Some of you may know that I live in a Toys R Us dead zone. There was actually one that opened literally around the corner from my home. Think about how dangerous to my finances that was! Apparently it didn’t do so well because it was converted over to a Babies R Us within a couple of years. That left two more, one north and one south, and each almost an hour’s drive away. Needless to say, I don’t go as often as I’d like, but I do try to make it up there once a month. This time, however, its been quite a few months, so I was excited to see what was hanging around the action figure aisles.
WALKING DEAD by McFarlane… My first thought? Holy shit, these things are tiny. Given the pricetag of $17.99 a pop, I was expecting these guys to be about six or seven inches, instead they’re closer to four inches. On the upside, they look nice and appear to be really well articulated. But there’s no way I’m buying these when they’re priced so high.
REAL STEEL by Jakks… If you aren’t up on your shitty looking movies, Real Steel is the name given to what is essentially Knock-Em, Sock-Em Robots: The Movie. I am literally stunned by the fact that this movie isn’t being instantly received as a giant heap of crap and that a number of people I know are actually going to see it. Jeez. Anyway, Jakks has gone full guns with figures in different scales and whatnot. Between this line, Green Lantern and the piles of Star Trek and Terminator figures that are STILL hanging around from years ago, Toys R Us is going to have to put up a new wing on their stores just for all the clearance.
TRANSFORMERS by Hasbro… The epiphany hit me this week, that I’m done with Transformers until the Prime figures come out. TRU has a rediculous amount of space devoted to the brand and yet nothing was even tempting for me. It’s ironic that when Revenge of the Fallen was out, I planned on buying little and wound up buying a lot. Dark of the Moon was the opposite. Overall, I’ve been happy with the DotM toys I got, but I don’t have the enthusiasm for picking up new figures like I did for Generations.
UNIVERSAL MONSTERS by Diamond Select… I had high hopes for these figures when I saw the first teaser shots online and I was surprised to find them already on the pegs this trip. I probably would have picked up a couple if not for two stumbling blocks. $17.99 is too much and the ariculation sucks. Seriously, unless I’m buying a statue, I’m done buying figures with shit articulation.
GEARS OF WAR by NECA… I’m possibly one of the only 360 owners that hasn’t completely lost his shit over this franchise. I’ve only played the first one. I enjoyed it a lot. I will play the others, but I don’t think it’s the second coming of shooters or anything. Nonetheless, every time I see NECA’s GoW figures on the pegs I I spend a good ten minutes marveling at how awesome they are. They’re big, decently articulated, beautifully sculpted, and priced pretty reasonably. If I was more caught up on the focus points of my collection and had a lot more room to display stuff, I would be all over this line.
GHOSTBUSTERS II GIFTSET by Mattel… Damn, it’s still not on clearance yet.
GREEN LANTERN by Mattel… This stuff is going to be hanging out at TRU on clearance long after we are all dead and gone. Seriously, they have a TON of this stuff. Maybe they’ll get a little boost in sales this weekend when the Blu-Ray/DVD come out, but that’s probably it for this line. It’s kind of sad, because I really do enjoy the movie aesthetic even though I didn’t enjoy the movie. Maybe I’ll start grabbing up some of these when they hit the clearance pile.
GI JOE by Hasbro… The Renegades figures were on the pegs. I think these look terrible, but at least the price has come down to $7.99. That means if you do like the designs, they’re probably among the best deals in 3 3/4″ figures around. I thought it was just Target and Walmart that have cut down the GI JOE stuff to a bare minimum, but there isn’t much Joe real estate at TRU either. I’m really thinking that this line is on its last leg at retail. That’s a shame too, even though I don’t buy much of it anymore, the Pursuit of Cobra and 30th Anniversary stuff really have been quality products. It’s ironic because just yesterday I pre-ordered my Slaughter’s Marauders and Drednoks sets from BBTS.
X-MEN GIANT SIZED 35th ANNIVERSARY GIFT SET by Hasbro… I almost bought this and I probably will buy it if its still there on my next trip. So long as I can get it at TRU for the reasonable $35 price point as opposed to what it goes for online, it seems like a good deal. The only figures here that are doubles for me are Wolverine and Colossus. Storm looks awesome. Either way, this is a really tempting set.
GREMLINS by NECA… I dig this stuff a lot, but I have way too many other collections going right now to start anything new. I accidently knocked one of the plush Gizmo’s off the shelf and it started singing. That was pretty cool. Anyway, the nostalgia factor here is high for me because one of my favorite toys as a kid was that huge Stripe action figure. It was epic. Maybe if NECA releases something like that again, I’d be on board.
FigureFan Zero 