POP! Games: Resident Evil – Licker

While plenty of zombie-themed media is content to play it coy about why so many zombies are running around, that’s never been the case for Resident Evil. Biological weapons and human experimentation drive proceedings, which means the series isn’t “just” restricted to human zombies – it also opens the door to all manner of genuinely freakish creations.

Today we take a look at another – the Licker. First appearing in Resident Evil 2, Lickers are genuinely disgusting to look at in both their game and movie incarnations. With a sort of flayed/inside-out look to their skin, and a seemingly exposed brain on their head, they’re impractical for real-world biology but definitely fit the horror aesthetic. Indeed, even if you’re not a Resident Evil fan as such, the Licker could still work on your shelf as some kind of Cenobite hellhound for Pinhead.  

Funko’s rendition is a great-looking figure, doing an excellent job of being both cutesy and totally disgusting at the same time. Personally I think it would have been good to see some gloss paint on the exposed innards for an even grosser "wet" look, but I suppose that’s something I could always do myself if it took my fancy.

I was lucky enough to pick up this bad boy for a song, and he’d certainly make a great army builder if you’re so inclined.  The whole Resident Evil range was one of Funko's better video game offerings, and hopefully we’ll see it expanded in future. But in the meantime, this is a great buy.

Madballs Series 1 – Dust Brain

Best enjoyed while listening to some Nile.

You may recall that a couple of months ago I took at the Kidrobot version of Dust Brain, an excellent piece of mummy merchandise. I picked him up in England, in part because I assumed that the Madballs relaunch was never going to hit Australia. But much to my surprise, the mass release Madballs blind bags from American Greetings are now available here, the better part of a year after they hit the US.

In contrast to the traditional style of the Kidrobot version, this is a more updated look, slightly streamlined for both modern sensibilities and modern toymaking techniques. Cast in a soft, squishy plastic, it’s not quite as rough and ready as the original 1980s version. But I don’t think they’ve watered it down; it’s still weird and gross, which is exactly how it should be. They’ve actually added a detail too – a scarab tucked into the bandages at the back of the head. Paint is a little fuzzy; still, the sculpt is excellent.  

Overall? At only $4 AUD, the price is definitely right. Well worth checking out for longtime Madballs aficionados or horror fans. 

I’ve only seen these guys in Big W in Australia so far; they’re blind-bagged, but there is a decoder available. I suggest you use it if you’re after a particular character, though most of the designs are worth a look. I picked up a couple of others, which I’ll hopefully showcase here in the next few days.

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Lupine Film Club: The Void

Directors: Steven Kostanski

                 Jeremy Gillespie

Year: 2016

I first heard about The Void late last year, when its name began getting thrown round on a few movie sites as a horror movie to keep an eye on. Words like “Fulci-esque” and “1980s” were mentioned, and that immediately piqued my interest. I love horror but I tend to be pretty bad at staying current; I’m usually happy enough to wait a year or two and then check things out on Netflix or DVD. But this looked like a must-watch.

I would say that the initial descriptors have carried through to the final product. The Void isn’t as intentionally period piece-y as Beyond the Gates (also released in 2016) but the spectre of the 1980s still looms large over the proceedings. The most obvious cinematic touchstones are John Carpenter’s The Thing, Clive Barker’s Hellraiser and Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond, but there are plenty of other references to be found too. H.P. Lovecraft’s cosmic horror and the Silent Hill video game series both deserve nods. So if you like any of these, then it’s a fair bet you’ll find something to enjoy about The Void.

It’s a good pool of influences to draw from. But with that caveat, it would be pretty fair to say that The Void is driven by style over substance. The plot is thin even by the standards of the genre; all you need to know is that some kind of cult is trying to open a gateway to the titular Void, and so a whole bunch of horrifying stuff happens along the way. As for how it actually plays out…well, let’s just say you will have many questions, and virtually none of them will be answered by the final reel. The characters are barely even archetypes. Kenneth Welsh’s Dr Powell is fleshed out a little, but you’ll find yourself longing for the rich characterisation found in something like Zombie Flesh Eaters. I also think there are probably a few too many characters onscreen; even allowing for some of them merely being there to build the body count, it doesn’t aid the viewer in building attachment to any of them. There isn’t anything terribly original for experienced viewers and the experience may well be too abstract for newcomers to horror.   

