RandoAF: (un)Boxing Day
In many places (Canada included), December 26 is Boxing Day. I think forus toy kollectors we should instead celebrate Unboxing Day.
Boxing day is not exactly something we celebrate in Canada, it’s an “observational holiday”, as in “look, it’s Boxing Day”. Boxing Day was, depending on your source, a day for servants to receive boxed gifts, or a day off, or a day to provide gifts to the poor. I have no recollection of this being a thing. Which is too bad, because, like everything else in this effed up world, capitalism and consumerism got hold of this altruistic holiday and it became our version of “Black Friday” instead (we started getting Black Friday sales in Canada about a decade or so ago, so now Boxing Day ain’t such a retail event either).
So what does Boxing Day mean now? For most of us it’s another day off. For some of us it’s maybe a time to wind down, or start dismantling the Christmas displays and toss the tree to the curb, or to venture back home from a Christmas visit.
But for us toy kollectors, especially those of us with a habit (read: problems) we should use this day as an un-boxing day, a day to open all those toys we have sitting around that we’ve yet to get to…and/or maybe making some decisions and thinning the herd of our collections.
So, to this, here is my Unboxing Day celebration:
The XMas Haul
Did I get toys for Christmas? Of course I did.
Now, I knew about all of these, since I either bought them myself or specifically requested them.
Defender Strange and Loki + Tesseract were bout bought by Lady Kent on a Boxing Day + Clearance sale. The Masters of the Universe figures were found for $10 a piece at a local discount toy store. The Optimus Primal Kit and Godzilla were pre-orders that arrived shortly before Christmas so I tucked them under my tree, and the Indiana Jones figures was a find by Lady Kent, with, possibly, a mis-priced sticker (it was $20 cheaper than most retailers).
So let’s have a closer look at these guys.
Optimus Primal - Transformers: Rise of the Beasts - 2023, YoloPark
I’m not a Transformers guy. I had maybe 2 as a kid (Megatron and Jazz, I want to say) Even as a kid, I was a bit of a tourist, but, Transformers was like a pit stop, and not someplace I spent a lot of time at or came back to. I didn’t watch any of the cartoons (I recall seeing the movie as a child in a friend’s basement and being utterly confused by the whole thing) until the late 90’s when, for a few months, I was watching Beast Wars pretty much daily.
I didn’t care much for the Bay films, after the first one and gave up after the third. I did eventually catch Bumblebee on some streaming service, which is just a good retro-80’s-style adventure movie. Rise of the Beasts, well, seemed like too much Transformers again, and the trailer confused me. As I said, I watched Beast Wars, and this looked nothing like Beast Wars.
But I love me a gorilla, even one that’s a robot who transforms into a gorilla, so I eyed up various versions of Optimus Primal, and for some reason the YoloPark model kit stood out to me. Jumped out at me even.
I’ve never done a model kit action figure before. Robo (formerly of The Fwoosh) had piqued my interest on them on a number of occasions, but I’ve never pulled the trigger until now. I even bought a pair of nippers just for the occasion, not realizing that YoloPark’s “model kits” are really just glorified build-a-figure/collect-and-connect, which delighted me more than it disappointed me.
I put the nippers aside and started snapping this beast together.
Putting him together was a sna… (nope)… was very easy, but a few of the pieces required a lot of pressure to get into place. I suppose I could have put them in hot water or taken a hair dryer to them, but I got there. Primal’s torso has a lot of intricate machinery details and I was gripping him too tight when putting a shoulder in place, and one of the detail bits broke off. It’s not even really noticeable but I know it happened and now it will always bother me, if only a little.
Everything is on ball joints, and there are a lot of ball joints so he does get into some dexterous poses, but at the same time it seems like the joints aren’t really strong enough to hold all poses. They’re not super loose, but they really can’t take a lot of weight or pressure.
The plastic is rigid and lightweight. It doesn’t feel brittle, but it is insubstatial. A lot of “snap on” pieces are prone to popping off when handling (they pop right back on though), so for certain bits a little glue might be desired.
Strangely, these give me the same feel as a McFarlane DC Multiverse figure. Aesthetically it’s nice, good even, but as a toy it just doesn’t feel right in my hands. I don’t have any further desire for Transformers figures (ok, maybe a transformable Soundwave) but I’ll keep an eye on other kits from YoloPark, because I did get a bit of a charge putting this together.
Burning Godzilla - Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Exquisite Basic - 2023, Hiya Toys
On the complete opposite side of the spectrum from an assemble-yourself-action-figure, we have Burning Godzilla from Hiya’s Exquisite Basic line.
