Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Make These Action Figures

As comic geeks, we are blessed to live in an age where Marvel, DC and beyond have catered to just about every whim we could have in the way of action figures, converting just about every conceivable hero, villain and big ass monster into immortal, articulated plastic form. And yet despite owning roughly four dozen Flash figures and an army of Marvel Legends, still I hunger.

Here are a few comic book icons (and Spymaster) who I still long to see translated into action figure form (or for somebody to let me know they already have been)...

The Eternals
Not too long ago, DC Direct put out a line of New Gods figures that replicated the one-of-a-kind style of Jack Kirby like noto too many licensed products I've ever seen. Kirby's exotic designs on his Fourth World characters is pretty untouchable, but his follow-up efforts on the Eternals were plenty rad as well--colorful and bold with energy to boot. I'd like to see a couple series of Kirby-inspired Eternals figures that could incorporate some of the updates by John Romita Jr. and Daniel Acuna, but the primary flavor should still be the King's; make Ikaris, Makkari, Sersi and Kro the first wave then follow up with Ajak, Thena, Druig and Karkas.

Walter West
Remember those 50-some Flash figures I mentioned up top? Well one incarnation of the Fastest Man Alive I don't own is the dark-hued other-dimensional doppleganger who replaced Wally West for a bit towards the end of Mark Waid's run, and that's because it doesn't exist, which is a shame because it's a cool ass look. This one is long overdue.

Shang Chi
My fascination with Marvel's Master of Kung Fu is a bit bizarre in that I've really never read a Shang Chi comic period, let alone a good Shang Chi comic, but I was heavy into Bruce Lee when I was younger, and martial arts characters generally rock. Gimme a Shang Chi figure so I can create a nice shelf display with the next duo I'd like to request...

Richard Dragon/Bronze Tiger
Simply put, Richard Dragon is one of the dopest, most underutilized characters in the DC stable; you gotta love a guy who gets by on discipline and toughness but who the biggest guns in the DCU back off of because his rep is that bad. Bronze Tiger is more of the same and he also happens to have a fantastic, unique look that's perfect for action figure form. Combine these two and you've got an awesome two-pack.

Spymaster
I honestly don't know much about Spymaster's background or character, but I know his costume rocks and I want an action figure of him--'Nuff Said.

Guy Gardner: Warrior
A decade too late? I think not! Mitch Byrd's redesign of Guy Gardner may scream 90's, but it was also begging for an action figure I'm fairly certain it never received. With the bold colors and ready-made weapon accessories that could be rotated through, this is a toy you could display and also have fun with.

Ultraverse
Remember these guys? With characters boasting visuals imagined by George Perez, Terry Dodson, Norm Breyfogle and several other visionaries, there's a deep pool of potential to be mined here. A Mantra figure would be hot and Prototype could carry his own line of variants ala Iron Man, but there could also be some neat gimmicks to try out, like a Prime figure where you build the hero body around Kevin Green or a Sludge made out of...man, I don't even know.

Agents of Atlas
You've got a gorilla, a killer robot, a spaceman, a mermaid, a secret agent and a love goddess in a slinky outfit--how is there not a box set of these guys yet?

5 comments:

Justin said...

Now you're speakin' my language, Morsey!

You'll be pleased to know that Spymaster is the subject of a MiniMate, out now!:
http://minimatedatabase.com/figure.php?i=659

He will forever go down in history as "The first MiniMate character Justin didn't recognize when he saw him on display at NY Toy Fair!

Ultraforce were also the subject of a not very great toy line from Galoob back in the 90s, based on the cartoon that was on the air for 12 seconds:
http://www.megocollector.com/action-figures/galoob-ultraforce-asst-75596/

Shang Chi got a shitty toy that's not worth mentioning (http://www.toyrocket.com/Marvel-Comics-Modern-Age-Shang-Chi-action-figure-P33303C482.aspx), but Hasbro has namedropped him as a strong candidate for future toy-ification.

Agents of Atlas would make a fantastic toy line. And I've been bugging Hasbro for a year to make a box set of the Seven Immortal Weapons. How awesome would that be?

Ben Morse said...

Wow, didn't even think of the Immortal Weapons!

Crap, Hasbro could do a whole Legends of Martial Arts line for me of Shang Chi, the Immortal Weapons, the various Iron Fists, the White Tiger, the Sons of the Tiger...and somehow Richard Dragon and Bronze Tiger.

I'll even spot them a ninja Wolverine variant.

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