That's one angry pussy...

So I reached THAT level, y'know? I'm in THAT deep that I can even post about it without feeling shame (well, just a little bit of shame, but not enough! Not enough, I tell you! Not enough!).

I bought a toy just to get the accessory! And the accessory is a Red Lantern (the color of fury) and it is also a cat. What? What were you thinking? Pervs...

Last week I got this:



That's DC Direct's Red Lantern Mera from Blackest Night Wave 7. Man! Seven waves already? Yeah, seven waves and they are not even done yet! When I read it, I though Blackest Night was OK, and the toys are pretty cool (I'm still looking for that damned Larfleeze).

Like some of my friends I was annoyed that the first Mera figure ever was a two-page gimmick like this one. Don't get me wrong, the figure is great, lacks articulation (like most figures from DCD), but it has great detail and sculpt. Luckily a regular Mera will come out as part of the Brightest day line (also from DCD).

It's really weird, but now that DCD is kinda trying to do never released characters (they are releasing Mera, Hawk, Dove, the new Aqualad, Jade, etc.) Mattel decided to do an entire wave of substitute lanterns. It's like the world has gone mad! Mad, I tell you! Mad! (I really should cut that out).

But why did I get Mera if I didn't really want her? For this:



That's Dex-Starr a Red Lantern that used to be a cat and now is a little feline killing machine. Apparently he was drawn as a joke and he was weird and so out of place, that they decided to leave him. And, for what I've heard he became a fan favorite.

His back story is actually great, probably one of the best things Geoff Johns ever wrote. But maybe to sad for you, so I probably shouldn't post it... I'm just kidding, here it is!





The sculpt on Dex-Starr is great, but when I got it out of the blister I couldn't get him to stand. I thought it was a solid chunk of plastic that didn't stand on it's own and I was getting really pissed, at me, at DCD, at the Guardians of the Universe, at God, whatever, I was just angry enough to vomit acid blood.

So I turned to the Internet, source of all reason and justice... But the online reviews didn't give me any hope, just a bunch of people complaining about how Dex-Starr wouldn't stand. But they did give a crucial piece of information, the tail was articulated.

Then I realized, it's not that he can't stand, it's just that the tail is packed on the wrong side of the body. Force it a bit to the other side, no hair driers or hot water required and...

Wait for it...



He can stand! It's a miracle I tell you! A miracle!

Sorry, I had to do it one last time.

Until next time.

You are the wind beneath my nightwings

Quick superhero toy update: For quite some time now I wanted a new Nightwing figure for my Batman display. The one I had was the Superman/Batman DC Direct figure based on the art of Ed McGuinness.

And he looked like this:



As I said before, I like Ed McGuinness style for some characters, but I don't think it particularly works for everybody. The second after I bought this figure I regretted it, 'cause Nightwing (in my geeky mind) is not a super muscular guy, he's more like an acrobat. Plus, I didn't buy (and never will) an Ed McGuinness Batman figure, so Nightwing was actually bigger than Batman and that makes no sense. NO SENSE I TELL YOU!!!

My wife tries to tell me these are not real people, so I shouldn't care that much... I know, she's crazy, right?

The Nightwing I really wanted was the one that came with the Hush series 2 in 2004, but that figure was so good that sold out quickly and I couldn't find it anywhere in Argentina. The only time I saw it on sale was incredibly expensive. So I had to pass. And wait.

This year, DC Direct decided to reissue that figure (along with the First Appearance Nightwing from 2005) for a series of two-packs called DC Origins. And buying those two figures was actually cheaper than getting the original 2004 Hush NIghtwing. The rest, as they say, is math...



Both figures were repainted with the metallic colors DC Direct discovered recently (they think that by using those color we forget that these are actually used sculpts, no DC Direct, we don't forget). But in a character like Nightwing, I think the shinny paint is kinda cool.



This is the Nightwing I won't be using for the Batman display. He's wearing the original costume, and for a while, in the 90s I thought that costume was cool. Why? Basically, because it wasn't his old Robin costume with the pixie boots and green speedos. So, a bag of potatoes would have been a cooler costume than that (for a guy in his mid-20s or so).

Still, I like this figure, because it's silly, and it's smiling and has an almost innocent feel to it. Not a bunch of articulation, but stands well on it's own and that's all I really care. No issues with the paint either.



Now, this is the figure I wanted. I really like this costume and Tim Gunn approved it too, so, hey, if Tim Gunn says it's OK, then who am I to argue? The figure is basically one color except for the face and the light blue stripe. The sculpt is great, but now he's a serious, serious guy. The paint is quite accurate, but not perfect, and that's a shame. But he still looks great.

