It’s that time of year again, it’s the top ten toys, but not just anyone’s, it is MY top ten toys. The list consists of what I got this year regardless of its release date. Number 1 was a tough decision, but I think I chose wisely.
So, let’s begin!
10. HE-MAN—the selection of He-Man seems to take number 10 every year for me, I guess there really wasn’t anything that stood out to the point of dragging one of the individual figures to the top five. However, this selection featuring Blade from the movie, Extendar and even the ‘Unnamed One’ (also known as ‘Gorko’) came from fellow writer Miss M; Skeletor from The New Adventures of He-Man was bought on my own. If you look at NA Skeletor, you’ll notice that his affiliation sticker is missing, it was the “Space Mutants” sticker…yeah, no thanks, I removed it; Skeletor hangs on his own and doesn’t need anything blocking his perfection. A perfectly sculpted figure; NA Skeletor has all the detail of the original except it is far better; he can double as Laser Light Skeletor from Europe if you want him to. The bio as always is stupid and retells the actual story of why he is like this. In the first New Adventures mini comic he found out that Prince Adam was He-Man and tries to stop his transformation and grabs onto the Power Sword causing him to become a half dead mess. Dragging his ass onto the Starship Eternia, Skeletor uses technology to repair his half dead body a-la Jason X. He also comes with a damaged Faker head…
Gorko was the exclusive and I was fascinated by him, so Miss M was going to sell and I bought it from her, I really like the figure so much that I have it in a protective clam shell. It is an evil Orko pretty much… Extendar was my first open review in ages and I am very satisfied with how cool the figure is. Finally, Blade was from the movie back in the 80’s, a great sculpt and I really wanted him.
A nice selection, however I got myself caught up in the subscription for next year and so far I am not impressed; but the line is coming to an end, so what the hell, I can always sell!
9. SHE-RA—A subscription was offered for the 30th anniversary of She-Ra: Princess of Power and I couldn’t turn down adding some females to the sausage fest of male and freaky characters, so I jumped on it. Featuring a great selection of figures including the ‘Evil’ NA She-Ra with a great sculpt and appearance, Entrapta—the best of the villains and Spinnerella, the last figure in the original series—adding to that are Castaspella that was not part of the subscription and Mermista who I had to have; she was part of the Eternia subscription; the first batch of She-Ra was a perfect choice!
The second batch has non-subscription Glimmer and Flutterina (top left and right) they were part of the Eternia subscription, however, Sweetbee (top, center) was a great addition followed by Double Trouble (her name is spelled wrong for some reason? I know, I’m kidding)! Light Hope (the exclusive with the Etheria subscription and Razz with Broom a She-Ra cartoon duo now in figure form—better suited for women like Miss M and not me, but it is a novel set, so no big deal.
Lastly, my She-Ra shelf in the living room; yeah, it is hard to make out, but it is to show the large amount of figures collected.
The She-Ra subscription was worth it to me; I am very satisfied and found the characters offered to be quite enjoyable.
8. GIRLS und PANZER—You may recall that I mentioned this at the end of MY top ten toys for 2013 as Girls und Panzer possibly taking the number one spot, well, the delays involved and the missing last two figures pretty much killed that, however, these Figma action figures are amazing and come with the best accessories!
Girls und Panzer is about a girls school on an aircraft carrier and the art of Tankery. A very well-written Anime with a few raciest undertones—although very well-balanced. Miho was born into a family of the best Tankery school in the world, however her horrible act of saving a fellow bunch of students from drowning instead of guarding her flag tank and causing them to lose gets her to leave the school to find a more peaceful place where she can be herself. In the end she is forced into Tankery with her new found friends and of course, in the end, they win.
Miho or Miporin as she is sometimes called comes with the Captain’s seat and other pieces of leadership.
Saori is the radio operator and has just as many large diorama-like pieces.
Yukari is the loader and she too has a great selection of accessories.
Missing are Hana whom was supposed to be at my door by now and Mako who FINALLY was offered this month for a release in early Spring—now I just need a tank…
7. JAPAN’S FINEST: Chie Satonaka and Shimakaze Figma and Tomoko Kuroki Nendoroid—In order to keep this list from becoming the top 12 toys, I added together all of my mish-mash into one place. Last year (2013) I featured Yukiko from Persona 4 with a lot of reasons why I couldn’t get into the Anime series, this time, I have to say that it became a horrible addiction and I would play the PlayStation2 and PS Vita games for hours on end! I watched both versions of the Anime over and over until it was embedded into my mind and finally decided that it was one of my all-time favorites up there with K-ON!
Chie has become my favorite character and she is pretty much a prime piece in my Figma collection. She comes with minimal accessories; however they are all Anime and video game accurate. She is a fighter, so she has a leg swipe attachment. She also comes with the weird glasses and her yellow glasses so she can see through the fog in the TV world. Also included is a face that has her with an evil look and yellow eyes so she can become the TV Shadow of herself—evil!!! Great Figma.
Shimakaze is a really different figure for me to get, she isn’t in anything of interest to me, I just liked her appearance. There is a card-style game where she is a battleship, which is why she comes with accessories to match. I like the little gun turret robots and in the white box is a preorder exclusive from Goodsmile that has the large robot with a damaged look.
A really cool Figma and one that I am happy to have, she looks great with the Girls und Panzer group, so maybe that is a possible display.
From the Anime Watamote is Tomoko…she is the ultimate Otaku loser who the viewer feels bad for, she wants to be popular but she is incapable of being social, so that will never happen. Tomoko lives in a world of fantasy; she likes her nude butlers game, dating sims and she wins a massager at a raffle—the best scene is when her dad comes in to tell her its time for cake and she is asleep in front of the TV with her porn going and the massager still running—she was only massaging her shoulder, but you know, her dad probably thought otherwise as he turned everything off and put her to bed.
