I think also just depending on what day you ask me, it's gonna it's probably going to change either way. But um my first one, it's kind of cheating, but um it's the Anakin and, well, that's not go to work.
00:29:25
Speaker
Anakin and Obi-Wan from the SDCC set. Oh, nice. So again, um I think just they finally really nailed the likeness of these two. Plus, I mean, you get like the droid, there's the platform and all that stuff from the duel. They have the ah open hands, the swappable hands. They have two portraits. They both have, I mean, I know they got released in a regular like packaging, but they both have the new sculpts. um I mean, it's just, I think they just did a tremendous job with this with this set of figures. And um I didn't mean to go so Star Wars heavy late in my list, but ah that's, ah yeah, I mean, I think like these two guys are like easily my favorite from ah Star Wars. And I know they're like, you know, they're just main characters, but they did them really, really well. So...
00:30:17
Speaker
kind of It's nice to finally kind of emous have that closure on two characters that you really like. As somebody that doesn't get any I have, like, nine Black Series figures, and they're basically just the main characters from the original trilogy. As somebody who does not get Black Series figures, I tried to get that set twice.
00:30:36
Speaker
I thought about it. Those SEC sets were hard to get this year, and they just never came back. Yeah. It was The thing that would have put me over the edge would have been if, like, this base had... um like a voice chip in it that just had some of like the, like you were the chosen one and stuff like that. It would be, that would be cool. Yeah. It's a nice space though. I like, it's kind of like a nice, I like when they do these little, like, I think they kind of figured out finally how to do those like dio sets because they also did the one with like Vader and Luke and the, uh,
00:31:09
Speaker
on the Bespin thing. And so like, I know they tried doing it before and they would just like sell the base and like, it'd be like, eh, whatever. And I think also it was kind of like, they did it for, what was it?
00:31:20
Speaker
Force Awakens, I think. Yeah, and they had like mo one of the figures was like a mo was like a statue. And it was meant that it was meant to interact with an actual Black Series figure and had like space on it. I remember those. Wow, I completely forgot about this.
00:31:34
Speaker
Yeah. So I think they kind of figured it out. that's I mean, you don't want a ton of them. like Maybe like one or two a year would just be nice to just get these like you know somewhat like iconic dios from the movie. Yeah.
00:31:47
Speaker
Yeah, like I could see them doing like a Boba Fett with Han and Carbonite. It's the perfect Comic-Con set. yeah It is, yeah. It's true. And then they can also do stuff like that. And then when they have a ah higher budget to do it, they can add stuff like the hands, the lightsaber swishes, all that you know all that other stuff that you would kind of make it feel like a better value anyway. But yeah, I like it though. enjoyed Black Series this year.
00:32:15
Speaker
Great pick. um So I am going to, for my number nine, this is the only wrestling figure on my list this this ah this year. Coming in at number nine, it is the Mattel WWE Ultimate Edition Legends Phantom of the Undertaker.
00:32:34
Speaker
ah I always loved the the purple and black ah Undertaker. It wasn't a look that um lasted for very, very long. it I think it lasted longer in people's heads than it did in reality. um But that just goes to show you how kind of... ah Cool, this looked. um Obviously, he's got the mask on because King Mabel broke his entire face, like legitimately.
00:32:59
Speaker
Like, shoot broke his entire face. um Rather than the removable mask ah that came in the... I think it was just a regular Legends Elite um and both at Target.
00:33:14
Speaker
ah You do also get that head that has like the noodle hair hanging in front of it and the mask is removable. um It doesn't look that great to be to be truthful, but they give you two alternate heads that have the mask molded on um with two expressions on it. They look great. The the attention to detail is nuts on this, like outside of just, you know, the purple on the pockets.
00:33:37
Speaker
You get the the sprayed on black hair to the point where the roots are still his his brown, um which is just an awesome like if you know, you know, attention to detail because he was his hair wasn't fully dyed at that point. He was just spraying it every night.
00:33:58
Speaker
So, um yeah, so you get the ah and it's a really good expression, too. Like it just, you know, the both of them. He's got the crazy eyes. He's got the um the facial expression. and And I love this this base body that they have for um this era of The Undertaker. We've seen it a couple times now, but it just it it looks really good and moves really well.
00:34:20
Speaker
um Yeah. So that's my that's my number nine.
00:34:26
Speaker
My number nine is, um you know, how how can you honor an entire, almost an entire wave when it rules by putting it in your top ten a lot?
00:34:39
Speaker
So um the first of many to come for McFarland DC Multiverse, Batman Returns, The Penguin, and You know, not underwear penguin that came with the duck, which is also great, but... um regular I'm so glad that stuck from... We'll we'll call him we'll call him um the street-level penguin as opposed to the underground penguin.
00:35:02
Speaker
um The, you know, mayoral candidate, Oswald Cobblepot. and The likeness is awesome. He's, like, appropriately, like, chonky. He's...
00:35:16
Speaker
which is one of my favorite toy words of all time. He's making the face from the movie poster. Yeah. Like the figure is literally made from that, like the stacked movie poster. He's making it that face. The theatrical one sheet. Yeah. Like the final one sheet. Yeah. um You know, he's got the tie. He's got the umbrella.
00:35:34
Speaker
The top hat fits well. The coat is awesome. Like, you know, for sometimes, you know, the McFarlane, like,
00:35:46
Speaker
soft goods or lack thereof the soft goods on this, on this series were like a home run. I think. Yeah, this this coat is ah it's premium. like It's like heavy felt um with with fur. Yeah, it's legit. Is it wired?
00:36:05
Speaker
I haven't opened mine yet. It is not wired, but it is... It kind of looked like it from the picture. It's such a thick material. like it's It's felt. like It feels like a peacoat. It feels like peacoat material. um It's wild. It's absolutely it's absolutely wild. it's It's kind of... ah You wonder why nobody else has kind of done that before.
00:36:28
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Because the only other Penguin that's been similar to this was Mattel did like ah like a movie masters one when they had the DC multiverse initially. And I have that one too. It's actually on my was on my desk for like the longest time. And now it's on my other desk at work.
00:36:46
Speaker
But um the coat for that is like your standard, like soft goods material. This is like an under, like the undertaker coat. Yeah, yeah. It's that like thin, not necessarily bad material, but it's it's like it's what you're used to seeing. Yeah.
00:37:00
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Solid, solid pick. Yeah. It's crazy. Todd's soft goods are so good. Like, how I mean, so I mean, he misses sometimes, but like, yeah you know, he puts soft goods on like twenty five dollar figures, which is crazy.
00:37:15
Speaker
Yeah. And like legit, like good soft goods. Yeah. He went went from using that. Like when they're great, they're great. Yeah. Yeah.
00:37:27
Speaker
That's yeah. I wish I like I wish. Look, I love Marvel Legends, but man, it's kind of ruined. Like and that getting those big plastic capes now, it's just not doesn't feel it's the same. Like I know I could get a better cape.
00:37:39
Speaker
I was trying to take a picture today and I had to cheat it a little bit. um The the day that we're recording this is the day that the the thor trailer for um doomsday aired and i wanted to take a picture of him with like a forest background like taking a knee holding stormbreaker but because of the the cape i i could not get him to do a single leg kneel like i would have had to have like heated the cape up and like froze it and like literally put it in the freezer to like freeze it in a bent position and then ah would have had to undo it in order to get him in that pose um
00:38:16
Speaker
So I feel you. Yeah, it's it's like, yeah, I mean, and I guess you could try, try because there's people that like you can buy like third party ones from people that like make them. But man, I can't put like an additional $30 into every toy I buy. Not to mention, I don't want to like dismantle like the first Superman that came out in the multiverse. Like, yep, it's it's some some of those like I have a custom cape on a spawn figure on the um think it's the Call of Duty spawn um that had the first like spawn with the soft goods cape, but it was like super tiny. That it required no modding. like It literally just...
00:38:58
Speaker
came off of him there are no like weird holes or things that i had to cut or like heat up like it just took one cape off bought another cape put it on him and like we're good to go i've done some of i've done some of those other dc multiverse ones where you gotta like cut the cape off of a batman buy it from know a guy on ebay and you gotta glue in the right spots it's it can be dicey if you don't know what you're doing It can, yeah. It always helps when somebody has like shoulder pads or something to kind of like that are easy to come off and like cover up that cake part. Otherwise, yeah, sometimes you got to find creative ways to tuck those things in. Yeah, exactly.