Dc Direct is not announcing a lot of things that interest me, so I'll continue to cherry pick their lines as I cherry pick most of my toys... Hmm now I want cherries... Cherries were not my favorite fruit when I was a kid... But well, time changes us... And speaking of that:



Until next time.

Earth Mightiest... Bunny?

In Argentina, we call our Swap Meets, Park Sales, they are usually found on Sundays and, as the name says it, on parks. I don't go to Park Sales often because there's usually always the same stuff over and over. But sometimes you can get fun things.

Things like:



This is Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, he was Captain Marvel's pet during the make-no-sense era or something. He was released by Dc Direct in 2007 as part of the Shazam! line and is a figure I always thought to be fun, but not enough to actively search for it. But there it was, right in front of me in some guys table.

The seller also had Billy Batson (for me, he's like the accessory of this two-pack) but the paint was pretty damaged, Hoppy, on the other hand was perfect.



Image from Joe acevedo's site

The sculpt is really weird, he looks very cartoony, almost like a strange custom with a superhero type body and a Bugs Bunny head. Just another fun but not World changing figure from DCD homage to the silver age of comics and another cool addition to the Legion of Super Pets Squad! (yes, I just made that up)



Until next time.

(At least we didn't get an Uncle Marvel in the series).

Silver age goodness

As a teenager of the 90s I grew up with the gritty look of comics, people died, Batman was as crazy as the villains he fought and Superman's cape was shredded in every battle he had. Did I mentioned Superman had a mullet, Batman never shaved, the second Robin was dead and Rob Liefeld had established that lots of pouches and no feet were the way to go if you were an X-Men.

During that time I wanted my comics like my coffee, dark and with just a little pinch of vanilla. In that time I decided that the Adam West' Batman I loved during my childhood was stupid and that old comics with silly stories were impossible to enjoy. I guess I was trying to prove I was a man.

Later, I realized how incredibly idiotic this was (I don't even like pouches that much anymore) and in the moment I realized that, I became a better man and just a little bit happier. Why? Because what makes a person better is to experiment and investigate and try new things and acknowledge that not everything that is different is bad. It's called experience.

So I went out, and got this:


Pictured: Experience.

This is DC Direct Silver Age classic set of Batwoman, Batgirl, Bat-mite and Ace the Bat-hound. Characters so silly (most of them anyway) that I wouldn't have paid any attention to them in my gritty pouched years.



Batgirl and Batwoman are nice enough I still believe is not the brightest idea to go and fight crime in the night wearing yellow, green and red outfits. But hey, who am I to judge? They also have their utility purses... I guess that was a little silly, but as I said to that online test about sexual preferences: "the more bat-people, the merrier".

The sculpts are pretty good, it was 2004, quite a good year for DC Direct, they both stand on their own, and they are both graced with a happy silver age smile. And there's so much frowning toys in my Batman display that I'll keep these two around to even the odds.



Bat-Mite is a figure of a character I understand but, like the great Gazoo, never fully liked. It was also the one I less needed, since he was re-released in a Bat-characters box in June this year with a slightly different paint. Oh DCD, I know you too well already...

Still Bati-Duende (Bat-Goblin, as he was called in Spanish) is a nice addition to the bat-shelf.

But the real reason I couldn't let this great box go was this:



Ace, the Bat-hound. My all time favorite Super Pet. Why? Because he's Batman's dog! Because he wears a mask and a collar with the bat symbol! Because he can easily defeat Catwoman and even Catman! Because with enough time to prepare he can beat Krypto too!

The Ace figure was considered more like an accessory, so he has almost no articulation, but he stands perfectly and was placed with the due respect right in front Batman in the shelf. Because if I'm going to be in a display case for the rest of my toy existence I'd like to have my dog there with me. It's just the humane thing to do.

Until next time.

(Damn, all this talk about the 90s... I think I'll have that nightmare with the pouches again...)

Turn on, Tune in and Corpse Out

During my trip to San Francisco I was able convince my girlfriend (mostly by lying to her about interesting places to see) to do a little tour of Toy ad Comic stores. There, I managed to get three more figures for my Black Lantern Corpse display of JLZombies.



First, from DC Direct Blackest Night - Wave 2. Martian Manhunter.

I just find the sculpts of this line appealing. I think they are doing a great job showing some gruesome decay in the bodies of the fallen heroes. I've read the Blackest Night event, wasn't really moved by it but still thought it was kinda cool. Since I wasn't really following but read most of it in one sitting I didn't get tired of it like some people did.



