#also they got the t-rex arm treatment because i stand like this a lot. thought it'd be neat to make them stand the same way

[random-lil-illing]

meeks... the nerd ever...

[bwprowl]

A Happy New Year to you, everybody! I hope whatever you did was fun for you, and you're back and ready for 2017 to be, hopefully, a good and entertaining year. We've got a few things to check out today, so let's talk about some toys this Tuesday night!

News and Wants: Can Ya Smell What The Rockman is Cookin'

Big pre-order that popped up last week was the 66 Action Mega Man set, featuring sweet-looking little posable figures of four kinds of Mega Men: Classic, X, Legends, and Battle Network. They're very reasonably-priced on an individual scale, come with swappable parts, and generally just look to be bunches of fun. That Legends Mega Man is of particular note, since I'm pretty sure that's the first posable figure of Volnutt to be generally available. I'd wager he'll be the most popular. The set also includes a 'secret' figure in the mix, though it's not much of a secret given that they tell you right on the listing that it's a red version of Mega Man Classic.

Bandai's candy-toy Mugenbine series is getting some reprints, with a second release of the Mugen Arthur set coming in their 'Mugen Saga' imprint. This is great news for anyone that missed these when they came out ages ago (hopefully bodes well for other ones, like the Mugen Pharaoh). This set includes ten packs, one of each Mugen Arthur component in regular and 'Dark' flavors. I need to get back into Mugenbine, those are some very cool toys.

Another candy-toy from Bandai getting a reissue is their Wordian series of fantasy monsters (T-Rexes are a fantasy monster don't ya know) turning into letters. This new 'Treasure Digging' batch of their greatest hits will come in multiple colors, including snazzy bronze versions. These look like fun little desktop companions, I'm especially keen on that cute lil’ Cerberus.

Bandai also put up pre-orders for the next in their WWE Figuarts lineup, none other than Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson himself! I am NOT a wrestling fan by any stretch of the imagination, but The Rock is iconic and culturally-immersed enough that him getting the premium SHF treatment like this is still totally notable. And man, those are some wonderful faces he comes with.

Good Smile, meanwhile, threw out pre-orders for their figma of the girl version of Corrin from that last Fire Emblem game. I'll always admire the look of some of these designs, even if I still haven't gotten the chance to sit down and play an FE game. This toy also notably made me aware of Corrin's oddly bare feet. I'm sure there's some characteristic thing about them in-game that informs this design choice, but for someone like me without context, it is simply...an interesting look. Distinctive, at any rate, I suppose!

The exposed inner thighs ain't exactly practical, either

In more offbeat collectible news, and you've probably seen these floating around already, you can pre-order oven mittens based on Godzilla's memetically-goofy-looking second form from Godzilla Resurgence. Stuff like this makes me super-happy, I like to see companies embracing the same stuff their audience found entertaining.

Aw, he wants to help!

Year in Review: My Favorite Toys of 2016

This was the first full year (well almost, I took a few breaks, I know) talkin' about toys here on my tumblr, and it was interesting to actually TALK about a lot of the toys I got on my desk as time went by. It was fun to show them to you and let you know what I thought of them, and hopefully you saw one or two things you thought were cool, maybe even picked up to enjoy yourself! As a general rule, if I actually took the time to talk about it here, I liked it, but to really heap praise on, here in no particular order are the toys that were my absolute favorites of 2016:

Being an ongoing Sentai Series, the Zyuohger Mini-Pla sets gave me something to look forward to pretty much throughout the whole year! Starting with just the initial few cubes and gradually working my way up to the massive Wild Tousai Dodeka King was an enjoyable through-line for the year, and they were fun, satisfying little builds (I even got to work on my painting skills on some of them!). Thanks for the good time, humble boxes, hopefully your round friends in successor series Kyuranger turn out to be just as entertaining!

Speaking of toku, I primarily went in on Kamen Rider Necrom's MegaUrouder (or however you spell it) for cosplay purposes, but that all WAS because I love the character and his design, so the big spooky henshin bracelet wound up being a fun piece all on its own. I love the sounds on this thing (the lightshow is pretty cool too) and I just this week scored the Grimm and Sanzo Eyecons, meaning I'll still get some fun, fiddly mileage out of this thing. Stand by!

