NINJA TURTLES - April O'Neal 2014 Movie figure Review !!!

Here is the action figure of April O'Neal based on the looks of the lovely actress Megan Fox . I purchased this figure at a local Walmart for a little under 10 bucks, right at about 8.99 . And of course as we all know this figure is based on this year's Turtle movie . Even though also we know that the name of the franchise is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the "Teenage Mutant" part has been dropped for the packaging of this toy series. It is just simply named " Ninja Turtles". Which led to a little confusion for myself as to what the title of this post should be referred to as, TMNT or just Ninja Turtles. So I went with what is on the packaging . The "Teenage Mutant" part was probably dropped because of lack of space on the packaging. I really don't know just guessing . I'm assuming that's what probably happened .

When you remove April from the packaging, you'll discover that she's a nice looking figure with limited articulation . Probably the most realistic looking April O'Neal figure ever made, since the likeness is based on a real person . As for accessories, she comes with her camera, a flash add on piece for her camera , and two sai weapons . She can not hold the sai knives as they are more suitable for Raphael . That's one thing you can say about a lot of today's action figures, is that a lot of them come with accessories meant for other characters.

 As you can see Ms. O'Neal is just a little under five inches tall, being just a slight shade over four inches. Judging from the above pic it looks as if the camera accessory is a little bit too big for her . At least the straps are . This camera accessory looks like it is more suitable for all of your old six inch ToyBiz Peter Parker figures than it is for April O'Neal . Since Peter is a photographer also. However I like how the camera accessories are very detailed. If you look closely you can see the details such as buttons and lenses.Very cool. And as always with Ninja Turtle figures, you get a mini catalog showing other TMNT goodies that are available for purchase .

Also, I think this April O'Neal figure fits in scale wise with previous TMNT figures from earlier series . Look at how she compares with the Turtle figures from the 2012 line and also to one of the vintage characters from the late 1980s/early 1990s , Bebop .

As you can see she blends in well with the older TMNT figures. Also below is a side by side comparison of this current April figure standing next to the animated 2012 version . Kids with great imagination can pretend they are two different people , because they look nothing alike . The only similarities are the yellow and blue color schemes for their outfits. Even the hair is different .

                                                         FINAL   THOUGHTS 
( 1 ) ARTICULATION - Very limited . Still a neat figure despite this. Arms move outward and up and down. Legs move up and down but not outward. Head moves side to side, slightly downward but not upward. Her wrists can twist around .
( 2 ) STANDING  ABILITY - Despite having high heels, she stands very well once you get her in that proper standing stance.
( 3 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  BEST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? Nicely sculpted figure with nice realism . Not a perfect likeness of Megan Fox but close enough . Looks great displayed next to older Turtle figures. Nice accessories.
( 4 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  LEAST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? There's not much to dislike about this figure despite limited articulation . At this time I can not think of anything that I dislike about this figure.
( 5 ) WHAT  COULD  HAVE  BEEN  DONE  TO  IMPROVE  THE  FIGURE ? More articulation would have been nice. Especially at the elbows and knees. Knee articulation is a must for sitting poses, and elbow articulation is a must for fight / action poses .
( 6 ) GRADING  SCALE - On a scale of 1-10 I give this figure a 9.5 . The minus is for the missing points of articulation that I have already discussed . However I am not bothered by this flaw. But extra articulation would have given her a perfect 10 .
( 7 ) FINAL  ANALYSIS - Since this is probably the most realistic looking April O'Neal figure ever made, she looks great being displayed next to older Turtle figures and even to other toy lines with similar scale. Since the figure resembles Megan Fox more than it does the actual April O'Neal character, it is easy to imagine her as someone else other than Ms. O'Neal . Especially if you customizers out there decide to paint her hair a different color . Also this figure is available at a great price, below the ten dollar mark, which is quite unusual and rare for such a big name franchise . However in today's market , toys below ten dollars is a good thing . Cheap price but NOT a cheap toy , this figure is definitely worth adding to your collection .

FLEA MARKET & THRIFT STORE FINDS - PART 2

Here is my second installment of this series. Some interesting characters / figures that I have no idea who they are or where they came from . All of these figures come from those discounted "grab bags" that I love so much . There's no telling what you may find in those grab bags . Here goes .

