Happy Franksgiving! Frankenstein #1630 from POP! Movies: Universal Monsters by Funko

 

   It's time for another Franksgiving review! Today I'm checking out another figure from Funko's newest series of Universal Monsters POP! vinyls featuring a unique aesthetic that reminds me of the look of comic book art from the 1970s. They're bright, bold, and feature some unique shading and colors that set them apart from the usual darker, often greyscale, palette of the Universal Monsters. I reviewed the Bride of Frankenstein from this set on Halloween for 2024's 31 Days of Toy Terror Takes the Universe so now it's nice to have Frankenstein/ the Frankenstein Monster to go along with her. Ready to check out this eye-catching tribute to Boris Karloff's classic take on the character? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: Dreadnok Road Pig & Rawkus from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

 Ready for more G.I. Joe: Classified Series goodness? Then let's check out Road Pig & Rawkus! Another deluxe human with animal companion set, Road Pig offers up another threatening Dreadnok as a deluxe release, this time with a new animal companion, Rawkus, Road Pig's pet pit bull. Road Pig is another 1988 release that has been wonderfully updated for the Classified Series. We really are getting a good team of Dreadnoks going, aren't we? I had Road Pig as a kid and liked him quite a bit. I never owned any of the earlier Dreadnoks (Torch, Buzzer, Ripper, and Zartan) until I was older in high school and collecting the vintage line around 1999-2001, so the 1987 through 1989 Dreadnoks were my main guys. Named Donald Deluca after a Hasbro design director, Road Pig had an interesting file card that listed his extensive arrest record and a split personality in the Larry Hama penned Marvel Comics series. Road Pig went back and forth between the more mild mannered Donald and the crazy aggressive Road Pig. This figure has gotten a bit of a negative reception due to some collectors perceiving him as looking larger and heavier than his vintage toy and having a more stylized appearance. I'm actually quite a fan for the most part, though I'm rarely in favor of the Classified Series figures being rigidly beholden to their vintage counterparts. Ready to check out a deluxe two pack with Road Pig and Rawkus? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: Sergeant Rock (DC Classic) from DC Multiverse by McFarlane Toys

 

   Interestingly, I actually had a couple of Remco's vintage Sgt. Rock figures as a kid. I'm not sure where I got them, though. Maybe from yard sales or from a neighbor giving stuff away? DC Direct released a Sgt. Rock figure in 1999 and Hasbro made some 12 inch Sgt. Rock figures back in  the early 2000s, so this isn't the first time there has been a toy of the Rock of Easy Company, but this one definitely is the first that's in scale with a wide range of other DC characters (DC Direct began changing their scale and style pretty quickly after those first couple years of product), so that's definitely a plus. I like some of the more unusual DC characters and I was pretty excited for Sgt. Rock, who was released as one of the McFarlane Collector Edition a few months back. Sgt. Rock was a staple of DC's World War 2 era comics and has continued to appear in the DC Universe from time to time, even though he is widely reported to have died in 1945, killed by the last enemy bullet fired on the last day of the war. Ready to check out Sgt. Rock? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: Chip "Raptor" Talon & General Ledger from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

   Two toylines have absolutely swamped me with cool releases lately: McFarlane's DC Multiverse and Hasbro's G.I. Joe: Classified Series. I actually don't buy everything from the Classified Series currently (I've skipped some of the Retro releases, didn't back the Rattler, and am holding off on the Stinger due to space at the moment), but I do pick up most of them, even some of the crazier characters. 1986 and 1987 were my first years collecting the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line as a kid, so some of those weirder characters from that era are some of my favorites. I love the earlier characters ('82 - '85) because of the comics and their prevalence in the franchise but they were mostly gone from toy shelves when I was a young lad. I'm way more nostalgic for '86 - '91 since those are figures I had. Raptor (who has now been give the real name Chip Talon) is an accountant who works wonders for Cobra financially. He's also a falconer who is obsessed with birds. The original figure is one of the most bizarre ever from the vintage line but he's been reworked quite a bit here. He's never been a major character (he only had one figure in the vintage line and a 2017 Collector's Club subscription service figure) but he did play a fairly large role in the comics for a bit during the storyline of Cobra Commander being assassinated, replaced, and then rediscovered. Raptor died in the Marvel Comics. How? Botulism. Yeah, that's pretty wild. What other comic book character can you think of who died of botulism? Let's check out Chip "Raptor" Talon & General Ledger after the break...