But don’t let this put you off! After all, most of this is a deliberate tribute to The Void’s grindhouse and pulp origins, and the final product is a lot of fun. There are a lot of horror films which are kind of trash when viewed on their own merits, but contain scenes or a special effect that ultimately redeem the film. The Void still stands above plenty of its forebears in that regard. It’s consistently great to look at, with excellent special effects – if you can stomach the gore – and something weird is always about to happen, so you’re never given the chance to be bored. While I wouldn’t say there are any plot twists per se, there are still definitely numerous gruesome surprises in the way things play out. The mythos definitely leaves room for a sequel, and if they take the IndieGoGo route again, I’d be more than happy to put my cash forward. 

The Void is a good, stylish piece of low-budget filmmaking, even showing signs of greatness at points. It’s held back on a number of points, but it’s nonetheless a welcome change from the standard demonic possession fare that has been filling cinemas over the last few years. Highly recommended, if not quite the instant neo-grindhouse classic that I was hoping for. 

POP! Games: Tyrant – Glow in the Dark (Resident Evil)

As I said in my last review, I don’t really collect video game-based POPs…yet here I am reviewing my second one in just over a week! But the Resident Evil figures definitely fall under my guidelines for horror, and hopefully by purchasing them it will also encourage Funko to finally make a Silent Hill line too. So today we take a closer look at the Tyrant, one of two 6” figures in the line.

The Resident Evil games have always been good at providing the player with novel and freakish takes on zombies, and the Tyrant is no exception. His ghostly white skin, exposed internal organs and gigantic claw are quite a few steps removed from the Night of the Living Dead, but there’s no doubt that this is some kind of undead monster.

There are actually multiple different Tyrants throughout the game series, but this one seems to be based on the T-002 Model, which appears in the original Resident Evil game. It’s been a very long time since I played it, so I have to say I don’t remember it specifically – though it’s easy enough to find screencaps online of course.

POPs are never really built to scale, but making this guy a 6” figure is a lot more “accurate” that plenty of others that we’ve seen in the line. He’s probably a little too big in comparison to Nemesis, but he looks about right next to the average human character. Tyrants are big, terrifying bastards after all, and this guy delivers that scare factor it in spades.

Funko have done an excellent likeness here, bringing in considerable detail but never departing too wildly from the simplistic aesthetic. It’s really quite disgusting, with numerous family members commenting on its unsettling look. And even better, this guy glows in the dark, allowing him to be unsettling by night too!

My main criticism (and boy, have we heard this one before) is that the paint job could be a little tighter. Certainly the paint job is more complex than lots of other POPs, which elevates it above many of its contemporaries – look at the shading on the claws for instance – but it’s still quite fuzzy in parts, especially on the bright red veins.

Still, it’s clear that Funko has put a lot of effort not only into this POP, but the entire line. Capcom has no doubt held them to a fairly high standard, and when taken as a whole I’d say that I feel they’ve delivered a strong final product. An essential buy for Resident Evil fans and a great addition to the shelf for any horror fans.

POP! Marvel: Captain Marvel (Masked)

In spite of sharing a name with the company the character is from, Captain Marvel has actually been fairly C-list until the last couple of years. The original iteration of the character was probably most notable as being a superhero who died and actually stayed dead for more than 5 minutes. But thanks to Ms Marvel taking up the title in the comics a few years ago and a Brie Larson-led film on the way in 2019, Captain Marvel’s star is ascendant at the moment. Naturally enough, this has translated into her getting her own Funko POP.

And it’s a nice take on the character, too. The sculpt is something of a throwback to Funko’s simpler days, which keeps it looking consistent on my Marvel shelf. The paint could be tighter, but it’s not a bad rendition on the whole. My only real criticism is that I don’t love the dark blue used…it doesn’t pop (ha) on the shelf in the way I think it should. Maybe a gloss tone would have fixed this?

I actually picked this figure up late last year, and various things have prevented me from reviewing it until now – she was actually released part of the same wave as She-Hulk and Dr Strange. The basic figure was the unmasked version, while this masked version was exclusive to GTS Distribution in the USA. Here in Australia it was just a regular release as far as I could tell; either way, neither version seems to be selling for crazy money or anything. You should have an easy enough time tracking one down if you want it.

Final verdict? I’m pretty neither here nor there on the character at the moment – I’m not familiar enough with her comics – but it matches the current look nicely and the mohawk is a cool distinctive feature. Fun, if non-essential to my collection.   

POP! Television: Elvira, Mistress of the Dark

Back in October last year, I reviewed the Mystery Mini version of Elvira; astute readers will notice that there is a lot of overlap between this review and that one. But please feel free to read on nonetheless, and appreciate all the subtle differences.

Horror hosts aren’t really a thing over here in Australia, but it seems there was a time where every local TV station in the USA had one of their own. Typically serving as campy gateway figures to introduce audiences to crappy old horror and sci-fi films, in many cases they’re more entertaining than the actual films they were hosting. A handful went on to become international celebrities, like Vampira – though to be fair, a lot of that really had to do with her work with Ed Wood.