00:39:35
Speaker
um All right. so I think, John, it's over to you. all right. So my next one. as
Discussion on Toy Lines and Licensing
00:39:43
Speaker
I just crapped on Marvel Legends, will be none other than Gargantos. Now, again, i probably would have put him higher, but I do have... I have a few things. i think he's kind of... He's he's more of a... He's a mystery to pose sometimes, trying to figure out the best way to get him to do stuff. But um I like the fact that it's not like Marvel Legends form factor. It's all... if They went, you know, out of their...
00:40:11
Speaker
I guess comfort zone maybe is the word for it. But um the eye is super great. it I love how expressive they made it. I love how they made it. You can like open and close his eyelids like that. I do wish that the wires went to the tips because I think you could get a lot more like the wires come to about here. So like you've got this little part you could act. I feel like if you got the wire and it may be like a child safety thing or something like that because it could pop out of the end. um But if you could get like a little more, it would like really help with like getting into like grip things and stuff like that.
00:40:45
Speaker
But I mean, you can, these wires actually are not bad for the, for the distance that they have. um I know everybody puts them in the, ah in the crossed arms pose, but I try, you know, that's, that's fun. But yeah, he's, you know, he's fun to mess with. um He's very expressive.
00:41:05
Speaker
Who would have thought we'd ever get him? Yeah. um i i you know i hope I think it kind of gives me hope that they could do some of the weirder stuff from the Marvel and Capcom games as well, especially with how well the Gamerverse stuff has been doing, I think.
00:41:24
Speaker
um You know, there's a good chance. But yeah, um love him. He's one I've wanted forever. So, you know, I am super happy to have him. Yeah. and And you're getting him in something that's scale appropriate to like because he's been drawn so many different ways in the comics over the years. Like that is like an identifiable scale, like the game the way he appeared in those games.
00:41:46
Speaker
Yeah, it's like Sentinel being in the game. You know, he's enormous, but he's in the game. So it's yeah like normal human sized Sentinel. All right. So that takes it to me for my number eight, um which is going take me to the world of NECA a figure that I have been anticipating for a very, very long time now. um Something that I didn't have access to the, when we did the first half of the year, ah but easily my favorite NECA figure of the year, Art, the clown, as he appears in the first terrifier film. the,
00:42:22
Speaker
I mean, NECA has just been absolutely knocking it out of the park lately, especially in their horror stuff. um I say it every year, but my i could make a top 10 list of just all the NECA figures that I get every year. um they're They're just so good. And the fact that um you can put all of his, so like all of his accessories right now, including his extra heads um and all of his um forms of violence are in the trash bag.
00:42:53
Speaker
and perfect it's just a trash bag it's just a little trash bag and you get the the the right hand grip like they give you like the c grip hand so he can just and i mean i've had him posed like this on my shelf pretty much since i've gotten him um And that bag, that arm, everything holds exactly where it needs to be. So I am i amm excited for more versions of art. I am definitely on the hook for the Terrifier 2 version with the with the glasses and the... um
00:43:26
Speaker
the, the, the different types of weapons. I think he's going to come with like a container of bleach and salt and stuff like that, which is amazing. Um, does he have the horn? Yes.
00:43:37
Speaker
Yeah. So keep, keep, keep the arts coming. Uh, and I'm excited for terrifier for, yeah, whenever they decide to put that out, but yeah, so that's my number eight. Uh, my number eight is my, uh, only elite on the list.
00:43:53
Speaker
Um, And it may not be the best one or everybody's best one or everybody's favorite, but it's mine. That was a great pick. Because of the amount of detail and... Like, the deco budget is... ah For someone who has no tattoos, the deco budget is high on this figure.
00:44:13
Speaker
um So we're going to Elite 115, Kairi Sane. it's... um and it's I mean, just the amount of color in her hair and in in the gear is just awesome.
00:44:30
Speaker
Like this, short of like current blue and purple hair, Kairi, like this is...
00:44:39
Speaker
I would say other than like the original pirate Kairi, like this has been Kairi ever since like her call up like Kabuki Warriors, Tag Champs, all that stuff. Damage, damage control. Yeah, damage control.
00:44:52
Speaker
this This figure is control figure, but this figure rules.
00:44:59
Speaker
And the umbrella, which is like and not short of Deco either. And like they did like it, like just like little things that like blew my mind when we got this one, when I got this figure like belt and in the strap.
00:45:11
Speaker
Yeah. Like if you, if you look at the paint and the detail on it, on her, like what should be her shorts? Like it's yeah. Yeah. They just shouts to Bill. Bill crushed on this one. I know that we know that this was a bill.
00:45:25
Speaker
This was a bill special.
00:45:29
Speaker
But yeah, ah awesome pick, Dave. Definitely, like if I was putting a list together of top top elites, that's that's on there for me, for for sure. Top five, easy.
00:45:41
Speaker
um John, back to you. Okay, next one. um so sticking with the video game theme. um This one is through ah an addition to my unofficial World of Warcraft collection that I've been amassing over the years. And so this is Meditoys, and this is their ogre, um two-headed ogre. So it's a gigantic. Again, you know, one of those things that if you wanted to throw at somebody and possibly harm them, that would it would definitely do so. um Yeah, so they released, this one only came, I think, like about a month ago. But yes, like they released him in blue, where you can get him in the more like tan color. They come with like, like it's it's almost ah an insane amount of accessories that they include, like tons of different hands, heads, um everything. But like, you know,
00:46:33
Speaker
you know I can rip off a band. So like you can just see all like the different heads they have there and like everything just like moves, you know, all over the place. They're really fun and it's just, I never understood why Blizzard just was like adamantly against marketing their their properties as toys.
00:46:54
Speaker
So- blows it blows my mind. and They have one of one of the most toyetic universes in all of pop culture. Yeah, and you know They do, and then I i mean I know McFarlane did they their like Warcraft and Diablo, but they're like statues and stuff like that Yeah, but yeah, i know that they're going, they also did like I mean, he did the Lilith that was an actual articulated figure and I guess he has an Arthas coming next year, so it's something, but yeah Ogres are cool Now that they're a Microsoft property that Microsoft tried to get better with that
00:47:31
Speaker
I don't know, man. I hope so. But yeah, no, I'm happy with i'm act with the stuff I got. I got such an orc and ogre and other collection. you might I might have another one on my top ten later.
00:47:45
Speaker
Fair. Well, I'm going to, I'm going to keep your, going to use your video game segue to keep our our list running here with my number seven. um So one of the, I'm just looking to make sure that I'm right here. One of the two figures that, that carried over from the halfway point. um And I think he's even, he's bumped down a little bit.
00:48:03
Speaker
So bumped down a few places, but um my first ever figure from this line Figma. is figma tears of the kingdom link um this was the deluxe edition i he's got all the the various accoutrements I just I i love love love love this figure it has not left my desk since it arrived um I loved this game i do feel like he's a little big ah for a figma he's huge
00:48:34
Speaker
But i I think that's actually like is is beneficial for me because like in in comparison to, you know, like other like import 112 figures, like I mean, he's he's right on par with an SH Figure Arts Rengoku. I mean, like they're they are the same size.
00:48:54
Speaker
Which is really great because, you know, I kind of keep him in my, I call it my Smash Brothers corner. So, um you know, he's standing next to ah Cloud and Mega Man and Mario and Ryu. And he looks great next to them. Like it it's he scales wonderfully. And yeah.
00:49:14
Speaker
I think that's a, probably a detriment for Figma collectors because Link's going to tower over everybody. But for me, it's like just a one 12 scale video game figure collector. He's great for me. So yeah, it's my, it's my number seven, my number seven pick.
00:49:32
Speaker
What did you have him as at a halfway point? Do you remember? He was number two. Okay. All right. Oh, by the way, Kyrie was number four for me. yeah Okay.
00:49:43
Speaker
They always move down. It's quite collecting. What have you done for me recently? Yep. Well, I, there's my other example is still up there. I'm yeah.
00:49:53
Speaker
Well, we'll revisit that, that statement. Um, um So here's one of the... This one for me, my number seven, is, i think, probably one of my more anticipated figures.
00:50:11
Speaker
um Potentially of, like... I don't want to say of all time, I think that's too hyperbolic, but it's not far. And hopefully this makes it into another line that... That's where I'm at on this figure. Oh, if that happens, and it's as good as this one.
00:50:31
Speaker
um But um it was the first one of this series to sell out for a reason. um The first ever American figure, American-produced figure of this...
00:50:43
Speaker
Of this person. One of my all-time underrated favorite wrestlers. Number seven. Zombie Sailor Toys. Wrestling Heels and Faces. I believe we're on series four. Jinsei Shinzaki.
