Feb 28, 2022

Second Marvel Legends List for 2022: Now with X-Gene

 I made a Spider-Man related list, so I guess it's time for the X-Men:

Bone Claw Wolverine: (Feral)
This figure would be a kitbash combining pieces from previous Wolverines and the Jackal. The only new piece would be the Head.

Gabby Kinney:
There's a reason for me to push a smaller kid buck... (Katie Power, Valeria Richards, AMP, and Gabby)  with some creative use of overlays all of these young girls could be made from a base body.

Longshot:
We got Dazzler and Shatterstar we KINDA need a new Longshot, since ToyBiz scale is a bit weird.

Spiral:
While the Spiral from the Hasbro dark ages is a decent figure, an updated version would be nice.

Classic Apocalypse:
The Hasbro Apocalypse BAF is pretty good, but a Classic Colors repaint would be better.

New X-Men Cyclops:
A Xorn Redo will be eventually asked for, pre-making some of his parts with Cyclops... and Cyke would go well with the Kitbashed NXM Wolverine that will appear on this list.

Psykocke: (Armored Betsy)
We already got a Kwannon Psylocke, so we kinda need a Pre-body swap Betsy.

Lilandra:
We got a tease with Mystique, but like Hammerhead, we need a proper figure...

Banshee:
Hasbro needs another Redemption Round with Banshee.

New X-Men Wolverine:
Kitbash figure with zero new parts. Saving some money for 100% newly tooled figures like Spiral mentioned above.

Daken:
I don't mean a redo of Wannabe Wolverine Daken, but Daken's own outfit. 

Brotherhood Rogue:
Rogue from the time she was part of the Brotherhood. This is also part of a plan to bring back a Ms. Marvel reissue by putting this Rogue and Ms. Marvel in a box set.

Avalanche:
I guess the Hyperion body with a few new parts could give us Avalanche 

Toad:
20+ years we've been waiting for a Toad redo. He would need to be close to 100% new parts.

Blob: 
With Hasbro's improvements in engineering and sculpt on 1:12 scale, we deserve an improved Blob... with some creative reuse on certain parts a GLA Big Bertha could be doable. 

Genesis:
Cable's kid who hrew up to become an Apocalypse wannabe... I mainly want him for a Wolverine 100 display.

Marrow: (same outfit used in MVC2)
She's had multiple looks and outfits and could mostly be made from a standard female body with a new upper torso and maybe arms.

Team X Logan:
This would be a Wolverine body with extra slip-on and new parts to recreate the Team X look. He'd be part of a 4 pack with Maverick, Sabretooth, and Omega Red with a brand spanking new Carbonadium Synthesizer.

Team X Creed:
Hyperion body with Sabretooth and new parts to make a Team X accurate Creed to be a piece of a 4 pack with Emilio Garra, Maverick, and Omega Red.

Nick Fury: (as seen in UXM 274)
This is like a Ridiculously 90s Nick Fury with pouches and belts all over the place, a Gambit-like skullcap, and did I mention more guns than Cable and Punisher combined. It literally looks like a gunshow and Hot Topic puked all over Nick Fury.

Honorable Mentions:

Mimic:
Based on his earlier appearances that copied Scott, Hank, and Warren.

Headmistress Frost: (Generation X)
I also want to sneak in Geberation X into the line, but other characters had higher priority. She's mostly a kitbash.

Onslaught and Xavier 2-pack:
This one is a cheap cop out. Basically a translucent black body with a translucent Xavier head and a redo of the Onslaught BAF with a slightly different repaint. Darker reds and purples than the Redskull Onslaught. It has ZERO new parts.

Bobby Drake: (unfrozen)
Repaint of Iceman with a new unfrozen head. Budget saving, but valid variant.

Belladonna:
Gambit's ex and leader of the Assassins Guild has tons of issues with a few X-Men.

Skin:
A slim body with the Mr. Fantastic creepy fingers and weapon X feet with a new head makes for a perfect Angelo Espinoza.

Husk:
Husk could have the honor of being a "Multi-Figure" like the Cuckoos or Moonstar. Most of her accessories would be swapped skins for Paige, but she'd get a Gaia head.

Quicksilver: (Brotherhood Green)
Easy repaint of Quicksilver based on his time in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

Jean Grey: (X-Factor)
Retro Wave Cyclops is in his X-Factor outfit. We need a Jean to match.

Cable: (Yellow and Blue uniform)
The Hyperion body and some Cable parts are the recipe for this Cable. Yes, MVC2 is a huge reason for this variant, otherwise I'd be happy with Sasquatch wave Cable.

I know it's a bit weird that variants are populating the main list wild new characters are populating The Honorable list. That's mainly because the X-Men being very heavy in most Marvel Legends lines. For every Exodus, or Cypher, you get 3 Wolverines, 2 Cyclopses, 4 Storms, and 3 Beasts 

Feb 27, 2022

It came from the Toy Chest: This Gecko ain't selling insurance


 Gex ain't got spit on him. I'm talking about one of the most popular geckos in existence...
There's like only 4 popular geckos and one is a Pokémon. I am talking about Mondo Gecko. Ally of the TMNT, member of the Mutanimals. And I know Jack shit about him. So, why did I bought him? Good question... I never had him as a kid, but the kid I often played TMNT with had him and in our play universe Mondo and Mikey had a friendly rivalry. Apparently that is close to canon.
Mikey: A mutant Skateboarding Gecko!? Cool!
Mondo: Lock and load, Little Lizard!!
Mikey: I'm a Turtle, not a Lizard!
Mondo: My inner child is coming out and it HURTS!!


Articulation 
Mondo has standard Ultimates articulation but with added tail articulation. His shoulder articulation is a bit limited. He can do plenty of skating poses as long as you have a stand that can support his weight. He might be small, but he's hefty for his size.
4.5 the tail articulation kinda compensates for the limited shoulders.
Mikey: Holy crap! He has a Turbocharged Skateboard! Donny needs to make me one of those!!
Mondo: THIS ONE'S FOR JOHNNY!!
Mikey: Wait up, dude!
Mondo: That's for 12 years of Full House!
Mikey: what!?


Paint and sculpt 
Mondo Gecko looks like his vintage figure but bigger and more articulated and additional paint applications. I especially like that Super7 took some details left unpainted on the original figure and painted them. 
5.0
Mondo: If I had a life, I'd be glad to get back to it!
Mikey: I nearly caught up to you WITHOUT A ROCKET SKATEBOARD!!
Mondo: Pulse Racing! Heart pounding! Where's the John!?
Mikey: Wait a second!! ARE YOU QUOTING GEX!?