Who is this guy ? A cool looking figure in my opinion with his light purple and blue colors. Add in the yellow and he is one colorful looking figure, literally . The cape is cloth . Decent articulation and he's almost exactly six inches tall as you can see . Looks like a super hero character to me .

This guy is right at six inches tall and I have no idea who he is neither . Since I do not know the character I'm not sure rather his right eye is covered by his hair or is it closed . Even looking at the toy it is difficult to tell . If you can recognize him he would make great custom fodder . Not just the figure but his clothes also. You can remove his boots,etc. and place them on another figure.

Need some extra characters / figures to display alongside your G.I. Joe figures ? This guy would be perfect for just that . The helmet does not come off however he looks as if he's a military themed character .

I have no idea who this diver is . He reminds me of Aquaman , but I do not think this is Aquaman in another outfit, even though he favors him and seems to be in the same profession . Dealing with water and the seas .

Who is this Yoshi looking character ? I've seen this character somewhere before a long time ago but can't quite put my finger on where he's from . Even though he kind of resembles Yoshi from Super Mario Bros. fame I know that's not Yoshi . However I do think he is a video game character . At least he looks like one.

Power Rangers ? I assume he is he looks like a Power Rangers character . I do not know since I've never been much of a Power Rangers fan . A cool six inch scaled figure though with some nice points of articulation.

Here's another figure that can fit in with your G.I. Joes . The reason I've taken two pics is because his yellow outfit almost camouflages with my twelve inch ruler . So I displayed a second pic of him without the ruler because of that, so that you can get a better look at him . Nice articulation and just like the life guard looking figure he too looks like a sea man .

Finally a character that I know . Even though I know it's Darkseid, I just don't know about what kind of toy this is supposed to be . Anyway you can press the lever on the back to make Darkseid move back and forth.

One of the vehicles out the the Tron franchise . This vehicle looks like a McDonalds Happy Meal toy but I'm not sure . As you can see one of the above mentioned figures can fit nicely on it .

Finally a wind up toy. I love wind up toys they are so much fun to watch zoom across whatever surface you lay them on . This little robot guy is pretty fast, and look at just how fast he is in the short video clip below .

There you go folks I hope you all enjoyed this article . Expect more like this in the future as I visit more flea markets and thrift stores .

Marvel Legends Infinite Series Spider-Man - BOOMERANG REVIEW !!!

Sub titled " Deadliest Foes" , Boomerang is a variant or running change of this series . I purchased him at a local Walmart for $ 19.99 . Just like the Spider-Girl variant of the same series , I waited on this figure to arrive locally in stores rather than paying extremely high prices for him on places like Ebay . For those of you whom may not know, this is the first Marvel Legend figure of Boomerang , as he did not have a figure in the Toybiz line . A neat looking figure, however I wish Hasbro had went with his original look rather than this one . The reasons why are because I like the original colors better plus this version is too similar in color scheme to Bullseye.

Below is the aforementioned reference I was making about Boomerang's similarities to Bullseye, design wise . Notice how they both have almost the exact same bluish gray and white streaks color scheme .

When you remove Boomerang from the packaging , he is an excellent figure with all around articulation . As for accessories he comes with four small boomerangs along with the piece you attach to a hole in his upper back. As you can see you can store those extra boomerangs back there when he's not holding any in his hands.

Besides his trademark weapons , Boomerang also comes with the left leg of this series build a figure "the ultimate Green Goblin " . It is also worth noting that the boomerangs fit firmly in his left hand but not so securely in his right hand . If you want him to firmly hold one in his right hand , you would have to twist his wrist around to a position where a boomerang will not fall out of the hand . Also below is a tossing / throwing pose you can display him in as if he's about to toss the weapon .

As for you "new school" Spider-Man fans that have not seen Boomerang's original look , here it is from a comic book scan . Also below is a comparison shot of this actual figure compared to the original comic book version .

