Action Figure Review: Butt-Head #1591 from POP! Television: Beavis and Butt-Head by Funko

 

   For my money, last year's Saturday Night Live sketch of two random guys who look like Beavis and Butt-Head sitting in on an interview about the future of A.I. was one of the funniest things in 2024. Mikey Day, Ryan Gosling, and SNL's makeup team nailed the characters and watching Kenan Thompson seriously ask them questions while Heidi Gardner couldn't keep from laughing just made things all the better. It was such a goofy yet clever sketch and it definitely had my daughter asking me about Beavis and Butt-Head. I didn't watch a lot of Beavis and Butt-Head as a kid but I did see some episodes and they were such a pop culture juggernaut for a period that you couldn't avoid them. My wife and I ended up showing our daughter some clips of the show just for context and to talk about how controversial they were back in 90s when they debuted. I'm not really a huge fan of the characters but for Christmas my daughter bought me a Funko POP! of Beavis in his Burger World outfit holding up a dead rat. It's actually pretty funny and definitely an interesting addition to the collection. A few weeks ago we were at Needless Toys and Collectibles in Lincolnton, NC and she snuck up front and bought me this Butt-Head so Beavis wouldn't have to be alone. I thought it was a sweet gesture and decided I'd make sure to review this one. Ready to check out Butt-Head justifying why fast food restaurants need to pay higher wages to attract better candidates? Ready to find out if this figure sucks or if it's cool? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: Crimson Shadow Infantry from Action Force by Valaverse

 

   The weekend before last there was an Action Force drop on Valaverse's website, offering up three new figures and two new weapons packs. I scooped up most of the new releases (I skipped the Maritime Corps) and they arrived in the mail very quickly. Today I'm excited to check out my favorite of the new releases, the Crimson Shadow Infantry. Crimson Shadow Technologies has been around since the beginning of Valaverse's Action Force and seems to be their take on the Red Shadows, the enemy unit lead by Baron Ironblood of Palitoy's vintage Action Force line that eventually becomes Cobra (Baron Ironblood becomes Cobra Commander in the "Battle Action Force" comic strip. In Valaverse's Action Force, Crimson Shadow Technologies is a weapons development group that grows into a massive private security force. This guy is also just a really cool looking troop figure with lots of nice accessories. Whether you're only collecting Action Force, mixing this guy with all of the other excellent 1/12th scale military lines available right now, or using him for some other purpose, there's a lot to love here. Let's check out the Crimson Shadow Infantry after the break...

Action Figure Review: Cosmo from Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 by McDonald's

 

   

   Back in February my wife and I went to the Hickory Comic Con in Hickory, NC, and I ended up with a few cool finds. One of the ones I was most thrilled about was a McDonald's toy that I either paid 50 cents or $1 for (I can't remember): Cosmo from McDonald's Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 Happy Meal promotion. Besides the main Avengers films, Guardians of the Galaxy has been my favorite of the MCU series of films and I did love Volume 3, but man, what a rough film in places, right? After watching it, I was shocked there was a McDonald's promotion for the film. An F bomb, some pretty intense violence, and animal cruelty? I'm kind of remembering how people flipped out at the Batman Returns Happy Meal toys when I was a kid. I rarely collect McDonald's stuff these days but when I saw Cosmo at a table at Hickory Comic Con I knew I had to take her home with me. I like to pick up toys that look like my dogs and for about 8 months, including during when GOTG3 was released, we had a beautiful golden retriever mix with reddish fur who looked a lot like Cosmo. She was a stray who came to our house and we kept after spending the first couple months trying to find her owner, but, unfortunately, we had to rehome her after she decided our senior Jack Russel/ beagle mix was her arch enemy. She was a great dog other than that and the family that has her now adores her. She guards their kids and their chickens. I've been picking up Cosmo stuff over the past year or two as she I love the character and Cosmo reminds me of our dog who we only had for such a short time. Ready to check out this fun little McDonald's Cosmo? Then join me after the break...