00:50:56
Speaker
You may remember him as Hakushi. In WWE. um One of those wrestlers where I was like. This guy rules. um it's He was so different.
00:51:09
Speaker
At the time. Because nobody was... He was very ahead of his time. It would have been like if Liger showed up in WWE. wwe like um Just so cool. So toyetic with the the kanji on him.
00:51:27
Speaker
i believe they're kanji. Yeah, I think that's right. and um Also, I had the opportunity to meet him a few years back. Get a picture taken with him. like So cool. so It was like...
00:51:41
Speaker
It was such an honor to have met him, too, just how big of a fan I am. um But super cool. like I love this figure, and i hope... Zombie, Josh, if you could make... if I hope the 7-inch is on the way, or the 6-inch scale, please. Because that will be...
00:52:04
Speaker
It's so he's so overdue for figures like mass when I say when I say Tajiri is a very much under merchandise wrestler like Jinsei Shinzaki with one exception, I think is probably like the most under merchandise wrestler of all time. Dave, three awesome Japanese wrestlers in your list so far. Just just just throw it out there. Really, really good. Oh,
00:52:30
Speaker
I respect that. um So it would be, it would be next to me, right? No, John. Oh, John. All right, John, you're up. Oh, what are we at? Seven. I think so. Seven.
00:52:43
Speaker
Okay. All right. So for my number seven is, um bring him up here. It is Mr. Richard crystal ball.
00:52:54
Speaker
think is that what his name was? I think so, but yes. Oh, do you have him as well? Also, also on my list, he was my number five. Okay.
00:53:05
Speaker
So we aren't far off. Yeah. Yeah. um He's my favorite G.I. Joe of the year. I think I just, I love the like whole supernatural. as we See, we everybody, you got to have this head on him. It's the best. I don't even know where the other head is. Right.
00:53:18
Speaker
it's the I think it's one of the better glow ups because I think like the vintage version was kind of just, you know, to whatever, mediocre Joe. Oh, no, we can we can say it. The original crystal ball is is a dork. Like he is not. It's not a good. It's like we're talking like three, three and three quarter original crystal ball. Yeah. Yeah. I don't even remember him.
00:53:39
Speaker
A boring, a boring joke of an F-lister. got the Lenny glow up to an A-list villain here. like Absolutely. Just the glow up is amazing. Like just like I mean, this head alone is awesome. And then, you know, you got like the lenticular shield. um Yep, and the ultimate more glow stuff you put on the shield.
00:53:58
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's just it's fantastic. And I mean, also you could you could put him with the, what's it called, like the dire wolf pack, and then you got like just a whole eve like weird glow miss ah mythical faction for Joe.
00:54:13
Speaker
My favorite thing to do with him is to actually put the cobra head from that... It looks good. Like, I just, I love the way that that looks.
00:54:24
Speaker
Yeah. Like, if he wants to be, like, extra Cobra-y, extra on-brand, yeah. Yeah, he rules. So, yeah this is one of those ones where... I mean, if going make mystical and ethereal, why not?
00:54:35
Speaker
Exactly. but yeah'm glad that they I'm glad that they took some like you know art artistic ah whatever direction or on it that they wanted to. But yeah, that's that's my favorite show the year.
00:54:50
Speaker
And now, a word from our sponsors.
00:54:58
Speaker
This segment is brought to you by our friends at Chubsy Wubsy Toys. A traditional mom and pop toy store in Little Falls, New Jersey, Chubsy Wubsy Toys brings you the best new toys from the brands you love without the hassle of pounding the pavement searching for them at larger retail stores.
00:55:14
Speaker
Visit them in person at their brand new home at 101 Newark Pompton Turnpike Suite 1 in Little Falls, New Jersey, or online at chubzywubzy.com.
00:55:26
Speaker
That's
00:55:33
Speaker
And tell them that Adventures in Collecting sent you.
00:55:39
Speaker
And now, back to the show. So I'm actually, Dave, I'm going to skip my my number six. we'll We'll talk about my number six a little bit later.
00:55:49
Speaker
Okay. So let's head on to you for number six. All right, my number six. um
00:55:59
Speaker
Again, the the best wave in... The the best single wave in ah in a line gets just better. Yeah. Did you did anybody think that this year one of the best figures of the year was going to be Christopher Walken? No, nobody did. But was he? Yes.
00:56:18
Speaker
um McFarlane, DC Multiverse, Batman Returns, Max Schreck. He's just a schmuck who got lucky. I mean, it's it's probably one of the best likenesses.
00:56:30
Speaker
It's insane. I wish I could pull him down from the shelf. I i can't. it'll it'll create It'll create a mess. like I can't pull pull down the physical one. Probably the easiest like red label one to find.
00:56:47
Speaker
To the point where it was like, well, why did we do that? but i don't We got very lucky. We got very lucky because I have not seen him... I saw him once and that was it.
00:56:57
Speaker
Okay. Never saw him again. And there are people that are like, oh my God, can't find him anywhere. So um it's it's one of those things where it's just like our area for whatever reason. evin Exactly. We we found him.
00:57:11
Speaker
Most other people did not. Yeah. So. But I mean, like if you as much as you know, and you've heard us talk about it as much as we love Batman Returns, like Bravo, like what a What an excellent when when the main character is the worst figure in the line like that.
00:57:33
Speaker
Yeah. And it's not and that's not to say that that Batman is a bad figure. It's a great Batman figure. If that cape went down to his ankles, we'd be having a different conversation. Yeah.
00:57:44
Speaker
Yeah. Alfred shrunk the cape in the dryer a little bit, I think. Yeah. Awesome. Awesome pick, Dave. And I mean, what an alternate head to. Yeah.
00:57:54
Speaker
Just from one scene in the movie. Like, yeah, but it's you'll never forget it. You don't actually ever even really see it on his body. You just kind of see the head in the tree and like the trap might have been your first jump scare as a kid. But like.
00:58:10
Speaker
Yeah. Insane. Insane. It's funny. We've have we ever gotten a Christopher Walken figure before McFarlane made like two of them in the last year? Like, that's true. I can't think of it. I think he made Dune. Yeah, he made the one from Dune. And then he did this one. I mean, this one, I think this one has a better likeness than the Dune. Yeah, I have it. I still have it. Oh, I have the Christopher Walken Headless Horseman from Sleepy Hollow. Right. That's right. And it was Medin. That was Todd again. yeah.
00:58:42
Speaker
And he does come with great likeness too. And he comes with a Christopher Walkenhead that does come off the Hessian soldier. I about that one. Yeah. So yeah. ti With the filed teeth. Yeah. Um,
00:58:54
Speaker
Yeah, no, I still have that for the longest time that was in my display. It only got replaced when Four Horsemen Studios put out the ah the figure of Scoria, a figure a Obscura Headless Horseman, which is literally like top five single action figure releases of all time, because that's my favorite fictional character in the world.
00:59:14
Speaker
So that that upgraded. I upgraded my Headless Horseman at that point, but yeah. um All right, so John, it's back to you.
00:59:24
Speaker
Okay. All right, I'm going to show you two again just because these guys are pretty much interchangeable, and that's going to be the Storm Collectibles, Storm Arena, Ken, and Ryu. um Again, sorry, they got some things boxed, some things out. and I didn't find the original Ken because I have half my collection boxed up right now because we're getting stuff done. But um just, you know, getting like just how crisp these are and getting those Alpha 3 looks um and an actual 1 12th scale, not like fake Storm collectibles 1 12th scale that's like 10 feet taller than everybody else.
01:00:02
Speaker
um i mean they're really they're they're really nice um you know it's we're street fighter i'd say for street fighter stuff we're eating pretty good right now but um i think i'm really excited for where the uh where the storm line goes i'm really hoping we can get um that cody in his uh j uh jail jumpsuit one of these days from that line The one I'm looking forward to is um they had it at New York Comic Con. They're doing Morgan from Darkstalkers, right? Yes. yeah yeah And that fits into the Marvel vs. Capcom situation very, very nicely. Morgan and Maleth.
01:00:44
Speaker
Yes. yeah Both of them. Stuff. Yeah. no I think you got like a BB hood or something that check off a big. Yeah, there's like there's weirdos from like the the versus games that like just nobody's ever doing.
01:00:58
Speaker
Yep, get in there and do them as one-offs. You get the Jill over there, like... Yeah, for real. Well, you know, the 52 Toys is actually doing a 112th scale Captain Commando, which is something that you rarely will find anywhere. They made like a four-inch one a while back, but yeah, there's going to be a 112th one coming out. So, you know, again, if you're trying to finish that roster, you can get somewhat close to it.
