No winner for the July 2018 Contest .

Unfortunately no one won the July 2018 Contest . Below is what was shown .

And below is the answer .

WWE Mattel Elite Steven Regal . GOOD LUCK TO ALL IN THE AUGUST CONTEST !!!

August 2018 Contest !!! Win 10 dollars via PayPal !!!

Give the name of the character / figure .You have until September 30,2018 to come up with the correct answer.GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE !!!

The Pros and Cons of The Star Wars Black Series !!!

The Pros and Cons Series continues . First was the Masters of the Universe Classics line, then WWE Mattel, and now the six inched scale Star Wars Black Series . First up are the Pros , the positives .

               The Pros of the six inch scaled Star Wars Black Series
                           (  The  Positives  ) 

( 1 )  THEY ARE ABUNDANT AND EASY TO FIND - Rather you buy them online or in person . Available at Walmarts, Targets , Walgreens , GameStops , etc .

( 2 ) THEY ARE AFFORDABLE  AND ARE  OFTEN DISCOUNTED AT RETAIL -  Always hovering around the $19.99 thru 20 dollar price range . Plus if you get lucky and look around in person you may find some movie figures such as a Rey or Finn on sale at any local Game Stop stores for under ten dollars .

( 3 )  ALL MEDIA OUTLETS OF THE STAR WARS FRANCHISE ARE REPRESENTED  - .Not just characters from the movies, since Star Wars began as a movie franchise before anything else . However characters from Star Wars comics and cartoons are also represented .

( 4 ) LIGHT SABERS CAN BE DISPLAYED AS IF THEY ARE ON OR OFF - In the older figures , the light saber blades could be inserted in and out of the handles . Now with the more recent figures the light saber handle comes with no beam and now the beams no longer detach from the handles like they used to . Whichever method you prefer this is a nice luxury .

( 5 )  ALL CHARACTERS THAT CARRY PISTOLS HAVE A TRIGGER FINGER -  Having a trigger finger makes  it easy to hold their weapons .

( 6 ) THE FIGURES HAVE NICE TIGHT JOINTS AND ARE STURDY -   They seem to be made out of a nice hard plastic . Even though Star Wars Black and Marvel Legends are from the same company, Hasbro , the Star Wars Black figures do not have the frequent problem of loose articulation joints that the Marvel Legends line have .

( 7 )  THE PACKAGING THAT THE FIGURES COME IN ARE NICE AND STURDY -   Made out of a hard cardboard . Plus the packages are very easy to open . Figures can easily be taken out of packaging and put back in neatly too .

( 8 )  SEVERAL  FIGURES COME WITH REMOVABLE HEAD GEAR -  Rather the gear be masks or helmets . For example , the first Darth Vader figure in the line can have his mask removed to see Anakin Skywalker's face underneath . Also the X-Wing fighter versions of Luke Skywalker and Poe Dameron have removable helmets . Plus don't forget about Jango Fett, same with him . This is a nice luxury as it allows multiple display options , such as characters appearing with or without the headgear , or holding the headgear in their grasp .

( 9 )  THE BIOS ON THE PACKAGING ARE INFORMATIVE -   Even though you don't get information such as physical stats like height, weight and powers, however lots of the bios detail a character's allegiance or intentions .

( 10 )  THE FACES ARE NOW MORE REALISTIC LOOKING ON THE MOST RECENT FIGURES  -  The figures not only look like the actors and actresses they are representing , but now have more realistic details in their facial features . Take a look at the eyes of the Qi'Ra figure for example . Notice that her eyes are fully detailed with pupils, iris , etc. She has actual eyes and not just black dots for eyes . Nice work .

Now on to the Cons , the negatives .
                                   
                             The Cons of the six inch Star Wars Black Series
                                 (  The  Negatives )  

( 1 )   ARMY BUILDER CHARACTERS MUST BE PURCHASED INDIVIDUALLY  -  Storm Troopers among several other army builder characters do NOT come in two packs or three packs. They must be purchased separately . An example of this situation being a con is " what if you go to a store with only one Storm Trooper . Then you use up your gas in your vehicle to search for another Storm Trooper figure at another store . Whereas a Storm Trooper two-pack or three pack would have prevented the extra travel and usage of gas .

