April 2015 Contest !!! WIN a FREE CARDED Dollar Store Bootleg Transformer like Toys !!!

This month's contest you win win a couple of bootleg dollar store figures . The name of this two pack is called Transrobot Revolution . Here's a look at the prize .

Now for the TRIVIA .

( 1 ) Name the two action figures that these feet belong to, along with the toy line and company.

You have until May 31,2015 to come up with the correct answers . Good luck to everyone !!!

An old Toyfare magazine article for your reading pleasure!!!

Every now and then I will post articles from old Toyfare magazines that I like . Since this magazine has been discontinued , here's an article from Toyfare Issue # 32 .

There will be more postings like this one in the future . I miss Toyfare magazine .

Masters of the Universe Classics - ANGELLA REVIEW !!!

Angella should be referred to as Queen Angella , because this is what she is known as in all of the Masters of the Universe media from the 1980s . From the comics to the cartoons , she is called Queen Angella and not just Angella . I assume maybe there was not enough room on the packaging to spell out both her title and her name . Therefore the name Angella is displayed and not queen . If you have a Club Eternia 2015 subscription , then you know that this is the April 2015 figure . She also comes with the promised Castle Grayskull map / blueprint that was supposed to come with the March 2015 figure Oo-larr, but instead it was delayed with him and came with Angella instead . If you do not have a subscription , then you may have to purchase the map separately however I'm not sure . Another thing to take note of, quite a few people on He-Man.org have received an Angella with bad crooked crossed eyes . If you receive a figure like this, you can do what many of them said they did. They mailed the figure unopened back to the company hoping to get a replacement . Hopefully no one else will have to go through this trouble . Now on to the mother of Glimmer .

Luckily my copy of Angella does not have the bad eyes . She came out nice. This is a beautiful figure . And as always with the Princess of Power MOTU Classics , Angella is molded into her Filmation look and not the old vintage toy look , at least face and costume wise she is . However the pink halo you see over her head is based off of the old toy , and not the cartoon . Speaking of the cartoon, below is a comparison shot of the cartoon Angella compared to this MOTUC figure .

Perfect . The figure looks as if she jumped right out of the cartoon . Now for a look at the back of the packaging at her bio .

Unfortunately there are some mistakes in the bio that need correcting . The word " Eternia " should be replaced by " Etheria " in two sentences . In the first sentence of the bio Eternia needs to be replaced by Etheria . And where the word Eternia is used once more in this bio it should have been Etheria instead . Eternia is mentioned twice in this bio and in both instances it should be replaced by Etheria . Now for a look at the one accessory and the one extra goodie Angella came packaged with .

As you can see she comes with a cool looking short bladed sword , and the map/ blueprint of Castle Grayskull that was promised to us has finally arrived . The map is very fun to read and has some Castle Grayskull references from all sorts of MOTU media, such as the cartoons and the comics . Parts of the Castle Grayskull toy are explained also . Another notable mention about Angella, the skirt piece issue with the earlier female figures has been corrected, as seen in a comparison with an earlier female figure , Battleground Evil-Lyn .

As you can see the new MOTUC designer has corrected the female trunks issue. They no longer look like a small mini skirt as with earlier female figures. The halo can be removed and placed back on . Just in case you want her to look 100% like the cartoon . You can also pose Angella's wings several different ways, as seen below .

As you can see Angella's wings can be displayed inward , outward , and behind her . I suggest inward is good when she is on the ground, and outward wings are great for flying poses. I also measured her wings in the outward pose , to give you an idea of how long they are . So here;s a look at Angella's wingspan ( both literally and figuratively ) no pun intended, with a foot long / twelve inch ruler .

As you can see her wings are almost as long as the twelve inch ruler itself .
                                                FINAL   THOUGHTS 
( 1 ) ARTICULATION - Angella has the same nice all around articulation that comes with nearly every MOTU Classic figure .

( 2 ) STANDING  ABILITY - She stands great despite the heels. Plus you can use her wings to balance her stance even more .

( 3 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  BEST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? The posing ability of the wings, the halo , the sword , the 100% likeness to her Filmation look , and having the Queen Of Bright Moon , another authority figure , to the collection .

( 4 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  LEAST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? - There is nothing that I dislike about this figure .

( 5 ) WHAT  COULD  HAVE  BEEN  DONE  TO  IMPROVE  THIS  FIGURE ? Nothing for this one however the defective ones with the bad eyes are the ones that need that problem corrected .

