You guys, this week’s Figure Friday is coming to you on a budget. I was crushed this week when I found out that NFTs are virtually worthless and I lost all my money investing Biff Bam Pop! NFTs. Boy, do I sure feel like a big dumbass going all-in on JPEGs of my articles from the last seven years. I could not have possible foreseen that spending money on something that doesn’t really exist was going to come back and bite me in the ass.
Like I said up top, the them this week is budget buys. I can’t possibly be expected to stop buying toys when I’m facing financial ruin, right? That would be fiscally responsible.
(In truth, this is my last FF before the site’s 31 Days of Horror kicks off and I’m totally sandbagging until I can write about cool spooky stuff).
Marvel MAFEX No.171 Wolverine (X-Force Ver.)
Thanks in part to the great Satan that is Amazon and an excess of credit card points I had accumulated, I managed to pick this guy up for a song. With the current exchange rate, that’s about 50% off. Since we all stan a short king, I was compelled to add this to my ever growing cadre of MAFEX figures.
By my estimate, this is MAFEX’s third Wolverine and, in my opinion, the best. You see, their classic brown & tan/yellow & blue offerings didn’t do much for me. But this X-Force version…top shelf. If you haven’t read Rick Remender’s run on Uncanny X-Force what are you even doing? It was one of the best X-suffix books running at the time (which he later carried on to Uncanny Avengers) and the storyline thought stand up there with the greatest X-books by Claremont and Morrison. I said what I said.
There’s not a lot to write about with regards to this figure, it is as advertised on the tin. You get a X-Force Wolverine in his black & grey suit, three alternate heads, and three sets of hands. There’s not an unmasked head which doesn’t bother me at all and it’s hard to find fault with this figure.
Of course, now that I’m creeping beyond my Spider-Man and Batman MAFEX figures I hope this doesn’t awaken anything in me.
Star Trek: The Original Series NCC-1701 Enterprise
Enterprise, come on down! You’re up next on the price is right!
I’ve been thoroughly non-plussed by Playmates’ reentry into the world of Star Trek toys. I’ve seen them around, I don’t know anyone personally that’s bought any, and they’re very much “not for me.” And that’s okay! If you’re buying them, I hope you’re enjoying them.
A couple weeks back I was doing my standard circuit though Target, going up one action figure aisle and then the other one before crossing over to where they keep the more collector-focused stuff. It’s kind of telling that the Trek toys reside there since anyone under 40 isn’t going to be going ga-ga for a Shatner figure. I spotted a stack of the TOS Enterprise boxes and having recently seen that Target was blowing them out on super clearance I grabbed on and meandered over to a price scanner.
It came up at $19.99.
For comparisons sake, BBTS currently has this for $59.99. That’s an absolutely insane markdown and I could not in good conscience pass that up. In the current economic climate NOTHING costs less than $20!
The model itself is pretty alright! It’s pre-painted and any decals it comes with were already applied (I’d pay double just for those two things). The only assembly required is snapping the two nacelles into place along with the display stand. Which brings me to the only negative…the display stand is INCREDIBLY unstable. Getting the ship mounted on it without it falling over or apart takes an extraordinary amount of faith (of the heart).
Allegedly, there’s and Enterprise 1701-D coming at some point in the near future which I would gladly pay $20 for. Something we’ve noticed around the Figure Friday bullpen is that Target is quickly approaching infamy with how quickly they blast stuff to clearance. Star Wars, Marvel Legends, GI Joe…doesn’t matter. If it sits still for long enough there’s going to be a yellow sticker on it eventually.
And with that top tip, I shall take my leave of you. I’ll be back in a fortnight with some seasonally appropriate toy news.