01:01:25
Speaker
I had back in the day, i think it was a dark stalkers to like, yeah, great game. Yeah. um Was it the vampire warrior? No, the vampire hunter was the second one.
01:01:39
Speaker
I think so. Dimitri. The second game, like it wasn't Darkstalkers 2, it was called like... Oh, yeah, yeah, yes yeah. I always want to say Vampire Survivors, but that's a different game.
01:01:50
Speaker
I had an awesome five-inch Captain Commando from back in like the Toy Biz days when they were doing the the Marvel vs. Capcom like releases where you get like ah a Marvel and a Capcom character. Yes. That was how I always had Captain Commando and I loved that figure.
01:02:06
Speaker
Yeah. Loved it. um all right so i am actually going to skip myself again because we talked about my number five um so reiterate who it is yeah my number five was yeah it was was crystal ball so um yeah crystal balls to the sky y'alls um so dave it's it's uh it's back to uh it's back to you for your number five yeah So my number five was held by the same person in the first half of the year.
01:02:42
Speaker
um But, you know, when when a figure gets better, it gets better. And kudos to the the folks at Jazzwares, because this is, if not one of the best AEW figures ever, and I think it's probably the best or one of my favorites for sure. Yeah.
01:03:02
Speaker
Although the blood and guts Moxley is great because it's like accurate because he's generally bleeding. um The Will Ospreay AEW Supreme just off the charts. like Yeah, the all-in was cool, but like the fact that you get basically two matching outfits that match the two sets of gear that match the the entrance jacket and like just a big fluffy
01:03:31
Speaker
entrance jacket for him. like Great likenesses. That's one of the better screaming likenesses. That's one thing that Jazzwares has has done over time. They've they've done screaming likenesses where they don't look like the face is like super stretched. Yeah. um I still haven't gotten this and I don't know. why i don't know why. It's it's a great Osprey like you could do.
01:03:57
Speaker
you know, if you want to do like the whole one knee video game pose. Like you can do that. You could do the whole like his whole entrance thing. yeah I have the I have the standard um whatever unmatched series that was. Yeah, like it's just kind of plain old Osprey. Just yeah, Osprey.
01:04:17
Speaker
Yeah. But yeah, he's had I think the Osprey was one of the better Super 7s too when he had the New Japan. Yeah, so it's cool to have kind of the next evolution like you know we had kind of up and coming osprey now we have like superstar will osprey he comes with that sweet trophy doesn't he from the the super seven one yeah the super juniors trophy yeah yeah super juniors trophy thank you yeah super cool i love the both of these colorways like the mardi gras colors like the golds and silver or golds and and purples and greens yeah awesome awesome i doubt they'd ever be able to like
01:04:57
Speaker
play nice with Ubisoft and get one of the Assassin's Creed things going because that's like yeah he's the aerial assassin like Will Ospreay is good and he loves that game so much and that would be cool but the tattoo is right there it's as close as you're going to get without having being able to get that logo so shouts to Dan on that one like he did yeah an ex outstanding outstanding work on the Ospreay Awesome pick, Dave.
01:05:29
Speaker
John, we're bet we are back to you for your ah number five. Number five. Okay. Number five is a return from midway through the they were yeah midway through last this year. um Again, he's packed up. So this the luckily I found his comic book sitting somewhere. And that is that is Marvel Legends ROM.
01:05:49
Speaker
I just think it's one of the best, like not only just ah like crazy pool, but yeah, Just, it's it's such a well-built Marvel Legends figure. It has so much range of motion on it. um The silver is nice. Just everything about it is just, it's a delightful figure.
01:06:05
Speaker
And I really did want to keep it on the list, even though he's in a crate somewhere in his storage unit right now, sadly. Yeah. And I think something like...
01:06:16
Speaker
marvel I don't even think like Marvel has the full rights. There's like, since they've made the figure more has kind of happened around the character. And I, and I don't think they have like, that was like, they moved on that when they could and they did. And yeah we got a ROM.
01:06:33
Speaker
Yeah, so the world's a better place. Yeah, they seem to be trying to get those, like, what's it, like the old Marvel comic books and stuff. They try to, I guess, re-license them for short periods of time, so they probably, you know, who knows, maybe we'll end up getting, like, a Marvel Godzilla one of these days.
01:06:51
Speaker
Yeah, I would... like, a Marvel Conan. That's the one I want. I would love... ah The Super 7 comic Conan that came out this year is very, very close to...
01:07:02
Speaker
what that needs to be and it it will do for now. um And again, based on how he was drawn, depending on which panel you looked at, he was a little bit beefier than, you know, your standard like six inch guy. So having him in seven inch scales, actually not terrible. Like he looks great with like a warrior Hulk.
01:07:19
Speaker
um But ah yeah, I would love that on um on an actual Marvel. legend Yeah, Marvel Conan assigned that legends deal. Isn't it crazy that like everybody like everybody's doing a Conan now except for Marvel? but Yeah, it's very it's very crazy. Yeah. Yeah.
01:07:35
Speaker
yeah i don't know if it comes down to a Frisetta thing. I'm um' I'm honestly I'm honestly not sure how that how that works. But ah who knows? Yeah. All right. So takes us even been published by so many different like Dark Horse had Conan for a while.
01:07:52
Speaker
I think IDW even had Conan for a while. Yeah. All right. So this takes us to my number four. um And this is something that I was very excited for this year. Something I have wanted since I was a kid. I have almost bought the 90s Kenner version multiple times. It's just kind of like, ah they're never going to put it out again. they're never go i'm just going to get the Kenner one thing. you know And finally, I waited, waited.
01:08:19
Speaker
And sure enough, this year... I got my Bantha. Oh, look at that. So um i I love this Bantha.
01:08:30
Speaker
It comes with a Tusken Raider, very, very well done Tusken Raider. He's got the soft goods so that way he can sit. um But the Bantha itself is nuts. It's got a fully articulated mouth. the detail on the inside, like the teeth. He's got his his full, you know, mustache and bangs and they're really well painted eyes under there, too.
01:08:53
Speaker
um Just ah one of my favorite creatures from the Star Wars universe. And I'm actually realizing there's things about it that I didn't know until just now. i appreciate this he has emo bangs.
01:09:03
Speaker
This saddle actually comes off. It's just clipped on in the bottom there. So like you could take you could take the whole saddle off if you wanted to. um But he's got articulated legs. ah You know, they just move back and forth. um I don't think the tails are. Oh, the tail is articulated. Look at that. So the tail even swings. But like this thing is just so soft, like the the fur hair that they used on it. um It feels like a like a real act. Like it feels like a small dog. um Shouts to Winston. Make the bantha like adorable.
01:09:39
Speaker
Yeah, it reminds me of Winston. Actually, it's soft, like soft, like Winston, Dave. Shout out um my dog nephew, Winston. But yeah, just just a really, really cool... i You know, even that the head can twist a little bit too. So like, it's it's super expressive. For future dog nephew? Yeah.
01:09:59
Speaker
Yeah, however that works. I don't know how that arrangement works. But yeah, really, really great creature. um Part of the Return to Tatooine program, which was, you know, really, really huge um for TBC this year.
01:10:13
Speaker
and um Yeah, a a great, just like classic Star Wars, like background beast, monster, alien thing.
01:10:24
Speaker
um Yeah, that's my ah my number four. That's and I'm just going to add, like I saw when you opened it. I was there when you opened it. And for you, Jess and the kids to all be like, that's cool. Like, yeah.
01:10:40
Speaker
Yeah, for for my wife to get excited, my wife um to get excited about ah a toy is a very, very rare thing. And she was like, she was like, no, that's that's actually great. That's great.
01:10:54
Speaker
That's great. So, yeah, that's my number four. So my number four. um Take a slight dip from where where this toy was in the first half.
01:11:09
Speaker
um And we're heading back to Japan, Eric. i I see that now in the the picture that just came up. um it's If you've been a great Muda fan, it's been a good year for you in toys. um That said, I don't know if we need any more great Mudas because I think we've hit like every era that you would want.
01:11:34
Speaker
i want one more. There's more could do. i want one more. There's more you could There's one more elite that I want, and we've got him in the Superstars version already. I just need i need the blue. yeah give me that ball blue give me a Give me blue Muda.
01:11:46
Speaker
um And that's, of course, the great Muda. This was the first figure... that um was released with the chase version. Both versions are awesome.
01:11:59
Speaker
It's like two different figures. um You get the entrance gear, you get the green mist, you get the hands where you could point to the throat before as he does the mist, like it's,
01:12:12
Speaker
There have been a few figures where during like reveals, like the ringside reveals or, um, WrestleMania weekend or any of those, like, you know, the toy fair or I'm sorry, uh, comic cons or any, you know, of the elite squad events where I've like almost kind of jumped out of my chair when they've announced something.