( 2 ) STILL WAITING ON SOME OF THE REALLY LARGE MONSTER CHARACTERS -  At the time of this writing at least . Hopefully this is just a TEMPORARY negative . However I am still waiting on The Rancor for the six inch scale .

That's it folks . Not many negatives as this is a fantastic line . Now to leave you with some action pics of Star Wars Black figures in action , to keep this post from being all dialogue . Featuring two of the most popular Star Wars characters, Luke Skywalker and his father Anakin " AKA " Darth Vader .

The Pros and Cons of WWE Mattel !!!

The WWE Mattel line debuted in 2010 , with Mattel taking over the WWE toy license away from Jakks Pacific . I'll go ahead and admit that I love the WWE Mattel line, and I think the WWE Mattel figures are better looking than the Jakks figures. While the Jakks figures faces were nicely done, the bodies of a lot of the figures look cartoonish and out of proportion scale wise . Not the case with the WWE Mattel figures . Even though WWE Mattel is a nice toy line, it has its flaws as well , as this article discusses the Pros and Cons . Let's start with the Pros .

                     The  Pros  of  Collecting  WWE  Mattel  Figures 
                          (  The   Positives  ) 

(1)  ALL  ERAS  OF  WWE  HISTORY  ARE  REPRESENTED -  Wrestlers from the past and present are made into figures . For the old school fans of the 1980s with the likes of Hulk Hogan, etc. to today's stars . Therefore a fan of any era can be satisfied if they collect figures .

(2)  THE  FIGURES  ARE  IN  SCALE  HEIGHT  WISE   -    Every one is in scale with their real life height .

(3)  THERE'S   NOT  MUCH  BODY  SHARING  . ALMOST  EVERY  FIGURE  HAS THEIR  OWN  BODY  MOLD . NOT  MANY  RE-USED  PARTS  - 
With the exception  of a lot of the female  figures , a lot of the male figures have different body molds This is a nice luxury because it adds realism to the figures . However this luxury does not always stand true for a lot of the older female figures, but as of late some of them have been getting new body molds .

( 4 ) THE  PACKAGING  FOR  THE  FIGURES  ARE  COOL  LOOKING  AND  INFORMATIVE  -    Rather you buy Elite  figures  or Basic , the packaging in my opinion is always nicely decorated in bright vivid colors . By " informative " I'm referring to the short bio-like information on the back , providing details and stats about each wrestler such as height, weight and their finishing maneuvers  , along with  their in ring success such as championship belts won .

( 5 )   THE  FIGURES  ARE  EASY  TO  FIND  AND ARE  ABUNDANT  -  You  can find WWE Mattel  figures at a lot of retail stores and online . Everywhere from Walmart , Target, Walgreens , etc .
( 6 )  THE  FIGURES   COME  WITH  SOME  VERY  COOL  ACCESSORIES  -  Everything from championship belts to prop items, you name it . Although I'll give Jakks the edge in this department over Mattel . I feel that the Jakks figures came with more accessories than the  Mattel figures so far .

( 7 )  THE  FIGURES  ARE  AFFORDABLE  -  Elite figures are always around the $ 19. 99 price range , where as Basic figures can be anywhere from the $ 9.99 through 10 dollar range .

( 8 )  FANS  HAVE  A  CHOICE  OF  RATHER TO  COLLECT  BASIC  OR  ELITE  FIGURES -  Or both . Just like this article's subject , both Basic and Elite figures have their pros and cons . The Pros for Basics are they are at really decent prices . Basic figures are great for those who do not want to spend too much money, or for those with low incomes or tight incomes . That's the positive for Basics . The con of Basics is that quite a bit of articulation is eliminated. Not as articulated as the Elite Figures . Whereas the articulation is one of the strengths of the Elite figures, the extra articulation also adds onto the price, making a more expensive figure which is a con of the Elites .