But probably the best-known to horror fans the world over is the subject of today’s review – Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Portrayed by Cassandra Peterson, I’m not actually sure that she’s ever been broadcast on Australian TV, but a couple of YouTube videos confirmed pretty much what I expected – silly comments about the films being shown, bad puns and double entendres. But she does it with more style and panache than many of her contemporaries, and Cassandra Peterson has turned herself into a global brand as a result.

Typically, I can appreciate Mystery Minis and POPs as separate entities; they’re both striving for different aesthetics and they should be treated as such. But sometimes one really outshines the other, and in this case I think the Mystery Mini is substantially better. Though the POP is not bad, it suffers by comparison; the large head coupled with the large hair is a little too much, and the paint on small details like her dagger and nails are a bit sloppy. In her favour is that they’ve done a nice paint job on her face; it captures the pale skintone very nicely.

Nonetheless, if you’re a horror POP collector, she’s still a great addition to the shelf. There’s no doubt that Elvira is a horror icon, and considering how many horror-related POPS I own, I figure they need a good host to accompany them.    

POP! Heroes – Catwoman (Legion of Collectors Exclusive)

The world of superhero comics has traditionally been one of black-and-white morality – paragons of virtue contrasting sharply with hand-wringing villains. But their pulp fiction predecessors tended to play it a little more grey; you only need to flick through a handful of Robert E. Howard’s stories to see that. 

But some do harken back to these pulp roots, and few characters exemplify this as well as Catwoman. Once an out-and-out villain, she’s been bordering on hero status for decades now, and even a periodic lover for Batman. She generally acts for the right reasons, even if she’s not always on the right side of the law.  

This costume is her first true Catwoman outfit (though technically the second the character wore), 

harkening all the way back to the 1940s. It’s been revived from time to time, but it’s a stark contrast to her modern catsuit-style outfits. But of all of Catwoman’s costumes, this is actually one of my favourites. though it’s ludicrously impractical for her chosen line of work. The colours are garish and the design would be ludicrously impractical for actual catburgling, but I’ve liked it since I was a kid. We’ll probably get other comic-based Catwoman POPs in the future, but I never would have picked this costume as getting made.    

Paint is adequate, if unspectacular. Obviously you don’t get any choice in picking the one you’d like, but Funko seem to be holding these exclusives to a slightly higher standard than many of their regular releases. The more annoying thing is the glue mark on the back of her head, where the hair has been attached the back of the mask.   

Overall, it’s a solid and distinctive POP. But four boxes into the Legion of Collectors program, and I have to say that I have very mixed feelings about the whole enterprise. The POPs themselves have been quite good, but the supplementary materials have ranged from adequate to garbage, but overall I’ve just found myself with even more unnecessary crap taking up room in my house. So I’ve opted out of the last two (DC Legacy and Superman) …and I’m umming and ahhing about whether I want to opt in for the next one, solely because it’s Wonder Woman and I’m a big fan. This is a great figure for Catwoman fans, but if you decide to track her down then make sure you don’t pay an arm and a leg.

Funko Mystery Minis Horror Classics Series 3: Bruce the Shark (Jaws)

Shockingly, I’ve never seen Jaws, beyond a few snippets. Yeah, I know, I know – I write about horror-related stuff all the time and still haven’t seen one of the big genre pictures. Disgraceful. But fear not, I’ll get to it eventually. 

I read the novel the film is based on, back when I was a kid (probably a little younger than I should have given the novel’s heavy sexual content) and remember being entertained, but not blown away. It reminded me of a proto-Michael Crichton novel; entertaining and heavily plot-driven, but it lacked compelling characters. This is a stark contrast to what I’ve heard and seen of the film, where the characters loom almost as large on the screen as the shark itself.   

One of the many reasons that Jaws has become venerated in the way it is today is because it was one of the very first blockbusters as we understand them today. Sure, there were wildly successful films for decades prior – but believe it or not, there was a time when the idea of a mid-year (Summer for my northern hemisphere cousins) blockbuster was totally foreign. Can you imagine a world like that now? I can’t, myself. Jaws really was quite the groundbreaker.

So to actually move back to the subject of today’s review, this Mystery Mini is a perfectly nice miniature of a shark, if not hugely exciting. The only thing that specifically screams “Jaws” is the gas bottle in its mouth. Put enough of them together and you could make a nice Sharknado too – which won’t be too hard, considering it’s packed at a 1/6 ratio in the case.       