This is everything in the Exquisite Basic Burning Godzilla box. You get:
1. Godzilla
2. A plastic tray
This really, really delighted me for some reason. Opening up a box, and pulling out a tray and the figure falls out of the tray like a brick, and that’s it. That’s all there is to it. No swappable anythings, no clip-on add-ons, but a big chonk of beautifully painted plastic.
If I’m being perfectly honest (and I am both), I absolutely love this figure, even though I am also fairly disappointed with it.
Let me explain…
The figure looks gorgeous. It’s an incredible sculpt. The paint and the various washes are astonishing.
But he moves like crap.
Ol’ Burnie here does have a lot of articulation in his legs and arms and neck and tail, but it all feels very restrictive and limited. You’re not going to get much in the way of dynamic posing out of this guy.
As I’ve been going through all the Godzilla films recently, what I’ve noticed and liked the most about all the suited Godzillas has been how agile the tail gets. It just flails around like it’s alive, and here, we get such a limited range of movement out of it despite all the segmentation within.
I needed to compare him against my Exquisite Basic King Kong, which I had received a few months earlier, but had not opened (I was waiting for Burnie to show up).
King Kong - Godzilla vs Kong, Exquisite Basic - 2022, Hiya Toys
There were options to choose from when it came to Godzilla and Kong. I mean I already have a classic Kong from Mezco, and I’ve been thinking about Neca’s various Kongs for a while. There’s the whole SHF Monsterarts line (but they’re pretty pricey imports for a series i’m just visiting), and Super7 had launched their Godzilla line this year.
But I chose Hiya because I’ve bought a number of their 4” figures and they are damn good figures. They’re a known entity so I trusted them to deliver a good Godzilla and King Kong.
While he is a fierce looking ape, like Godzilla, I am pretty disappointed in the range of movement, particularly at the knees and elbows.
While I was playing with them, I started wishing I had a little miniature town to bash them around in, but now that they’re up on the shelf, I don’t know that I want to pull them down and play with them, which makes me sad. I wanted to love them for more than being pretty. I started eyeing up other Exquisite Basic Monsterverse figures (Mothra! MUTO!) but now am not so sure….
Tesseract + Loki - Loki, Marvel Legends - 2023, Hasbro
Marcus Brody + Rene Belloq - Indiana Jones Adventure Series - 2023, Hasbro
Defender Strange - Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Marvel Legends - 2022, Marvel Legends
Whilst watching Loki season 2, and bemoaning how great an actor Jonathan Majors is, and how disappointed I am that he’s a dirtbag, I once again was ogling the amazing costume design on the show and just wishing I could join the TVA to get one of their impeccably tailored suits.
This look for Loki - jacket off, sleeves rolled up, wearing a harness to “holster” his sword - is just the best. If I could wear this every day, like some time variant Mormon, I would. I realize why Loki was trying so hard to save the TVA.
Knowing the Tesseract was on clearance at Toys’R’Us, but only certain TRU, and there was a BOGO 50% off, it was time to get this Loki and Doctor StrangeMoM’s Defender Strange.
This store exclusive “deluxe” Defender Strange has been on Clearance at TRU for the better part of a year now. Most stores still have quite the supply. It’s been priced at around $23 (I think it started around $50+) for a long time and I’ve been playing blow-out chicken with it, waiting for them to just drop it to $12 to get them out of the store. With a BOGO deal, well, there we go.
I had zero interest in the figure. I do love the Doctor StrangeMOM movie, quite a bit, but I haven’t liked any of the Legends Doctor Strange figures. This one is mildly better than the rest because he’s not enveloped by vinyl drapery. No, what I really wanted this for was the portal.
This big hunk of swirling plastic should be useful for displays, whenever it is I get around to doing them.
As for the Tesseract, it is what it is. I need some AAA batteries to turn it on and get the full effect, so for now it’s just a blue brick. I bought it for the Loki. (If we’re talking Toy Kollector Problems, that’s a big one right there, buying a set or deluxe package for just one piece of it, gotta curb that $#!@ in 2024).
Loki, meanwhile, is nice, but his rolled up sleeves limit his arm movement which makes posing a nuisance, so this set was kind of a bust, except for the fact that it was a) on clearance, b) a christmas gift, and c) something I’d still want if I didn’t have it.
As for Belloq and Brody, these guys were on my wish list as I’ve started to accumulate the Indiana Jones suited dudes so that I have them around for background sets and scenes. I bought a Henry Jones Sr. on Black Friday and prior to that a Mads Mikkelsen Dial of Destiny figure (for absurd reasons) and have really, really enjoyed having these suited dudes around. I want more of them, and I will get more, because nobody really seems to want them. They’re all mine! Mwahahaha!
