Action Figures
Today, I jumped back into the wonderful world of collecting action figures. Do I need to? No. Can I afford to? Well, not really. But, sometimes, you just have to indulge yourself.
One of my favorite things as a kid were my 3.75-inch action figures. I loved playing with GI Joe and Star Wars figures and their various vehicles and playsets. I also collected the Dapol Doctor Who figures in the same size. I often used to wish that they would make superhero figures in that size because, although Secret Wars and Super Powers were awesome, they just didn’t match my preferred play style. The sick thing is that now that they’ve started making superhero figures in my favorite size, the Doctor Who figures are now bigger, the size the superhero figures used to be. Well, it figures. Heh.
Anyway, there are two ranges I want to collect (three, if you count Star Wars, which I kinda do, because I need to get the newer characters). The two ranges are Marvel Universe and (I think it’s called) DC Infinite Heroes.
For DC Infinite Heroes, I have a few already. Superman, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, Jay Garrick Flash, Wildcat, and three villains whose names elude me. Honestly, I was never into DC as much as Marvel, so that’s hardly surprising. I’d like to get the rest of them, but I have to admit that they are far inferior to the Marvel Universe Figures which have far better sculpts and articulation.
Up until today, I only had Alpha Flight’s Guardian and Gambit (Gambit is actually from a sister range dedicated to the X-Men Origins Wolverine film). Today, I added five more figures to my collection. They are:
- X-23
- Mister Fantastic
- Invisible Woman
- Thing
- H.E.R.B.I.E.
Those last four were part of a Fantastic Four gift pack. The Human Torch was not included, which means I’ll have to track him down separately to complete the team.
Which brings me to an interesting dilemma – which version of the Human Torch do I want? One of the early Marvel Universe figures is a really badly realized “see-through” flames figure that doesn’t look like any version of the Human Torch I’ve ever read. Then there’s the “Johnny Storm” version which, quite frankly, infuriates me. I know he’s called the Human Torch, but if they’re going to make a non-flame version, why must they always set his frigging hair on fire?!? I want a nice figure of Johnny in uniform, his pretty blond locks completely untouched by fire. Just as well, really, since the figures in my gift pack use the more recent outfits from the Hickman/Eaglesham/Epting run of Fantastic Four, whereas the “Johnny Storm” version uses (I believe) a John Byrne-era look. While I’d be lying if I said I didn’t prefer that costume, the current look is also awesome and I’d like them all to match.
The answer lies in two-packs, specifically the (I love the irony) SECRET WARS two-packs of Marvel Universe figures, which is basically an expanded range of figures from that line/comic. There is a two-pack that has a decent paint and sculpture of the Human Torch with his FLAME ON! He’s packaged with Wolverine in the orange and brown outfit which, I must say, has always been my favorite. Now, I also want the Ultimate gift pack which contains what I refer to as Proper Thor (Classic Look), Proper Captain America (Classic Look), and Proper Iron Man (the Iron Man from Iron Man #199, the first issue of that book I ever bought). Oh, and Spiderman. No, I’m not hyphenating the name. Deal with it.
Other figures on my “Get Sooner Rather Than Later” list include the following:
- Kitty Pryde w/Lockheed (Darn Shame it’s not the Alan Davis Excalibur look, but at least there’s Lockheed)
- Captain Britain
- Nightcrawler
- Thanos
- Hobgoblin
- Jean Grey (Jim Lee version)
- Vision (Regular non-phasing version)
- Scarlet Witch
- Iron Patriot
- Archangel
- Thanos
- Doctor Doom
- Absorbing Man
But top of my list, and something I intend to order in the next few days is a CLASSIC POWER MAN AND IRON FIST two-pack. That’s right, baby, Luke Cage in the yellow silk, Danny Rand in the high collar. AS IT SHOULD BE.
I just hope I can pose Iron Fist in the same position as that classic ad for the book that begins “Listen, Power Man’s not here right now…” If I can’t do that, I will probably cry. A lot. Fair warning.