Accessories 
Extra head
Extra hands
Skateboard 

While I didn't have him as a kid, I remember his Skateboard. The one we got is not accurate to vintage in shape. The one we got looks more like an engine powered Skateboard, while the vintage toy looked like a hybrid Engine powered skateboard/surfboard. It's NOT the end of the world. It's an observation on how "vintage accurate" isn't exactly set in stone.
I wonder if this flexibility can translate into other figures. We have seen it on April and the Turtles.
5.0
Mondo: This place is weirder than 4th of july at Rick James' place...
Mikey: I get it, you're a hip Gecko and you can help me save 15 percent in car insurance by switching to Geico...
Mondo: Did you just stereotype me, Cecil?
Just kidding, brah! The name's Gecko... Mondo Gecko! I'm a bit disappointed that no one has Oozed Tony Hawk...
Mikey: I'm Hamato Michelangelo...
Mondo: Real Japanese or Weaboo?
Mikey: Adopted Japanese, but yeah, an oozed Tony Hawk would be Bitchin'!
Mondo: It would be Radical!
Mikey: How do we capture a Hawk and have it touch Tony Hawk before oozing him... because it would suck if he tirned into a Pomeranian...
Mondo: or a pigeon...



Overall 
Mondo gets a 4.83 as his final score. The slight Articulation issue is what prevents Mondo from being a "perfect figure".

Feb 25, 2022

First Marvel Legends wishlist for 2022 part 1: Spider-Man related characters.

 Another year and another Marvel Legends Wishlist. It totally has nothing to do with my ability to preorder a Rhino from BBTS...

May Parker: The Amazing Spider-Girl:
We got one with the Phil Urich Hobgoblin BAF, but she was underwhelming. I'm suggesting redemption for young MayDay...
Improved crotch articulation so she can do Spidey poses, double joint elbows, extra hands, new MayDay Parker head, and if possible, already existing web effects. (Hasbro's choice)

Ben Reilly:
A Repaint of the Peter Parker figure. Maybe toss in some extra hands for wall crawling. 

Ezekiel:
The Suit Body with the Parker Shirt and Weapon X feet, extra wall crawling hands, extra gripping hands, knife.

Kaine (90s):
Mandatory request from The House of Rants. Preferably 100% new sculpt would be needed.

Spider-Man: Beyond
The new Retro Spider-Man body repainted in the Beyond Outfit.

The Spot: 
The main reason he's here is for cost-cutting purposes, since he'd be a kitbash of existing parts.

Prodigy: Slingers set
Using the Moon Knight body with a new head, belt, boots and cape would make it easy for Hasbro.

Dusk: Slingers set
Female body with a Spidey head and cloth cape... another bidget saving figure.

Ricochet: Slingers set
The Cyclops body with a new head and arms, and a jacket would make easy work out of Ricochet.

Hornet: Slingers set
This one would require a lot of new tooling, hence the cost saving kitbashes on the other slingers.

Carrion:
We pretty much have all the pieces sans head. Main reason is to complete Team Maximum Carnage.

Anna May Parker: The Spiderling (kid)
The idea is to have a Kid buck that could be used for Katie Power, Valeria Richards, and Gabby Kinney. We know that teen Annie May Parker can be made with the existing Teen buck and a new head. This AMP could be put in a 3 pack with Spinneret (which would be a female body with double jointed elbows and a new head. Tossing in a second MJ head from retro Gwen) The third figure would be Spidey as a "cost saving but added value item" for the pack.

Spinneret:
I literally mentioned her in AMP, but since I want her as a character, I don't want her to not count on the list. The separate spot is for counting purposes only.

Carolyn Trainer: Lady Ock:
I want her in her 90s look, of course. I don't like the Syndicate look. No matter how we slice it she needs close to 100% new tooling.

Shathra:
This one is super easy:
Wasp body with Scream Hands, New Feet, and new head in glossy black.

Doctor Curt Connors:
Reusing the new Mr. Fantastic and Suit body with a new head and new right arm (stump) we have a Curt Connors before becoming Lizard. Tossing in a Classic Lizard head for the existing Lizard BaF is a nice incentive.

Bombastic Bagman:
Another Cost saving Figure who is literally a New Head. 

Man-Spider:
He would be the one of the Final 2 Original Proto-Marvel Legends figure to be updated by Hasbro. The other is Battle Damaged Spidey, but let's save him for a box set or something.
Sadly, Hasbro would reuse the inferior six-arm/doppelganger body with new feet, new hands and head. 

Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do
ToyBiz screwed up badly... we need a Hasbro Redemption asap. Retro Black Cat body with new forearms, legs, fur collar, and head.

Darkdevil:
I kinda want a way to sneak in the MC-2 universe into Legends, so adding Reilly Tyne would be a nice way to cement the idea of more Earth-982 in ML. He would be mostly a reuse of the Pizza Spidey body with new head and upper torso for the Darkdevil elements.

Honorable mentions:

Goblin 2099:
While the Goblin ended up being a woman, the character's body read as masculine. (Because it was supposed to be Gabriel O'Hara) I'd expect the figure to reflect that.

Venom: The Madness:
You have to admit that it looks badass and it's an iconic version of Venom.

Riot:
We're 2 Symbiotes short of the Life Foundation 4... Basing him on the Movie Venom would be a nice start

Agony:
Again, see Riot for reasons. Only difference is that She's a scream repaint with a new head.

Man-Wolf:
We need an updated Man-Wolf. (And maybe a John Jameson fogure down the line) He's most likely to be a 100% newly tooled character.

Sin-Eater:
He's kinda Kitbashable, which would allow for other characters to be made. For a guy with a Shotgun he seems to have a weird popularity that goes beyond The Death of Jean DeWolff. 

Tarantula:
I will keep bringing up this Hasbro Blunder until he gets fixed in a redemption figure.

Alistair Smythe: Ultimate Spider Slayer:
I often try to sneak him in because of the Gameboy game and The Animated series. I would prefer to have him in a 100% newly sculpted body, but if we can get him through creative parts reuse and remain accurate, so be it.

Molten Man:
Classic villain who is literally a new head on a basic body. Here some of the pour lines could help the melting nature of the character.

Namorita:
The New Warriors are Spidey Adjacent in a way. Some of them have appeared in Spider-Man waves, as others have appeared in Avengers waves.

I'll probably make another list for X-Men and another for Avengers, and a final lost for everything else.

Feb 22, 2022

NU-HE-MAN GRAYSKULL: a rant

 I thought that I would not have to talk MOTU until Season 2 of CGI He-Man: Battle of the Mega Men... but Mattel dropped some pics of the New Grayskull.

That's the new Castle Grayskull. All the pics shown are from the front side. But it doesn't look like Castle Grayskull... it looks more like a WWE Stage entrance.

Now before people start claiming OK Boomer to dismiss me, stop, evaluate and listen!
I'm not criticizing the castle's design. I'm criticizing it from a play perspective. Past castles have been half shells with play areas inside and outside.
As seen on this Origins Grayskull, there is a lot of play elements INSIDE the castle.
The new Grayskull only offers 2 swords and an ax. The turret no longer houses the laser cannon. Now it has been relegated to the side.

