Missing in Action: Toylines That Didn't Make the Cut in 2018

   Since 2015 I've supplemented my 10 Favorite Toylines and 10 Favorite Individual Toys with a list called Missing in Action. The general premise of this list is to look at my list of last year's Top 10 Toylines and determine why the lines present then failed to return on the current year's list.  2018's top 10 list had five toylines returning from the 2017 list, which is a pretty average retention rate for toylines on my lists due. When looking at the lines that failed to show up again there are typically three reasons why a line makes this list:

Missing in Action: This is a toyline that gets cancelled, ends, or just doesn't have any releases during the year.

Demoted: Sometimes a toyline just gets outdone by others. This is less reflective of the quality of the demoted line and more reflective of the quality of the lines that supplanted it. 

Drop in Quality: This is when a toyline has a severe drop in quality that causes it to fall from grace. While most toylines get better as they go, some do indeed get worse and worse due to cost cutting, mismanagement, and quality control issues. 

 

Let's jump in and check these out after the break...  

The Best of the Rest: My 10 Favorite Individual Toys of 2018

 For a few years I always selected my 10 favorite toylines from the past year but a few years ago I realized something: Not every great toy is part of a larger toyline or a toyline that I fully collected. It seemed kind of unfair to never acknowledge figures from smaller or one off lines. Heck, sometimes I purchased a spectacular action figure from a line while I had no intention of buying anything else. What to do? I finally decided to do a list of my Top 10 Favorite Individual Toys for the year. Who is eligible? Any toy released in 2018. Who isn't eligible? Any toy from a line I picked in my 10 Favorite Toylines list. This year this list contains some of my absolute favorite stuff, including what is probably my favorite 2018 release of them all!  Simple right? Let's check these out alphabetically, after the break...

My Top 10 Toylines of 2018

   Well...this is it! Today I'm going to start my best of 2018 awards and I'll be starting with my primary category, My Top 10 Toylines of 2018. Creating my own "Top 10" lists is one of my favorite things to do every year on Acton Figure Barbecue and I spend a lot of time preparing my list. This is the seventh year I've created a list (the earlier ones were originally at The Epic Review) and it's interesting too see how the list changes year by year. While this year has a few entries from larger lines, there are definitely some unusual choices on here. While there were a few lines I was incredibly devoted to this year, I picked up random stuff here and there far more often, including a few choices on this list that are going to surprise you. As I always say, a key word for this list is "Favorite." I will readily admit that my list is not a best of list but a list of my favorites. One of my favorite end of the year awards events has been Michael Crawford's Poppies over at MWCToys.com as it's more of an Academy Award styled event with multiple judges from different areas voting on the best. Over here, though, well these are my picks and they're based on criteria that I alone set. Let's get this show rolling after the break....

Action Figure Review: Mister Freeze "Ice Mode" from DC Primal Age by Funko

   OK, I promise! This is the last 2018 I'm I'm reviewing before I jump in and start releasing my best of 2018 lists! Over the weekend I reviewed a few DC Primal Age releases and today I want to throw out one more: Mister Freeze in Ice Mode. While the actual figures I've purchased have all been the new 2019 releases from Target (they're sturdier with better QC), Mister Freeze in Ice Mode was exclusive to NYCC 2018. Apparently, he was a free giveaway. That's crazy, right? I only paid about $10 bucks for him so he doesn't seem to be terribly difficult to come by, which was a welcome change considering convention exclusives can be crazy pricey. Let's check out this solid blue Mister Freeze after the break...

Action Figure Review: The Joker Beast from DC Primal Age by Funko

    I just reviewed Ace the Bathound earlier today so now that we've reviewed Batman's steed it's time to check out the Joker's steed. In DC Primal Age the Joker rides the monstrous Joker Beast. Interestingly, I like the Joker Beast far more than I like Ace. He's a more interesting design and just feels like a higher quality product. He kind of reminds me of one of the various lizard-like mounts that the enemies rode in the Golden Axe games or perhaps even a repainted Dewback. He's a cool mount and gives you more coolness to surround the Batcave with. Let's check out the Joker Beast after the break...

Action Figure Review: Ace the Bathound from DC Primal Age by Funko

    Today I'm plowing through the 2018 releases from DC Primal Age that I've picked up (all of my figures are the 2019 Target releases) and after reviewing the Batcave now I'm going to check out the two beasts from the first series. First up is Batman's trusty pet Ace the Bathound, now reimagined as Battle Cat like dire-wolf that Batman can ride into battle. Like the larger beats figures from various 1980s toylines, especially Masters of the Universe, Ace the Bathound comes in a large window box. Let's check Ace out after the break...

Action Figure Review: The Batcave from DC Primal Age by Funko

    Today I'm wrapping up my 2018 reviews with a massively epic review of the DC Primal Age Batcave. Yes, my friends, this is a Batcave designed as if it were the vintage Masters of the Universe Castle Grayskull. Let's talk about DC Primal Age for a bit before I jump into this review. In late 2017 Funko began showing off some 5.5 inch action figures reminiscent of Mattel's Masters of the Universe and other similar fantasy lines from the 1980s. They first showed Mortal Kombat and then later expanded to ThunderCats and a Horror line. A DC based line, called Primal Age rather than Savage World was announced in the early fall, and it appeared to be bigger and better than the previous offerings as it included more figures, mounts, licensed items, and the Grayskull like Batcave that I'm reviewing today. Amazon was set to have a big launch for these but their offerings were....problematic. Look at the reviews on nearly any Primal Age offering on Amazon and you'll see stories of breakages and cards arriving in terrible shape. I was insanely excited about this line but hearing about the breakages killed my enthusiasm and I resigned myself to believing this would be a failed project. It turns out that Funko had bigger plans for the line as Target had a large retail launch planned for early 2018. Not only was Target stocking these on special end caps but the figures have been redone to correct the breakage issue. I've now picked up all of these. The Batcave and the mounts remain the same, so I'll be reviewing those now as the last items I check out for 2018 but the figures will be part of my 2019 reviews. Savvy? Alright, well let's get this show on the road...