Marvel Superhero Squad - HEPZIBAH!

Marvel Superhero Squad - X-Force 4-Pack (Unreleased) - Hepzibah - Hasbro 2009

The recent releases of Corsair, Ch'od, and Ch'reee in the Marvel Legends line have me very excited for future Starjammers figures. There is something about late 70's and early 80's creations of Dave Cockrum that thrill me. He is most well known for his work on the X-Men, having created Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus. (I'm personally also a big fan of his creator-owned property, The Futurians). But one of his big creations that doesn't often get a chance to shine is The Starjammers, a colorful group of space pirates introduced in X-Men #104 in 1977. And although I love this whole team, the character Hepzibah was always my favorite. Her abilities were a little generic: Superhuman strength, agility, blah blah blah. But her skunk appearance was so unique and cool to me that I was an instant fan. She is from the Mephitisoid race (skunks are from the family Mephitidae). Unfortunately in more modern comics, she has lost the skunk-stripes and instead looks like a white cat, but either way she is awesome.

The Women of INDIANA JONES!

Marion Ravenwood, Willie Scott, Elsa Schneider, and Irina Spalko - Hasbro 2008

The fourth movie in the Indiana Jones series, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was pretty much a dud.  I personally loved it, but the box office numbers and diehard fans didn't share my appreciation.  One positive thing that definitely arose from that film, though, was a major resurgence of Indiana Jones merchandise in the toy aisles.  In one short year we received figures based on each film in the series (and in multiple formats, too!)  Just like the famed "Bond Girls," the women in the Indiana Jones films are really integral parts of the plot.  Whether they play a vile villain, a tough ally, a devious double-crosser, or a typical damsel in distress, each character is very memorable and really set the tone for each movie.  It was hard for me to get on board with collecting these figures when they were first announced because I knew Hasbro would never produce all four ladies, right?  Wrong.  Each of the ladies received a 3.75" action figure as well as a 2" figure in their Adventure Heroes line (not to mention all the Lego minifigures produced).  Let's take a look at all these amazing figures below!

Character Spotlight on LADY SIF!

The Plastic History of Thor's Main Squeeze - Hasbro, DST, Eaglemoss, NECA

Lady Sif was first introduced in a 1964 issue of Journey Into Mystery as a love interest of Thor.  To my eyes, she never quite fit the image of the golden-haired Norse Goddess she is named after, but I actually just learned that early on, Loki had cut off her blonde hair and replaced it with black enchanted hair made by the dwarves.  I'm glad for this because a third blonde Asgardian (Valkyrie & Enchantress being the first two) would be a tad too much.  The 2011 Marvel film, Thor, featured Jaimie Alexander as Sif and really gave her a huge popularity boost.  Although the role in the film failed to highlight her feisty personality, she still came across as tough and formidable.  Since that movie, there's been an explosion of merchandise dedicated to this character. Before the first movie figure in 2010, there was nothing.  But now I have a small collection of Sif toys, with many in her classic look (which I love).   Hopefully we'll see more Sif love when Thor: The Dark World comes out.  I have hope.  Let's check out her figures so far!

Mattel's ELEMENT WOMAN & WONDER WOMAN!

Two New Flashpoint-Themed Action League 2-Packs

I wasn't expecting to find these in the stores yet, but this morning my Toys'R'us was stocked with a bunch of this newest wave. Originally based on designs from the Batman: Brave and the Bold television show, the Action League series has broken out of those confines and is now producing characters from all over the DCU.  I love that Mattel and DC are producing toys to counterbalance all the millions of Superhero Squad figures we've seen from Marvel over the years.  Of course, they have a LOT of catching up to do.  This Element Woman and Flashpoint Wonder Woman are only the second and third female figures in the line so far while the Marvel collection has over 30.

New SUPER HERO SQUAD Figures Revealed!

Hasbro's Avengers and Amazing Spider-Man Superhero Squad 3-Packs

They're back from the dead!  I had been mourning the loss of Marvel's Superhero Squad since those last multipacks came out a year ago.  We hadn't seen anything new in so long and the last official word is that they would be "continued as retailer exclusives."  Which to me usually signals the swan song of the line.  But today we saw photos from NY Toy Fair 2012 showing Three new 3-packs for the upcoming Marvel movies, including two amazing new females.  While I'm not normally into cutesy super-deformed figures, something about Hasbro's entire line of "heroes" figures caught my attention early on (including the G.I.Joe, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars lines) and I am super excited to add these two to my collection.