The figure just comes with the base and the soft rubber cape, competes with Superman for most display space taken. I like the way he looks and he stands fine, I'm OK treating this as plastic DCD sculptures, for articulation I already got Mattel.



I think Aquaman from Wave 3 is the scariest of the lot. The face sculpt is horrifying and also I think he can telepathically control sushi. I like sushi, but you have to agree is one scary food. I think one of the reasons he's so spooky is because of the orange top. All the other Black Lanterns wear black/silver/grey outfits, this one stands out from the crowd.

A note in zombie fashion. As a zombie you usually move in large groups, so you will want to stand out in some way. Take a look at this picture:



See how your eyes tend to see the guy in the yellow coat? That's because he knew what he was doing. If you're bitten by a zombie, make sure to be wearing an outfit that makes a statement.

Take Firestorm from Wave 4, for example:



He doesn't have a lot going in the costume department, but he compensates with blue flames coming out of his head, eyes, mouth and insignia. a bit of a show off for my taste, but the sculpt in this case is also excellent.

The plastic used by DCD for the package is quite sturdy and some warpage may occur. A little balance exercise may be needed to stand these figures at first, but one you have that down, they won't fall... for a couple of days...

Also, when I returned I was able to get Dead Wonder Woman (also from Wave 4):



She doesn't have as much love as the others in the sculpting department, I think she's mostly a repaint. But if you've read the comic it kinda makes sense. Still, I don't think a lot of people would want to buy a rotting Wonder Woman, no sir, we want our zombie girls hot...



And in that note...



Until next time.

(Remember, wear your brightest colors even during the Blackest Night, 'cause you may be a zombie, but are still an individual... Right?)

AmeriCat Woman

In the World of Toys (hmm, that's not good enough, it kinda needs and adjective... The Wonderful World of Toys? Still not good enough, The Wonderful Wide World of Toys? Nah... The Wonderful Wide World of Wicked Toys? I'll keep trying)...

In the something something something World of Toys, if you are a collector there are two kinds of toys, those toys you need and those toys you want. For example Some time ago, I decided that I wanted to get in the Futurama boat. But they were in wave 4 or 5 at the moment and getting the two figures of wave one was really hard. So I found a guy that was selling all the waves, arranged a price for all of them, dusted one of my piggy banks filed with Krugerrands, smashed it with a hammer, shed a tear and jumped in the line with full force, my eyes closed and the hope that I didn't kill myself when I reached the ground.

Those were toys I needed.

For the toys you want, you can wait. Well, I waited and it finally paid off:



In Argentina is almost as hard to get a Catwoman from the Hush line as it is to get Nightwing. But I had a stroke of luck and found a guy that was trying to sell his Hush collection. The catch was that he didn't want to split it 'cause he thought he'll end up with figures he wasn't going to be able to sell. I offered him a deal: If I could locate buyers for the other figures I could keep Catwoman. One good thing? Collectors love Hush figures. A couple of phone calls later, my friends got a great deal on some toys, the guy sold all of his and I could buy Catwoman. I felt like The Kingpin (of course I could never fill a white suit like he does, but still, it felt good).



Catwoman, like all female figures from Hush has a gorgeous sculpt and, unlike the other females from Hush, she can stand perfectly on her own. She also has the Goggles sculpted as a separated piece so you can see her eyes through them.

Surprisingly there are not a lot of Catwoman figures, and they are really hard to find (or are sadly out of scale). This is the modern look of Catwoman, but I like the simplicity of it. SO, I'm OK with it.

Before this one I had the Catwoman from Mattel's line DC Super Heroes. Like the line that came after that (DCUC) the women are puny little things, see for yourself:



As you can see, the details and the design are almost the same, but DC Direct comes out as the winner of this challenge. The only two things that the Mattel one has that are cooler are:

1) The sculpted Backpack. The DCD one doesn't have it.
2) She comes with her cat.



Well, I think I can do something about that last one...



I'm glad to finally have this toy in my collection. I waited for it some time, and that just made it sweeter when I found it. Some times, the toys you want are way better than the toys you need.

Until next time.

(Maybe if I eat at McDonald's for like three years and order a white suit I can... No, that's OK... I'll pick a better role model from comics... Hmm, maybe if a shave my head and my beard I can be a good Lex Luthor...)

Don't worry, be Harley

The greatest thing about everyone knowing I'm a toy collector is that occasionally people give me free toys.

