My Top 10 Favorite Toylines of 2012

Note: This post originally appeared on ThEpic Review in February 2013. For the sake of archival, I've been moving my old reviews and lists to ActionFigureBarbecue.

     The 2013 New York Toy Fair just wrapped up, so I thought it would be appropriate to look back over my favorite toys of 2012.  2012 was definitely an interesting year for toys.  Like always, there were toy lines that disappointed, toy lines that surprised us, and toy lines that continue to impress.  This is a list of 10 of the toy lines that I spent all most of my some of my money on last year that most impressed me. I've decided against including lines from companies like Hot Toys, Sideshow, or Enterbay on here because 1. There are plenty of other folks who cover those lines, 2. While those 1/6th lines have action figure qualities in their DNA, they are so superior (and so much more costly) that I really don't think it is fair to compare them with traditional action figure lines, and 3. I just can't afford them.  This list is certainly not all inclusive nor is it intended to be a completely objective look at the truly best toys of 2012. It's simply one man's opinion!  Here's what devoured my money in 2012: 

Action Figure Review: He-Ro II from Masters of the Universe Classics by Mattel

 This is it folks! This is the last single carded monthly figure in Mattel Masters of the Universe Classics line which has run from July 2008 until December 2015. While the line is essentially continuing with few changes in 2016 with the Collector's Choice sub as well as some selected extra releases and the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Filmation styled subscription, December 2015 really wraps up the first series in the Masters of the Universe classics era. Today's figure is a character that a number of Masters of the Universe fans with only a passing interest in the property might not be familiar with: He-Ro II, aka Dare and He-Ro: Son of He-Man.

   This figure and character has a long and controversial history: Most fans were introduced to the character through the release of the series bible for Lou Scheimer's failed 1996 pitch of a cartoon called He-Ro Son of He-Man. In that pitch, a continuation of the Filmation series, Dare would have been a feral child raised by King Adam and Queen Teela. The He-Ro name attached to the character seemed to be irrelevant to the He-Ro figure from the aborted Powers of Grayskull toyline. When former Matty Collector brand manager Scott Neitlich begin mentioning Dare, this version of the character was what most fans had in line. Interestingly when Dare/ He-Ro II first appeared in the new MOTUC minicomics, he looked more like a concept version of New Adventures He-man; it turns out that there was an earlier 1988 pitch for He-Ro Son of He-Man from Filmation that was truly a precursor to the New Adventure of He-Man series. The series bible was mysteriously shown to a limited number of fans at a He-Man.org get together at SDCC 2014 and was reported on in depth by Penny Dreadful/ Danielle Gelehrter. This rendition of Dare was something we'd never seen before, that's for sure, but it also wasn't how most fans envisioned Dare, a character who already wasn't a popular concept. A few times Scott Neitlich had claimed that Dare/ He-Ro II (as he has now been dubbed to differentiate him from the original He-Ro) wouldn't be part of the 2015 line, but then he wound up being the 2015 figure which set off a complete crap-storm of rage. Is Dare/ He-Ro II a good figure or is he the stinker that so many fans feared he would be? Read on and learn more after the break...

Action Figure Review: Prahvus from Masters of the Universe Classics by Mattel

 Today I'm looking at the last figure in the Club 200x subscription from Mattel's Masters of the Universe Classics line: Prahvus! While Prahvus really is just a glorified villain of the week in the Mike Young Productons cartoon series, he's an incredibly well designed character who really is tons of fun to add in to your MOTUC collection. Looking like something out of a Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, Prahvus adds another independent villain to your action figure shelf. Ready for a closer look at Prahvus the Untamed? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: Pink Yoshi from World of Nintendo by Jakks Pacific

 Jakks Pacific's World of Nintendo series of action figures has quickly become one of my favorite lines to collect. It's exciting because so many of the characters we're seeing in this line really haven't been widely available as action figures before (and at least not in a similar scale and style). This line is filled with unique sculpts due to the interesting and often bizarre proportions of Nintendo characters so it makes sense that Jakks would try to recoup the tooling costs of new molds here and there by creating some simple paint variants. One of the easiest ways to do that is releasing multiple color variants of Yoshi, a character who legitimately does have an army of multicolored brothers and sisters. Today I'm looking at the first repaint of the standard Yoshi figure that was released late last year: Pink Yoshi! Ready for a closer look at this pink dinosaur from series 1-3 of Jakk's World of Nintendo line? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: AJ Lee (Series 53) from WWE by Mattel

   While the current version of WWE history credits Paige with starting the Diva's Revolution, you could absolutely make an argument that AJ Lee deserves some of the credit, too. While AJ Lee retired earlier this year and the WWE is reluctant to even mention her (and made sure that Nikki Bella surpassed one of her records as quickly as possible), Mattel still had this figure in the works and thus could be the last AJ Lee figure released for quite some time. Ready for a closer look at the Geek Goddess, the Crazy Chick, and the Black Widow herself, AJ Lee? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: Tyler Breeze from WWE by Mattel

  Tyler Breeze is a great villain because he doesn't even have to try and draw cheap heat; he just naturally comes off as a arrogant jerk whom you want to see get beaten up! Mattel really lucked out with the release of this figure as Tyler Breeze just entered the main WWE roster back in October after having spent a few years with NXT. While this figure from Series 53 is based off of his NXT appearance, it's not often that collectors get a figure of a character right near their appearance on the main programs. Breeze's gimmick as a stuck up, narcissistic supermodel really is pretty fun. He's like Hansel in Zoolander before you realize that Hansel's actually a pretty good guy. So far Breeze's main rival has been Dolph Ziggler and their feud has actually been pretty entertaining, particularly with the presence of Summer Rae and her history with Dolph. Gear up for the Beauty Shot and learn more about this figure after the break...

Action Figure Review: Metroid from World of Nintendo by Jakks Pacific

 The deluxe figures in the second series of Jakks Pacific's World of Nintendo line have proven insanely difficult to find. They were released in late spring and I only just managed to receive my set in the mail through Big Bad Toy Store within the past few weeks. Jakks has a great thing going with this line but they're really going to have to up their distribution. I think it's one of the problems that hits a line with multiple different sizes, particularly a smaller line: World of Nintendo has the 2.5 inch figures, the standard 4-5 inch stuff, the 6 inch "deluxe" figures, the stuffed plushies, the remote control stuff, and the micro worlds. That's a lot of varying scales for a line that's lucky to get a row of shelf space at Toys 'R Us! Anyways, today I'm looking at a Metroid from Nintendo's Metroid series of video games. Ready for a closer look at this energy draining alien? Then join me after the break...