Notice the rocky outcropping and how it's almost a figure tall.
It has a trap door atop the castle and power up effects... plus a lot of useless electronics. ToyNewsI has a preview.
There is a lot less play value in this castle than say, the Origins Castle. My issue is that it plays more like a MOTWWEU Titantron than an Actual Grayskull. I keep wondering if the people in charge at the boys toys division can even MOTU... 

Feb 21, 2022

Street Fighter 6 is coming and more.

 Capcom teased SF6 with a nifty teaser of SFV newcomer Luke vs our favorite Karate Hobo...

Now wearing sandals and the Hobo outfit being the official look for Ryu now.

I'm guessing I'll need a PS5 to play SF6... but that's not all.

June 24th Capcom Fighting Collection:
Cyberbots, Red Earth, Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, Gem Fighter, Hyper SFII make half of the games included in this Anthology.


The Other Half is Literally Darkstalkers!!
Darkstalkers, Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge, Vampire Savior (DS3), and the 2 Champion Edition/ Super Turbo variations of DS3... (Vampire Hunter 2, Vampire Savior 2)

The main differences between Vampire Savior and Vampire Savior 2 are that VS2 loses Talbain, Rikuo, and Sasquatch and replaces them with Pyron, Huitzil, and Donovan.
VH2 on the other hand is a Vampire Savior take on Night Warriors. They literally removed Jedah, Lilith, Q-Bee, and B.B. Hood and replaced them with Donovan, Pyron, and Huitzil. 

I'm going to guess that the future of Darkstalkers, Red Earth, and Cyberbots depends on this game doing well. I'm so gonna get the Switch version, because Portable Darkstalkers...

NECA is going super hard on TMNT

 We knew about the Toon Usagi, the Rock soldier, and Crooked Ninja Turtle Gang Member... well, they are making Zach the 5th Turtle in a Two Pack with Smash, who is the leader of the CNTG. 

Well, they're doing More Mirage stuff. They teased a Mirage Casey, Fugitoid is coming, also Renet... They are doing an Utrom Android Body with an Utrom.

They are also starting with Archie Comics stuff as well:
2 Mutanimals (Dreadmon and Jagwar), Ray Fillet, and Slash are coming. Check out the pics at Toy News International but that's not all.

Pixel Dan got a first glimpse of the SOTO TMNT AND THEIR ACCESSORY PACK!!

My wallet has committed sudoku 13 times already... and that's not counting the rest of the Gargoyles being teased: (Hudson, Lexington, Broadway, and Brooklyn. We had already seen Bronx) or Mandrake and Lothar for Defenders of the Earth. If they drop Part 3 Marty, Doc, and Buford Tannen, my wallet will c9mmit sudoku 3 more times.

Your move Super7...

Feb 19, 2022

Making a case for Action Figure Props/Accessories

 Normally, there aren't that many options for Backdrops, Dioramas, and accessories on scales bigger than 1:18... back in the day, when Jakks Pacific had the WWF/WWE License, they made playsets featuring backstage areas from hardcore matches. These could be used with characters like Spider-Man, Punisher, Daredevil, Batman, Green Arrow, TMNT. Now with the 6in GI Joe line Power Rangers lightning collection, or the 7 inch Super7 versions, these could get some use. But the priblem is that you had to have planned ahead for 20-something years... because nowadays, there's very little in the accessories/prop department...

Sure we can get WWE vehicles or a Ridiculously expensive Party Wagon, but that's it. Since we're getting vehicles, we kinda need some accessories to display them. Sure we can DIY a street with posterboard, some tape, and foamboard for the sidewalk, but Mailboxes, Parking Meters, Hydrants, Manhole covers, Payphones, etc. Those are MUCH HARDER TO DIY. 

For example: Mean Streets Accessory pack:
- streetlight
-Parking Meter
-Fire Hydrant
- Manhole covers (×2)
-Mailbox
-Payphone pedestal styled booth (with removable phone for vandalized alternative)

Dangerous Alley Accessory pack:
-Trashcans with lid (×2)
-broken pallets (×2)
-small crates (×3)
-stack of newspapers (×2)
-random makeshift weapons like broken glass bottles, pipes, molotovs, etc.

Combining both sets would allow for a grittier display. The best part is that these wouldn't be Toyline Specific. They fit Power Rangers, TMNT, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Marvel, DC, Spawn, even Wrestling figures could take advantage of these packs.

The reason I'm rooting for Accessory packs is that they're FAR CHEAPER than actual Playsets. Because let's be realistic... the 1:10 scale Grayskull was $300. The Snake Mountain in that scale was $650. A Technodrome, sewer lair, or MMPR COMMAND CENTER, would be ridiculously expensive. I'm keeping it to Modern Era Earth, due to that being pretty malleable in display uses. More specialized display sets would be cool, but they may be a bit niche...
Things like Medieval Fantasy, Space Opera, HR Giger inspired Technorganic stuff.  

The idea is to spice up displays, entice more people into the wonders of action figure photography, and promote playtime even as an adult.

A Tale of 2 Last Ronins

 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin is a popular "dark future" tale where only a Turtle outlived the rest of the Hamato Clan. Unlike most TMNT comic book arcs, this one earned a figure. Normally, TMNT toys are relegated to cartoons and videogames... Rarely does the comic book series get releases and when they do, they're mostly based on the first few Mirage Issues. Before anyone mentions the Jim Lee TMNT, that's  why I said MOSTLY based on the first few Mirage issues.


This first Figure is from Playmates. It looks great for Playmates standards, but a bit lacking for a $30 figure. Especially for a 4.5 inch figure. This is borderline Super7 price gouging. 

It's kinda sad, that Playmates only put this higher effort on a one-off exclusive. If only they would put this level of effort on their normal stuff. 

On the other hand we have NECA's Last Ronin figure 

Now, I'm Not sure what scale he is in. Is he 1:12 like past comic figures or the cartoon/videogame figures? Or is he 1:10 like the Movie figures? I suppose his price tag will be in the mid 30s range. But NECA isn't pushing the envelope here. What you see is the Standard NECA flair. 

Obviously, the NECA version is the superior version. To be fair, NECA is targeting the Adult Collectors, while Playmates still makes Child-Friendly toys. With that said, I must commend Playmates for their efforts. I believe that Playmates could be a contender if they put that level of effort on their main products. You can have Child-Friendly toys AND be appealing to the Adult Collectors. Playmates needs to learn that.

Feb 18, 2022

Iron Fist Shouldn't be Asian: a rant

 Daniel Rand WAS Iron Fist. Now, Lin Lie, the Sword Master, is Iron Fist... The Asian guy who has shards of a Mystic Sword embeded into his flesh that now give him Super Martial Arts Powers has gained the Super Martial Arts Powers of Iron Fist. Can you see the Racism here? 

