Barbecue's Bonfire 12/1/2025 Livestream Tonight on YouTube at 8:30pm EST

 I'll post a link in a few hours. Be there or be square!

*Update* Here's the link!: https://youtube.com/live/CzDmVmBl9Cg?feature=share

Action Figure Review: Doctor Caligari from Operation: Monster Force by Big Bad Workshop and Fresh Monkey Fiction

 

   Big Bad Workshop and Fresh Monkey Fiction's Operation: Monster Force action figures first dropped near the end of 2024 but this year they managed to get the second series out during the month of October! I had hopes to get at least one of the new ones reviewed for 31 Days of Toy Terror or Re-Halloween but, alas, it was not meant to be. How about squeezing one in before Thanksgiving? Absolutely! Operation: Monster Force is really drawing from across the realms of horror and the weird for inspiration and today we're looking at Doctor Caligari, a new take on the character from the 1920 German expressionist horror classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. In Monster Force, Doctor Caligari has been reduced to a brain in a jar who now uses his knowledge and expertise on dreams and somnambulism to create an army for the Forgotten King . Besides the silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, there also seems to be a lot of inspiration from the word of Mike Mignola and the Hellboy universe in this guy. I really like him! How'd he turn out? Let's find out after the break...

Action Figure Review: Dreadnok Monkeywrench from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

   Do I gush over each new G.I. Joe: Classified Series release that I review? Often, sure, but hear me out: Monkeywrench is easily a top five figure of the year. Heck, he's easily a top three figure of 2025. That's right, Monkeywrench. A 1986 Dreadnok with a harpoon gun. Seriously, though; Hasbro's Joe team has taken each of the Dreadnoks released in the Classified Series and just radically improved them while still keeping them recognizable. Monekywrench was my first Dreadnok as a kid as the 1986 and 1987 lines were out when I first got into G.I. Joe. He's a cool figure, don't get me wrong, but the vintage Monekywrench was never one of my favorites. Honestly, as a young kid I'm not sure I quite knew what to make of the Dreadnoks. I got more into them as a teenager and young adult getting back into collecting the line in the late 90s/ early 200s and now they're easily one of the best 'subsets' of the Classified Series. Monkeywrench is incredible. Off hand, the only 2025 release I can think of that I like more than Monkeywrench is Crystal Ball. Am I the only one that kind of feels like Hasbro really goes out of their way to elevate some of the more average figures from the vintage line? Let's take a look Bill Winkie, (better known as Monkeywrench) a Welshman born on Guy Fawkes Day who left his hometown of Rhyl to make his way through London's East End and eventually to Australia to join up with the Dreadnoks. 

Action Figure Review: Sandman (Wesley Dodds: The Sandman) from DC Multiverse by McFarlane Toys

 

   While most of who I'm still waiting for from McFarlane Toys as the clock is running down on their time with the DC license are Batman villains who still have yet to be made or who need definitive classic editions, I still also have a few more of DC's more mystical characters/pulp heroes/ Justice League Dark members that I still want from the line. You know, characters like Madame Xanadu, Enchantress, a classic Etrigan, Zatanna, Black Orchid, and Phantom Stranger. They all look great together on a shelf and I'm eager to get as many as I can from McFarlane before Mattel takes over. I picked up Sandman back in October during a trip to Target and I was pretty pleased to find him. He's a Target exclusive and, since they've been running a decent amount of in-store deals using Target Circle, I think I got a nice discount on him as I was also picking up a few Marvel Legends on the same day. Remember last December when I reviewed The Question and said "I wonder if we'll ever see this body used to make the Sandman?" 

   Well, I guess I was right! Of course, I'm pretty sure McFarlane gives most of this body to anyone wearing a suit and a jacket, don't they? While Mattel released a classic version of Wesley Dodds' Sandman in DC Universe Classics back in 2011, this is a more recent take on the character from the 2023 comic books series. Ready to check out the Sandman? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: Flint (Retro) from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

   Sorry I've been absent for a few days! There has just been a lot going on around my house and such but I'm going to get a few new reviews in before Thanksgiving. New G.I. Joe, Action Force, and Marvel Legends stuff is dropping left and right and I'm just trying to keep up but falling woefully behind. Today I'm checking out one of the newer (but not newest) Retro styled figures from the Classified Series: Flint! Between Duke and Flint I've always preferred Flint and, since he's a major character in G.I. Joe, getting a Retro carded version of him isn't unwarranted. I still really like the original Classified Flint from 2021, though, as his gear is a bit more modern while he's still recognizable as Flint. The Retro series definitely captures the look and feel of the vintage 1985 Flint figure while updating him with a slightly newer body. Interestingly, Hasbro created a packaging chase variant for this figure, giving 82 of the figures unique card art by Rich Pellegrino. I'm not one for keeping my figures in the package but that variant is selling for crazy money so I guess if you have one you'd be pretty pleased. Imagine getting one, not knowing it was such a rare chase variant, and tearing it open. Yikes! Enough about packaging, though; let's focus on the figure inside as we check out Flint after the break...

Action Figure Review: Cable from Marvel Legends Series: X-Men '97 by Hasbro

 

   Most of the new X-Men '97 figures arrived last month but with how busy things were with 31 Days of Toy Terror it has taken me a bit to get to them. I loved the first two series of X-Men '97 figures that Hasbro released in 2023 and 2024 and it's nice to get another series of characters. Hasbro is definitely putting out some solid X-Men '97 product and I'm excited to see when we get figures based on the upcoming second season as everything so far is based on season 1. Cable appeared in eight episodes in the original animated X-Men series and five episodes in X-Men '97 and this look covers most of his appearances throughout both shows. This is also a pretty great standard Cable for folks wanting one. While the X-Men '97 figures do have a bit of an animated style to them, I don't think they stand out in a standard comic collection, either. These really get me excited as I loved the X-Men animated series as a kid and wanted figures that more resembled the show than what Toy Biz released at the time. Ready to join Nathan Summers on a journey through time and space? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: Cobra Commander with Combat Armor from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

   This new version of Cobra Commander with Combat Armor is definitely sold as Cobra Commander, but is it? Is it really? In 1987 Hasbro pumped put a new version of Cobra Commander, this time clad in some pretty serious battle armor with a built in-life support system. The original file card certainly proclaims that this is Cobra Commander and for a kid like me who didn't start collecting G.I. Joe figures until sometime in 1986 or very early 1987, this was my Cobra Commander growing up. In the DIC animated series this was also Cobra Commander. In the Marvel Comics, however? This was actually one of the identical Crimson Guardsmen, Fred Broca, AKA Fred VII, the man who stole Cobra Commander's identity for quite some time. Whether you take this as an armored upgrade to the classic Commander or an usurper using the Commander's name, Hasbro has released a pretty solid update that should probably please most collectors. Ready for an upgraded Cobra Commander? Then join me after the break...