So everyone, which version would you have preferred Hasbro to make ? Myself , while I'm happy with the toy we got , I still would rather have the original version . Plus I like the colors blue and purple better than gray and white. Plus he looks too much like Bullseye. I do not like my action figures looking alike, I prefer each and every character to have their own unique individual look . This is my only complaint about this Boomerang figure other than that an excellent all around action figure .
                                           FINAL   THOUGHTS 
( 1 ) ARTICULATION - Excellent all around articulation . After being absent for a while on a lot of figures, the up and down all around head movement is slowly coming back with more recent figures, including this one .
( 2 ) STANDING  ABILITY - There are no balance issues to complain about . Boomerang stands perfectly without falling .
( 3 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  BEST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? It feels good to add another Spidey villain that has not been made before into my collection . Plus I love his boomerangs and his boomerang rack that attaches to his back .
( 4 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  LEAST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? As I've already mentioned , he looks too much like Bullseye. This is my only gripe .
( 5 ) WHAT  COULD  HAVE  BEEN  DONE  TO  IMPROVE  THIS FIGURE ? Should have made it easier for his right hand to hold the boomerangs also .
( 6 ) GRADING  SCALE  - On a scale of 1 to 10 I give this figure a 9.5 . The minus is for being unable to securely fit the boomerangs in his right hand . I also wish that the original version was made instead of this one, however this option is not a reason in determining the Grading Scale score of this figure. Even though it's the same person, both the original and this look are their own unique designs and should be judged differently.
( 7 ) FINAL  ANALYSIS - It feels great to add Boomerang to my collection of classic Spider-Man villains . Customizers out there that prefer the original look may have to use another figure / character altogether to make an original version . This version looks like it will be difficult to customize into the original look. This version of Boomerang also reminds me of one of the former super heroes from The Incredibles just a little. In the face he kind of reminds me of the character referred to as Gazerbeam . That makes two different characters that this figure reminds me of . Bullseye and Gazerbeam . One in the face and the other costume wise. One in he shares the world of Marvel with and the other from a whole different franchise altogether. However despite looking like characters that already exist ,  Boomerang is still very much worthy of adding to your collection .

Review of the 2014 SAN DIEGO COMIC CON . A look back at some of the convention high lights !!!

I wish I had the free time to go to this event in person , but like most people I read about it over various websites . Sites such as toynewsi.com , the fwoosh.com , etc . What got me excited the most was the reveals of some of the Masters of the Universe Classics and the new up coming Marvel Legends . I will talk about what I am most excited about from these two lines first . ( NOTE ) The following pics are NOT mine . They are courtesy of the respective above mentioned web sites .I'm just using the pics as reference material as I discuss what I like best from the Comic Con show. First I'll go over the MOTU Classics reveals and which reveals got me excited and why . Here are the pics ..............

Pic courtesy of Toynewsi.com . Of the four characters / figures seen above , the two that excites me the most are Lizard Man and Oo-larr . Here's why .
( 1 ) Lizard Man - The first time I saw this guy was as a 9 or 10 year old kid watching the old Filmation He-Man episodes . I remember wanting him as an action figure as a kid back in the 1980s . Now to finally have him as an adult makes that childhood wish come true . Plus Lizard Man comes with two cool accessories, Skeletor's sword he used in the old toon and the Diamond Ray of Disappearance , the magical artifact used in the first episode . Also I am glad Liz is shorter than the other figures just like he is in the cartoon . He looks exactly the way he looked in the toon .
( 2 ) Oo-Larr - Many MOTU fans that were not aware of this guy were confused . I visited some MOTU Classic Facebook pages where people were asking who is Oo-larr . A MOTU history lesson is in need of explanation of this character, so here it is. Back when Mattel first created He-Man in the mini comics, there was no Prince Adam, just He-Man . He-Man was originally meant to be a strong warrior from a jungle tribe and NOT a Prince of a palace . So to settle continuity conflicts , Mattel made Oo-Larr into the jungle He-Man, keeping him from being the same He-Man as Prince Adam . So when the MOTU Classics bios were done, both Oo-Larr and Prince Adam served as He-Man . The bios allowed Eternia to have more than just one He-Man, and Oo-Larr is one of them . I am excited about Oo-Larr's two heads. One is a vintage He-Man head , and I'm pleased that the other head was altered to not look to much like Adam , allowing Oo-Larr to have his own individual look .
And to top things off, Oo-Larr is supposed to come with a BLUEPRINT OF CASTLE GRAYSKULL . I can't wait to have this item in my hands .
( 3 ) NINJOR - I'm glad he's finally in classic form but I'm disappointed that Mattel did not use the removable hood / mask feature for him like they did for the vintage toy . Instead he comes with two alternate heads, masked and unmasked . He still looks cool though and it's great to have Skeletor's gang almost complete.
(4) Huntara - She looks cool but I was not too crazy about her as a character . I think I like her better as an action figure than I do as a cartoon character . You can watch the only She-Ra episode she's in on Youtube.