( 9 )  NOT  ONLY  ARE  WRESTLERS  MADE  INTO  FIGURES , BUT  ALSO  THE  NON - WRESTLERS
Managers , valets ,  ring announcers  , interviewers along with ringside commentators are made into figures . Even the owners have figures such as The McMahons , Vince, Stephanie and Shane . Now if we can just get some Referee figures. Are you listening Mattel ?

( 10 )  THERE  ARE  MULTIPLE  DISPLAY  OPTIONS  FOR  A  LOT  OF  FIGURES  -  For example , the Mean Gene Okerlund build-a-figure let's you decide if you want to display him in his default blue jacket or the red jacket . Also lots of figures come with robes, removable shirts, hats, etc . allowing for different display options for the same figure . Not to mention it was just announced at this year's San Diego Comic Con that most WWE Mattel figures will now start come packaged with extra heads and extra hands , similar to other toy lines of today . What a wonderful luxury to have with these figures !!!

Now  for the cons .

            The  Cons  of  collecting  WWE Mattel  figures  
                         (  The  Negatives  )  

( 1 )    TOO  MANY  OF  THE  FEMALE  FIGURES  HAVE  THE  SAME  BODY  MOLDS -  It seems that every male has his own body mold, but that is not always the case with the female figures .
( 2 )  NO  AB  CRUNCH  FOR  THE  FEMALE  FIGURES  -  I understand it may be because of their smaller size, however all of the Nia Jax  figures have no ab crunch , yet she is bigger in stature than a lot of the men . Even though the female figures are still cool even without an ab crunch, I still wonder why they do not have one .

( 3 )  THE  MISERY  OF  NOT  KNOWING  WHEN  OR  IF  YOU'LL  EVER  SEE  A  FIGURE  OF  SOMEONE  YOU  WANT  A FIGURE  OF  THAT  HAS  NOT  BEEN  MADE -   I'm still waiting on a figure of Chyna , Koko B. Ware , Sable, among others . Not knowing is also frustrating, because sometimes a company must have the rights to make a certain character, etc . However this negative applies to a lot of toy lines, not just WWE Mattel .

( 4 )   TOO  MANY  FIGURES  OF  ONE  CHARACTER /  PERSON  -   This negative also applies to a lot of toy lines and not just this one . Just look at how many John Cena figures exist so far , in both the Elites and Classics . That's extra plastic that could be used on making someone that has not been made yet, rather than making 20 different figures of the same person .

That's it folks . I hope you all enjoyed this article . Let me know in the comments section your thoughts and opinions I would love feedback be it positive or negative . Too keep this article from being all dialogue , I'll leave you with some pics of some WWE Mattel figures in fighting action . Enjoy !!!

The Pros and Cons of Masters of the Universe Classics !!!

Masters of the Universe Classics ( MOTU ) is one of my most favorite toy lines, however like all lines it too has it's pluses and minuses , pros and cons, positives and negatives . First let's start with the GOOD things , the positives .

                  The Pros of Collecting MOTU  Classics                                                       (  The  Positives  ) 

(1)  EVERY THING IN THE WORLD OF MOTU IS REPRESENTED -  Everything from the cartoons, comics, magazines you name it has been made into a figure . Not only does MOTU Classics focus on all of the vintage characters in the 1980s toy line, but it also focuses on many characters that lots of fans have been wanting figures of outside of the vintage line . Filmation characters such as Shadow Beasts , Granamyr , along with others from the Mike Young Productions MOTU , etc . All of the MOTU Spin-Off lines such as The Powers of Grayskull, The New Adventures and what seems to be the most popular MOTU Spin-Off which is Princess of Power . Even figures that were meant for the 80s vintage line but never made it , are availble in this line. Gygor is an example of unproduced figures from way back .

(2) THE  FIGURES  ARE  VERY  ARTICULATED  -   One of the greatest luxuries of MOTU Classics is that these figures can match the articulation of many other popular six inch scaled lines such as Marvel Legends, The Star Wars Black Series, among others .