Before anyone tries to turn this into an "I want Daniel Rand to remain as Iron Fist" rant, you'd be wrong. Having a new Iron Fist isn't the issue. The issue is granting the Super Kung Fu powers to an Asian who already has Super Kung Fu Powers given to him by his magic sword. If say, an Ugandan proved his worthiness to Shou-Lao, and was granted the powers of the Iron Fist, then it wouldn't be racist, because Black people don't have a stereotype about Martial Arts. Having a Chinese man gain the Powers of the Iron Fist IS racist. The "All Asians know Martial arts" stereotype is racist. 

Giving Lin Lie a new Power Set after his sword broke is fine. What's not fine is going on the stereotype of Asians = Martial Artists. Of all the superpowers that he could've gotten, he got Martial Arts. Perpetuating racist stereotypes is not a way to support representation... Jubilee is a much better character at Asian Representation than Lin Lie. She's not a Martial Artist, she's bad at Math and her powers are not based on Asian stereotypes.


Originally, Sulu was supposed to use a katana. George Takei insisted on the rapier in order to avoid the racist sterotype of a Space Japanese man being a Space Martial Arts Master. Even back in the 60s people were aware of these tropes and how harmful they are for Asians.
Even Marvel has mocked the trope before. In Wolverine: Goodbye, Chinatown we get this panel that mocks the racist trope.

I KINDA understand why Marvel wants to retire Danny Rand as Iron Fist. But I feel that giving the power of Iron Fist to an Asian that already had similar powers is wrong. This is for two reasons: The first one is due to the trope. The second one is due to redundant powers being redundant. A Black Iron Fist is less racist, due to no connection to a Martial arts trope. A Middle Eastern Iron Fist wouldn't be as racist as a Chinese one. Even a Latin American Iron Fist could work, since they'd all be a Fish out of water scenario as foreigners learning the ways of K'un-Lun and receiving the blessings from Shou-Lao. It makes the recipient of the blessing a foreigner everywhere they'd be. The whole foreigner to everyone was a huge part of Iron Fist character, not just Danny Rand. With an Asian Iron Fist, the fish out of water angle is lost. Not all Asian cultures are the same, but it's easier to accept someone from a sister culture,  than a complete foreigner.

 The non-white Iron Fist erases the "white savior" complaint that Twitter has. At the same time by having an Asian become Iron Fist, they're perpetuating other racist tropes about Asians. That is my main issue. By eliminating the accidentally racist Danny Rand Iron Fist with Lin Lie, they've made a different kind of accidentally racist Iron Fist. No progress has been made at all. 

Remember Snowflake and Safespace? Aside the stupid names and  cringy outfits, they were far less racist than making an Asian Iron Fist.

If Lin Lie had, say gotten the ability to create an energy version of his sword and Shou-Lao's blessing was only for using his chi to heal from the constant damage caused by the shards of the Fu Xi blade and essentially remained as Sword Master from a power set perspective, and having Lie refuse to become Iron Fist as he deals with his Fu Xi powers actively Killing him, while Shou-Lao is giving him life. But in the race to unwhiten as many Superheroes as possible, the powers that be acted just as racist as the racism they were trying to fight. That's like fighting Coca-Cola addiction with Pepsi.

Feb 16, 2022

Odds and ends February 16-17 2022

 Mattel can be a huge nest of dumbasses at times. Not going to comment much on their crazy beliefs that "people will keep buying their product at the same rate as 2021 despite upcoming price hikes"...  no. What I'm talking about is far more insidious.

You know there's a Jurassic Park movie coming. I commented on it a bit ago. Well, it appears that some toys slipped through the cracks and were sold on legitimate toy e-tailers... not "fallen of the truck" or "Chinese Baker's dozen" figures. So, these toys were legitimately bought by reviewers. So, they reviewed the toys that they LEGITIMATELY BOUGHT FROM A LEGITIMATE E-TAILER. Mattel lawyered up and they abused the YouTube Copyright strike system to block the reviews because of "spoilers". In reality, Mattel is trying to save face with Universal, since, Mattel screwed up on distribution... instead of going against the e-tailer who broke the street date, they go after the reviewers.

This is beyond ridiculous! 

Seth Rogen's TMNT have been revealed... yikes!

The Turtles look wimpy in comparison to the classic Turtles. They look a smidge better than Rise and Much better than the Bay Produced movies versions, but they don't look good... I feel bad for the shitty Playmates Toys these will cause. Not because Playmates is lazier and more ass backwards than Mattel, but because the Turtles already look shitty AND if the Turtles look this bad, I can't imagine how bad the rest will look... and I know that Playmates will be cutting ALL THE CORNERS on non-turtle figures...

I don't care about Bioshock, but I WORRY when I read the words Netflix making a movie. We all know how hit or miss Netflix can be... with Bioshock requiring a moderately larger budget; I wonder how Netflix will screw it up.

Speaking of Screw Ups, I was able to see Episode 2 of Shenmue the Animation... I'm highly disappointed on the English version using someone who is not Corey Marshall as Hazuki, while Japan kept their VA... sadly, I only got to see the second episode in Japanese, so I don't know how it plays in English, but the Subtitles made sure to go extremely out of their way to not say the s-word...

It's SHEN-FUCKING-MUE!! YOU NEED TO REFERENCE SAILORS!!! Oh no... I fear what they'll do to the Harbor and Forklift racing... or even worse: Lucky Hot once we reach Hong Kong.

Cody Rhodes quits AEW

Cody Rhodes, one of the pillars of All Elite Wrestling has quit AEW. Tony Khan, the Vincent Kennedy McMahon of AEW gave Cody and his wife his best wishes... the rumors are that


Thanks for spoiling the joke, Thanos!! As Thanos so eloquently pointed out, Rhodes is MOST likely going back to the WWE...

Cody: "Brandi! We're gonna need a shit ton of Superglue and Chapstick!"

I mean, if he wants to remain as a Wrestler, his best bet is groveling at Vince's feet and join the Vince McMahon Kiss my Ass club. What's he gonna do? Go to Impact! (Formerly TNA)!? IF he's dumb enough to do that his career will be deader than his dad's current wrestling career...
And yes I'm aware that Dusty Rhodes is Literally dead... but going to Impact is career suicide...   career Suicide...

Holy shit! I figured it out! Cody Rhodes will be the newest Suicide on Impact!!

Yeah, kissing Vince's ass is the only logical choice.

Feb 15, 2022

BlackChewbaccagate: a Parts reuse rant

 At times, I'm an advocate for creative parts reuse on figures, but there are times where even I can't defend parts being reused. This is the case of Black Croissantan, the Black Furred Wookie from The book of Boba Fett.
$28 and he's supposed to ship on February 2023... One entire year of waiting for a Chewbacca repaint with a new head and unpainted Harness.

This is like making a Captain America out of the Spider-Man body. It won't look good... especially when displayed next to a picture of the character, showcasing the differebt body type.

