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| The future owner of my collection |
OK so as usual, I did get quite a lot of stuff in 2015, probably more than I really should have but well what can I say…I am passionate about my hobby. So before we get into the meat of this post, which would be the top 15 toys I got in 2015, here are some honorable mentions that didn’t quite manage to crack the top 15.
The vintage Wampa was the only toy that I can recall throwing a tantrum over. So when Hasbro released this modern version I just had to get him (no tantrum required this time around). He’s big, white and furry with blood dripping down from his mouth…what else more would you want from a toy?
Generations Arcee was one of my top toys of 2014. So When Takara remolded her into an obscure character from a single episode from the original Transformers cartoon, I was immediately interested. It’s the same great toy with a real cool makeover into a ninja robot! And speaking of ninjas….
This was Mattel’s desperate attempt at cashing into the whole Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze of the late 80’s. Ninjor, the evil demonic ninja with the monster feet is quite an odd fellow…but that’s the beauty of the whole Masters of the Universe world, it’s full of crazy characters which on paper shouldn’t work…but do. Ninjor is no exception and this modern version is a perfect upgrade from the original vintage version.
This Joe was part of a 2 pack with a newly sculpted version of Cobra ninja Storm Shadow. While Storm Shadow was supposed to be the selling point of this 2 pack, Spirit ended up impressing me more. Hasbro smartly got rid of most of the stupid cliché native American details of the original leaving a smart, modern version of our favorite Joe tracker.
So with that out of the way, here we go with my top 15 toys of 2015!
I admit when this Agents of Shield 3 pack was announced, I wasn’t all that excited. I knew it was going to be a popular set and a bit difficult to obtain seeing it contained the first ever Marvel Legends representations of agents Phil Coulson and Maria Hill. I just didn’t really feel the need to add them to my collection. Then I saw it available online at retail price and for some reason I just bit. It was definitely an impulse buy, but one I totally did not regret. While the third figure, Nick Fury wasn’t all that exciting; it was still a good figure in itself. But the true stars were definitely the aforementioned Coulson and Hill. Sure Maria Hill was just a repaint of Black Widow and Coulson a regular guy in a suit, but their head sculpts were pretty spot on and seeing all three of them standing side by side on the shelf is pretty cool. Plus, it made my wife extra happy to have a Robin Scherbatsky in our collection.
As opposed to the Shield 3-pack, when Hasbro announced an Infinite series X-Men 3 pack consisting of modern Cyclops, Emma Frost and Juggerlossus, I got really excited. While I couldn’t really care less about Juggerlossus, adding a proper modern Cyclops and White Queen to my Marvel U collection was definitely a must for me. Then just like that, the 3 pack got cancelled.
Eventually, we got a single packed Cyclops (which I eagerly scooped up) and a Juggerlossus (which I ignored) but Emma Frost definitely took her sweet time to get released. Eventually she was and I assumed that she would be virtually impossible to find in retail and I would have to resort to second market prices to get her. To my pleasant surprise, I did manage to find her at retail price and finally I had my White Queen. Admittedly she isn’t the best looking figure around, but compared to previous Emma Frost releases, she definitely is the best of the bunch.
OK so this definitely was a purchased based on hype. But sometimes things seem meant to be, and when it came to this droid, it was almost if the stars aligned in my favor. First, while I missed out on the initial release I managed to place a back-order for it online at regular retail price (it was and is still going for almost 3 times the regular price here locally). And when it finally came in stock, it was delivered to my sister in the US (free shipping) at the same time my brother was visiting her, so he was able to bring it home with him a few days later and I got to avoid crazy international shipping and additional taxes! NICE!
Oh and the toy itself? Yes this is definitely the droid you need to be looking for…well if you’re a fan of BB-8 that is. It definitely is a technological marvel and does pretty much everything it was advertised to do. So for simply being that, it made my list, but really, at the end of the day, he spends most of the time on the shelf where he doesn’t look all that exciting. Which is why I really couldn’t rank him any higher than this.
While once again, G.I.Joe collectors had little to be happy about this year, there was thankfully one really bright spot. Last year we got finally got a proper rendition of or SECOND favorite Joe marine, and this year we finally got a proper version of our FIRST! Mr. Ettienne R. LaFitte, code name Gung-Ho finally made his proper modern debut this year as part of another modest series of 2 & 3 packs released by Hasbro. The fact that he was paired with another “sort of” new release, the Shadow Guard (ok so he was simply a repaint of a Crimson Guard…but he looked cool) meant that this specific 2 pack would be one of the most sought after of the bunch. And boy was it hard to find! Pretty much all pro-orders of this pack were sold out online so I literally lucked into this one!
In 2014 I started delving into the dark evil world of Lego knock-offs, starting off by completing my “Lego” minifigures Avengers lineup…all for the measly price of about 200 pesos (around 4 USD). So naturally, given the obsessive collector that I am, I moved onto bigger things in 2015. Ever since it was released after the first Avengers movie, I have secretly desired to get the first Lego Quinjet. Of course at that point I was avoiding getting into any new toy line….ESPECIALLY Lego which can get insanely expensive over here. No matter how many times I told myself that it would be a one off purchase, I knew myself better. And so I resisted the temptation to buy it, no matter how much I wanted it.
So how did it turn out? Quite well actually! While not as perfect as a Lego set, the set was quite accurate and the build fun. There were no missing parts at all! And just like that, I have gone all in on KO Legos….yes I know, I’m evil for indulging in knock offs…but what the hell, I’m able to placate my yearning to build and at the same time not burning yet another major hole in my wallet, so there.
to be continued...