I had this conversation with a friend (he reads the blog, I didn't even knew he knew I had a blog, and wishes to remain anonymous, so we'll just call him "Friend", man I feel like Ludo from Labyrinth... "Ludo Friend")... Where was I? Oh, right, the conversation I had a couple of days ago:

Friend: So... I have a toy I don't want and I think you would like...
Freak Studio: Great, I want it!
F: But I still haven't tell you what it is...
FS: It's OK... I'll take it...
F: OK, but I'll just give you this toy if you don't have the character already...
FS: ... O... K
F: It's Harley Quinn, from the DCD Mad Love pack...
FS: ...
F: So, do you have one?
FS: ...
F: ...
FS: ... No.
F: Liar, you do have one!
FS: I don't! I can't believe you would accuse me of...
F: I saw it last week at your house...
FS: ...
F: ...
FS: Oh, THAT Harley Quinn... But that one is impossible to stand and has a broken arm (this is actually true).
F: OK, but you can't have it.
FS: But I really want it!
F: No.
FS: But I really really want it!
F: No.
FS: But I really really really want it!
F: NO!

This went on for like seven or eight "really really really" more, finally my friend gave up and handed me this:



Booyah! Thanks to The Simpsons that taught me that being incredibly annoying is a sure way to get things! The complete story behind this is that my friend ordered the Mad Love two pack because he wanted the Joker (it's Alex Ross' Joker but painted in the metallic colors DCD is apparently really enjoying these days). He's a huge Joker fan but not a toy collector, so he gave me Harley. The bad thing is that the Joker's cane was broken in two. So, to show I'm not completely heartless I ask that if any of you readers have an extra Joker cane (I don't really know why would you have one, but I'll ask anyway), please contact me (funforfreak@gmail.com). Thanks!

The Harley I owned was the Hush version that's almost the exactly same sculpt as this one. It is a gorgeous sculpt to begin with, way better than Mattel's one in my opinion. So, if this is just a metallic red repaint, you may ask, why did I wanted it so bad?

Because of this:



The Harley from Hush has pre-posed feet. making her completely impossible to stand without the help of the base, the base from Hush is quite big and it uses way too much display space. For this re-release, DCD sculpted flat feet, allowing Harley to stand perfectly on her own.



Also what I told my friend is true, Harley's arm was a little bit fragile, it didn't fall off, but you couldn't move or pose if you wanted it to stay in place.

The only thing in which DCD dropped the ball here, is that they forgot to paint one of her boots. One is supposed to be red, but they are both black. Just a minor problem of an excellent figure. So, I'm happy...



... You might even say crazy happy about this couple.

Until next time.

(I'll really really really really really really really really miss you!)

Dawn of the Dead

Since the first wave of DC Direct's Blackest Night line I was tempted with one idea: create a display for the Black Lantern Corpse (how come nobody thought of this name before?) or as I like to call them the Justice Zombies.

But when the line started I never bought them and the BLC display stayed just as another crazy idea in my head. I intend to correct that now, I cleared some shelves at home and just when I was wondering what was I going to do with the extra shelf I saw a killer auction for the figures of Blackest Night wave 1 (very hard to get nowadays).



And I ended up getting three of them... Wait, I only wanted the Dead Superman, how the Hell did that happen?

I'll explain.



Well... I knew Atrocitus was cool, all the pics and reviews said he was. But when I saw it in person I just loved it. He truly is rage personified. The sculpt is great and the metallic red really makes him stand up. I'm still not sure if I like that the neck armor and shoulder pads are a separate piece (it even has a slightly different shade of red), but since I just want Atrocitus to stand there and look angry, I guess it's OK.



Zombie Superman is just as great as he sounds. He's a zombie Superman (from Earth II, but still close). I'm not usually a fan of pre-posed figures, but I really dig the crouching and the weird angle of the feet on this one. He just says "zombie" in every inch of plastic. The black suit also works very well. Can't wait to get Martian Manhunter and Aquaman.



I have to admit, Saint Walker kinda snuck up on me. I wasn't planning on getting him, but I needed an excuse to get Atrocitus and the display of one lantern of each color sounded good enough at the time. The figure is very well executed and I like the sculpt and the color scheme, even if it's way less impressive than the other two. I guess he's just not as impressive as a character.

Plus, if I ever get tired of him I can make a pretty decent Earthworm Jim custom out of that head...



So, at the end of the day, I only skipped Boodikka's green cyborg ass. She just wasn't what I'm looking for. I won't be buying every figure in this line, but you can bet I'll keep rounding the Rainbow Force and the Black Lantern Corpse for an epic battle in my shelf.