Honestly, it would have been better to wait for the release of Black Krrsantan and instead do a Black series Jodo Kast as a "lazy repaint" exclusive. Also, would it kill anyone to give the metallic parts of the harness some Gold paint and maybe a slight wash on the "leather parts" of the harness? As it is right now, the harness looks like it came from one of those bootleg lines that "play well with Masters of the Universe" toys. It's disappointing.


Feb 14, 2022

Ivan Reitman, Director of Ghostbusters is now a ghost...

 He passed away recently. According to his family, he passed away peacefully in his sleep, which, in my opinion is the best way to pass.

He was 75 and the man behind Animal House, and obviously, Ghostbusters, Kindergarten Cop, Twins, EVOLUTION, My Super ex-Girlfriend, and

Junior...

Holy crap! Mr. Reitman did a ton of memorable movies and I shamefully, only knew him as the Ghostbusters guy.

My condolences to his family and friends... Mandatory, Haley Joel Osment watched his work reference and High Summonner Yuna is dancing to Ghostbusters reference. I think I should get off my ass and finish the Mondo Gecko review.

Gatchaman Crowds: WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!?

 After being cockblocked by BOTH [adult swim] and Crunchyroll from watching Shenmue: The Animation, I decided to go through the huge Crunchyroll library, and as a late 30s anime fan, I wanted to look at the stuff I grew up with... that weren't DragonBall. So, I decided to watch Gatchaman Crowds, because of the whole Gatchaman part of the name.... Boy do I want those 25 minutes back.
This is Science Ninja Team Gatchaman 
This is an abomination that shouldn't have the name Gatchaman in it.

I knew it was a bit Different, but Holy ass crackers! This shit is Gatchaman in name only. Aside a few names and insignias, this has NOTHING TO DO WITH GATCHAMAN. I don't mind the idea of the Aliens being a bit different than they were in the 70s OR having the Gatchaman team wearing High Tech armor... but the armor should AT LEAST be somewhat reminiscent of the 70s Gatchaman outfits. I've heard good things about this anime from people who don't care about the original Gatchaman. But people who were fans of the original Gatchaman have nothing good to say about this anime... 

Hell, it's kinda sad that the canceled American Gatchaman Project was more faithful to Gatchaman than Tatsuniko's Gatchaman Crowds.


Feb 13, 2022

Final Fantasy IX is rumored to have a remake... and another Final Fantasy is runored to get a remaster.

 I don't want a remake of FFIX after the Disappointment that is Final Fantasy VII Remake. Mostly, because I don't want to see this game chopped up into multiple parts and have the story butchered to death because of Kingdom Hearts edginess.


If the game is being remade, Goddammit give me the entire game at once! But the remake of 9 is not the biggest bit of news...

I am more interested in a l i t t l e r e m a s t e r... being rumored.
A remaster of Final Fantasy Tactics... I suppose they'll use the PSP Remaster as a base, but still, the idea of an Orlandeau in level 99 with his excalibur equipped and math skill as his secondary ability L.3 Holy... Hopefully, the remaster can do well enough to revive the Tactics branch of Final Fantasy games...

But if there is a Square game that I want remastered it is the Dark Rejected FFVII Concept... Zenogias... or the Parasite Eve series.

Or... a Super Duper Remaster of their Best Game Ever... Chronologically speaking, it would be Rad Racer which will probably Trigger some Square fans who believe only in Final Fantasy. 



TMGDVITMNT: A rant

 Before you ask it stands for Too Many God-Damned Variants In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A fact that can't be denied. The reason I'm bringing this up is Wave 7 of Super7's TMNTU and the fact that we won't reach a "complete Vintage Line" in the same vein we did with MOTUC back with Mattel...

First reason being price: with figures being $55 a piece and this price MIGHT go up again (Ultimatesstarted at $35), it's highly unlikely that Super7 can keep up interest in the line...
Will you be interested in paying $55 for troll Turtles, or for a fat Raphael and Mikey with no Fat Leo and Don?

The other huge factor is Figure Selection.
Some Variants are pointless without their action feature. Before anyone points out: "Mattel did Thunderpunch He-Man without blast caps and you didn't complain" let me finish: 
I'm talking about variants like: Ninja Action Turtles (the ones that do backflips) which look like the vanilla TMNT, or the Head Dropping Turtles, who again look like the Vanilla TMNT, or the Storage Shell Turtles, whose action feature would interfere with the engineering for the modern articulation. Don't get me started on the Mutations figures... I've argued that the non-turtle figures should get a Mutations version of thwor alternate form ie:
Hamato Yoshi, Oroku Saki, human forms of Bebop and Rocksteady, etc. But I'm talking about the Turtles, Tokka and Rahzar here.

Going to TMNT Museum and using Find in page, there are 77 mentions of Raph, 81 mentions of Leo, 78 of Don, and 38 mentions of Mike, 41 of "Mich" which covers both Michelangelo and the misspelled Michaelangelo. Sire that may be counting the mini mutants and the Giant Turtles and role playing items, BUT even if we discard half of those mentions to those non-standard figures it still leaves over 30 varoants for EACH Turtle...  so that makes $6,600 in Turtle variants ASSUMING THEY REMAIN AT $55.

I'M NOT SAYING VARIANTS ARE BAD, MMKAY?
I'm saying that TOO MANY VARIANTS OF THE TURTLES IS A BAD THING... I've mentioned this before. I've also made some crazy variant lists... but those are more of a mental exercise and try to get into the strangest things... like Zardoz Rocksteady and Leeloo Bebop... 
I'm trying to say that Super7 should keep the Zany variants to a minimum and instead to make "Legacy worthy" variants... for example:
2k3 or Mirage versions of certain characters. But even with these variants, they should be kept to a minimum in order to not oversaturate the line. 

I mean would you rather have "New characters that didn't make it to the line" like Karai and Armaggon, or would you prefer variants like Troll Leo or Farmer Mike?

Feb 12, 2022

Jean Claude Van Damme is retiring

 And his Swan song will be a movie in which a Comatose Jean Claude Van Damme must fight his movies in oder to survive? Kinda sounds like the plot from an episode of Power Rangers Dino Thunder. No, really:

Which is funny because according to Jason David Frank, Van Damme tried to pick a fight with him once.
But to be fair, this kind of bullshit is something that I would've expected out of Steven Seagal. Not to mention that Van Damme is in his 60s and his opponents must be geriatric or dead... so this movie will be depressing or short...

Bolo Yeung is 75 and not as impressive as Chong Li... Holy shit if they make a CGI Raul Julia that fights like Videogame Bison, I'd fucking watch this movie so badly...

I bet he won't reminisce of his time in Expendables 2.

TMNT Ultimates wave 7 rumors

 The re-releases of the 4 Turtles are on the Ocean. Wave 5 is on first samples received... This worries me since at the time BOTH Wave 5 and the Rereleases were made available and I ordered Ray Fillet with the rereleases. They were supposed to come out at the same time. 