( 6 ) GRADING  SCALE - On a scale of one to ten Angella gets a Perfect 10 . I find no flaws .

( 7 ) FINAL  ANALYSIS - Angella is not only a great action figure but a great character as well. She is the Queen of  Bright Moon , leader of the Great Rebellion and mother to Glimmer . She has all those nice traits as a character and the wings along with the overall design makes a nice figure. It feels good to finally have her in the collection as the Great Rebellion is now almost complete .

Marvel Legends-Spider-Man Infinite Series - Anti-Venom Review !!!

I purchased this Anti-Venom figure at a local Walmart for around $19.99 . This version of Venom first debuted as an action figure as a Marvel Select , now he is a Marvel Legend . Different look , however it is the same venom as the original . This is also Eddie Brock , the original Venom . Notice closely that the Anti-Venom's design are actually reversed colors from the original . I was surprised to see this series in stores already, I'm glad there here. It seems like it was not that long ago when we were reading about this series, now it's available .

On the back of the packaging it even mentions that this is also Eddie Brock , the original Venom . By reading the back of the packaging we can also tell that this is not the same symbiote as the original venom . It is also hard to tell rather Eddie Brock is a good guy or a still a villain , even when you type in " Anti-Venom " on Wikipedia . As you can see the "Build-A-Figure" in this series is The Hobgoblin Phil Ulrich , whom is also not the original Hobgoblin . Now for a look at Anti-Venom out of the packaging .

As you can see this is a massively large figure, a little well above six inches . He's not only large in height, but in body mass also, as displayed below comparing him to an Amazing Spider-Man movie figure .

As you can see Brock still towers over Spider-Man , always has . He also has these extremely large hands.These large hands allow for great gripping and grabbing poses, as indicated below .

Depending on how you look at things, Anti-Venom comes with one or two accessories. A symbiote piece that is attached to his back when you purchase the figure, and the right leg of the Hobgoblin build-a-figure .Below is a look at those two items.

You have the luxury of leaving the symbiote piece on or removing it . It can easily be reattached . Below is a comparison pic to let you decide if you prefer the piece on the figure or not .

                                                             FINAL   THOUGHTS
( 1 ) ARTICULATION - Excellent around articulation . Not to mention what has been missing on a lot of recent Marvel Legends is now back on this figure, all around head movement . Anti-Venom can bend his head all the way back looking up, and you can make him look slightly downward . For some reason however, the downward looking feature is spring loaded. When you make him look down, you'll have to keep your finger on his head or it'll snap back up .

( 2 ) STANDING  ABILITY - Once you get him in the proper stance Anti-Venom stands well without balance issues .

( 3 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  BEST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? The massive hands as already mentioned are great for gripping and grabbing poses . The excellent articulation, especially with the head . The option to display him with or without the symbiote piece .

( 4 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  LEAST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? There is nothing that I dislike about this figure .

( 5 ) WHAT  COULD  HAVE  BEEN  DONE  TO  IMPROVE  THE  FIGURE ? - Although I'm not overly concerned about it , the issue with the head snapping back up when you try to make him look down could be corrected .

( 6 ) GRADING  SCALE -  On a scale of one to ten I give this figure a 9.8 . The minus is for the issue I mentioned with the downward direction of the head. If not for that issue, AV ( Anti-Venom ) would have gotten a Perfect Ten score .

( 7 ) FINAL  ANALYSIS - I am extremely pleased with this Anti-Venom figure. An excellent figure. My only regret is that I do not have the Marvel Select version to compare this version to . It would have been nice to have both for comparisons in this review . Same character as the original Venom, different name and different design , but more important to collectors is that he is an excellent action figure .

WWE Elite Series 33 - Junkyard Dog Review !!!

I purchased this figure of the Junkyard Dog at a local Walmart for $19.99 . He is part of the series by WWE Mattel entitled " Elite Collection Flashback".I've wanted to add this figure to my collection for the following reasons . When purchasing this figure you get (1) Another WWE Hall of Famer added to your collection .(2) One of the best accessories in the line in my opinion, a dog collar with a real metal chain . (3) Another member from the cartoon " Hulk Hogan's Rock N Wrestling " added to the collection . Now let's have a look at Junkyard Dog in the packaging.

As you can see we are now introduced to statistical information rather than biographic information about the character .Stats such as height, weight, finishing moves, etc. are replacing short bios . It also appears that Junkyard Dog and X-Pac are the only "First time in the Line" figures as well in this series. For the rest of this review I'm going to refer to Junkyard Dog as " JYD " . Now for a look at the figure out of the packaging .