01:12:35
Speaker
Um, New Jack was the most recent one, but this was the first one. Like I was just like, mood like I yelled. Yeah. Oh, they're doing New Jack.
01:12:48
Speaker
Yeah, they're doing New Jack. Like WWE doing. the Yes. Yeah. And he's and he has a blood a bloody head. yeah He's a ring side exclusive. Wow.
01:12:59
Speaker
Yep. That's wild. But. The great Muda, a wrestler I was afraid of as a kid and grew to love. um My favorite. I love that because he like the green mist. It hurts. That is scary. He's terrifying. Yeah.
01:13:18
Speaker
You know, he takes off this like, well, you he's got this mask where you can only see his eyes when he's coming in and you barely can. And then he takes that off and he's like. got like just bright red face paint or like, you he's got like scary face paint. So it actually made me not afraid of face painted wrestlers as time went on, as much as I loved Demolition and Legion of Doom when I got as they started to show up. But like, you know, he never spoke.
01:13:53
Speaker
He had, for the most part, I think Gary Hart was his manager. He also has always made crazy facial expressions, too. Yeah. like he was very emotive.
01:14:05
Speaker
um As they call it in theater, you know, emoted to the back row. Like, Muda was the best. And he got, like, kind of old retirement Muda now, and he got NWO Muda, which...
01:14:21
Speaker
for as little time as he spent on US TV is like a great figure to have. I love the retirement one. That's actually my favorite great of of the year. um I, he, I left him in the box for so long. Like I just didn't get a chance to open them. When you open them the back on his, the back of his, um his entrance code, he has the goodbye.
01:14:42
Speaker
So it like it's written. yeah It's the actual it's the retirement match against Nakamura, which is which is awesome. So we got a pro wrestling Noah figure in twenty. twenty Yeah. five Yeah, it's insane.
01:14:53
Speaker
True, truly and remarkably insane. um John, it also hopefully opens the door for future. Fingers crossed legends.
01:15:04
Speaker
yeah Our next one is ah we're getting Bull Magano next. yes So long long, long, long overdue figure. so um All right, John, yeah, you're up with your, what are we at? Number four. We're number four, okay.
01:15:21
Speaker
So number four is a line I had previously, but I've changed the character now. So with this, my my turtle representation, this is Metalhead from the Joy Toy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line. um He actually only just came in like last week, but I just, I love him. He's so great. Look, like he can like drink his like little gas thing. um And he just has like attachments, like little openings everywhere. You can have, you can have like missiles coming out of his back. Like all his little like things in the back open up here.
01:15:53
Speaker
um And he's also huge. Like, like compare him to like a four inch figure. Like look how, oh not he's gigantic. Yeah, I think you had, if I remember correctly, you had April on your list yeah the first time around. yeah And April is still great. Don't get me wrong. I mean, this entire line, I think, except for Casey Jones, has been just fantastic. I i hate the Casey Jones figure. It's just they give they make you swap the parts to actually make him Casey Jones.
01:16:20
Speaker
And then when I got him to be Casey Jones, I thought he sucked. So I was like, I want to swap him back to the other guy. um But other than that, I mean, i don't know if the line's going on. They still have to... I think the only thing left to ship is the turtle van at this point. So it may just be the end of the line. And if it is, it's still fine. Because I don't know, like, in a matter of a year, they've done, like, 20 figures.
01:16:43
Speaker
Yeah. Like, Joy Toyer, like, they they are, like, machines. They just... They pump out, like, just high-quality figures. I mean, like, Leatherhead just came out. They did, like... And this guy shipped with, like, a set of, like, Roadkill Rodneys and, like, you can, like... And other little robots, and you can, like, switch all their parts around and stuff like that.
01:17:01
Speaker
um It's just... it's it It was... I mean, if this is it, it was a great line. Yeah. And, you know, and Turtles... is done to death, but they haven't done it in, um, like one 18th scale. So, you know, getting this one line is, is pretty fantastic. And they also kind of did their own thing. Like this isn't like based on anything. It's just cool looking. Yeah.
01:17:25
Speaker
Yeah. Like didn april April came with like boxing gloves. If I remember correctly, right. Yeah. like she yeah yeah Yeah. So even she was kind of her own thing. Yeah. And that's probably the most menacing, like metal head face.
01:17:36
Speaker
Yeah, right? he's really ah He's really cool. He kind of has, like, his mouth kind of opens. Yeah. um like he can Like, this little gun plugs into his chest. You can just close it if you want. just There's so many little panels and stuff. they do like dude They do so much with this small scale. It's kind of wild.
01:17:53
Speaker
Yeah, that is crazy. And the whole landscape of Turtles is gonna change by next year anyway. know, isn't that? that's Playmates. It's wild. I can't believe that's happening. I mean, it's just...
01:18:04
Speaker
don't know. ah Somebody else must have paid a bunch of money for the license because it just seems like if they're announcing that already, they know it's not it's not happening. yeah wonder who.
01:18:17
Speaker
the The thing the thing that somebody brought up, um one of like the turtle fan sites brought up, which I didn't think about when I first read that announcement, which, by the way, we're talking about a thing as if everyone on here knows, just in case you haven't heard play playmates who has held the master license for um Ninja Turtles since like 1982, think. um is no the At the end of 2026, so starting 2027, they will no longer hold that license. But one of the things that these sites brought up, or one of these sites brought up, is the all of the ancillary licenses all have to be negotiated through the master license, which means that...
01:18:58
Speaker
the whatever license potentially whatever license like NECA has whatever license McFarlane has with IDW stuff like all of that is going to super seven right like all of that's going to have to be renegotiated and like re-dispersed and things so um potentially that's that was the the claim at least um which which which is wild because ah I mean we've we've heard not necessarily like with 100% confirmation, but some characters have been blocked from other companies making them because they were only Playmates figures and like that belongs to Playmates, which means like NECA can't take a spin on that or Super 7 can't take a spin on it. The whole thing that happened with um with Sexy Rat King, Super 7, right? yeah that was so That was a Playmates issue. Yeah.
01:19:47
Speaker
um shouts to kyle uh but yeah so um yeah so that'll be interesting to see what what what the future holds for turtles who do you think would actually pick up that license though there's always so many companies equipped to do like that actual full retail like if there's a new entertainment coming out you know like what would be like hasbro mattel jacks maybe jazzwares like who else I mean, the the company that deserves it personally, like I think they should just let NECA own it and run with it.
01:20:21
Speaker
and Yeah, but NECA's never going to do that thing where they're making like all the kids tough. Yeah, and let them license that part out. License that part out. License that part out to like Jax or um Spin Master even, you know, to do like like Moose Toys is doing. Oh yeah, Spin Master would be equipped to do it too, I think as well.
01:20:42
Speaker
The thing is, though, NECA's, they did their, um what was it, their checklists leading up to Christmas.
Marvel Legends and McFarlane Highlights
01:20:52
Speaker
They've already done so much in Turtles. like There's not a whole heck of a lot left. There's not much left that they haven't touched.
01:21:00
Speaker
like i mean you like There's a few real scraping the bottom of the barrel cartoon guys, maybe. And then the animated movie. Like, the last animated movie. Yeah. yeah um And, like, I mean, they just started doing 2012, but... Yeah, they could they could... But they could also do 2003. I know everyone just bought those Super 7 ones, but, like, people would rebuy them if NECA did them. Dare they do the Michael Bay ones? Like, the Seamus? I think somebody should do the Michael Bay ones. Just make them really...
01:21:30
Speaker
I bet you, you know what? I would rather buy those Michael Bay ones than the, um do you remember when they had, they didn't, they showed it a toy fair, but they haven't showed it since that. Like what if the movie, the 89 movie or whatever year it was, 90 movie had bebop and rock steady. Yes. They looked very cursed.
01:21:48
Speaker
Yeah, that was interesting. The one that I'm still waiting for is i was i they did that what if April wore the famous yellow jumpsuit in the movie yeah yeah with the Judith Hoag head, and that hasn't come out yet. so It's been a few years now since they teased that.
01:22:04
Speaker
Yeah. so yeah We'll see what happens. yeah um that's It's back to me for number three, I think, now. Yes.
01:22:16
Speaker
So number three pulls me into the world of Marvel Legends. um Oh, no. I'm not... think we might cross over on this one. I'm not a big... Like, I'm not the biggest fan of this particular character, but I am a fan of this version of this character. i mentioned my Toy Biz Marvel vs. Capcom figures, 5-inch figures. This was my version of this figure for the longest time.