Action Figure Review: Two-Face (Batman Forever) from DC Multiverse by McFarlane Toys

I still have quite a few McFarlane DC Multiverse figures I'm wanting to review but today I'm looking at the last figure I plan to review from the Batman Forever subset: Two-Face, as played by Tommy Lee Jones. The Batman franchise has always attracted big names to it, from the celebrity mainstays and guests of the classic Batman TV Series to today's trend of villains like the Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, and Harley Quinn getting their own spinoffs, both movies and TV shows. When Batman Forever came out in 1995 the casting for the movie was definitely pretty heavily talked about with Jim Carrey as the Riddler and Jones as Two-Face. Go and read others who were considered for the main villains (Robin Williams, Michael Jackson, Kelsey Grammar, and John Malkovich for the Riddler; Al Pacino, Martin Sheen and Robert DeNiro) and you can see that these roles had some crazy serious competition. I loved Batman Forever as a kid but over the years I've come to dislike it quite a bit. There are parts I still like, but now watching it I'm disappointed at how silly and non-threatening the villains are in the film. Despite the fact that Jones apparently told co-star Carrey at one point, "I don't like you. I hate you, and I cannot sanction your buffoonery," Jones cackles and yuks his way through this film, almost being as big of a goof as the Riddler himself. Two-Face has an amazing look, but looking back I wish Billy Dee Williams had gotten the chance to play the character. Let's take a look at the figure after the break and see how it turned out...

Happy Franksgiving! Charlie Franken-Brown from Peanuts by Just Play

 

   I had so much fun with this year's 31 Days of Toy Terror Takes the Universe and such a great response that I wanted to continue. I'm still making my way through the Universal Studios classic horror films and decided I'd try to keep up the theme of Universal Monsters for November for no other reason than that I'm enjoying it. Today I'm looking at a little 3-inch figure of Charlie Franken-Brown, which is Charlie Brown dressed up as Frankenstein. I received him for my birthday a month or two ago and tried to work him into the countdown but it just didn't happen. He's from Five Below and was available as a single packed figure along with Snoopy as a Jack O'Lantern and Lucy as a cowgirl. I've also seen a pack of the three figures in one container online, but I don't know where that available from. It was released in 2022. This figure seems to have been released previously in resin with better paint applications, too. Being a big fan of Peanuts and the Universal Monsters, I thought this was a big win and a nice surprise for my birthday. I have the Super7 Franken Snoopy, too, so he'll go nice with that figure. Let's check out Charlie Franken-Brown after the break...

Action Figure Review: No.77 from Frontline Chaos by JoyToy

 

   Most of the time my toy collecting is rather predictable. If you stop by here often you know I collect and review stuff like Marvel Legends, G.I.Joe: The Classified Series, Action Force, most Masters of the Universe stuff, McFarlane's DC Multiverse figures, Universal Monsters and NECA horror figures. Every now and then, though, I jump in and grab something random that I've seen online, perhaps in phots that someone has taken. Today I'm looking at a very unusual figure: No.77 from Joy Toy. Joy Toy is pretty popular right now because of their Warhammer action figures but they also have their own line of random characters called Frontline Chaos. Frontline Chaos is an eclectic mix of 1/12 scaled characters with little to no backstory and soft goods outfits. I saw this nurse figure (No.77 legitimately seems to be her name rather than a release number or anything as the other figures in Frontline Chaos have legit names and such) and though she looked pretty cool and just a bit creepy. I mean, she's attractive, yeah, but there's also something off about her, too. Initially I thought she'd make a good assistant to the Joker. For some reason she puts me in the mind of the "Love That Joker!" spoke model from 1989's Batman. The more I have her in hand, the more versatile I think she'll be. There's a lot of fluctuation in the pricing of this figure as I've seen her from from $65 dollars to over $100 retail. Depending on how much you pay might determine how much you like her. Ready for a visit from No.77? Then turn your head, cough, and join me after the break...