Wishlist 2022: The Black Series

If there is one that is certain in toy collecting, it’s that it never ends. Unless you manage to quit cold turkey, there will always be something “missing” from your collection or something new and shiny you will be tempted to buy. So let’s do something new to kick off 2022. I thought that it would be a fun exercise to make out a wishlist of new toys that I am hoping will be at the very least officially announced in the next 12 months. And come 2023, I can revisit this list and see how many or little items actually came true!

The Best Of 2021: Part 2

And so here we are at the main event, the best of 2021. Aside from the ongoing pandemic, quite a lot happened toy-wise during the last quarter of the year; from a failed Haslab campaign to a number of last minute releases that directly affected the outcome of my top ten list. So let's get started.

The Best Of 2021: Part 1

2021 has officially come and gone. And before we can start looking towards the new year, there is still the unfinished business of looking back at the highlights of the previous one. So let’s get started on the honorable mentions for the last quarter of 2021.

The Worst of 2021

So it’s a given that I get a whole lot of toys every year, some would argue a little too much. And with all the new toys that join the collection in a 12 month span, it’s inevitable that some of my purchases will end up being disappointments. So this time around as a primer for the final list of my favorites from 2021, I thought I’d take a look at the other end of the spectrum and go over the top 10 disappointing toys that I got in the past year.

The Toys Of Christmas Past

Putting aside the true meaning of Christmas, over the years, for many adults like myself, the excitement over the Holidays is oftentimes overshadowed by endless duties like shopping for gifts and attending family gatherings. While ultimately all these are blessings in themselves, they can get rather exhausting. But for most kids, Christmas is definitely the highlight of the year for one simple reason they get gifts! And to be more specific, toys! So with that in mind, I thought that it would be a worthwhile exercise for me to end the year with a post reminiscing and recalling all my favorite Christmas gifts I received as a kid all those years ago

Bladder Busters!

When the original Ghostbusters movie came out in 1984, it barely made a blip on my interest radar. I do remember my older siblings trying to sell me on this movie about ghosts but I was distracted by my Transformers and G.I.Joes to really care too much. I’m not exactly sure when I finally watched the movie but it was definitely years later when it was available on home video. And while I did like the movie overall, a lot of the more adult centric humor really flew over my head and so it didn’t make too much of a lasting impression on me.

A Revealing Agenda

When the first part of Masters of the Universe Revelations show made its debut on Netflix back in July, it elicited such a split reaction from the fandom. And while I never intended for my blog to be about reactions and reviews, I felt the need to chime in with my own thoughts on the show. Not that my opinion carried any weight in the overall fandom, it was just a personal exercise for me to process how I felt about the show.

Be Legendary

As a kid with a very limited weekly allowance, the only toys I collected on a large scale were Star Wars and G.I.Joe action figures. At 3.75” in height, these guys were more affordable than say a Transformer or He-Man figure. I got my fix for those more expensive toys through birthday and Christmas gifts. So yeah for the longest time these 3.75” dudes were my jam.

The End Of A Universe

In 2010, I was working as a web designer in Singapore. Before I made my move to the Lion City the year prior, I was basically just a Transformers collector. But being in Singapore with a fairly decent paying job opened me up to delving into more toy lines. I had already recently fallen for the G.I.Joe 25th Anniversary line, and I was about to fall HARD for yet another one.

The New Collecting Normal

I remember it quite clearly, it was Thursday March 6, 2020 and I was sitting in my office looking forward to the weekend. As usual, I had plans to go to Manila’s toy mecca, Greenhills shopping center to pick up some pre orders that arrived and just make my rounds to see what else was there. And then the news broke that the first positive COVID case was identified from a man who was known to have regularly visited a Musilm prayer hall in.you guessed it, Greenhills.

The Best Of 2021: Third Quarter

Amazing how time flies when you’re having fun. At this point we’re closer to the end of the year than the start and before long I’ll be finalizing my top ten list for 2021. But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves as we have another quarter of new toys to integrate into my ever changing list. So let's see what new plastic goodness the last three months have brought to the shelf.