Another thing I liked about Saint Walker is that he doesn't look very hopeful at all... In fact he looks kinda worried about something...



Can you blame him?

Until next time. BLACK LANTERN CORPSE! I should really do a theme song for them...

Batty for Batgirl

One of the things (few things according to most Internet reviewers) in which DC Direct is better than Mattel's DCUC is the lack of a unique repainted body. Of course, DCD does an insanely amount of repaints, but the lack of one buck allows lines to have incredibly different characters of all shape and sizes (Kryb, Larfleeze and Atrocitus from the Blackest Night line are great examples of this). Of course the lack of one buck is the root of DCD's problems with scale, but with a little QC and some attention to detail that would be a minor issue.

Georg Brewer, the man in charge of DC Direct (that also has a PHD in Missing The Point) said several times that DCD needed a unique body to compete with Mattel. Wrong. Attempts to a unique body from DCD (namely, the History of the DC Universe line) were a complete failure. Also Gerog said that since they have the male and female bucks from the Superman/Batman line (based on the art of Ed McGuinness) that should be the buck used. Wrong. Again.

The over muscular buck based on McGuinness art is fun, and works almost as a caricature of a superhero. For some characters (like Captain Marvel) it works great, since that body and face expression would be exactly how a little boy like Billy Batson would imagine a superhero. But for some other characters that body just doesn't work.


"The Flash? more like The Fail..."

The female buck is also muscular and also goes good with some characters, and others, not so much (like Wonder Woman, that looked like the fifth member of KISS).



But I just bought my first DCD figure of 2010 and this time, the buck works very well:



Batgirl, Cassandra Cain, is a great addition to my Bat-Family display and she looks perfect in this sculpt. The muscles are the McGuinness style, but looks OK considering she trained all her life to be the best assassin in the world. The bright paint makes her mask, especially the eyes, pop in a figure that's almost all black.



And still, she's shorter than Barbara Gordon Batgirl (from Justice), as she should be. So they look great together. We'll see how the scale thing will look with Stephanie Brown later this year...



All things consider, I really like how Cassandra turned out. She looks like she can certainly kick Katma Tui's ass. I'd bet on it, but super-heroine fights are illegal in Argentina...

Until next time. Seriously, anyone wanna bet, I got 50 bucks here that say that Batgirl breaks one of Katma Tui's arms like she's Steven Seagal... No? OK, next time then...

Around the world in plastic toys

Most of the action figures I show in this blog traveled great distances, usually from the USA to Argentina, but sometimes some figures feel the need to be free and see the world before settling down.

Take these, for example:



DCD Mary MARVEL (white costume variant) and The Atom (Ryan Choi) from Mattel's Infinite Heroes line. Two figures I wanted for quite some time, and they made it here after an incredible (well packed in bubble wrap) journey from the scariest country of the world: Australia.

Courtesy of my (now I have to say it) very good friend FishMilkShake... Again!



Mary MARVEL (not Batson, MARVEL! Calling her Mary Batson like that was her superhero name is like calling Superman "SuperKent", I don't care how many legal issues there are, her name is Mary MARVEL, and she's the sister of Captain MARVEL, not goddam Shazam! Sorry, now to our regular broadcast...)

As I was saying, Mary MARVEL in her white costume was the stand in for Captain MARVEL in Keith Giffen's weird six issue sequel to JLI called "Formerly known as the Justice League", and also "Super Buddies" and also "I can't believe this isn't the Justice League".

As such, I needed her for my JL display, I was expecting DCUC's version, but it turned out to be a cheekbone nightmare. A horrible skinny funny looking figure in the great wave 12. So I decided to go vintage and told FMS I was looking for this girl. And presto, now I have her! Thanks!



Let me start by saying don't collect Infinite Heroes. The often called "Playmobil hands" made me avoid this line like the plague. But to tell you the truth, the hands don't look that bad in person (and from a distance).

"Why did he wanted this figure if he doesn't collect the line?" You may ask, and my answer would be I only want the two Atoms (now I'm only missing Ray Palmer). The small size of the line but the similar look they share with the 6" line is good for having a small sized Atom (but big enough to be noticeable). I already own the very small Atom that came with DCUC Gentleman Ghost in wave 8. But he's usually lost in the shelve. So I decided to get these. I told that to FMS and BOOM... Thanks! (Again).



It's really nice to have friends, and is even better to have friends that will send you toys in the mail!

Until next time. MARVEL!