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ReviewsToysNew Model Kits Let You Build Your Own Damn Pokémon
What sounds more fun: picking up a pre-assembled Pikachu from the Pokémon aisle at Target, or building your own Pikachu out of a pile of colored plastic pieces? We’ll find out this spring when Bluefin brings Bandai Spirits Hobby’s PokePla model kits to North America. Building models rocks, especially when those models become fully-articulated action…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysCyberpunk 2077’s Keanu Action Figure Is Mildly Breathtaking
Today McFarlane Toys announced a three-year agreement to produce action figures based on CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077. The first wave includes two different sizes of Keanu Reeves’ character Johnny Silverhand, because who cares about any other Cyberpunk 2077 character at this point? Oh, and there’s a generic male figure as well. Retailing for $24.99…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysMcDonald’s Brings Back Classic Happy Meal Toys
The McDonald’s Happy Meal has produced some pretty iconic crappy, french fry-scented bits of colorful plastic over the years. Tomorrow through Sunday, November 11, Suprise Happy Meals will be packed with one of 17 classic toys from the past four decades, including Power Rangers, Tamagotchi, Furbies, and more. The good news is there are 17…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysLego Pays Homage To Its Heritage With A Wonderful Wooden Minifig
In 1932 Ole Kirk Christiansen, founder of The Lego Group, started making and selling wooden toys out of his shop in Billund, Denmark. The company continued making wooden toys until 1960, two years after the Lego brick as we know it today was born. Now The Lego Group celebrates old and new with a seven…
By Mike Fahey -
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ReviewsToysCute Japanese Action Figure Line Not So Cute Now, Is It?
Good Smile Company’s Nendoroid line of action figures is known for huge heads on tiny bodies and incredible cuteness. Or at least it was. It has changed all that. Nendoroid Pennywise is not an adorable scamp at all. The rictus grin, the cracked forehead, both somehow even bigger than the one actor Bill Skarsgård sports…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysBorderlands 3 Replica Pistol Is A Real Handful
The coolest thing about Borderlands 3, or any Borderlands game for that matter, is the guns. Colorful guns. Plastic-looking guns with corporate logos, flashing lights and explosive sounds. Due out in December, PDP’s $150 Prop Replica Maliwan Pistol captures the spirit of Borderlands weaponry without anyone exploding (probably). Stretching the definition of the word “pistol,”…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysMagic Meets My Little Pony In Ponies: The Galloping
Friendship is Magic. Magic is Gathering. Why not both? Going on sale today at noon Eastern from Hasbro, Ponies: The Gathering is a collection of special limited edition cards and Ultra Pro playmats celebrating the series finale of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Magic: The Gathering’s November 2 Extra Life charity event. Sold…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToys‘My Partner Pikachu’ Is A Cold Hard Plastic Pokénomaton, But I Still Love Him
My Partner Pikachu is not a soft stuffed animal. He is not warm nor is he snuggly. He is an electronic interactive toy. He is plastic, stuffed with circuits, batteries, LED lights, and speakers, all held together with cold metal screws. He makes Pikachu noises while his arms and ears wave and his cheeks glow.…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysStart Off Your Day With A Bowl Of Legend Of Zelda Lego Cereal
Lego artist Baron Von Brunk, builder of transforming Game Boys and massive working NES controllers, is pioneering a new method of stop-motion animation featuring a mix of custom-built Lego puppets and live-action shots. This new project begins, appropriately enough, with a complete The Legend of Zelda breakfast. Instead of using the iconic Lego minifigure, as…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysI Have Several Issues With This Year’s Halloween Pokémon Toys
Pikachu as Mimikyu. Charmander as Cubone. Lucario and Celebi as live-action role-players. This year’s batch of special Halloween-themed “Pumpkin Parade” plushies from The Pokémon Company are adorable at first glance. But if you look closely, the cute facade begins to crumble. Let’s start with Charmander wearing another Pokémon’s dead mother’s skull as a costume. Depending…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysLego’s Gingerbread House Holds Disturbing Secrets
Every year around this time, Lego unveils the latest expansion to its ever-growing Winter Village line of sets and I bemoan not having a massive basement to deck out in blocky holiday cheer. This year’s addition, the $100 Gingerbread House, looks like the perfect standalone piece for brick fans with limited room. Whereas sets like…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysThis Fallout Vault Boy Figure Is A Whole Mood
Good Smile Company’s newly announced Nendoroid Vault Boy action figure includes four different faces and several arm and leg pieces for Fallout’s famous mascot. Seems like a waste to me. They had me at angry middle finger. Just look at that face. The brow. The frown. The entire posture just screams sass. I am not…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysI Love Designing My Own Controllers
A couple of weeks ago, my go-to Xbox One controller got into an altercation with a 470-pound electric wheelchair and lost. After spending hours browsing online stores for the perfect pre-built replacement, I decided to return to Microsoft’s Xbox Design Lab and make my own. It’s blue, pink, and yellow and uniquely mine. I love…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysLego’s Motorized Disney Train Set Looks Like It Just Pulled Out Of The Park
Chugging onto store shelves on September 1, the Lego Disney Train and Station set is more than just a $330 piece of buildable Disney memorabilia. It’s a working train set made up of 2,925 Lego bits and controllable via a smartphone app. The Lego Disney Train and Station are part of Lego’s “Powered Up” line…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysLego’s Friends Central Perk Set Is An Impressive Collection Of Tiny White People
Not only is there an official Lego set based on classic sitcom Friends hitting stores on September 1, the set comes with the actual actors from the show. Oh wait, no. Those are generic Lego minifigures. Honest mistake. This set is the latest from the Lego Ideas program. Fan creators submit their builds to the…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysThe New Lego Ideas Treehouse Has Leaves Made Of Real Plants
Last year, the Lego Group started making flowers, trees, and shrubs out of plant-based polyethylene using sustainably sourced sugarcane. I can’t imagine a better use for all of those plant plastic parts than this beautiful, 14-inch-tall Lego Ideas Treehouse set. Lego Ideas is a program that allows fan designers to submit their own unique Lego…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysMarvel’s Grandmaster Figure Perfectly Captures Jeff Goldblum’s Goofy Charm
Forget Ian Malcom from Jurassic Park or Independence Day’s David Levison with his sweet-ass grappling hook and energy shield. Now there’s a superior Jeff Goldblum action figure in the form of Marvel’s gleefully grinning Grandmaster from Thor: Ragnarok. Shame on Marvel and Hasbro for making me wait so long for a physical representation of one…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysHasbro’s New Overwatch Figure Shows Off Reinhardt’s Pretty Face
Out of all the characters recreated in plastic for Hasbro’s first wave of Overwatch action figures, the hands-down, hammers-up best is the super-sized Reinhardt with his gorgeous mech suit and dinner plate-sized shield. The only way it could be better would be if we could see the old man’s pretty face. Oh hi there, San…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsToysHasbro Recreates Classic Marvel Comic Covers With Toys
Celebrating eight decades of Marvel Comics, Hasbro is releasing a series of new 80th Anniversary Marvel Legends toys featuring iconic heroes looking as if they stepped off the covers of classic books. Check out recreations of Captain America 700, Thor 137, and Iron Man 126. Between the three, Hasbro played it really safe with two…
By Mike Fahey