Brody’s apple is going to get eaten by the carpet monster, I just know it (in fact he just took a tumble off the shelf and yup, the apple is MIA).
Catra - Princess of Power, MOTU Masterverse - Mattel, 2022
Zodac - New Eternia, MOTU Masterverse - Mattel, 2022
With space danger being very real, and my toy kollectoring problem being borderline out of control, I deliberated long and hard over these two figures for a long time until, seemingly, they were all bought out from the various retailers I frequent, and so the decision was taken out of my hands.
I thought Catra looked amazing. I didn’t like the look of Zodac in football padding. But there wasn’t an essential need for either them in my MOTU collection. They weren’t a big part of my childhood, and one Princess of Power figure would likely beget others, so best not to start.
But the one thing that will get any toy kollector to jump off the fence and rush to the cashier is a steep discount, and $10 each (which is 1/3 the price normally) was a no brainer. Especially when I could hand them off to Lady Kent (the enabler) and say “buy me these for Xmas please”.
Catra does look great. I particularly love her mask which slides down over her face, or up on top of her head, or into the neutral raised position in between. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that done before, or if I have, so effectively. She really needed a slit in her skirt, though, as it gets in the way of a lot of leg movement, greatly diminishing her poseability.
Zodac is a dorky looking figure. Always has been. Here, he’s got a thigh holster and a splittable baton, and a loincloth over his fur undies to make him “New Eternia-ed”, as well as those shoulder pads which for some reason swivel around the back. But they do pop off easy enough and the clips on back are then freed up for his baton storage. Glad to have him, but only for this price.
Were I to fit them into my Masterverse Kollector Set [Part 1][Part 2], Catra would likely slide in just ahead of Viking He-Man (#22) and Zodac would go just behind Roboto (#23).
Pale Adventurer Armor - Animal Warriors of the Kingdom:Primal Series Wave 2 - 2023, Spero Toys
Blight - Animal Warriors of the Kingdom: Primal Series Wave 1 - 2023, Spero Toys
AWOK is probably the best new toy line of the year, and a contender for best overall. I went through my Kickstarter fulfillment saga (which was not great) and still came out the other side of it with a resoundingly positive impression, and was already champing at the bit for more. A Black Friday sale was not far behind and so I selected Pale and his opposite as next for my collection (gotta get the apes).
They have the same great articulation as all AWOK figures do, and the ape feet have an extra sturdiness to them. I just don’t like that the mohawks impede head movement (though I don’t dislike the aesthetic…).
The two figures are virtually the same, save for colouring, except that Blight sports a recoloured version of Kah-Lee’s armoured arm (here it’s more like a sleeve) which has that same great lion-face pauldron, but the purple kind of wipes out the detail in it. Their battle skirts are quite different, so it’s not just straight “repaint” here.
If anything with these boys, I would like different heads, so I’ll be looking at some of the head packs and seeing what I mike like better. Pale’s the hero of the AWOK comic, so having that slight smile is ok, but it doesn’t suit Blight at all.
And the final unboxing on Unboxing Day:
SWARM Trooper - Action Force - 2022, Valaverse
SWARM Gear Set - Action Force - 2022, Valaverse
This is my first Valaverse figure. I’m gonna sidestep the whole toxic G.I. Joe vs. Action Force fandoms which I know next to nothing about except that it’s out there. Why be angry about toys? They’re supposed to be fun. Generally the Action Force line of militia-styled figures have next to no appeal to me, but then there’s this SWARM Trooper.
I instantly connected with this bright yellow bastard. He reminds me of the HIVE guys from DC Comics (if only there were super-articulated 6” DC figures happening these days *grumble*).
The promo pic of this guy with the Gear Set though is what made him a must-have. The translucent yellow wings and that riot shield with the honeycomb pattern, *smacks lips* tastes like honey.
It’s a good figure. The Valaverse articulation is up to par with all the major lines, but there’s a little bit of a wobble to this figure particularly in the upper torso. Some of the Joes have this as well, and I’ve experienced it to some degree with figures in other lines, so it’s not exclusively a Valaverse problem, nor is it something that bother's me all that much since he can still hold a pose. It’s more just an in-hand thing.
I would like to army build these guys but at $50 (CAD) a piece plus another $25 for the Gear, it’s priced out of Army Build territory. If there’s a female SWARM figure, I’ll probably pick that one up. I see there’s another SWARM figure out there which is more a shiny gold than yellow, but it doesn’t appeal to me as much as the candy yellow. I’ll still keep an eye on the Valaverse releases even though I’ve yet to see a non-SWARM Action Force figure that appeals to me enough to drop the $50, but I just like looking at toys.
Time to throw out those boxes and trays.