POP! Movies: Conan the Barbarian -- Bloody and Warpaint Variants (PX Previews Exclusives)

Sigh…sometimes fandom can lead you down a foolish path.

I love Conan the Barbarian – both the original Robert E. Howard stories and the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. A friend showed me the film in late 2006 or early 2007 (the same friend who showed me The Beyond, actually) and it became an instant favourite. Shortly afterwards came the purchase of The Complete Conan Chronicles, a compilation of the original Robert E. Howard short stories from the 1930s. Rarely have I come across an author that I have enjoyed as much – I like to think he's influenced my own writing, though it may not be so evident on this blog. Howard died tragically young as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot, but his work left behind a legacy that has grown to encompass a multimedia empire – not to mention the many derivatives the character spawned in his wake.

So how has this fandom led me down a foolish path? Well, I have been hoping for a Conan POP since I started collecting back in 2013. And the basic figure was announced late last year as being available through Popcultcha – but the two you see in the pictures here were originally advertised as being exclusive to Entertainment Earth. Which in principle I didn’t mind, except that it meant they would cost me a whole bunch in postage…but I put in the order anyway, because I was worried that they wouldn't be released in Australia.

But to cut a long story short, these POPs did end up coming out in Australia (before they arrived from the US) and it was already too late to cancel the order. So these guys ended up costing me around double what they would have in Sydney, with the only distinction being the little “PX Previews Exclusive” sticker on each box. I'd understand if this was a convention exclusive or chase, but does anyone really care about this particular type of sticker? 

Overall, these figures are great. The sculpts are good, capturing the little details of the character nicely. But don’t be like me – learn from my experience and just buy them from your local retailer.  

Predators Series 16: Ghost Predator

Company: NECA

Year: 2016

NB: This review was written BEFORE the Spiked Tail Predator that was published in December

Well, it’s been quite a while since I reviewed any NECA Predators here at the LBC. The last one I bought was the Elder Predator v2, which was released back as part of series 12. Cool as he was, I don’t think I ever got to reviewing him on here – which means the last one I looked at was the ¼-scale City Hunter, all the way back in early 2015!

Series 13-15 weren’t bad, by any means, but I didn’t buy any of them. Series 13 continued the Kenner-style Predators, while 14 and 15 focused on the first Aliens vs Predator film. The toys looked good (if a little too similar to one another) but my aversion to the movie itself really kind of put me off. I’m hanging out for an updated Wolf Predator from AvP: Requiem; nothing has been confirmed, but I think it’s a reasonably safe bet to show up sometime next year.  

So today we look at the Ghost Predator, who seems to be based on the Renegade Predator from the old Kenner series. Back then, he was probably the truest to the “real” look of the Predator from the movies in comparison to his gaudier companions. NECA has retained this comparative realism, which I enjoy, but they’ve really played up his pale look, giving him a nice semi-albino look.

Now, NECA’s Predator line has been built on the back of reuse. While that’s brought us some very creative action figures, it has also been a source of frustration for some – in series 16, Ghost Predator is clearly the one who’s had the least spent on him in terms of new tooling. But with the AvP Predators came newly sculpted base bodies for NECA to use, as well as increased articulation. Ghost Predator benefits from this immensely, with swivel biceps and double elbows now being incorporated into the design, as well as a balljointish thing in the chest – a proper ab-crunch would be good, but it would probably also ruin the aesthetics of the figure.

My main criticism of the design is that Ghost is a victim NECA’s current trick of simply not painting the netting to indicate that a character is not wearing netting – the sculpting is still present, but the paint is not. I feel somewhat churlish complaining about it, given the other positive features of the toy, but I think it should be noted nonetheless. The only bare body NECA seems to have for Predators is the old Super Predator body, which was pretty mediocre; perhaps we’ll see one eventually though.

Still, enough about the bad and onto the good. Netting aside, the paintwork is excellent. Check your sample in-store, but they look to have had a good run on this figure. The tiger-stripe lines and cheetah spots contrast nicely with the pale skin – they seem to have shifted back to a moulding process similar to the one they used to give Dutch his distinctive skin tones. This is very welcome, as it gives a more naturalistic look to the figure, in contrast to the heavily painted AvP figures which looked much more overtly toyish.  

Unlike his original figure, Ghost doesn’t get a gun. But he’s got some very cool accessories; a smart disc, a machete, a spear and a removeable mask. All accessories we’ve seen before, but rarely together. The spear won’t quite fit into the left, gripping hand, but it can be balanced in the more open right hand if you’re careful. 