But that's not the important thing. Allegedly, B-Flynn has been doing virtual interviews and Wave 7 might be put online in early March. This wave might be another 5 figure wave and 1 figure is a NON-TURTLE Variant.
We can discard Space Usagi. It makes no sense to make this variant before we got standard Usagi.
 Rock-N-Roll Mondo Gecko COULD be a possibility highly unlikely but still a possibility.
Who else has variants?
-Bebop and Rocksteady:
Wacky action, Mutations, Robotic,Mutant Military... just to mention a few.
-Splinter:
Wacky action, Mutations, Movie, Shogun...
-April:
Mutations, Ravishing Reporter, II, Ninja Newscaster, Movie 3, Shogun...
-Foot Soldier:
Mutations, Movie star, Robotic
-Krang:
Android body 
-Shredder:
Toon, Shogun, Metal Mutant, Super Mutants, Big Daddy Diesel, Mutations... etc.

There are far too many choices for variant figures.

So we have 5 figures 2 variants... Who could they be? I have no clue, but I'll try to make some guesses.
Turtle variants is either Don, the Undercover Turtle,(New Torso with plastic Coat, new arms) not to be confused with the eventual BBTS Exclusive Undercover Don (normal Don, cloth trenchcoat), or Raph the Space Cadet.
We finished 1 out of 5... unless they throw us a curveball and release a Donatello or Raphael variant from a different wave.

The other 3 figures are a "Mystery". 
Heroic Characters I could go for:
Genghis Frog:
Genghis could be one that could get reuse as a repaint for Attila or Rasputin.
Mona Lisa:
Since she's both Vintage and Cartoon, this could put Super7 ahead of NECA since most of Super7's releases have had a NECA counterpart released or at least announced before S7 managed to set up a preorder.
Irma:
There is a Huge demand for Irma. Just look at how people are selling their Channel 6 sets from NECA WHILE KEEPING IRMA.
Tattoo:
He would be an interesting choice. The tattoo stickers would be the only downside.
Wyrm:
Another interesting choice with a peculiar leg that would require Special articulation. 

Baaaaaad Guys are a different story:
There are way too many choices as well. So let me pick a few:
Pizzaface:
I've been not so subtly campaigning for him to be made, because of him being one of my Childhood figures. 
Chrome Dome:
NECA Showed that a Non-Chromed Chrome Dome can be doable. What we'll get is a Metallic white figure. Not to be confused with Silver, which is more of a metallic light gray. 
Rat King:
He's high on my list because of TMNT: TiT... I also had him as a kid. 
Groundchuck or Dirtbag:
Since these two are a pair like Rocksteady and Bebop, I'm mentioning them together. They would be interchangeable for the slot because the sooner we get one, the sooner we get the other. Out of the two I find Groundchuck the most interesting figure.
Tokka and Rahzar:
The same thing I mentioned with Groundchuck and Dirtbag applies here. Tokka would be a Slash Repaint with new head and hands, so Rahzar's the most interesting figure of the two.

Now for The Non-Turtle variant figure:

Super Lazy variants:
Newsvan April, Orange April repaint, Toon Shredder, robotic Foot Soldier:
These three would be LITERAL REPAINTS... Newsvan April doesn't even have accessories... so a single carded release could reuse the normal accessories from April in a different color. At least the Orange April has a new head.
Toon Shredder only has a TV as his "New thing".
Any of these could be a cost saving measure.
The Foot Soldier is literally a metallic paint job with no changes in accessories.

Somewhat lazy variants:
Movie Star Splinter, Movie 3 Splinter, wacky action Bebop and Rocksteady, 
The Splinter variants are a different kimono, new head and flocked body and different accessories.
Bebop and Rocksteady are new heads and a couple new accessories.

The Big Ones:
Of course I'm talking about Big Daddy Diesel Shredder and Krang's Android body.
and

One of these two are the most likely candidates for that fifth spot... Personally, I'd rather have a $65 Super Shredder right now than an $85 Krang's Android body in a 5 figure wave.
Based on how Mon*Star scales to other figures, Krang's Android body is most likely to share the same size and pricetag.

Of course Super7 can still throw us a curveball and make something like:
Movie star Foot Soldier, Shogun Shredder, Private Porknose Bebop

We'll find out in less than a month...

Feb 11, 2022

Shredder's Revenge keeps gettign awesomer...

 First we had Toitles... then Banana jumpsuit April... Now...

Master Splinter joins the Fray... Some of hos moves come straight from Capcom's Street Fighter... just like April... but with each bit revealed, the game keeps getting cooler. Nods to the toys, the cartoon, and previous videogames, are making me giddy!

Now, who else can they add to this game as a playable character?
Casey? Irma? Mondo Gecko? Usagi?
I hope we can see a bunch of Toy Characters that never got other media Spotlight... Pizza Face boss battle would be crazy.

If Super7 is smart, they should try to work a deal with nickelodeon in order to get access to stuff from this game (I'm still trying to think a workaround for them Roadkill Rodneys) whoch would enhance the TMNT Ultimates.

The Third Jurassic World movie is coming

 The trailer has dropped and I don't know if Michael Chrichton is spinning in his grave or not.


I had chills watching this. Some were good, pthers were bad. All I know is that this is the "end" for the bastardization of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. Yes, I enjoyed Jurassic Park, and the First Jurassic World. I was OK with the Lost World and Fallen Kingdom until the third act of both movies. Then they both went to shit. Let's not talk about JP3 unless we're making fun of


Well, looks like Douglas Walker did it for us.

Honestly, I wish that we could get a Jurassic Park series 100% faithful to the book... and for Mattel to complete the last four remaining characters from the first JP movie in their 6 inch line. (Gennaro, Wu, and the kids) it's a shame Mom isn't here to see this.

Feb 10, 2022

The Book of Boba Meh...

 I am a bit... take it away, Jerkules!

Yes, I am a bit disappointed about the book of Boba Fett... sure, the season or series finale was decent. Yes I said series finale as a possibility, since herr Maus hasn't said if there even will be a Season 2 of Fett. The show tied up everything with a bow and setting up The Mandalorian's third Season. Boba fought Cad Bane, the "Teenagers with Attitude" were useful. The fight scenes were OK, but it felt like a Scoh freett Neitlich story. Slow meandering bullshit for 80% of the season then wrapping it up on the last episode.

It feels like the show was meant to last a lot longer than it did. This is made worse with the 2 Boba Fett-less episodes leading up to this one. Then we had TOO MANY PLAYERS ON THE BOARD, which meant limited screetime for the characters. All this setting up The Pike Syndicate as this big bad boss, it was defeated rather swiftly. The saddest thing was how swiftly Cad Bane was dealt with. Has this show been 13 episodes, we could've gotten more of Cad Bane thwarting Boba's efforts to unite Tatooine against the Syndicate, but it is what it is. Now it feels like Din Djarin is the True Mandalorian and Boba Fett was made into the new Jodo Kast. But we know who the MVP of this show was... No, not Peli Motto, not Mando...