(3) THE  BIOS  ARE  A  NICE  FEATURE  -   Plus they are also a nice added bonus because the vintage toys did not have personal biographies on the card backs. It is fun to learn the real names of characters and their origins such as how they got their powers , what made them turn to a hero or villain, etc .

(4) ARMY  BUILDER   CHARACTERS  CONSIST  OF  MORE  THAN  ONE  FIGURE  IN  A  PACKAGING  -   The great thing about the Army builder characters is that you do not have to purchase a lot of the same figure to build that particular army . The Horde Troopers, The Royal Palace Guards , Skeletor's Robots from the Filmation toon all give that luxury . Where as an army builder character from most other toy lines and franchises, you would have to purchase multiple figures of the same character to build a certain army . For example the Star Wars Black Series, you will need to purchase multiple Storm Troopers if you want to build a Storm Trooper army . Whereas with MOTU Classics for example, like if you purchase three packages of Skeletor's robots, that's a total of nine robots already since that particular item is a three-pack . Even though you still have to purchase multiple packs if you want a large army, however this is much better than spending on multiple individual figures of the same army builder character, because you're saving money .

(5) CHARACTERS  THAT  FANS  HAVE  WANTED  A  LONG  TIME  FINALLY  BEING  MADE  -  Examples are Queen Marlena , Granita , Cringer among others . Even though with the old vintage toy line if we wanted Cringer we had to remove the mask and armor off of our Battle-Cats and use our imagination pretending that Battle-Cat was in Cringer form . Thanks to MOTU Classics we no longer need to pretend that Battle Cat is Cringer, even though they are literally the same creature . It's a luxury to finally have action figures of characters that we wanted back then and did not get, but have them now .

(6) ALL   OF  THE  DIFFERENT  MEDIA-OUTLET  VERSIONS  OF  CHARACTERS  BEING  MADE  -   Not only do we get vintage like versions of He-Man and Skeletor , but  also mini comic versions along with Filmation versions of the characters . This is an excellent strategy by the toy companies to please all MOTU   fans that do not like all aspects of MOTU . For example, you may have some fans that liked the Filmation cartoon but hated the toys, or VICE VERSA , they loved the toys but hated the toons . By making different media-outlet versions of  of many characters is a nice way of trying to satisfy all fans .

(7)  SEVERAL   FIGURES  COME  WITH   EXTRA  HEADS  PLUS THE  FUN  OF  HEAD  SWAPPING  -   You could do the head swapping thing with the old vintage line too however with MOTU Classics the heads are much easier to come off and place back onto a body . Marvel Legends now have the luxury of head swapping too but since this is a MOTU article I will not go off topic . Plus the MOTU Classic figures with multiple heads are in no particular order Whip-Lash, Stinkor , Kobra Khan , Man-E-Faces among a few others .

(8)  MOTU  CLASSICS  ARE  SCULPTED  BY  THE  FOUR  HORSEMEN  -    These guys are some of the best toy sculptors in the world . Super talented .  For example, many of the Filmation and Mike Young figures  look like they  came right out of a television and made into a piece of plastic .

(9)  MANY  FIGURES  HAVE  UPGRADES  AND  IMPROVEMENTS  OVER  THEIR  OLD  VINTAGE  VERSIONS  -   Now don't get me wrong , I'm not saying that the Classics versions are better toys than their vintage counterparts, all I'm saying is that they have been upgraded . For example , the MOTU Classics versions of Battle-Cat, Panthor , Night Stalker and Stridor all have multiple points of articulation . Where as all of these four character's vintage versions have no articulation, like statues . Still cool even today but as you can see the point I'm making with the upgrades . Another example is Man-E-Faces having more than three faces .

( 10 )   THE  PEOPLE  AT  SUPER 7  ARE  COOL  AND  DOWN  TO  EARTH  -  The current company at the time of this writing taking over the line from Mattel , really want to know and take the time to see what figures us fans really want . They have done figure polls on He-Man.org , plus the owner of Super 7, Brian Flynn is a funny guy with a great sense of humor and always provide updates . Here's a link to the Super 7 Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/super7store/videos . Also because they are over MOTU Classics, Super 7 are also pleasing fans by releasing vintage versions Fimation style, among other MOTU projects . Now on to the negatives about MOTU Classics .