The mask is very well sculpted, and could easily pass for something out of the films. It’s slightly too big in proportion to the head; for a long time NECA shied away from making removable masks for their Predator figures, and this is exactly why. But he still looks fantastic with the mask on or off anyway; it does tie in with the reality that a Predator is a mask in a mask, and there heads have always looked slightly large on-screen.  

Series 16 was heavily delayed. It was originally meant to come out around July, but it hit stores shelves in Sydney in December 2016 – a few weeks behind the US. Nonetheless, it looks to have been worth the wait. Ghost Predator is an excellent design, Spiked Tail Predator was flawed but still looks great….and the glow-in-the-dark Stalker Predator has now arrived too. So overall, I'd say it's been a very successful series.

Funko Mystery Minis Horror Classics Series 3: Alex (A Clockwork Orange)

With its weird blend of a dystopian future, Russian slang, unusual fashion and unsettling violence, A Clockwork Orange is a film that may not exactly be horror – but is still shockingly dark at points, while being very, very funny in others. So today we take a look at Funko’s take on the lead character from the movie – Alex.

Cutesy as they are, the Horror Classics line is not really aimed at kids. Some of you are no doubt saying “duh”, but the addition of Alex to the line has really reminded me of that. Though he’s technically an anti-hero, Alex is considerably more perverse than most of the villains that have appeared in the line so far. 

Outside of t-shirts, A Clockwork Orange has not really been heavily merchandised, so it’s interesting to see Alex show up in this format. The figure replicates all the core elements of the costume – the bowler hat, the false eyelash, the bob haircut and the weird codpiece. I’d forgotten about the eyes on the sleeve cuffs, but looking back at stills from the film, they are quite prominent.  

Alex is a good addition to the line, meshing well with his companions in the series. I wouldn't class him as essential, but that's mostly because although I enjoyed the film I wouldn't call myself a devotee. But I would be remiss to not to note that there are also POPs of Alex available. One of them depicts him in this outfit, and the other (apparently somewhat rarer one) depicts him wearing the same outfit, but with the addition of a suspiciously phallic mask. I’ll probably pass on them myself, but they’ll be must-buys for fans of the film. 

Funko Mystery Minis Horror Classics Series 3: The Grady Twins (The Shining)

Remember a few months ago when I reviewed Regan and mentioned that if ever there was a movie that suffered for being influential, it was The Exorcist? Well, I still stand by that statement. But if I had to add another horror film to that list, I would definitely add The Shining.

Now don’t get me wrong, The Shining is a very good film…if perhaps a wee bit on the long side. But I would be quite happy to never, ever see someone paying “tribute” or doing a “hilarious” parody of it ever again. We’ve seen the kid cycling around, we’ve seen “Here’s Johnny” and above all we’ve seen the creepy twins again and again. No need for any more, pls.

But nonetheless, the Grady Twins are one of the defining images of the film, and so it’s only fitting that they got their own Mystery Mini from Funko. The first thing I noticed was that – perhaps somewhat surprisingly – they aren’t just mirror images of one another. Though they’re clearly twins, one is slightly taller than the other, and their heads are also a slightly different size. This is accurate to the girls who played the Twins in the film, but if Funko hadn’t bothered then I doubt anyone would have complained. It’s an impressive bit of detail in a stylised format, though.

The Shining is quite an enigmatic film, and one of the few ghost films that I like. Perhaps this is because of its ambiguity; in the original novel, the horrors are definitely real – but in Kubrick’s take on the story, you can’t be quite sure. This is my roundabout and clumsy way of saying that these figures are good, but they work due to their larger context, not due to their base design. At face value they’re simply two kids in old-fashioned dresses – but when you’ve seen the film, they’re something else entirely. They’re fun, but as I noted in the Jack Torrance review, it would be good to get a Danny Torrance too. Maybe in series 4?   

Funko POP! Heroes – Power Girl

Company: Funko

Year: 2016

Power Girl! My main familiarity with her comes from the Superman/Batman series that ran from the early noughties through to the New 52 reboot. She turned up there reasonably regularly as a supporting character, never quite breaking through to the mainstream appeal of some of her contemporaries but nonetheless retaining a cult fanbase in the process.

Still, for the purposes of this review, all you need to know is that she’s an alternate dimension, gender-swapped Superman. She hangs out with the Justice Society, too. Pretty lazy backstory, but that’s all you needed in the 1970s.

So, how’s the POP? Well, pretty good. I believe Power Girl’s outfit has changed a few times over the years, but this would be the only one anyone would be able to pick out of a police lineup – white leotard, blue boots + gloves, red half-cape and belt. All of it virtually unchanged since her very first appearance, 40 years ago. Her hair fluctuates in length from time to time, but it’s always quite short in comparison to say, Zatanna or Wonder Woman.

