Toy Tribute: Animated Batman Evolution

Whenever a new Batman animated series airs, the first thing I do is look for is a "Hero Batman", to wit, a Batman figure sporting a basic Batsuit from the new series. It's always cool to see how the Batman design has changed from the previous version, and animated Batman has certainly changed dramatically over the years as DC continually morphs the design to try to keep the character fresh and interesting to kids. Let's take a look at the evolutionary history of animated Batman action figures!

Toy Pix: Glyos Amorvors Venjorun

It's amazing how much buzz the Armorvor Venjorun generated after he was debuted at the NYCC this year. Designed by Matt Doughty of Glyos fame, sculpted by Jason Frailey, and produced by TGB Customs, he quickly became one of the most talked-about toys around. And for good reason, too... this little guy rocks lobster. Click through for more!

Toy Pix: Action Figure Nativity Scene, 2011

The official Hey Look At My Toys Nativity Contest is underway! Here's my entry. You can see Mary Troi and Joseph Riker with their son, Niku, in his atomic waste crib. Joining them are the shepherds Bill and Ted with their Battle Beast flock, and the Three Wise Vaders, who rode in on their T-Rex. Little drummer boy Metamorpho keps the beat while the guardian angel Batman watches over the scene.

Toy Pix: Han Solo with Tauntaun, Then and Now

Han Solo in Hoth gear riding his Tauntaun wasn't significant to me until Kenner released the incredible 12" Han Tauntaun set all the way back in the late 90's. It was one of the most sought-after exclusives of its day and understandably so. Not only did it look great, it was also HUGE. I no longer have my 12" Han Tauntaun... it was a victim of one of my periodic action figure spring cleanings. I know what you're wondering: if it's so great, why did I get rid of it? Let's be honest, as cool as it was, it was just too big to reasonably display or store. But the aura surrounding the Han Tauntaun legacy lives on as Hasbro releases a new Han Tauntaun in the 4" scale. Let's see how it compares to the vintage Han Tauntaun from Kenner.

Toy Review: OMFG! Pheyden Blue Edition

You remember MUSCLEs, right? Millions of Unusual Small Things Lurking Everywhere! I'm a huge fan of this too often forgotten line (as evinced by my MUSCLE blog) and apparently so are the people over at October Toys. Not only did they make an undead tribute to MUSCLEs with their ZOMBIE line, but they also created a new pack of monsters called OMFG: Outlandish Mini-Figure Guys! The standard OMFG color is a beautiful MUSCLEy pick, but October Toys smartly produced a number of exclusive colored figures in conjunction with other sites. The first to show up in my mailbox is the Onell Design exclusive Pheyden Blue! Let's take a look at this new generation of PVC mini-creatures!

Arcade Tokens: Time-Out

Time-Out was one of the most iconic arcade chains on the East Coast, famous for its layout connecting two arcades on two different sides of a mall via the Time-Out Tunnel (pics of which you can see over at the TimeOutTunnel.com). Above is a quarter-sized game token from this arcade giant but when this token was in circulation is anybody's guess. Judging from the scans of Time-Out invoices, it seems like it might have started circulating in the early to mid 90's. There was also a silver half-dollar sized token used for prizes, but I certainly didn't go there for the prizes when I was a kid... there were games to be played.