Cosplaying for that convention circuit was fun on its own, but I also loved being at the cons to pick up toys. I got almost nothing but Transformers there, and of all those, it was the humble little RiD Flipchanger Skyfire that I was most happy to get. Mostly just to HAVE a version of this mold in-hand and experience it finally, this guy was fiddly fun that stayed on my desk for most of the year.

The other cool little TF that spent the most time at my desk was, of course, Video-Pack Razorclaw, a wonderfully on-point birthday present from my dear brother and sister. This thing was a stroke of genius, and the lovely colors with the inescapable BW-Basic fun factor made him a favorite.

I'm gonna talk about TFs too much if I'm not careful, so let's detour to figma for a moment. I got quite a few, but the one that left the strongest impression had to be Miss Christmas-in-July herself, Winter Miku! This awesomely-designed arctic action figure was a surprise in itself when I first saw it, and getting it in hand just made it apparent as even more fun. I'm not an inherent fan of our aqua-colored pop star overlord, but when she gets a design this rad (or like the similarly-awesome GT version) I'll put my anti-AI misgivings aside for a cool toy.

There were other cool figma that were highly anticipated by me, from Yugi to LBW Link, but oddly, the other one I've found the most fun (and haven't actually gotten a chance to talk about yet) is Mio Honda, the GSC-shop-exclusive jersey version. She's a combination of color schemes and styles pretty much guaranteed to appeal to me personally, but her simple design also just makes her an easy joy to fiddle with, whether I've got her piloting rad robot exo-suits or hanging around with my other favorite M@stered Idols, those saucy Jougasaki sisters. I might just keep Mio around as an other-toy-accompanying desk fixture.

Speaking of that robot I had her piloting, Kotobukiya's Gigantic Arms set was definitely one of the surprises of the year. Cool pilotable mecha/exo-suits for my toys was something I was kinda craving for a while, and this thing delivered beautifully. I hope Koto brings out alternative models, so my squad of schoolgirls can do battle properly.

But even the Gigantic Arms couldn't top the mid-sized mass of mecha perfection that was Dia-Battles V2! This impulse-buy birthday gift to myself was something even I'm surprised I didn't know I wanted. A love-letter to nostalgia I just barely missed, this thing kicked all kinds of ass on its release and looks to have its line continue to rock into 2017. And I couldn't be more excited.

So coming back to Diaclone's successor and the line that still most consumes my time, this was a damn good year for new Transformers. Combiner Wars wrapped up with some great box sets (like that G2 Aerialbots set I picked up on cheap, just for the amazing combination with Sky Lynx), and then Titans Return came in and reinvigorated the mainline on levels I was not expecting. Tons of individual releases were very cool, but my favorite is still probably this new Weirdwolf we got at the Deluxe scale, and his bonus tiny yellow Apeface the TakaraTomy release came with. This is just a cool line with a very fun play pattern to collect, and it's barely getting under way, with that awesome-looking new Voyager Megatron and incredible big stuff like Sixshot and Overlord still on the way.

In the premium collector-dedicated corner of TF toys, Masterpiece Optimus Primal was probably the thing I was most anticipating all year, and it did not disappoint. Boasting an ambitious and dead-accurate recreation of the cartoon CGI model, this piece is a testament to the achievements of modern TF toys. I cannot wait for more from this sub-series (Cheetor got delayed, boo!).

And finally, speaking of waiting, 2016 also got the be the year when those new Machine Robo figures from Action Toys were finally released, nearly two years after they were first revealed. The draw of hot new Go-Bots toys was a powerful one, and it's great that these lived up to they hype for me. Rod Drill/Screw Head and Battle Robo/Tank were the clear winners in my book, and make me really excited for the others that Action Toys will be producing. I can't wait for Blackbird Robo/Snoop to be out, and I'm looking forward to that amazing Blue Jet/Fitor they showed off, along with the others that have recently been revealed. This line was worth the wait (even if that wait was EVEN LONGER for Cy-Kill!).

And that was 2016, at least as best as I can remember! There were a ton of cool toys I got my hands on, and I'm looking forward to checking out even more awesome plastic action in this new year. What about you guys, what were your favorite toys you got to check out this past year? Let me know, and stick around for next week. You know we'll have fun.