Paint is adequate, but not amazing. And to be fair, I think you could apply that description to the POP itself. Maybe it’s just the fact that her costume – which is quite distinctive on the printed page – isn’t quite as vibrant when it’s rendered in 3D form.

Overall? I bought her on sale and she’s fine – but though Power Girl is a character who I like well enough, and it’s always good to get more of DC’s female cast members, there’s something that keeps it from being a truly excellent POP. She’s good, rather than great.

POP! Games – Call of Duty Spaceland Zombie

Series: POP! Games

Year: 2016

The Call of Duty games are fun and all, but I’m years behind on them. I think the last one I bought was Black Ops 2, maybe? Long time ago now. Nonetheless, this particular piece of CoD merchandise jumped out at me – not because of my interest in the game, but because he is perfect as a Deadite to go with Ash from Army of Darkness!

This guy is gross, on par with Funko’s Walking Dead figures – a range he’d fit in with quite well. His face looks almost like it’s melting, and he’s leaking blood out of his eyes…which is quite an effective (if disgusting) rendering of the decomposition process that “real” zombies would likely go through. There’s been quite a bit of attention paid to sculpting; in life, this guy looks to have been some kind of frat boy on vacation, dressed in some very Abercrombie & Fitch-esque clothes. That said, I can’t find a reference image from the game that seems to match this particular character. If you have one, mention it in the comments below.

Overall, this detail is great, but does seem slightly strange; apparently this obscure character gets a bigger tooling and paint budget from Funko than some of the world’s biggest superheroes. I can’t imagine it’s selling in anywhere near the same numbers!  

This guy was exclusive to Target in the US, but over here you can get him from Popcultcha or – if you’re lucky, EB Games. Thanks to the success of The Walking Dead (among others), there is now a total plethora of zombie merchandise on the market. As with any trend, it’s a mixed bag; some of it’s fantastic, other stuff is total garbage. This is one of the good ones -- if you’re a zombie fan in any way shape or form, Spaceland Zombie here is a very sound investment. 

Transformers Generations: Titans Return – Galvatron (Voyager Class)

Company: Hasbro

Year: 2016

Sigh…I’ve been putting this review for a while, because generally I try and write positive reviews rather than negative ones. But in for a penny, in for a pound. Today we look at Galvatron from Titans Return.

Galvatron first appeared in Transformers: The Movie, way back in 1986. After Megatron came close to being killed during battle with the Autobots, he was taken away by Unicron and reformatted into GALVATRON, complete with a new voice from Leonard Nimoy.

Now the original Galvatron toy was somewhat unusual; most of the original Transformers toys were repurposed from a couple of different Japanese toylines – Diaclone and Microchange. But by 1986, Hasbro had burned through a lot of the designs from both these lines that worked with the Transformers concept and were starting to branch out with a few of their own designs. Galvatron was one of the first cabs off the ranks, as Hasbro had essentially planned to kill off a bunch of characters who were being discontinued in the next year’s range of toys – including Optimus Prime. That’s quite a story unto itself, of course…

I’ll start by saying that Galvatron is not a bad toy, but I’ll be keeping it fairly short. Refer to the points below:

•  Considering I recently bought the quite similar-looking Cyclonus, I can’t help but think he wasn’t quite worth the price of admission.
• The Titan Master function is a great concept, but it’s hindered by the execution of the head’s faceplate – you can’t turn his head, which is just kind of…silly in this day and age.
• The alt modes are a chore to transform. The gun/cannon mode looks good, particularly as a tribute to the original toy, but the jet is a really mixed bag. It looks cool on the box and I love the concept, but I don’t it just doesn’t translate in physical form. The whole thing screams of computer design combined with improperly tested protos.
•  There are a few known production issues with the toy – read about them here.
• Overall? Cool bot mode, but given my time again I would’ve saved my $$$. Here’s hoping he gets a better toy in years to come.

  

Grossery Gang: Crusty Chocolate Bar

Company: Moose Toys

Year: 2016

Moose Toys have been around since 1985, producing all manner of novelties and kid’s toys. When I was a kid in the mid-90s, they were probably best known for their wide variety of Yo-Yos (which came in a whole array of shapes, sizes and scents) and the Amazing Live Sea Monkeys.

To be honest, they weren’t a huge brand when I was a kid. They pumped out a lot of product, but while it sold respectably, very little of it seemed to capture the childhood zeitgeist. Until a few years ago, when they hit it REALLY big with a couple of blind-bagged toylines – Trash Pack and Shopkins, which helped take the company to a whole new level of success.  