01:22:41
Speaker
Gamer vs. Wolverine. Um... i That's my number three, too. oh nice. There you go. um Yeah, and you got the... Oh, you got the kith version. like Look at you. That was the one I had open. I brought the boxed one. We're just going to ignore the guy on the other side of this, but that...
01:23:00
Speaker
Yeah, that Silver Samurai is a figure. mean, it's fine, but it's a figure from the game. So, I mean, if you're trying to get the cast, it's good to have. But, you know, the Wolverine is just next level, though. Yeah, this this figure is everything a Wolverine figure should be. The claws are thick and like long and chunky. And he has most magical metallic.
01:23:24
Speaker
He has the most magical single-jointed elbows I think Marvel has ever done in a character ever, like beyond 90 degrees. Like ah it's it's insane how well this figure poses and moves, and he just always looks like he's ready to absolutely like mess you up in in every way possible. Yeah. um Yeah, I just I just loved this. fit And I haven't stopped like just messing around with him um since I got him.
01:24:00
Speaker
It's the best Wolverine figure they've ever made. Like period like period. And it's the one where they finally figured out how to get that crouch forward in the ab joint, like how to actually give it a good range of motion because you can really get him down. oh yeah.
01:24:13
Speaker
Like you can like I know I know he like he he kind of scales a little bit large, but I mean, Marvel Legends scales large anyway. So still think again, it's.
01:24:25
Speaker
It depends. it just depends on who's drawing Wolverine, too. yeah Like, i I put him with my X-Men 97 stuff. And, like, even if you take his head off and put the, like, the X-Men 97 Logan head on it, it doesn't look like he has a tiny head on ah on a big body. Like, it actually does work. But, yeah, the the crouch on this thing is just insane. That's great. Yeah.
01:24:48
Speaker
And it's so it's so funny because, like... when I think that when figure arts showed off theirs, i was like, i mean, it's a nice Wolverine, but like, I think like as far as like game accuracy, like I think the Marvel legends one has it, has it beaten out.
01:25:03
Speaker
Yeah. And it's got that, it's got that double head um articulation too. So like when he's down in that pose, you can, you can pretty much have him like looking up at it. If you, if you tilted his body up, he's looking up at the sky. Right. yeah But like, it's just,
01:25:19
Speaker
It's every it's everything you need in this color way of of Wolverine. I mean, it's just. Yeah, so that's that's my number three. About to hit that berserker super and then tag out.
01:25:34
Speaker
Yeah, I got to like Ryu.
01:25:39
Speaker
um My number three. was also my number six yes so this is where eric was waiting uh just because i had the uh i guess the higher rank but um pardon me
01:25:58
Speaker
okay we're good um i'm just gonna take a quick sip so dead air dead air dead air that's not dead air we're just watching you drink that we're watching you murder your thirst Yes, that's right.
01:26:10
Speaker
With liquid death. With liquid death. i have a squeeze to death today. So, um... McFarlane, DC Multiverse, Batman Returns, Catwoman.
01:26:22
Speaker
um The best figure in the line, by far, in the wave. um Just absolutely nailed the the likeness.
01:26:33
Speaker
um I love the detail of the eye holes not being... of being irregular. Like they're not, it's, they nailed the homemade Ness of like the suit, the body with the corset, the whip rules.
01:26:48
Speaker
Um, you know, she's like Eric's showing you now she's super posable. Um, if you're listening, you could just hear that Eric is posing her. Um, yeah, she sounds like she's made out of leather. Yeah. This is this, this is the most posable,
01:27:07
Speaker
McFarlane figure like I there I cannot think and please somebody correct me if I'm if I'm wrong but like I have not been able to get any of his figures in that like full crouch and she's she's there With the straight feet, too, so that way, because she has the right ankles to do this.
01:27:30
Speaker
So, like, you can actually get her to hold this pose, like, and and actually stay in it on a surface. But even details for a character, for a figure that is, like, effectively, like, black pleather. Yeah. And stitching, like...
01:27:49
Speaker
Fantastic. And, you know, I don't know if it was if the Michelle Pfeiffer rights were were there. I would have to imagine they were. Oh, no, that's absolutely. That is her. There's no.
01:28:02
Speaker
And the the again, same same feedback from the expression on the penguin. I mean, this is the face she's making in that one sheet. Yeah. But it's also like.
01:28:14
Speaker
Expressive enough to be. from a lot of different points in the movie like yeah and you know if I could ah there's of course if I could have wanted more but I don't but you couldn't do it without actually making a second version of her where you get like battle damage cat woman which I would love if that's on the i anything's possible in the last year with like a puff of hair coming out of the side coming out of the side yeah And she comes with one of the greatest accessories of all time, not pictured here, being the stun gun.
01:28:51
Speaker
Yes. Which is amazing. or taste oh you on actually So you can actually give Christopher Walken the the reason behind him having the the burned head. Yeah, the the the kiss of death, if you will.
01:29:05
Speaker
easy um Yeah, no, absolutely stunner of a figure. This was the first one I got from the the whole wave. Like, I ordered mine from GameStop, pre-ordered them at the same time. This was the first one I got.
01:29:18
Speaker
And I was like, I wish I opened this one last because I don't think they're going to get much better than this. and This is the one i operate but I have to say this is the one I was most excited for in, in, in the series. um You know, like I, I just, we talked about it at length in our ah toys on film episode about Batman returns, but, but even down to the claws, like the, so um the like needle, needle claws, like yeah, Todd, Todd, ah Todd swung for the fences on this one and absolutely hit a grand slam on this one.
01:29:55
Speaker
Yep. John's movie figures have had have been really some of the best stuff. Like any of the... like not Maybe not the more recent movies, but like when he went back and did like any of like i guess what we do called the vintage movies and stuff like that. yeah been batman Batman Forever, Batman, Robin, all of those things. Like the Uma Thurman for somebody that...
01:30:16
Speaker
For somebody that that says that like the, you know, he's been on record multiple times saying that female the female characters don't sell as well as the male ones. When he makes the female characters, they crush.
01:30:27
Speaker
Yeah. And that Uma Thurman one's like crazy expensive now too. Yep. And the crowdfunded Harley looks great too. Like, Yeah, yeah I'm excited for that. I'm very excited for that. The other two Harleys have been great, too. so yeah And the new Cena, like, a thousand percent better than the original.
01:30:48
Speaker
Yeah, it actually looks like him this time. yeah You know, actually, though, there is a precedent for the battle damage face because Naka did a quarter scale that had the... um hair all messed up for cat woman and uh and stuff way back when and so you know it has been done before us so it's not like it's something that hasn't been approved or she would you know maybe she wouldn't be like you i don't want to look like that or something like that we're we're getting that joker so they think yeah if he wants to come back and give me a one-off inspired 89 joker
01:31:21
Speaker
Yeah, I'll take it. Yes. I what are you going to It's it's I think that answers, though, the as long as there's a 89 Joker, we'll take what we can get.
01:31:34
Speaker
And I think that's going to that's going to make a lot of people happy. yeah It's it's quite literally a way to go out with a bang. Yeah. So, um John, this is to you for your number. Oh, no, your number three was Wolverine.
01:31:50
Speaker
Yeah, I'm Wolverine, so... all right, so um we're on to number two then. Back to me for to start us on the the number two round. um So my number two was previously my number one um at the halfway point. I still absolutely love this figure. It is my favorite Marvel legend of the year. It is one of my favorite action figures of all time. um It was only topped by one thing, and Dave knows probably what the number one is now at this point. But um my number two is
01:32:21
Speaker
is Maximum Hulk. So um I will not wax poetic the way that i did last time about this figure because I got absolutely eaten alive in the comments for it. But um you know i still I still absolutely love this figure. I love the Hulk's my favorite character. This is everything I've ever wanted in a Hulk figure.
01:32:41
Speaker
um I go back and forth between the three different heads depending on what day of the week is what way I feel. And I love throwing the the anniversary shirt piece on him. If you have that from an older Hulk, it looks looks great on him.
01:32:58
Speaker
But yeah, my number two, Maximum Hulk. awesome figure. It's been ah the maximum line has been pretty fun this year. The other two releases are also very good figures. Um, but the Hulk is, uh, it's where it's at for me for number two.
01:33:14
Speaker
So it wouldn't be a top two on my end of the year list. And, you know, like a lot of people put like articulation or, you know, and your list is your list. Um,
01:33:30
Speaker
But I think, like, for me, the biggest thing for any of for a list for the year is vibes. um So my number two is the same as it was going into the half, because nothing else really has kind of vibed as i vibe me as much.
