There’s a lot of new toy news coming this week since the (virtual) convention season is ramping up and I’m going to write about exactly none of it!
For the first time in a while I’ve actually bought some toys to write about! One was a preorder that just so happened to have come in and the other I went to an ACTUAL store to buy…things are truly turning a corner in my world.
DC Multiverse Robin (Damian Wayne) by McFarlane Toys
Remember when McFarlane Toys was actually called Todd Toys for a while there at the beginning? It was right up until Mattel realized they held the trademark on “Todd” (a non-Ken friend of Barbie) and they C&D’ed Todd Toys into McFarlane Toys. At least that’s how I remember it.
Oh, how the tables have turned.
In one of my last entries on the DC Multiverse line, I put forth that these are figures that are excruciatingly almost perfect to me barring one glaring defect. I’m selective about buying the figures because not all of them do it for me and, frankly, not all of them are FOR me.
Several months ago I had preordered the Damian Wayne version of Robin which arrived just in time for the character to get a new costume in the comics! My reasoning for choosing to pull the trigger on a preorder was simply that these things can be impossible to find at retail (like the single-carded Red Hood figure) and I wasn’t planning to miss out on this one like I had missed out on previous releases. Plus, figures of this particular Robin have been few and far between. The last DC Direct version of the figure was a 2-pack with the current DCU Superboy and I wasn’t about to buy a figure I didn’t want to get one that I did want.
As fate would have it, I ended up seeing this Robin on the pegs SEVERAL times while I was waiting for my bundled preorder to ship. By the time my bundle shipped, however, the figure had once again disappeared from stores. So, I guess it all worked out?
The actual figure is pretty solid. It’s a great sculpt that really captures the essence of the character, the attitude Damian Wayne has that sets him apart from all the other past Robins. BUT…the figure is missing an ab-crunch, waist, and double-hinged knees from the articulation which ever-so-slightly limits the articulation. It should also be noted that I accidentally yanked one of the legs off the figure while attempting to unbox it but it was easily popped right back onto the ball-joint.
Robin comes with a trading card, display stand, two throwing stars, AND a sword that’s almost as big as he is.
Transformers War for Cybertron: Kingdom Core Soundwave
Now here’s a figure that’s made almost exclusively for me and any other collectors from the over-40 set.
There’s not a person that was born in this century that can even tell you what a cassette player is…yet Hasbro continues to produce figures of the Soundwave character that are just that. True, they’ve made other Soundwaves with contemporary designs but it always comes back to the blocky tape deck alternate mode.
This particular Soundwave I snagged at my local comic shop since I have yet to see the figure at any big box store in my area. Soundwave is part of the $10 to $12 price point entry-level grouping of “Core Class” figures. Smaller versions of popular characters along with a few new characters that have simple transformations. Probably the best value for your dollar right now when it comes to Transformers figures.
As mentioned above, Soundwave inexplicably turns into a tape deck (even more so than usual since Kingdom is set in prehistoric earth) and transforms just like you remember from when you were a kid! His arms and legs fold up and BAM! You’ve got a tiny cassette player. The absolute BEST part of this figure is that his chest opens and contains a tiny, removable (probably) Lazerbeak. Sadly, the tape doesn’t transform but if it did I would have nominated this for my Toy of the Year with no questions.
Soundwave is a great, little figure that has a lot of appeal for fans of the classic G1 Transformers and if you see him out there you should definitely pick one up.
