CARTOON ACTION FIGURES - Table of Contents Page

(1) Smurf Figures from McDonald's

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CLASSICS - Table of Contents Page

The greatest thing about Masters of the Universe Classics in my opinion , besides the articulation , is the fact that this line combines all avenues of the MOTU franchise into one big huge super toy line . See MOTU characters from the mini comics, the Filmation and Mike Yong He-Man & The Masters of the Universe cartoon series, She-Ra Princess of Power and more. Like the vintage He-Man toy line from the 1980s, a lot of the figures share the same body parts. Some characters have lost their old gimmicks, such as Sy-Klone's spinning action . Some have gained new weapons, such as Extendar's lance . Despite some minor flaws, Masters of the Universe Classics is an excellent toy line where the positives outweigh the negatives.

(1) Man-E-Faces

(2) Sy-Klone

(3) Claw-Ful

(4) Kobra-Khan

Rocky Balboa .VS. Balrog in a Boxing Match

I had a lot of fun putting these pics together. Displaying them in the fight poses and taking the pictures. My very first fictional boxing match . Between two fictional characters at that . One is from the world of movies, that being Rocky . And the other is from the world of video games, that being Balrog, the Street Fighter franchise to be exact . I hope you enjoy these snapshots as much as I did putting them together . I even displayed both of them knocking each other down at some point, as I have no idea who I think would win if they fought .

Infinite Spider-Man Series - Ultimate Green Goblin Wave Black Cat

I finally got a hold of some of these figures in person as I was trying to avoid the high prices of the internet, as many of you fellow collectors do also. I purchased this version of the Black Cat at a local Walmart for around $ 19.99 . Good luck at getting her at this price on the world wide web . For those of you whom may not know, this is the second Black Cat action figure in the Marvel Legends franchise. The first one came out back in the early 2000s, by Toybiz packaged with other Spider-Man villains . Also quite a few collectors have wondered why Hasbro left  some of the character's names off of the packaging. Black Cat is one of them. I think I know why. Instead of her name being listed, the phrase " Skyline Sirens" headlines the packaging instead . I assume this is Hasbro's way of notifying us fans of a chase figure, or running change as they now call it. If there is no chase figure, then the character's actual name will be displayed instead of an alternate title.

As you can see the chase figure for Black Cat is Spider-Girl . The packaging is very neat looking in person, these internet pics just don't do the packaging justice. It looks a lot better in person than it does here. Black Cat and Spider-Girl looks as if they are in 3D if you hold the box a certain way under a lamp. Now on to the figure herself. Black Cat has just one big major flaw in my opinion , "standing". Sorry to say , but you will have to fight with her a bit just to get her to stand properly without falling. Another flaw I feel she has is that she is too tall. However I feel as that's not as major as the balance issues, which I will elaborate more on later,as this flaw can be somewhat fixed.
               I think the reasons why it is tough to get Black Cat to stand properly are several . First off, she's kind of top heavy, this is due to the weight of her hair. Also I think the high heels are contributing to the uneasy balance issues . I'm not saying that she is impossible to stand, but once you get her in that right stance or pose she stands nicely without falling. Try putting her in a battle stance, with her knees slightly bent as if she's ready to attack someone . This strategy helps a little as I have tried it myself.
                                  As for accessories, Black Cat comes with two. They are the torso of the Ultimate Green Goblin and her whip .Also there are instructions for putting together the Ultimate Green Goblin Build-a-Figure .

( NOTE ) I purchased the Black Cat figure at the same time as the Beetle and Superior Spider-Man , So I snapped together the BAF pieces together as soon as I opened them . My bad, as I wanted to take a pic of the torso by itself to give you an idea of what the figure comes with, but as you can see in the instructions that the Black Cat does indeed come with Ultimate Green Goblin's torso . Black Cat's whip is a nice looking bendy, rubbery weapon . But if you read the comics, not only is this a weapon but she also uses it to transport herself through rooftops and ceilings , just like her "frenemy", old webhead himself.
           And for those of you wondering if the whip can fit into the hands of the old Toybiz Black Cat, the pic below answers that question , yes it can .

When comparing the two different Marvel legend Black Cat versions, you can see that Hasbro's version is indeed an upgrade in the looks department, however I prefer the flat feet of the Toybiz version over Hasbro's high heels version .

Also as I've noted earlier, as a slight flaw I feel that the figure is too tall . Even though it measures right at six inches as the pic below illustrates, you can also see that she looks as if she is slightly taller than Superior Spider-Man .