01:33:47
Speaker
um It's Papa Emeritus 4.
01:33:52
Speaker
You know, Ghost is probably one of my favorite modern bands. And, you know, I had the the joy of going to see Ghost at Medicine Square Garden this year.
01:34:06
Speaker
um Great concert. Got to sit really close. You know, it was one of those things where it was like, hey, this is a band that I love. i want to sit, like, as close to the stage as possible. And it was great.
01:34:19
Speaker
um I love this band. i love the lore. love... Just the different, trying to, you know, oh, what's Papa going to look like this time around? um i am very much looking forward to Papa 5, because there is a lot that can be done there, and I think it's going to be cool.
01:34:36
Speaker
But, um, yeah. It should be coming in February, I think. Yeah. So,
Ghostbusters and Fanbase Appreciation
01:34:44
Speaker
shouts to Kyle. Um... Very excited to see what Kyle and two friends of the pod, Kyle Wadaga, formerly of Super 7, and Steve Ozer of of mo Mattel. ah They're both at Mattel now. And they actually announced on um the Toying Around Streamathon, Holiday st Streamathon, that they are officially working together on DC. So Steve steve will be steve will be working on DC with with Kyle.
01:35:15
Speaker
um That was all that they were at liberty to say at the time. Interesting. But knowing that the two of them will be working on that together is is very, very exciting. Yes.
01:35:26
Speaker
But um as for things that Kyle has made already, Papa Four. Yeah. Probably one of my favorite Ghost albums, too. All right, ah John, to you for your number two. Okay. My number two is... um I'll bring him here.
01:35:45
Speaker
Realistically, i would take anyone from the line so far, but it's the Mondo 112 Scare Ghostbusters. I'll just do Pete and
01:35:54
Speaker
Sam Hain because it's easier. um But I think this is like, I almost equate to this to like, this is like the line I would i wanted. I wanted line.
01:36:08
Speaker
I just wanted like exact real Ghostbusters. They don't need to be super articulated. They don't need to be, I just wanted them to be, you know, mostly accurate to the, to the cartoon. And this is exactly what they did. They give us some cool ghosts with them. um I mean, so far I've gotten Egon and Pete and um apparently Winston's starting to ship now. so um it's like you know i could just say that the whole the whole line is my favorite so far but yeah i'll just um i'll use pete as the example but um yeah i love it um i think yeah they're really expensive but i also feel like i'm not making any like
01:36:48
Speaker
i'm not making any sacrifices. Like I'm not like, like I could say, you know, I could get a cheaper figure, but it might not be like exactly, you know, or it could be a DST or something like that. So like this, I feel like it's perfect. It holds up well. The accessories are thought out well. um I think the only thing I don't love is the wires that they use for the ah trap because it just, it's like, it's like a,
01:37:10
Speaker
It's like an actual wire. So I don't love it, but um I mean, everything else is is great. They, you know, the monsters are cool. They even come with little paper craft ghosts with them.
01:37:23
Speaker
so like, I mean, I know they're not going to get to the all of them and it's just a silly inclusion, but I think it's kind of fun that they just have little ghosts that I can put in the background with my my display. So I love them.
01:37:34
Speaker
They're great. That's awesome. um so does that take us to my number one now is that where that was our last number two well i have to say um i couldn't have i we couldn't have picked a better order to do this in because i couldn't have asked for a better segue to my number one um because you're gonna hear my number one coming oh
01:38:00
Speaker
my number one yeah It's not going to fit entirely on camera. I'm also going to stop it from screaming into the microphone. Maybe. There we go. um Yeah, the HasLab, ah specifically the Ecto-1A.
01:38:17
Speaker
um I have wanted a proper Ecto-1A since I was probably seven, eight years old, somewhere around there. um Kenner did do like a refreshed version of the Ecto-1 that was kind of close. Like it had special decals and stuff, but like...
01:38:38
Speaker
It wasn't this. um This is a literal piece of art. um i I can't stress enough how cool this entire set is, especially as somebody at hot take. I prefer ah Ghostbusters 2 to Ghostbusters 1 at like every day and twice on Sunday. So the fact that I have the Ghostbusters in the dark suits,
01:39:05
Speaker
With the full fully kitted out, um you know, light effects. ah You can you can actually change these um every time it makes me smile. It just makes me smile. You can change the. ah the These actually just kind of like slide on and off.
01:39:24
Speaker
oh So they give you the different messages for the l LED thing. so like sometimes it has like the phone number up. You could do like we're ready to we're ready to believe you. um yeah, it's, it's just, it's just incredible. The lights on the inside, um the updates to the actual Ghostbusters themselves. So like I, I have, um, Egon and Peter are in the car right now, but like even just, you know, uh, Ray with the, the slime blower and the full like slime blower, blower kit and all the different hoses and stuff coming out of it. yeah,
01:40:01
Speaker
the what I will say is the best Slimer figure that's ever been made. ahead, show the backside. There you go.
01:40:12
Speaker
With that ghost badunk. Yeah, he's he's got the cheeks. um Yeah, and then i lastly just have to say shouts to my my brother-in-law, Oscar. He printed me tire chocks.
01:40:25
Speaker
because it kept rolling it kept rolling away on me. It's very heavy, and my desk is not perfectly level. So he... he printed me um He printed me tire chalk. I may need a special order there.
01:40:40
Speaker
so it stops Don't worry, he made ones for you too, Dave. Did he make double? He did not make double, but we can we can make arrangements. um But yeah, that's that's my ah that's my number one. Like I said, I have wanted this for...
01:40:55
Speaker
Forever and even seeing it in person multiple times. So like we saw the the model um'm going back to Toy Fair. We've we saw it just recently at New York Comic Con was out on display seeing it and actually holding it in your hands and like getting to put it together and play with it. And yeah.
01:41:15
Speaker
two very separate things. And like I sat on the floor with Ghostbusters two on the TV watching Ghostbusters two with my kids putting this together. It took me the entire length of the movie to like fully unbox it and decal it and and convert it from the Ecto one to the one a. But yeah, that's that's my number one is the one a So i'm I'm glad we didn't do rules beforehand.
01:41:40
Speaker
Because um i from my rules specifically, was like, I can't do the Ecto-1 and the 1A because it was like like, how is it not?
01:41:54
Speaker
Right? Like, it's the thing, even when I saw it, at when it got revealed as the HasLab and we saw it at, um when we had that opportunity to go to Hasbro Satellite, yeah see it like,
01:42:06
Speaker
it's the coolest thing ever, but I was, you know, I kind of... It was just such an easy answer that I was like, i can't...
01:42:18
Speaker
i But it's i hands down. I made it easy for you. But yeah, picking it it's my favorite vehicle like of all time, like probably my favorite movie vehicle of all time.
01:42:31
Speaker
Shy, maybe the doctor, no Aston Martin, maybe or the eighty it's that will be all. It's my second favorite vehicle. The only vehicle I like more than this is the 89 Batmobile. Yeah, I mean, it's ahead of the DeLorean for me, for sure. But.
01:42:46
Speaker
I just love the fact that now at some point I'm going to be able to put together a display, not just with the 84 Ecto-1, but with the Ecto-1A, with the kids, with ever like yeah Lewis with the the terror dogs. Like it's it's such so good. And it turned out as good as like as awesome as the proto was that we got to see.
01:43:16
Speaker
it turned out that good in person. Yeah. Like it was one of those believe the hype has labs and I'm so happy it cleared everything. Like that's one of the things though, with has labs in general, like the thing that they end up delivering because of the amount of time and like work and effort that goes into it. Like there hasn't been a has lab. Um, and I haven't backed all of them obviously, but like the, one all of the ones that I have backed, um,
01:43:42
Speaker
I have felt that way where it's like the thing that I got at the end was like, oh, this feels special. Like and it's and the Ghostbusters fan base, you kind of wish every fan base was the Ghostbusters fan base, because not only do they show up, but they're stoked on everything like. Oh, you mean the Star Wars fan base can be difficult, Dave?
01:44:03
Speaker
right The Ghostbusters fan base like is like, we're getting this? Awesome! I want one. oh you can make it the second one? I want two. And like that's what happened. I've backed every Ghostbusters one because between Christina and I, we love, like, have an unconditional love of Ghostbusters.
01:44:22
Speaker
And it is the the pack delivered, the ghost trap, and the PKE meter delivered, like, these delivered, like,
01:44:34
Speaker
Yeah. Just awesome stuff. All right.