Not even Whiny Bitchboy Skywalker, but Baby Yoda. I have a feeling Mulan might dishonor her space ancestors in Mando season 3.

Feb 9, 2022

How could Super7 get some Karate Kid Action?

 NECA got some Karate Kid, Icon heroes got some Karate Kid, Playmates got some Karate Kid via Cobra Kai, Diamond Select has some Karate Kid via Cobra Kai. Pretty much everyone and their mother is doing Karate Kid...

It's a 3 Figure Wave and Done! A great "small line" for Super7 to do. This also allows for a better TMNT Karate Kid crossover than what Playmates did.

NECA made a MEGO Miyagi. No one else is doing a Miyagi... I honestly want a Miyagi more than anything and if he's made for Ultimates, then I can have Splinter and Miyagi reminiscing of Japan and Okinawa respectively. This is the part where I mention that the LatAm dub of Karate Kid had shared VAs with TMNT... Miyagi is Michelangelo and LaRusso is Leonardo.

Also, going with Animated series seems to play to the Fourhorsemen's strengths. Since their cartoon based sculpts tend to fare better than Real Life Sculpts. Not to mention that this doesn't step on everyone else's toes that are doing Karate Kid and Cobra Kai... notice how everyone doing Cobra Kai only focus on Johnny, LaRusso, and Kreese. Sure Playmates made a Miguel, but no Sam, Robbie, Tory, Demetri, Eli/Hawk...

Super7 has done: He-Man, TMNT, Thundercats, GI Joe, and Silverhawks in a compatible scale... it would be cool if we could add Chuck Norris, Karate Kid, Knight Rider, The A-Team, and MacGyver to the mix...

There is one thing that could top this if they made Ultimates of...

... it would be outrageous truly truly outrageous!!


Riverdale: When Jumping the Shark is not enough

 So, Archie's Creek has slowly been turning into Scooby-Doo and now it's transitioning into a Supernatural wannabe. It's not necessarily good, but it's not necessarily bad. 

I've already said that this is an awful adaptation of Archie. It has been a weird trip. Going from a Dawson's Creek copy with an Archie skin to, I don't even know what the Hell is this show now. With each season they kept pushing the envelope with more outlandish crap. Now we're at alternate realities, the Devil, crossovers with Sabrina. To be fair, the crossovers with Sabrina have been done on the comics and cartoons. 

Half the stuff that Riverdale has done during their seasons would be "shark jumping" moments on other shows, but for some reason THEY WORK on Riverdale. They SHOULDN'T WORK they just do. Hell, I think the only reason it works is because of it being a bizarre bastardization of Archie... especially since Archie is already a bizarre source Material.

This was actually a thing.

Archie has also met Predator, Batman, the TMNT, hell, he even survived a Sharknado... shit, all these crossovers make Riverdale seem tame in comparison, despite its "I'm trying to be edgier than Zack Snyder" nature.

Feb 6, 2022

Shenmue: The Animation: my thoughts

 I was able to watch the first episode in English. I won't go on why Shenmue is important to me. Point is that Shenmue is a dear to me franchise from my early adulthood and now it's making a comeback as an anime.

Since there will be spoilers. I WILL HIDE THEM UNDERNEATH THE CHERRY TREE

Feb 5, 2022

A small tribute to Dean Zayas

 Normally, I don't comment on local news, but one of my favorite College Professors and trusted confidant, Dean Zayas passed away a few days ago. He was at a time a famous director in both theater and soap operas. Most importantly for years he took charge of the University of Puerto Rico Theater troupe, el Teatro Rodante de la UPR, where one of its founders is a distant relative of mine. Something I discovered very close to my graduation.  I won't go into detail of his whole career, since the Humanities Dept. from the UPR rook care of that. I'd rather speak on how he impacted ME.


Dean knowing my family, my mom in particular, wasn't something I knew about. Then again, my mom also studied Theater Arts and Dean was one of her professors, so I should've expected that they knew each other. 

I had a a nightmarish "Helicopter Parent" situation. I failed an exam on his History course and got a D. He was disappointed in me because at class, I knew the material inside and out, but on the test I performed poorly due to my laziness. I tried to BS my way out, but he saw through it and he called me out on it saying that I shouldn't settle with "coasting", because it's lazy. Being talented is good, but it's not enough if it isn't backed by discipline. I took the D... that's not what I meant! and promised that I would put more effort on the exams. Fast forward a few days later and My mom comes at me screaming like a Banshee and scolding me for failing that exam for being lazy... something she couldn't have known, since it was the first exam of the semester and report cards don't mention laziness. Apparently, my mom casually bumped into him and they chatted a bit and she brought me up. He told her about my disappointing test score and now I'm getting chewed up. I admitted that I fucked up and that I would work hard to not fuck up again, which I did.  But the nightmare didn't end there. Dean remembered my mom as an academically gifted student... so now I had to get good grades and compete against my mom's academic ghost. 
I wish I could say that I kicked her ass, but I can't... I DID beat her in some areas, but not in others. 

So after the Helicopter incident and him being a huge source of advice to his students. I often looked up to him for counsel academically speaking. Also, it helped that he once saw me at a bus stop to go to college and gave me a lift. Back then, I lived on a gated community that could be used as a shortcut to reach campus... (it's a shortcut on car, on foot it can be a bit of a maze.) So, I got free rides as long as he was going to campus. I began carryimg a spare beeper to open the gate and allow him to use the shortcut. This gave us more time to chat about life, my goals and him trying to get me to join el Teatro Rodante... something I couldn't do for 2 reasons:
First: I had other responsibilities besides college. One of them was help raise my kid brother... (Now I know parentification is bad, but I saw it as my duty)
The second one, is one that I now can say since both Dean and my Mom are dead: I wasn't good enough. I suppose Dean saw my potential and Mom knew I love the stage... but my insecurities were a huge hurdle. My insecurities leaned on my off campus duties to keep me from fully chasing my dream. 

So, when I had to take stage directing, Dean was the professor and I made sure to put in an effort and I gravitated towards the absurd and the immature, pushing myself. Somehow Dean managed to read me like an open book.  He knew when I had prepared my work vs when I pulled it out my ass despite looking identical. He was keeping tabs on me with other professors, especially on the design classes. I know he liked some of my designs for the costume design class.

Making long story short: 
Dean Zayas was a defender of the Theater Arts in Puerto Rico. He devoted his life to the arts and in academia, he managed to touch the lives of many students, including my own. He's one of my favorite professors, nay he's much more than that. I'd say he's a friend, who pushed me out of my comfort zone. Gracias por todo, Dean. Hasta siempre.

Making a case for non Mutating "Mutatin" variants.

