Toy Pix: Michaelangelo, Then and Now

Michaelangelo has long been the jester of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but that jovial personality primarily had its origins in the Fred Wolf cartoon. Mikey in the first Mirage comics was a neutral character. He wasn't commanding like Leo, technical like Don, or hot-headed like Raph... he was just there. You'd see a few references to a fun-loving personality (in issue 11 April mentions that he "can find a joke in just about any situation"), but they're few and far between and not really expressed by the character himself. It wasn't until the Fred Wolf cartoon when we saw Mikey blossom into the looney character we all know and love. So, let's check out these bookends of Michaelangelo's action figure history: the first Playmates figure and the more recent NECA incarnation!

Arcade Token: Aladdin's Castle

Recently I was blabbing on Google+ about my inexplicable drive to start collecting character toothbrushes. Steve chimed in and said that he has a hankering for arcade tokens. I thought that was a great idea! I spent a lot of time in arcades as a youth, both as a micro-dork in the early 80's during the first arcade mania driven by Pac-Man and its ilk, and as a teen-dork in the early 90's during the resurgence with games like Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat. Collecting arcade tokens are the only way to capture a part of that arcade-rat culture without forking over the dough for full-size arcade cabinets. Thanks to Steve for the idea for this new feature! To start off, let's take a look at this token from Aladdin's Castle!

Mini Toy Review: Green Lantern Galius Zed (4"-scale)

Speaking of weird alien designs (see last post), we'll close Green Lantern Week with the weirdest of the weird, Galius Zed. This was a difficult design to pull off, considering in the comics Galius was pretty much a Pac-Man looking dude with three legs. But the movie did a great job of redesigning him in an interesting and realistic manner, while maintaining most of what made the character fun in the first place.

Mini Toy Review: Green Lantern Movie Masters Naut Kei Loi

The coolest aspect of the Green Lantern movie is the menagerie of wacky aliens. The Green Lantern comic isn't afraid to get silly with its aliens and neither is the movie, with Naut Lei Loi as a perfect example. He's a fish. Not a humanoid alien with some fish-like gills and fins, but a straight fish alien. Strangely enough, that, along with the great sculpt and shiny paint apps, makes him one of the coolest Green Lanterns around.

Mini Toy Review: Green Lantern Tomar-Re (4")

A few days ago I reviewed Movie Masters Tomar-Re, the figure infamous for its fop-overability. It doesn't matter how great a figure looks if it's face-down on your shelf. I was nervous that this 4" Tomar would follow suit and topple over at the drop of a hat. Fortunately, this dude has little problem standing, although you do have to hunch him forward a little.

Mini Toy Review: Green Lantern Classics G'Hu

Day 4 of Green Lantern Week features an Independence Day alien! Or, maybe it's Species 8472. Or maybe it's G'Hu, Green Lantern of sector 2937. As you can tell, I'm not crazy for the character design, which looks like it came right out of a 90's sci-fi movie. As great as the sculpt and paint apps are, I just can't get past the impression that he seems like a reject from The Phantom Menace.

Mini Toy Review: Green Lantern Max Charge Kilowog

Day 3 of the Green Lantern Week features Max Charge Kilowog in all his Jello goodness! Not only does the clear green plastic look awesome, it also has a wonderful rubbery smell that makes you wish you had a box full of Max Charge Kilowogs to open up periodically, like aroma therapy for the toy collector. Sadly, the smell dissipates over time, so sniff away while you can.

Mini Toy Review: Green Lantern Movie Masters Tomar-Re

For day 2 of the Green Lantern Week at the Dork Dimension, we have Movie Masters Tomar-Re! You might be asking yourself, "Are reviews of Green Lantern figures even relevant anymore?" Yes, I dare say, because many of the figures are starting to show up on sale. This Tomar-Re, for example, was purchased at the low, low price of $5 at Walmart. Is he worth it?

Mini Toy Review: Green Lantern Battle Axe Hal Jordan

There's only one week to go until Green Lantern is released on home video and I still have 7 figures from the movie line that I need to review. So let's both celebrate the release and crank out these reviews with a Green Lantern Week on the Dork Dimension! I'll review a different action figure every day until the movie is released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 14th. I'm not nearly prolific enough to do a full review every day, so these reviews will be miniaturized for your consumption. For the first one, let's start out with Hal Jordan himself!

Toy Pix: Glyan Recon of the Mushroom Planet

A Relgost Marine Division Glyan surveys the toxic Mushroom Planet, infamous for its carnivorous fungi! Many predatory mushrooms of varying sizes wait patiently for a hapless Glyan to wander too closely before they strike!