 While the figure alone is worth getting, I think the main selling point besides the figure is his dog collar with real metal chain . You can easily fit the dog collar around his neck , just like in real life . If you do not want to use the chain with JYD , it can be used with other action figures for purposes such as capturing or holding a figure prisoner . I was also surprised at how long the chain is. As you can see in the pic below it is almost as long as a foot long ruler .

Notice the difference with the chain in a straight line and curled up . Curled up it looks as if it may be no longer than a few inches, however when straightened out it appears to be almost a foot long. Amazing, as that old saying goes " looks can be deceiving " and in this comparison shot with the chain that statement definitely holds true . Now back to the figure . It does not disappoint and does indeed look like JYD in my opinion .
As already mentioned JYD was also part of the former Saturday morning cartoon " Hulk Hogan's Rock N Wrestling . The following pic below is comparing the cartoon version of JYD to today's WWE Elite toy version.

The comparison pic between the toy and the toon shows us that the cartoons do not focus on realism , whereas the toys do . Which makes sense because cartoon companies do not have time to display every feature of a person such as wrinkles, curls or waves in their hair, etc . The main focus of the cartoon is to just get a good " caricature " of the person , whereas the toy focuses on all the fine details such as wrinkles, pimples, etc . This is true because JYD's face is nicely detailed . You can clearly see the dimples in his cheekbones and the wrinkles in his forehead .
                                                              FINAL  THOUGHTS
( 1 ) ARTICULATION - Excellent except for somewhat limited up and down head movement .

( 2 ) STANDING  ABILITY - The figure stands nicely once you get him in the proper stance . No balance issues .

( 3 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  BEST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? - His dog collar and metal chain accessory , and the thoughts of having a Hall of Famer and another member from the cartoon show. I would like to have figures of all of the wrestlers that were in the show as cartoon characters . The addition of JYD gets us closer to that goal .

( 4 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  LEAST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? - There is nothing that I dislike about this figure.

( 5 ) WHAT  COULD  HAVE  BEEN  DONE  TO  IMPROVE  THE  FIGURE ? Improve the up and down head movement that I mentioned earlier.

( 6 ) GRADING  SCALE - On a scale of one to ten I think he deserves a Perfect 10 despite the limited up and down head movement . The positives about this figure makes it easily enough to bypass the issue with the head .

( 7 ) FINAL  ANALYSIS - Even if he did not come with the chain JYD is still a cool figure to have besides those reasons I mentioned , about being a Hall of Famer and a cartoon character . The figure alone is pretty neat. The metal chain accessory is like an extra bonus , like icing on a cake .

HAPPY EASTER !!! Dollar Store Finds Part Four .

First Happy Easter Everyone !!! Hope everyone enjoys the day . Here's a small review of a couple of robot figures I purchased at a local dollar store . A local Dollar Tree to be exact .

As you can see they are labeled " Robots Lazerbot " . Two different colored robots , one is a mixture of black and silver and the other is almost completely silver . Their special action feature is a light up feature. As you can see a hole was cut out in the back, they were like that in the store when I purchased them . I assume this was done so that the buyer can test the action features before purchasing the figures . Also noted on the front of the packaging is the articulation description of the figures. The arms, legs, and head do indeed move in a limited way . The heads turn side to side, no up and down head movement . The legs and arms move up and down, back and forth . No outward movement for the limbs . Now for a look at the figures out of the packaging .

As you can see they are right around the six inch height scale and they come with some nice weapons . They do not have the luxury of being displayed with all three of their weapons at once, so you have multiple display options due to the extra weapons . Speaking of the accessories here's a closer look at them .

The rifles are double barreled , and the shields look like they come right out of the Star Wars franchise . I love the designs of the weapons and the robots . The swords also have a very unique distinctive design from an average looking sword . Now for a look at their light-up glow in the dark action features .

I love toys that with light up features. Sometimes the light is red with most toys with this feature , but in this case both robots display blue glowing light from clicking a button on their backs . Now for a look at these robots being displayed with figures from another toy line . Well, actually one of them instead of both.

Here's one of the robots being displayed with two Marvel Legend female figures that I have already reviewed on this site, Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel . Compatibility with other figures is a huge luxury of these dollar store figures. If you want your Doctor Doom Marvel Legends figure to have some robot warriors in his army, these guys make great army builders due to the close height scale . Good luck to everyone in finding these figures if you are interested in them . I hope you all enjoyed this review and again Happy Easter again and enjoy the holiday .