PIC ALSO COURTESY OF TOYNEWSI.COM .
Mermista looks super cool. In both human form and mermaid form . I love her light blue colors and she looks just like she did in the Filmation cartoon . I can not wait to add Mermista to my collection.I did not care for an action figure of Bow's horse named Arrow but it looks cool and I will end up buying it anyway.
As for Tung-Lashor , the only letdown for me is no more dial on his back to move his tongue in and out . Instead this feature has been replaced with two alternate heads, tongue in and tongue out . He still looks cool though .

Above pics also courtesy of Toynewsi .
I can't wait to get Skeletor's robot knights . They look so cool, and they too look like they jumped right out of the cartoon and into plastic form . Great job Four Horsemen !!! The MOTUC version of Gwildor is a nice improvement over the vintage figure. As a matter of fact it is based on Billy Barton's likeness, the actor that portrayed Gwildor in the 1987 MOTU live action movie .

And the latest MOTUC reveals that excited me, I love how Sweet Bee looks and is glad to see the helmet that she wore in a She-ra episode she appeared in is coming with the figure . Also I can't wait for this MOTU Art book scheduled to come out in April of next year . There were also other MOTU goodies announced but these above mentioned ones by me are my favorites .

PICS COURTESY OF MARVELOUSNEWS.COM . A sub site of ToyNewsi .
Marvel Legends are coming out with a lot of goodies also . I'm excited about these Agents of Shield figures, can't wait to add these two to my collection . There are quite a few new characters that have never been made before to get excited over . They are in no particular order Radioactive Man , the newest Hob Goblin ,Hellcat , Machine Man , and finally Odin is here as a build a figure . After all of these years, we will finally have a Marvel Legend figure of Odin . It's about time .

This newest Hobgoblin is not the same Hobby that Spidey first encountered for those of you whom may not know. In the comics he has this cool super power , a super sonic loud laugh that is so deafening it can cause physical damage . I can not wait to complete this guy, he is a build a figure after all .

My final takes on the world of Marvel , there are some nice remakes of characters that have already been made by Toybiz on the way from Hasbro . The remakes of Spider-Woman, The Scarlet Witch and Ms. Marvel ( not Pictured ) look really good to me and I plan on buying them anyway even though I have the Toybiz versions . You will also have to buy that cool looking new original Spider-Girl figure to complete that Hobgoblin .
I could go on and on about San Diego 2014 Comic Con , however I just decided to write about what I like the most , and MOTU Classics and Marvel Legends got me excited the most . More than any other franchise . Although there are some more HONORABLE MENTIONS that were announced that are on my wish list which are ..........
( 1 ) Some of the newest 6 inch scaled Star Wars Black Figures coming out . Anakin Skywalker/ Darth Vader  is on his way .
( 2 ) WWE MATTEL - We are finally getting figures of Hulk Hogan , Ric Flair , Razor Ramon and believe it or not Sting . I don't purchase all of the wrestling figures but do plan on adding these legends to my collection.
( 3 ) The video store diorama piece that comes with some new Jay and Silent Bob figures .
From the looks of things the 2014 SDCC is one of the best con's in a while . Even though I did not go there in person , I like what has been reported a lot !!!

JULY 2014 CONTEST . Win TWO carded Iron Man III 3.75 inches movie figures !!!

Win not one but two Iron Man III three inch scaled figures ( MIB ) mint in box in this month's contest . As always the FIRST CORRECT ANSWER is the winner of the prize . Here are some looks at what you can win .

Now here is the TRIVIA QUESTION .

You have until August 27, 2014 to come up with the correct answers. All contests are 30 days long before expiring . Good luck to all that participate !!!