 Contradicting title is contradicting. How can they be "Mutatin" variants if they can't mutate?
The obvious answer is to have certain variants that are Important to the lore. So, I'm skipping the Turtles themselves, Tokka and Rahzar. Wouldn't mind getting their accessories as extras with other figures, but that's not the point here. The point is that I'm looking at the Humans and the Foot Soldier as viable variants for Super7 to tackle.

Let's start with possibly, the most expensive figure on the set: Foot Soldier...
Battle Damaged Foot Soldier:
The changed name is to differentiate this from the original release.
This one would be the closest to the Mutatin figure, but the ability should be made by part swaps. 
It would require new head(s), Torso, arms and thighs.
The new torso is for 2 reasons: swapabble head and arms, and to accept the battle damage/fixed plug in pieces.
The thighs would be new for the battle damage and to accept the pluggable thigh covers.
The arms are new for interchangeability reasons.
There would be 3 sets of arms:
-undamaged arms
-damaged arms (with more  damage than the vintage toy)
-Endoskeletal arms that also pop off at the elbow and wrists.

The heads would be 3:
-Normal head
-full cyborg skull
-"Terminator styled" partial skull.

For the hands we only need fist, Jutsu, and open undamaged extra hands, since grip hands would be the default.
Endoskeletal extra hands should be open and fists in addition to the default grip. The new torso pieces should be the shirt plug in pieces. Damaged and undamaged.
Sparks and electric effects should be used for holes and pegs throughout the figure.
This COULD bump thenprice of the figure to $65 but it should be worth it.

Bebop:
Here I wish we could get more inspiration from the cartoon, because the Caucasian Bebop toy looks meh... 
He would be 100% new tooling. He would be normal human sized. NO DRILL FEET!! He needs more weapons than the weird ones from the toy. I want to give him a sawn-off shotgun, a steel pipe and a chain to use as a whip, because 80s punk gangbanger.

All he needs is hands and heads:
Hands:
The usual set of extra hands, but with an extra set of slightly oversized hands in partial mutation. The right hand's knuckle duster should have cracks and show that it's breaking due to the changes on Bebop.
For heads, the normal head and one in partial mutation into a hog.

Rocksteady:
He would get a similar treatment to Bebop. Having "partially mutated parts" to simulate the "Mutatin", giving him extra weapons. A Machete styled after his knife in Rhino mode seems like a good idea, a normal knife, a few handguns, because they fit his "military nut" vibe.

April the Cheetah:
Normally I'm not a fan of cat April... BUT since I'm making a case for the Mutatin figures, I have to include her. First, the obvious:
This figure shares stuff with April II. So, we should exploit this in order to have parts ready for April II:
Both figures would share: Upper torso, upper arms, lower legs. The head,crotch, thighs, lower arms, hands, and feet would differ between them. 
Playmates did the cat parts with little detail, looking smooth. Personally, I'd use sculpted fur on the thighs, feet, forearms, hands, and head. For her torso, a neckpiece like Jackalman's would suffice. The backpack on the Mutatin figure would be removable here, because reasons.
She'd get the standard hands in addition a set of partially mutating hands.
She'd get 2 extra heads:
A more ferocious Cat April head and a partially Mutatin head. It could be used on this figure as she reverts back to human or on April II as she turns into a werecheetah.

Hamato Yoshi:
This one is obviously based on Mutatin Splinter.
No plastic robes... I know I've said that I hate cloth clothes, but in this case we need them. Articulation being the main reason. The other is part interchangeability. 

He should get the usual hands, as mentioned in the other figures, a partially mutating set of hands and head are needed. Like the other figures, he should get extra accessories. Personally, I'm thinking of a second walking stick resembling Zatoichi's blade more than the vintage cane. I want 2 sleeved robes for him. One based on the vintage toy for Yoshi. The second one similar to Yoshi's but made for the Splinter toy. Including a slit for the tail. Last but not least he needs a removable Hakama. Those who want vintage accuracy can have Yoshi pantsless. I feel uncomfortable with yoshi wearing his robe without pants... also I demand a fundoshi as Yoshi's undergarments.

Finally, we have reached the end of this list...

Oh yeah, I forgot Uncle Phil...
Oroku Saki:
Like Hamato Yoshi, his clothes should be Cloth for the sake of Articulation and interchangeability.
For the accessories, the usual hands and a Pair of Left hands (grip and fist) with Shredder Claws. While this is a nod to the movie, it helps to make it more appealing to some collectors by making a more "Mirage inspired" Shredder... because once again, screw shirtless Shredder.
He would be made mostly suing Shredder's lower body with Casey Jones upper arms and new forearms. If possible, a new torso based on Shredder's Mutatin figure without the shoulder spikes.
The figure would always have the Spiked Shinguards (covered by the robe) he would get slip on spiked bracers and a neck piece with the shoulder spikes based on the Mutatin figure. He needs 2 heads (Saki and Shredder) also a separate Shredder helmet and mask. 
Here the Toy weapons should suffice.

While not able to fully Mutate, I tried to make a reasonable substitute to the gimmick for them.
Some may criticize that Oroku Saki is not accurate to Mutatin Shredder, but it's NOT a Mutatin Shredder figure. It's an Oroku Saki figure that can "change into a Shredder" that is INSPIRED by the Mutatin figure.

Yes, TMNT has become my ranter's block go to because of Mattel heading into territories that I find unappealing for MOTU.

Feb 4, 2022

The Bruce Lee Line gave me an inspiration for a Chuck Norris line starring Chuck Norris

 Chuck Norris is needed for the Bruce Lee line, since we have The Way of The Dragon Bruce Lee.


Chuck Norris line:
Basically a 3 wave line celebrating Chuck Norris!

The waves will be 3 figures of Chuck Norris.

Wave 1:
Karate Master Chuck Norris:
This is The Chuck Norris from the Way of The Dragon

Soldier Chuck Norris:
This is the Chuck Norris from Missing in Action
Thinking of the scene from the first one where he pops out of the water.

Animated Chuck Norris:
This one is the Karate Kommandos Chuck Norris. If he does well, then a full line should be explored

Wave 2:
Special Forces Chuck Norris:
This one is the Delta Force Chuck Norris. Thinking of the Rocket Launcher scene

Ranger Chuck Norris:
Walker Texas Ranger version of Chuck Norris 

Spirit Protector Chuck Norris:
This one would be the Chuck Norris from Forest Warrior. 

Wave 3:
Dream Ninja Chuck Norris:
From the Ninja dream sequence in Sidekicks,  the movie starring Jonathan Brandis as a kid who fantasizes about Chuck Norris.

UnRetired Agent Chuck Norris:
Invasion USA version of Chuck Norris.

Dream Sheriff Chuck Norris:
The Chuck Norris from the Wild West dream Sequence in Sidekicks

I covered most of Chuck Norris until the mid 90s, when he was becoming a joke. I couldn't add soda Chuck Norris or Exercise gym Chuck Norris for obvious reasons.