Spidey is supposed to be taller than her, not vice versa. However this minor flaw may be due to the high heels. If you want to make her shorter than Spidey, you can try bending her knees just a little to decrease her height . Another minor flaw with this Black Cat figure is the difficulty of turning her head left and right and up and down. Her hard plastic hair restricts head movement somewhat . And if you turn her head too fast, it may pop off . Don't panic however, it easily pops right back on .
 As for the looks of this figure, it is very equivalent in quality to the old Marvel Select Black Cat . Judge for yourself in the comparison pic below .

                                                  FINAL   THOUGHTS
(1) ARTICULATION - She has the normal basic articulation of your average female Hasbro Marvel Legend figure. The only uncommon restrictions seem to be in the wrists . The wrists turn but do not bend.
( 2 ) STANDING  ABILITY - Now this is where the major problem is as I've mentioned in the article. She does have balance issues and you'll have to work with her a bit for that proper stance. Once you get her in that perfect pose, she stands nicely . It'll just take a lot of effort on your part .
( 3 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  BEST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? Nice sculpt . One of the best looking action figures Hasbro has made in a while . Her hair is sculpted nicely too with the blue wash to provide shading .
( 4 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  LEAST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? It's difficult to make her stand . She's somewhat top heavy . And it is just a little bit too tall for a female figure .
( 5 ) WHAT  COULD  HAVE  BEEN  DONE  TO  IMPROVE  THE  FIGURE ? Make it shorter and easier to stand . Make the hair lighter to prevent top heaviness, as top heaviness in any action figure is what causes balance issues when it comes to standing properly .
( 6 ) GRADING  SCALE - On a scale of one to ten, despite the multiple flaws I've mentioned , I give it a 9.0 . The minus is for the above mentioned flaws of course, however this is one of those action figures that allow the positives to outshine the negatives. After all, the flaws I've mentioned can be fixed . If the flaws could not be fixed at all I would have given this figure a lower score, but since adjustments can be made to the flaws there is no need for a lower score .
( 7 ) FINAL  ANALYSIS  - Overall I am glad to add Infinite Spider-Man Series Black Cat to my collection . The only thing that may bother you fellow collectors is to decide if you like her better than the Toybiz version. As for myself, look wise I like her better than the Toybiz version . But under other circumstances such as balance issues and head movement, I prefer the Toybiz version. And for you customizers that may like the Toybiz version better, you can easily transform this figure into another character, since her head is very easy to remove and reattach . As I've already mentioned the positives outweigh the negatives on this figure, and for the reasons I've mentioned in this final analysis, you'll be glad also to add Black Cat ( Felicia Hardy ) to your collection .

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE !!! A look at old classic toy vehicles, antique items via window browsing.

First of all Happy Easter again . Despite the fact that this post is no tribute to Easter themed toys, I will acknowledge every holiday and special occasion on this blog rather there are themed toys or not. Now on to what this post is about. One day I was walking around the downtown area of Memphis,TN. when I came across this display. It looks like someone at this local State Farm Insurance office is a fan of old antique toy cars. It was a holiday and the office was closed. So I could not go inside and take pictures, so I took pictures outside the window display. I'm glad I had my camera with me that day on a pretty sun shiny but cold day.

It was kind of difficult to get some excellent shots with the glare of the Sun shining on the window, but I did the best I could.

My early photographic attempts were so glaring that you can even see my reflection of me kneeling down on one knee trying to get a good shot. After deleting several bad looking pictures, I was finally able to get some good shots in the pics below.

Look at all those classic antique toys. They're incredible. It was like going back in time. That gas station pump looks like it's right out of the nineteen twenties . How about that green train in the background?Neat huh?Although these toys are old, they are better looking in my opinion of some of today's stuff. Remember these are toys that our grandfathers probably played with when they were kids. 

How about those motorcycles, and that van ? Very cool . Also that red pickup truck next to one of the cycles is very reminiscent of Sanford and Son, lol ( laugh Out loud ) . I wonder can the doors open on that van . 

I just love that old classic looking fire truck. It looks like it's big enough to hold six inch action figures. I wish I knew the names of the toy companies/ company that made these toys but I do not . If I did I would tell you here, but maybe some of you can help me identify them. As always we all have the luxury of visiting Ebay and purchase these exact toys ourselves .Again I tried to get a good shot but it was very tough to do with a very bright Sun that day. Had it been cloudy I might could have gotten in some better shots. However I did not want to wait around for a cloudy day, I wanted pics of those toys right there at that exact moment. After all you never know what people may decide to do next, as the thought came to me that the person that put these toys there might take them  home the next day, and the toys may no longer be there when I return on another day. Thus explaining my reasoning of taking those pics that exact day. I hope you all enjoyed this post and again everyone have a Blessed Easter !!!

ACTION FIGURE FIGHTS # 2 - BATTLE ROYALS

Here are a group of pics, just for fun , I have put together displaying several action figures battling one another in one scene . All of them are wrestling figures. Enjoy the pics.