The Trash Pack brand has been off the market for a year or so, but it’s now returned with a sequel/reboot series in the form of Grossery Gang. Taking the concept of cutesy, anthropomorphic garbage and applying it to food instead, Grossery Gang’s key conceit isn’t departing radically from the original theme, but I think this is a good case of releasing a new product that still maintains a good understanding of what made the original so popular.  

Grossery Gang are sold in a whole variety of different blind-boxed formats (the cereal box is especially cool) but I suppose you would call the Crusty Chocolate Bar this the entry level or booster pack format. Each Crusty Chocolate Bar sells for 3 or 4 bucks, and features two Grossery Gang characters. It’s a good pricepoint in comparison to other blind-boxed/bagged formats like Lego Minifigures, and the packaging itself is great.

After opening the wrapper -- which looks better than most real chocolate bars -- you’ll be treated to a moulded plastic chocolate bar that features the Grossery Gang logo, and some insects crawling over the surface. Viewed from a distance, it also looks a lot like a poo, which I’m sure at least partially intentional. There’s also a checklist, which is designed to look like a supermarket receipt. There are tons of different designs, each of which appears to be made in two different colourways. Rarity is ranked as Common, Rare, Ultra-Rare, Special Edition and Limited Edition. Some of them look similar to previous Trash pack designs, but I don’t think they’re straight reuse – more like reinventions of prior concepts.

Inside, the two characters ("Grosserys") are individually wrapped – I got a Rot Hot Chili (ultra-rare) and Fungus Fries (common). You’ll see that Rot Hot looks kind of fuzzy in the pic below, but it’s not out of focus; he’s got a fuzzy finish to appear mouldy. He’s also cast in a harder plastic than Fungus Fries, who is very soft and squishy like a pencil topper. I assume that most other Grosserys are cast in the softer plastic, but will have to update once I've picked up some more. 

Trash Pack kind of passed me by, but it always looked like great fun – I’m sure I would have bought an obscene amount of them if they’d been round when I was a little kid. Grossery Gang serves as a nice reboot to the line, and a great jumping on point for those new to the brand. Highly recommended for kid and adult collectors alike.     

Funko Mystery Minis Horror Classics Series 3: Freddy Krueger (Syringe Fingers)

Year: 2016

Freddy Krueger – in a world of mute murderers like Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees and Leatherface, he stands out as one of the most distinctive villains from the slasher era. I mean, Pinhead has a bit to say for himself, but he's distinctly less...amusing...in the process. 

More than 30 years after his cinematic debut in A Nightmare on Elm Street, he’s still incredibly popular. He may not have had a film in the cinemas for a while, but the plethora of Freddy merch littering the shelves suggests that there’s still a substantial fanbase out there. Will we see Robert Englund play him again? Probably not, but the character lives on nonetheless. 

Unlike Jason, Freddy's basic costume really hasn't changed a whole lot over the years, but he does sometimes find himself in kill-specific get-ups from time to time. So t

his Mystery Mini is based on a very specific scene in Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors. In the dream world, Freddy encounters Taryn, who’s dressed like she’s some kind of enemy in Double Dragon. Was the 80s the raddest decade of the 20^th century? Most signs point to yes. Anyway, Taryn used to be some kind of drug addict, so Freddy turns his fingers into syringes and injects her with some kind of blue substance – presumably heroin, but it’s never actually specified in the film – and she shuffles off this mortal coil.

This figure replicates the effect nicely enough – each of his fingers and claws is a blue syringe, topped with a silver spike. The sculptors have also done a nice job of adding little details to a fairly simple design, such as ragged edges and dirty stains on the pants and jumper. Good job Funko! 

Given that the Mystery Minis format has been a little more experimental than the POPs, it would be nice if we eventually got some of the human characters -- at least a Nancy! Taryn's design would be particularly good for this format too, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.     

Overall, this take on Freddy is a cool, unusual version of an iconic horror villain – but he’s packed at a 1/72 ratio, which means you may well have a pain of a time trying to track him down. On that basis, he’s fun for those who missed the regular Freddy in Series 1, but certainly not essential. 

Funko Mystery Minis Horror Classics Series 3: Jack Torrance (The Shining)

My parents – in hindsight – were not especially strict, particularly in comparison to some of my friends. But like all parents, they wanted to instil a certain set of values into me – and as such, most horror-related material was treated with a deep suspicion. 

And few names were more synonymous with horror than STEPHEN KING. Back in the 1990s, he was arguably at the height of his commercial (if not creative) powers. Bookstores were stuffed with his wares, and video stores seemed to overflow with filmic adaptations of his works. Being a keen reader from a young age, I was naturally very curious about him – but parental authority steered me away from him until I was a teenager. Probably wisely, in hindsight, though it was frustrating at the time.

