As we close in on the end of the year, I’ve been trying to figure who will make it to my short list of best action figures for 2012. I think I’ll have a tougher time this year than I had choosing my Best of 2011 figures, topped by the Marvel Universe Sentinel.
With one of my favorite lines, DC Universe Classics, scaling back, my collection became a little more varied this year. Masters of the Universe Classics remained a mainstay, but I also branched out into Square Enix’s Play Arts Kai lines, especially Street Fighter. And with more 3A Toys releases coming in the 1/12 scale, the Adventure Kartel Zombs became an expensive army building exercise. It also helped that this year saw the relaunch of Marvel Legends – oh how I’ve missed you, ML! There’s more – I had to pick up the fearsome foursome from the Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line from Playmates. And Diamond Select Toys’ Marvel Minimates continued to put out tiny offerings that were too cute to pass up.
I’m sure as I look through the stuff I’ve picked up throughout the year, I’ll find even more figures that could top the list. But if you’ve got some obvious winners that I’ve missed, be sure to let me know. I’ve got some Free Stuff that could head your way, as I make room for the New Year!
Well you got one of mine right there in that pic – Arnim Zola.
Easily the highlight of the ML relaunch so far. Great unique figure.
Also, y’know, there were 2 different 3rd party Transformer Devastator toys this year, the MakeToys GIANT and the TFC HERCULES.
I got the GIANT, because I like its look better when you combine all 6 robots together. The fact they even exist is pretty substantial, but the way GIANT turned out makes it a Top Pick for 2012.
The 3rd party iGear PP-05 Weapon Specialist (not-Ironhide) was also pretty impressive, if for nothing else the insane add-ons, weapons and accesories.
Also grabbed the S. H. Figuarts Super Saiyan Goku this year, and like much of the S. H. Figuarts line, it is a very very nice toy, with awesome design, articulation, paint and construction, plus a pretty darn impressive effects stand.
Look forward to seeing your Top 10!
– The Nick TMNTs should definitely be at the top of any list–I quickly picked them up too. (Maybe the classic TMNT figures deserve a look?)
– ROML Thor is a mighty fine figure (although I suppose the SDCC variant was released in 2011).
– Hasbro’s 6″ Avengers Hulk figure could be a candidate as well, although I can’t speak to that out of personal experience.
– From what I see online, the figma Link and Samus figures are also quite good.
Personally this has to be it:
http://www.actionfigureplanet.blogspot.com/2012/11/dc-collectibles-we-can-be-heroes.html
Why? Because…
1. It’s for Charity, and with their We Can Be Heroes theme, isn’t it apt that buying this Superhero set makes us Heroes as well?
2. If you love the New 52 JLA Reboot, then this set is for you. It already has the New 52’s big seven in one big box
3. Superman (for me) never really looked good in his New 52 costume until this Action Figure came. It made the classic costume (my DCDs and DCUCs) outdated.
Yeah, I just got the SH Figuarts Cell a couple weeks ago and he’s great, he and Trunks from earlier this year are definitely up there. I haven’t bought any yet, but those SH Monsterarts figures are goddamned amazing, I am having a hard time not giving in and going broke buying them.
But taking price into account, my favorites are probably the TMNT in both Classic and modern forms. The Classics are just dream figures for me, and if they can pull off a Classic Shredder, Bebop, and Rocksteady this well, I can already name my favorites of 2013. I really loved Kobra Khan and Fisto from MOTU, and Elasti-Girl from DCU. And the Warg and Rider set from the 4″ Hobbit line is up there, that whole line is the nicest surprise of the year for me.
marvel legends and marvel universe are the shit… i love both lines and MU are improving their sculpts.
Metreon?
Glyos System Armorvor. A figure that is as beautiful by itself as it is within the entire line.
I’d suggest the 3rd party transformer company “Fansproject”, with their “Steelcore” figure be included in any “Best figures of 2012′ list.
I finally opened mine recently, and it’s everything an action figure should be – high quality plastic, super posable, a variety of weapon options – and being a ‘transformer’ – a fun alt. mode, complete with a smaller (also super-posable!) transformer that can ride inside. It’s everything that was awesome from my childhood put into a robot that looks like the lovechild of Grimlock and Optimus Prime.
The pack-in comic is also surprisingly fun: it outlines a futuristic, psudo-Cybertronian storyline where following the final battles of Decepticons and Autobots, the smaller surviving bots used resurrected robot corpses like powerloaders to help rebuild the planet. Some of these resurrected Decepticon’s overpower their smaller bots, and go nuts, creating a new enemy. I mention this, because including a motivating story with your toys is something alot of companies forget to do today. They assume a cartoon, or our collective nostalgia is enough to power imaginative play/collecting. I believe providing something like the ’80s He-Man pack-in comics was an awesome move by Fansproject.
There’s a ton of great photography of the figure out there, but here’s an excellent set of review photos by Process at TFW2005:
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-3rd-party-reviews/631041-fansproject-warbot-steel-core-large-photo-warning.html
I like to customize most of my figures somehow, but there’s nothing that needs changing about this guy. While it had two limited releases this year, I’m sure it’ll have a wider release in the future. It’s too nice a figure not to. 🙂
I’d say taking into account overall price in ratio to value and quality the new TMNT line was my favorite thing to get. Having the weapons molded onto the plastic sprue was a such a nice detail. They came packed with so many accesories that way. The construction of the figures was solid with useful enough articulation (some of the most articulated Turtles in that scale). The overall designs are very interpretive but also evocative of everything that came before them. Nothing feels off or wasted and all for under $10 a figure. The rest of the figures leaves much to be desired, though the Turtles themselves were done extremely well. They were even available EVERYWHERE! It sure took some of the headache out of collecting and made it just a little bit fun again.