Retro Toy Review: 12" Lt. Commander Data (Star Trek Insurrection)

If you remember the good ol' days of Star Trek collecting in the 90's, you likely remember the craploads of 9" action figures (dolls?) clogging the shelves. Considering how much Playmates invested in that scale, the 12" scale was curiously avoided for quite a while. Maybe the 9" scale filled the doll segment of the Trek market well enough, or maybe it was thought that 12" figures would be cost-prohibitive. Whatever the reason, the 12" segment was eventually addressed in the waning years of the Playmates line, and Data from Insurrection was one of the lucky few to be realized in this scale. Let's check him out!

Toy Pix & Artwork: Armorvor FlyBee

Next up in TGB Customs' Armorvor line is this FlyBee head! The idea is that the head sculpt has two sides: one a fly and the other a bee. For this illustration, I created mirror-image trading cards, each featuring one side of the head. To make things a little more interesting and divergent from the other cards, FlyBee's back is toward us, revealing all those cool back details in the Armorvor body sculpt. The head sculpt looks awesome, and I'm trying to figure out which face I like better. I'm leaning more towards the Bee face. At least, it seems like the Bee face is the "Dr. Jekyll", while the Fly is the "Mr. Hyde". Click through for more pics of the figure's head sculpt, and click the illustration above to view it on deviantArt.

Toy Review: Green Lantern Leaders of the Corps 4-Pack

Okay, this is it, right? After reviewing 14 figures from the 4" Green Lantern movie line, I'd kind of like to move on with my life now. But I can't tap out without reviewing the last movie-accurate Green Lantern Corps figure, Salaak. Well, maybe saying he's "movie accurate" is pushing it a bit since I don't think we saw him in the movie at all (even though it seems like they modelled a CG version of the character anyway). Salaak, despite only being available in a Target-exclusive "Leaders of the Corps" 4-pack, was a must-buy to complete my Green Lantern collection. Let's take a look at the set.

Toy Pix & Artwork: Armorvor Cobra

Marty does it yet again with another great Glyos-compatible head sculpt for the growing Armorvor line: the Cobra! And as always he commissioned me to do some artwork for a trading card for the figure's release. This illustration was a lot of fun to do because Marty really seems to have nailed the cool and menacing look of a cobra head, neck flaps and all. Click through for more pics of the head sculpt, and click the artwork above to view the illustration on my deviantArt page.

Toy Pix: Chuck E. Cheese Mini-Figure

After my recent article about Chuck E. Cheese and its tokens, I got a little nostalgic. Tokens are awesome and all, but I wanted to express my nostalgia by picking up something more in-line with my toy interests. There were a number of plush toys produced as prizes for the restaurants, but I avoid collecting old plush toys at all costs. There's something about an old plush toy that's gross, like its stuffing has absorbed all the grime and snot and drool from its previous owner. No stuffed animals for me. But there was a line of PVC figures and hey, you can't go wrong with mini-figures. Let's start with the main mouse himself, Chuck E. Cheese!