In the long term, the parental admonition against horror didn’t work. What did I do as soon as I was old enough? Went out and read a ton of Stephen King books, and watched scores of horror films. I love both to this day -- and one of the best adaptations of King's work is The Shining, from Stanley Kubrick.

Stephen King was not thrilled with this adaptation. Having subsequently read the novel, I can kind of understand why, as it deviates from the source material on many important points. But I enjoyed it myself; the pace was probably just a little too slow for my tastes, but it was definitely bizarre and memorable. And its influence has been undeniable – every TV show on the planet of every genre seems to want to do some kind of tribute to scene with the twins at one point or another. 

This Mystery Mini does a reasonable job of replicating Jack Nicholson’s Here's Johnny look in the film -- the check shirt, red jacket, jeans, maniacal expression, and of course the axe. It doesn’t look like Jack Nicholson specifically, but that’s just the nature of the aesthetic –and at a glance, he could fit in reasonably well with the humans from the Walking Dead Mystery Minis too. My only real criticism is related to the hair. Jack Nicholson has never gone totally bald, but even by the time of The Shining it was looking pretty thin – though again, this is probably just a side-effect of the aesthetic.

Overall? Jack Torrance isn’t my favourite figure in the series, but there isn’t a ton of merch for The Shining out there. Given that we also got the Twins in this series, I assume we’ll get Danny soon too – viewed in combination, that would be a fun set.    

Transformers Generations: Titans Return – Apeface

Company: Hasbro

Year: 2016

Titans Return continues to throw up more awesome toys, and today we take a look at another awesome Decepticon* – Apeface!

Black and purple Decepticons are my favourite. And as with all the Titan Masters, there’s four modes – the head, the Titan Master on his own, robot mode (in this case, a gorilla-bot) and combined vehicle mode (a jet). All of them work reasonably well, and it’s actually a bit of a shame that we’re not seeing this guy in deluxe size. In jet mode, he looks like a mini-Skywarp, which means I’m 99% guaranteed to love it. 

My only real criticism is that he doesn’t stand quite right in his gorilla-bot mode, but you can fudge the effect well enough. And this brings us to the most important question of all – in light of this year’s most popular meme, should we be calling this guy Harambot?

*Autobots can get in the bin 

 

POP! Heroes (NYCC 2016 Exclusive) – Classic Batgirl

Batgirl occupies a strange place in the DC canon. Though she’s extremely high profile from a merchandising perspective, the classic character that you tend to think of when the word “Batgirl”is said didn’t really exist for 20+ years. Instead, Barbara Gordon was occupying the role of Oracle after the events of The Killing Joke, back in the late 1980s.

Nonetheless, merchandise is a power driver…so waaaaay back in 2010 when POPs were first debuting, Batgirl was one of the first DC girls produced. Which is very cool, but she’s no longer in production (though the mould is still being used) and now sells for an obscene amount of money on the aftermarket. So good luck getting hold of one! More recently there’s been a “Batgirl of Burnside” POP produced, which is a great look – but I haven’t read the comics it’s based on, and it’s not really the classic look that I tend to prefer for my POP shelf.  

This costume is based on her original costume, apparently, it’s also quite similar to one of her New 52 costumes, sans armour plating. It’s not really a familiar look to me – by the time I was really old enough to be reading comics, Barbara had been turned into Oracle, so that’s how I’ve kind of always known her. And when I did come across the odd reprint or compilation that featured Batgirl, it was almost inevitably the gray/blue suit. That said, it’s a really stylish look, and makes sense in light of the whole…well, Bat thing.

The paint is adequate, but not perfect. It's reminiscent of Funko's mid-period work -- not totally sloppy, but definitely not amazing, either. Still, it looks decent at a distance. Also, she doesn't stand all that well on her own -- but she does come with a stand, so that's good. In my case, she'll be staying in the box so it becomes a bit of a moot point anyway.   

This POP is an NYCC exclusive, but I had a lot less trouble getting hold of Batgirl than I did any of last year’s SDCC (stupid rare flocked Wolfman!) or NYCC exclusives. Popcultcha’s website didn’t seem to crash, and my local bookstore had plenty of these available. How long they’ll last is anyone’s guess – but in Sydney at least, certain POPs seem to hang round for months afterwards.   

That said, if you miss out – don’t panic. Given that the original’s no longer around, I will be very surprised if we don’t get this mould in grey and blue in the near future as a regular release. Which I may also have to pick up…