The CONS of Collecting MOTU Classics
( The Negatives )

( 1 ) THE FIGURES ARE NOT SOLD IN RETAIL EXCEPT FOR LOCAL COMIC SHOPS - MOTU Classics are not sold in person in stores such as Walmart, Target , Walgreens , etc . Your local comic book shop may carry some MOTU Classics , other than that the majority of figures will have to be purchased online . I think it sucks that almost every figure must be purchased over the internet, meaning also you pay extra for the shipping . For example, back in the Matty Collector days a figure would be listed at 20 dollars, however you end up paying right around a total of 40 dollars anyway for shipping and handling, along with the weight of the package .

( 2 ) THE FIGURES ARE ON THE EXPENSIVE SIDE - Following up on the above statements of shipping fees, today a majority of the figures are sold for around the 30-40 dollar plus price range on some sites such as Big Bad Toy Store . Add on the shipping and handling fees then you've got one expensive purchase . So it's best to make sure you got a full time job if you plan on buying a lot of MOTU Classics, because it will be tough with just a part time job .

( 3 ) THE 1980s VINTAGE ACTION FEATURES ARE GONE FOR A LOT OF CHARACTERS OR HAVE BEEN MODIFIED -
Sy-Klone can no longer spin like the vintage figure , however you can display him in spinning poses . Blast Attack can no longer split in half, etc. This is a bummer for a lot of vintage collectors that also collect Classics . Where as some figures still maintain their action features, however they have been modified, the functions are no longer the same as they were back in the eighties . For example, Mekaneck's neck no longer stretches by twisting his waist . Now his mechanical neck extensions are added on manually . Same situation with Extendar among others . However the good news is that NOT every figure has lost their action feature . Moss-Man and Stinkor still have their scents, Man-E-Faces can still switch faces by turning the knob on the top of his head, just like the vintage figure .

Those are all of the negatives I can come up with about the MOTU Classics toy line . Let's hope that these three problems can be fixed one day . Speaking of problems, I came up with two more situations that USED to be negatives about MOTU Classics but are no longer a problem . Here goes ..................

FORMER Negatives about MOTU Classics

( 1 ) THE MINI- COMICS ARE GONE - Even though a few figures in the MOTU Classics line came with mini comics, over all the mini comics are a thing of the past with the Classics line. When the MOTU Classics figures first debuted , this was bothersome to many fans. But as the years passed by many of us have gotten used to the figures coming with no comics, so it's no longer a problem anymore . However it would still be a luxury to bring them back .

( 2 ) PROBLEMS DEALING WITH TOY-GURU AND MATTY COLLECTOR - Before Matty-Collector closed its doors I remember a lot of fans on He-Man.Org were complaining of poor customer service. I personally never had this problem I'm just going by what others said in the message boards . Now that Super 7 has taken over that poor customer service is a problem of the past . Also there are no more " scare tactics" about the line being cancelled if a certain goal was not met financially. That too is a problem of the past . Many people complained about Toy-Guru for the tactics .

Okay folks there you have it. The Pros and Cons of Masters of the Universe Classics . Let me know what you think of the article . I would love the feedback and if all positive I'll do more articles similar to this one . Before signing off however, let me leave you with some pics of a few MOTU Classic figures in action . Just for your entertainment and to keep this article from being all dialogue ( just words ) and no pictures .

Action Figure Man's TOY WISH LIST !!!

Even though I'm a fan of action figures just like you all, I'm also missing some rare toys and figures that I would like to add to my collection . Some are hard to find or super expensive. In most cases a combination of both . Here are three toys , one is a play set and the other two are action figures that I do not have in my collection at the time of writing this post . First up the Eternia Playset .