Video Game Collectibles and Nostalgia
01:44:39
Speaker
Dave, that brings us to number one, man. What are what are we what are we looking at here? So, um right up there with childhood vibes.
01:44:47
Speaker
um Full disclosure, mine didn't change, and I waxed poetic about it at the halfway point. um So, I'm not going to do it again, but, like, I kept...
01:45:01
Speaker
I kept the Ecto-1 off because I wanted to do just figures this year. Um, and I couldn't knock this out of number one. Like that, this was the main reason why I kept it number one. Cause again, something from my childhood that I absolutely loved.
01:45:16
Speaker
Um, you know, Pee Wee's Big Adventure was a movie that I was amazing. It's why I wanted to learn how to ride a bike, but I learned like later on, like, Oh, I had a hip problem that prevented me from riding a bike.
01:45:30
Speaker
Um, So but like this was a movie I saw in the movies when I was a kid. um It's turned into like, of course, Pee Wee's Playhouse was something that I absolutely loved. And we got Terry as part of this. You
01:45:47
Speaker
know, I even love Big Top Pee Wee. It's not good, but I love it. like um It's OK. I watched the original comedy special when I was way too young to have watched it because like the entendres are just they pile on its new levels of entendre. um The new special was great. RIP Paul Rubin's like.
01:46:14
Speaker
You know yeah, outstanding comedic actor, but. You know, pew he was Pee Wee. And shouts to Blaine, too, for an incredible job on on this figure. Yeah, for making this happen.
01:46:28
Speaker
But like I couldn't in my right mind take this out of number one. And that was kind of like my where my Ecto one rule was because I couldn't make that number two. Like, let's be real.
01:46:41
Speaker
But like this for me was my favorite figure of the year. um And it still is.
01:46:50
Speaker
Awesome. And John, that brings us to you, man, for your your number one. What was what was your favorite figure of ah of twenty twenty five? My favorite figure 2025 goes back to my Warcraft collection.
01:47:05
Speaker
And this is by... The company is now called Grey Wolf Toys. They used to be called Mithril Toys. People get mad at me, but they're really just Storm Collectibles doing like a side gig or whatever they're doing. I don't know. But um so this... It's scaled Storm Collectibles old scale.
01:47:24
Speaker
It's built like a Storm Collectibles. It's a Storm Collectibles. There's no doubt about it. um But yeah, so like this is Sylvanas from a World of Warcraft. It's just an amazing figure. that There was a pre-order bonus to have her like with the exposed belly. you could She's armored otherwise. i don't even know why they did that, but she has like an armored cape. She has um adjustable eyes. Like you can actually, you can either, you can make them all white, like they would typically be in the game, or you can give her pupils, you pull off the face, adjust the eyes, however you want to do it.
01:47:55
Speaker
um She's got like all the accessories. She's just, a she's just like the perfect representation. And she's in the same scale with all the, you know, the ogres and stuff like that so like i'm gonna break my computer holding these guys up on it um so like you can see like they're just uh you know yeah they're really uh really kind of fleshing out that world and she's one i've been waiting for for a while and again it's just my thing of i don't know why blizzard just never bothered to make toys for any of their stuff
01:48:28
Speaker
And so just I end up buying really expensive versions that aren't quite officially licensed. But no, this one, um you know, I think pre-order went up at like the beginning of the year and I got it like a month or two ago. And it's just one I've really looked forward to. So, you know, I'm super happy.
01:48:47
Speaker
breath yeah Oh, yeah. Yeah, she's so she's got like, just like the, and and it's exactly like the armor pretty much in the game. So, um I mean, maybe the face, you know, maybe the face like this is a little bit soft, but I mean, again, you're dealing with video games and between like, there's, you know, you even see it with like Star Wars. Like you don't, you never know what, like, it's always, it's always going to look different. You know, sometimes you get Star Wars guy, you know, you get a Kyle Katarn that looks like, um,
01:49:18
Speaker
whatever his name is. um Yeah. So, yeah. You mean he's, his face actually isn't made of squares. yeah Right. Yeah. It's that it's the, it's the, the, the translation of polygons to reality, you know, and yeah that that looks absolutely fantastic. Again, like, you know, one of the most toyetic entities in, in all of pop culture being world of Warcraft and right the possibilities are endless. Yeah.
01:49:46
Speaker
yeah It's a game I never played, but I always thought, like okay, they have cool-looking stuff at least, like from watching trailers and stuff. Yeah, and i don't play the yeah I haven't played the game in years, but that's it's always just been it's just been one of my... you know I played it for a long time, and it was always one of my favorite things. So I'm happy that like just companies exist that make high-quality stuff like this. so Yeah.
01:50:10
Speaker
And do you usually get those from from five k or... Yeah, um like you gun damn it. There's those types of sites typically. um i think, yeah, I think, you know, the the tariffs and stuff kind of played a role in making it harder to do and they're more expensive now.
01:50:28
Speaker
Yeah. So, but, you know, pick and choose your spots, I guess, is well all you really can do with this stuff. Yep. um But no, yeah, i love I love my video game. Like, I think that's that's always been my big collection is getting video game stuff and I think I've been suckered into so many expensive, stupid things because of it, but it's worth it.
01:50:48
Speaker
So it's funny. My one of my superlatives was going to be, is it will it Fortnite? One of my super superlative ideas and it was going to my way to get stupid, sexy Flanders on there. great Save that one for next year.
01:51:03
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I mean, it came out this year. Will it? No, no. It's just about anything anymore. Yeah. I'm just my my son needed to be cradled. I'm just he's getting getting late. He's tired. They just added Pulp Fiction to Fortnite. like I saw that.
01:51:19
Speaker
Yeah. Crazy. Truly, truly crazy. Mm hmm.
Year in Review and Conclusion
01:51:23
Speaker
Um, well, it's been a great year for, for toys again, like some of the best toys that I think we've ever gotten. We got this year. I think it's really interesting that the three of us had almost no crossover, um, in the first half of the year. I think Dave, you and I crossed over on like one thing.
01:51:43
Speaker
Um, and that was Pee Wee Herman. You didn't have Papa on there? No, no, I didn't have him on my first half. um And not um well I didn't cross over at all with with ah with John. And we had two this time. So, um yeah, it's just a really, really, ah really interesting year. Lots of stuff out there.
01:52:04
Speaker
Yeah. And Catwoman as well. we um We would have had Ecto one, but like, yeah, I just It's such a number one. I couldn't not. That something too good.
01:52:16
Speaker
Yeah, I couldn't couldn't not do it. And I didn't even take Egon out. Egon's sitting in the passenger seat right now holding the the coffee mug and the balloons. that's That's one of the legit best accessories of the year, too.
01:52:30
Speaker
um Yeah, and I have i have the the spirit guide is open on the dashboard right now on the inside of the car. ah Anyway, um absolutely incredible year. John, thank you so much for for joining us. I know these are always these top 10 lists are always ah ah a long haul, but um remind our followers, our listeners, our viewers, if they aren't already, where can they follow you on ah on social media and get the links to all of the good things?
01:52:58
Speaker
No, sure. Yeah, you could follow me on, you know, Twitter, Instagram, You can go to preternia.com, the actual website, and find links to all my stuff too. But yeah, that's mostly where I'm busy. That's mostly where i hang out is, you know, Twitter and Instagram. So, but I'm on all the socials.
01:53:20
Speaker
Just look for my little He-Man avatar. You'll find me. And we'll make sure we put links in the description below. Everyone who is listening, I'm sure, is already following you. And if they're not, oh, my God, what are they doing? um But, yeah, ah thank you again so much for for joining us. Thanks, guys.
01:53:38
Speaker
Yeah, let's let's do this again in ah in June. um Dave, ah send us home. Happy New Year, everybody. Happy New Year.
01:53:51
Speaker
Thank you for hanging out with us today. Subscribe, rate, and review this podcast wherever you listen, and then tell your friends to do it. Thanks also to Joe Azari, the golden voice behind our intro.
01:54:02
Speaker
Learn more about him in the show notes. Our music is Game Boy Horror by The Zombie Danes. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Adventures in Collecting and on Twitter at AIC underscore podcast.
01:54:17
Speaker
Stop by and say hi. Show us your hauls and photos. Tell us your toy stories. Maybe we'll talk about it on a future episode. um try this at home voidwa prohibited and some assembly required each sold separately not a flying toy consult a physician if your toy run exceeds more than four hours
01:54:38
Speaker
This has been a non-productive media presentation. Executive producer, Frank Hablaui. This program and many others like it on the Non-Productive Network is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License. Please share it, but ask before trying to change it or sell it. For more information, visit non-productive.com.