Tomoko is a great character that most people will feel for and possibly relate to; the only good part that can’t be wrong is that no one bullies her at all; they just don’t talk to her because they don’t know what to say—well, neither does she.
Tomoko is my second Nendoroid and a great one at that; one I am happy to have picked up. As for the Anime, well, I’ve watched it many times over; it is just a great and funny—sometimes sad show to zone out in front of.
6. G.I. JOE: Lady Jaye and The Baroness—Can’t go a year without some G.I. Joe. Marking the 50th anniversary of the toy line—meaning what started in the 60’s with the action dolls and not the 3 and ¾ figures, this 2 pack features hero Lady Jaye and villain Baroness and way too many guns…way, WAY too many! If I opened this, I would have to share the accessories with half of my collection just so they didn’t get lost!
The packaging is really cool with the star in the bubble and the way the card wraps around, it is a fitting set for the 50th year of G.I. Joe and I love The Baroness, so it is perfect for me.
5. BATMAN: Firefly and Talia—Man, who can go wrong with this duo! Firefly is the most unsung Bat-villain of them all; a pyromaniac who burns anything just for the enjoyment of seeing it turn to ashes; this is a great rendition of the character, he has wings with little turbines in them and a flame thrower and of course his awesome armor. Garfield Lynns is going to burn Gotham down and enjoy himself as it falls to the ground—and if Batman thinks he is going to take the pyro down easily, he is foolishly mistaken!
Talia, the daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul is just beautiful! A well sculpted figure that comes simply with a sword. More for eye candy then anything else—when she is written well into a story, she is exceptional as a character. Both figures come in heat-sealed enclosures and are simply perfect, a great pair of figures for my Batman collection!
4. TEKKEN GIRLS: Lili, Jun and Asuka—Although 2 out of three are not toys, they are still too cool to pass up on this list. Lili and Asuka are both statues and are flawlessly sculpted; both beautiful and perfectly designed; you wish you can pose them and call them toys—however, they are close enough.
Jun is a fully articulated action figure and comes with a second pair of hands for many posing options. Her joints are extra tight with clicking action and she can be posed to your hearts content. The stand is also articulated in a few ways to enhance most poses and the sculpting is perfect, a beautiful figure.
3. CLASH—Do you know what Jem is? There is apparently a movie coming out…don’t know if it will be any good, but what the hey… Clash is an adult collectible doll, never for kids, she is created with the finest materials and resembles the character from the 80’s cartoon where she comes with cymbal bracelets that she can clank together to annoy people and be noticed. The other heads allow her to become the 80’s doll with the purple hair or even disguise herself as Jem. She has earrings in which YOU have to pierce her ears and a magazine. She comes with a stand and that is about it. I wish she was made more like the 80’s doll and had her distortion modulator and headset, but alas, that wasn’t their plan. I am working on those accessories by using sculpy and brass; right now, I’m still not finished, but one day; the pieces have to be near perfect.
An amazing doll; she is loose in the box right now; the photo is from the day I got her. The final plan is to get a doll case for her protection and display her where the cats can’t touch her. The price warrants the extra care.
2. NODOKA MANABE—This was a hard decision; the number one and two spots were a battle for months and Nodoka almost won, however I picked up (number 1) at the post office this morning and so, Nodoka—a K-ON! Figma and Wonderfest exclusive has become number two in MY top ten toys of 2014.
A perfect final edition to my K-ON! Figma collection, Nodoka has tiny glasses that are removable, and her outfit can be altered with accessories that make her the student council’s bitch in her first year of high school. Nodoka has to police the grounds of the school festival, but in the end it is all well worth it, for she becomes the student council president.
Nodoka comes with a blank face for her buddy, the Yui Figma and also a face with closed eyes. The other face belongs to her thankfully and she has her indoor slippers that can be swapped with her shoes and a tree of hands for many poses. The perfect Figma stand allows her to do anything and all in all, Nodoka is a great final piece for the K-ON! Figma collection—almost number one…
Now, what you have been waiting for, MY number one toy for 2014!!!
1. CHARIOT—From Black Rock Shooter the TV Animation Version is the most badass villainous character ever created! Artist Huke outdid himself this time! If you thought last years Nendoroid was cool, it was and is nothing compared to the Figma. Including a perfect sculpt that matches her appearance in the Anime perfectly, Chariot has wheeled feet, her crown and pretty dress. Also included are numerous hands, a sword, macaroons to drop on Black Rock Shooters face before her head is severed from her body and then the cream of the crop! A HUGE shield which is packaged in the rear of the box–the shield is actually her tank “Mary’s” wheel.
Too new to open, I don’t think I want to anyhow! Chariot is truly my number one Figma! The one I’ve waited about 7 months for and a delay! She almost became one of the toys for 2015!
Chariot can take many poses; she has two extra faces to give a better visual background on the character and all in all, she is just perfect! It is rare for me to get in on the ground floor of most things, but with Hatsune Miku and the attachment of Black Rock Shooter, I was there and I find what I want with ease. Chariot is the true best of all of the Figmas and although I love BRS Beast, White Rock Shooter and Mato Kuroi, I can’t deny Chariot as being the best of the best.
So, that does it for MY top 10 toys of 2014; I spent most of it collecting other things and writing another fan fiction, now it is nice to finally talk about toys again—but, are they really toys? I hope YOU, the reader enjoyed my personal list; if any of the pieces interests you, feel free to leave a question or comment below.
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