It’s the end of the first week of September so that means that Spooky Season officially kicked off the week prior to this. It doesn’t matter if it’s unseasonably warm wherever you are, get out the orange and black decor and get festive. With that in mind…
Universal Monsters x Transformers Frankentron
The Universal Monsters franchise is like that one omni-friend that you had in either high school or college. It didn’t always make sense but somehow they were friends with everyone else and it always kind of worked. TMNT has had a couple of successful collabs with the Monsters to date, and why shouldn’t the Transformers be in on the action?
Last year brought us Draculus (a transforming robot bat if I have to spell it out) and this year we get Frankentron! These fall solidly into the “not for me” category but I cannot deny that they are pretty damn fun figures.
Here’s the blurb:
It’s alive! Welded together from deceased Cybertronian parts, a new creation has escaped Dr. Frankenstein’s lab – Frankentron!
The worlds of Transformers robots and Universal Monsters collide with the Universal Monsters Frankenstein x Transformers Frankentron mash-up pack! The iconic monstrous creation from Dr. Frankenstein’s lab is now a Transformers robot! This figure converts from movie-inspired robot mode to tank alt mode and features sculpt, deco, and details based on the film. This pack comes with a cannon accessory and blast effect piece.
Even though I won’t be collecting this line I do find myself looking forward to what Hasbro has up their sleeve for next year’s monster-bot since they really nailed the initial two offerings.
You can preorder Frankentron now for an expected October delivery.
The Smurfs 1/6 Scale Limited Edition Statue
One of the great joys of the current collectibles market is that there is never truly any stone left unturned. Or un-Smurfed as the case may be here.
Smurfs were a big deal four decades ago and it’s amazing to me that they’re getting a high quality statue in this, the year of our lord, 2023. Even more amazing and bordering on Smurfing-offensive is that it costs one thousand dollars.
The Smurfs is a series of Belgian youth comics created by Peyo in 1958 telling the story of an imaginary people of little blue creatures living in a mushroom village in the middle of a vast forest.
Cartoon Kingdom proudly presents The Smurfs statue as the next in line in their of comic strip statues.
With a multitude of colors, Gargamel, Azrael, a Smurf house and no less than 10 of the most emblematic Smurfs represented. Enjoy this highly detailed statue in the full 360 degrees and find the two Smurfs hiding behind the stage.
The price make a bit more sense when you find out this statue is limited to only 200 pieces. This also falls into the “not for me” category, but I’m sure there’s someone out there who’s absolutely Smurfy for this statue and immediately Smurfed the preorder button…and I kind of dig that.
Star Trek (2009) Exquisite Mini Series by Hiya Toys
Star Trek is once again having a moment in the pop culture zeitgeist and I am here for it.
Hiya Toys is producing a line of highly detailed and articulated Star Trek figures…based on the 2009 movie. Some may argue that we’re fourteen years too late for these, but I would put forth that the Kelvin Timeline Trek movies lend themselves the most to being action figures when compared with most other Trek series.
Star Trek figures were, to me, always kind of a bit of a stretch. I was way into the Original Series and The Next Generation (and various spinoffs) while growing up but the characters didn’t quite stack up against stuff like TMNT, Star Wars, and Transformers.
The reboot of the Trek franchise in 2009 made the franchise more about kicking alien ass and taking names, firing phasers while blasting Beastie Boys from your starship and quite a bit less about exploration and philosophical questions like, “What does god need with a starship?”
I’ve been pretty pleased with the Robocop and Red Hood figures of the same scale that I got from Hiya Toys so for $25 I just may check these out. You can preorder Kirk, Spock (young AND old), and McCoy now and they’re set to arrive Q1 of next year.