These pictures are from a Comic Book Convention I attended a back in 2016 . I forgot how much the guys at the booth wanted for it I just remember I did not have the funds at the time . They were however nice enough to let me take pictures . I even did a review of this trip and in case you missed it here's the link ---  http://actionfigureimagerytoyreviews.blogspot.com/2016/10/memphis-comic-expo-2016-toy-pictures.html . Now for the action figures on my wish list .

The James Harden NBA Heroes figure is very difficult to find, and the Dragon Man Marvel Legends figure is not that difficult to find, however it is difficult to find him at a decent price. He is very expensive because of his rareness . Last two pics courtesy of various sites and NOT me of course . There's more action figures I would like to have in my collection but these are among my top three most wanted toys for now.

Flea Market and Thrift Store Finds - Part 7 !!!

The first of this series in two years. The last " Flea Market and Thrift Store finds" post was back in 2016 . These latest pickups I purchased were on August 4, 2018 from a local thrift store . Some nice items for very low nice prices . Three wrestling figures in the six inch scale, a motorized seven inch scale robot and an old Batmobile . At the end of this article links are posted to the first six posts of this series . Now on to the most recent finds .

 First up is a look at an old school Mattel Batmobile . I left the $ 1.98 price tag on it on purpose to remind everyone that this is indeed a thrift store purchase and NOT an E-bay find, etc . That's the luxury of thrift stores, you may never know what you may find at discounted prices !!! I looked all over this Batmobile and could not find the year , To me it looks like something out of the 1990s. Plus it looks like it is based on the Batman movie from 1989, starring Michael Keaton as Batman .

 Press your fingers against the hood to activate the battering ram feature .

 Since this is Batman's car, it makes since to put any Batman figure behind the wheel . That's a DC Superheroes Batman sitting there . The problem is trying to make the cape fit in with him, since most of the capes on just about all of the recent Batman figures over the years are made of a hard rubbery plastic . So because of this I tried a NON - Caped figure such as Aqua-Man .

 As you can see non-caped six inch scaled figures fit really well into the vehicle . That is a DCU Classics Aqua-Man, and as you can see I tried to pose him in a turning motion, making it seem as if he's turning the car . Plus you can make the open hands fit really well around the steering wheel handles, giving the illusion that he really is driving . So the good news is that this Batmobile does fit in scale with today's modern day six inch scaled figure . My only complaint about this Batmobile is that it does not look realistic, it does not look like a real car. It actually looks like what it actually is, a toy and not real . Other than that gripe it is a nice toy . Now on to the three wrestling figures .

 These three guys came together in a clear plastic bag for a little over four dollars . The guy in the middle, Shark Boy is my favorite of the bunch because he's more articulated than the other two and looks cooler in my opinion .

 Shark Boy is from the TNA Wrestling line done by Marvel Toys . The year is posted on the bottom of his left boot and it says 2005 . He's a very cool figure and he fits  in well with today's WWE Mattel figures .

 I do not know the name of this guy however he is dated 2003 and is a WWE Jakks Pacific figure .

 This figure of Chris Benoit is when he was in the WWE and not WCW . He also is dated 2003 and also belongs to Jakks Pacific .

This robot is one of the Boxing Robots courtesy of  MerchSource . Dated 2014 I found this red one with his head missing . The battery compartment is on the back and the on/off switch is on the right hand side of the figure's mid-section . To see what the robots really looked like view the pic below courtesy of Amazon.com and not me .

Even though my purchase is missing his head, I could not pass him up for only 99 cents . Plus after researching these robots by googling them, I now want to purchase a complete set . Just find you a brother or any relative or a good friend willing to play against you and have fun !!! That's all for now and there will be more of these type of posts in the future. I hope you all enjoyed the article but before  I go below are the links I promised earlier to the past articles , just in case you may have missed them .
(1) Flea Market and Thrift Store Finds Part One

(2) Flea Market and Thrift Store Finds Part Two

(3) Flea Market and Thrift Store Finds Part Three

(4) Flea Market and Thrift Store Finds Part Four

(5) Flea Market and Thrift Store Finds Part Five

(6) Flea Market and Thrift Store Finds Part Six