Road to The Rise of Skywalker: IG-11 from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase III by Hasbro

   I write my reviews a day or so in advance usually so while today is November 13th, and I probably have watched The Mandalorian, I'm actually writing this on Monday the 11th. I'm really looking forward to the show, though, and I hope it turned out awesome. I don't actually have the Mandalorian himself yet, which is definitely frustrating me. He's been tough to find! He's actually been the only standard figure from the Triple Force Friday launch that's been hard to find, so I'll still be eagerly searching for him for the near future. Today I'm not checking out the Mandalorian, though, but IG-11. IG-11 is an IG unit programmed to follow Bounty Hunters Guild protocols and, thus far, that's all I know about the character. Well, other than the fact that he's voiced by Taika Waititi, the director of Thor: Ragnarok and the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder and the voice of Korg. IG-11 was very easy to find as he is a Best Buy exclusive, you can easily order him from their website or have him set aside at a store, and they seem to have plenty in stock. Since he's an IG unit, like IG-88, Hasbro reused the body from the 2015 IG-88 figure from the Black Series Phase II. That figure had some flaws that feel like they are only amplified here. Let's take a look at IG-11 after the break...

Action Figure Review: Alfred Pennyworth from DC Comics Multiverse by Mattel

    Today I'm checking out the last standard figure in the last series of Mattel's DC Comics Multiverse line and it's Batman's stalwart ally, best friend, and surrogate father, Alfred Pennyworth. Alfred has shown up in many toylines before including DC Direct's Batman: Hush line, Hasbro's Batman the Animated Series line, Diamond Select's Gotham line, and Mattel's The Dark Knight Rises line. Of course, since Mattel has been making comic based DC figures in a similar scale and stlye for well over 15 years, the lack of Alfred Pennyworth in that style has been a noticeable omission. Finally, after all of that time, it's very welcome to get Alfred in the last series of figures. He turned out well. Very well, in fact. Seriously, Mattel gave this guy some incredible accessories that really make him stand out. Alfred Pennyworth has been the hardest figure to find from this series, so let's find out why after the break...

Action Figure Review: Evil-Lyn from Masters of the Universe by Super7

    I'll be making my way through series 4 of Super7's Neo-Vintage Masters of the Universe toyline and today I'm checking out the figure of a character who truly deserved a Filmation accurate figure in the line: Evil-Lyn. Being one of the main Evil Warriors in the cartoon, Evil-Lyn had a unique appearance in the animated series that was quite different from her action figure counterpart. While the action figure Evil-Lyn was simply the Teela figure with a new head and paintjob, the cartoon Evil-Lyn really offered up a great design that fully realized Evil-Lyn's role as an evil sorceress. She turned out great and is definitely one of the best offerings from Super7 in this line. Let's check out the mystical and malevolent evil warrior goddess after the break...

Road to The Rise of Skywalker: Cal Kestis from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase III by Hasbro

 The next few months are going to be crazy for Star Wars fans: Besides the massive amount of new action figures (well, at least The Black Series figures as the traditional 3 3/4th line has gotten the short end of the vibrostaff) and books that are being released there is the premiere of The Mandalorian on Disney+ on the 12th of November, the release of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on the 15th of November, and The Rise of Skywalker on December 20th. Today I'm checking out Cal Kestis, the protagonist of the video game Jedi: Fallen Order. Cal Kestis was one of the initial Triple Force Friday offerings and was one of the figures I most wanted from the initial batch (I still haven't found my most wanted figure, the Mandalorian himself). Kind of like Kanan Jarrus/ Caleb Dume, Cal Kestis is a Padawan who survived Order 66 and is hunted by the Empire. I have high hopes for the game as it's been awhile since we had a Star Wars game designed as a single player story and it's always fun to lose yourself in a playable version of the Star Wars galaxy (I liked the campaign in Star Wars: Battlefront 2, but it was clearly designed as a multiplayer game first). Let's see how Cal Kestis turned out after the break...

Action Figure Review: Buzz-Off from Masters of the Universe by Super7

   Today I'm beginning to make my way through series 4 of Super7's neo-vintage Masters of the Universe line and I'm starting with the Heroic Spy in the Sky, Buzz-Off. Buzz-Off was not a figure I owned as a kid. In fact, I probably didn't have a Buzz-Off until about 9 or 10 years ago. He's definitely a figure that stands out, though, thanks to his yellow and brown color scheme. While Buzz-Off showed up in the Filmation cartoon in four episodes, he definitely isn't one of those characters that jumps out at me as a must-have in the Filmation style. I really would have rather had characters like Ram Man, the Sorceress, Catra, Adora, or my beloved Cringer before Buzz-Off. Still, a nice looking figure is a nice looking figure and Buzz-Off definitely feels like a figure that Super7 put a lot of effort into. I would wager he's a favorite of someone at Super7 to get this kind of treatment. Let's check out Buzz-Off after the break...

Action Figure Review: Abstrakt from Fortnite: Legendary Series by Jazwares

   Well, both Halloween and Re-Halloween are officially over now, so it's time get back to just reviewing regular action figures. I mean, yeah, I've been doing that, but I've also reviewed horror themed figures every day for 38 days (in addition to regular reviews). I might be taking things a bit easier for a bit, although that's tough to do with so much cool stuff coming out. Today I'm checking out another figure from Jazwares' excellent line of Fortnite: Legendary Series figures. This time I'm checking out Abstrakt, a graffiti artist decked out to cause some havoc. Jazwares has released Abstrakt's female counterpart, Teknique, in the 4-inch line, but I'm not collecting those. I would love to see her in this line, though, as she has a very cool design. I mean, all the Fortnite stuff does, doesn't it? Let's check out this urban tagger and see what he's all about after the break...

Action Figure Review: Gold Statue He-Man from Masters of the Universe by Super7

    Today I'm checking out the third figure in the Super7 "Statue Variants" miniseries and this time it's Gold Statue He-Man. I've never been a fan of toy companies going to gold and silver variants for action figures, misguidedly assuming that it gives a figure some additional level of prestige. I'm thinking of things like the old McFarlane gold Spawn variants or the gold Star Wars figures being released for Rise of the Skywalker. Of course, when you have something where a gold variant legitimately makes sense, it can be kind of cool. Gold Statue He-Man is a metallic variant that is legitimately based on an episode of the Filmation cartoon series, The Shaping Staff, where He-Man is turned into a gold statue so that he can be replaced by Faker. It's a pretty scene specific variant, but you know what? I'll take it! Let's check out Gold Statue He-Man after the break...