Toy Review: Harley Quinn from Teekeez by Cryptozoic

 

   A couple weekends ago my wife and I were traveling through Marion, North Carolina. We walked through the downtown, found a couple Geocaches, and stopped at All Things Geeky by 2 Nerds, a comic book shop inside of an old factory that's been converted into a mall. It was a pretty neat place and we walked around inside for at least 30 minutes. I didn't find much I needed but I did grab this little Harley Quinn vinyl tiki figure from Cryptozoic's Teekeez line. I remember these coming out in 2017 but I never had any of them. I did have some of the Eekeez from FOCO, though, which came out in 2018. These are different than the Geeki Tikis from Beeline Creative, which are actual drinking mugs. Looking at it, it's kind of wild that three different companies (off the top of my head, at least) have made DC Comics themed tiki items in the past decade. I grabbed this Harley for my Harley Quinn collection. At $7.99, she was at a pretty good price, too. Ready to check out a very stylized take on Harley Quinn? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: Brook from Anime Heroes: One Piece by Bandai Namco

 

   No, I'm not going full on otaku or anything, but I do have another One Piece review for you today. This time it's Brook, the swordsman, musician, and senior officer of the Straw Hat Pirates. Having eaten the Revive-Revive Fruit, Brook came back from his death and is now Soul King Brook, a skeletal musician. I don't actually know as much about Brook as I do some of the other characters, but my wife thinks he's hilarious (though he's a bit of a perv, from what I hear), and he's a funky soul musician who dresses a bit like Jimmy Hendrix. This version is from after the time skip in the show, so he goes along with the other post-time skip pirates. I've never reviewed any figures from Bandai Namco's Anime Heroes line but I have seen them and admired them simply because they seem pretty affordable, I always see new characters from multiple different licenses, and they seem to actually get restocked at Walmart quite frequently. They're still available at retail for the $19.99 price point which is pretty darn impressive these days. It doesn't seem to me that Brook has been released in either the S.H. Figuarts or Megahouse Variable Action Heroes lines yet, so for $20 bucks I decided to snag him. Ready to see what this figure delivers? Then let's groove on in to this review after the break...

Action Figure Review: Husk from Marvel Legends Series: X-Men by Hasbro

 

   I was not expecting the newest Build-a-Figure series of X-Men Marvel Legends to hit stores until late spring but Hasbro surprised us by dropping them early. So far Husk is the only one I've picked up (I also saw Wolverine, but I'm slowing down on Wolverines for a bit and that design isn't one of my favorites or anything) and I've seen her at multiple GameStops. Weird, right? I like Generation X and I'm always excited to add more members of the team to my X-Men shelves. Husk is a very cool figure and it's especially nice to have her since Toy Biz didn't release her back in the day as part of their Generation X line. They didn't release a lot of the main cast, though, like Husk, Monet St. Croix, Leech, Artie, and Synch (though Synch did get a ToyFare exclusive release in 1998). Husk was planned for a third series of figures, but that never came to fruition. I do wish Hasbro would move a bit faster on Generation X, but they're working on so many X-teams right now that at least there is always something exciting to be found. Ready to take a look at Husk, the Kentucky born mutant (Sam Guthrie/ Cannonball is her big brother)? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: Ardath Bey from Universal Monsters/ Classic Monsters by NECA

   While Imhotep wrapped in his bandages is the more iconic look for the titular mummy in the 1932 Universal Studios film The Mummy, it's definitely not the way Boris Karloff appears throughout most of the film. Instead, we mostly see the resurrected Imhotep in the guise of Ardath Bey, a Turkish historian with a tremendous knowledge of ancient Egypt. Ardath Bey has definitely been one of my most wanted Universal Monsters figures after NECA has completed the main roster of the usual suspects and it's nice to see they're continuing. The Invisible Man in his robe/ smoking jacket is set to show up any day now and at Toy Fair 2025 last week NECA also showed the Masque of the Red Death Phantom and the Metaluna Mutant. I'm still hoping for Henry Hull from Werewolf of London, Countess Marya Zaleska from Dracula's Daughter, Rondo Hatton as the Creeper, Bela Lugosi as Ygor, Colin Clive as Dr. Frankenstein, Abbott & Costello, Kharis, and Acquanetta from the Wild Woman/ Jungle Woman series, so this line, but the Toy Fair showing was a nice start. Ready for NECA's newest figure based on the legendary Boris Karloff? Then join me after the break...