Happy New Year to all! If you have been around The Fwoosh for awhile, you know that we always like to ring in each and every new year with a fond farewell to the one that has passed. We have a variety of features that we will be brining you over the next several days, but we always like to kick things off with our Best of the Year article. Most of the Fwoosh Staff has contributed their thoughts on what they consider to be the standout toys of 2012. Do you agree? Disagree? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
Hercules
by canonball
He may go by a different name, but this is the Devastator I’ve been waiting for since 1984, by gum! TFC Toys really knocked the ball way out of the park with this one, and I’m declaring Hercules/not-Devastator to be my pick for best toy of 2012 even though his waist and right arm were released in 2011 (shhhh…). In a year filled with awesome toys, this guy easily blew me away more than anything else. Each not-Constructicon is roughly voyager-sized, and they combine to create a figure that is a whopping 14” in height (give or take) — perfect for a Classics display, or even a Masterpiece display if you feel like fudging it. And if you add TFC’s “Rage of Hercules” upgrade set, which I have, then you get an even more awesome Hercules/Devastator just oozing with G1 accuracy. It’s difficult to imagine a better rendition of this character ever being released, so I expect this behemoth to be hulking over my Transformers display for years to come. Way to go, TFC!
Mattel’s Voltron
by Ibentmyman-thing
Some excellent toys came out this year, so choosing a “best” is not easy. My choice technically may not even be the best toy that came out this year, but to me it is, at the very least, one of the more impressive offerings, so it wins on that merit alone. I never had any Voltron toys when I was a kid, although I remember watching the cartoon a handful of times and seeing ads in plenty of comics for the toys at the time. I had too many other interests and this was just one more toyline I couldn’t squeeze in, even though I always had a small pang of “I wonder if this is cool.” So decades later, when Matty offered up a subscription to build a gigantic 2 foot tall Voltron over the course of 2012, I couldn’t pass it up. Once all five lions were released and Voltron itself was all put together, it easily became the largest single figure I own. While not a perfect toy, its few faults don’t diminish what an impressive, towering figure it is, and that’s why I chose it for my best of the year.
Mattel’s Fisto
by tommyboy1972
With so many great figures that came out this year, I ended up narrowing my favorite fig down to MOTU Classics Fisto. I first obtained the original Fisto in 1984 (he was my favorite figure back then – best mini comic too “The Clash of Arms”) and eventually obtained “Battle Fist” from the 200X line. However MattyCollector outdid themselves this year by releasing such an awesome specimen in Fisto. The larger arm was such a subtle but amazing addition to this figure. Not only did he come with his classic 1980’s look but Matty outdid themselves by including the accessories for his 200X look as well. Last but not least both head sculpts are probably 2 of the most amazing head sculpts I’ve seen on a figure in this size. Thank you so much Matty for finally giving us this true Master of Arms… or would that be Master of Fists?
Mattel’s (and the Four Horsemen!) Draego-Man
by SamuRon
Sure – I get wanting to make good on a decades-old fan contest, but using Fearless Photog as justification for five more fan-inspired figures? Two-Bad’s two heads agree, “No, way!”
I hope by now Toy Guru has enough of his own pet projects done so he can stop killin teh lien. He already has his face on an Eternian Palace Guard, and with tag-team partner Geoff Johns, he got his namesake in the Red Lantern Night-Lik. Now in the Masters of the Universe Classics 30 Anniversary series, the two have combined to give us the create-a-character contest rejects, the Mighty Spector and Sir Laser-Lot. Where’s the “slap my head” emoticon when you need one?
But then there was Draego-Man. I wanted to hate him, like I hate the self-indulgent wastes of plastic that he accompanied.* But I couldn’t.
First of all, he’s a bad-ass mother-bleeping dragon. The parts he reuses work well on him, and the newly-sculpted pieces are a testament to Eric Treadaway’s love for the line. He comes with great accessories, and there’s even better ones for him in the latest weapons pack. His color scheme is awesome, and when I think of putting him next to Granymyr, I get giddy. The best part is that even though he’s a fan’s creation, everything about him fits in perfectly with Masters. He belongs.
*If MOTUC 30 was your thing, more power to you. I’m pretty sure I’m just jealous because they didn’t pick my Big-Hands-Man concept for the line.
NECA’s Jungle Hunger Predator
by Robokillah
The NECA Predator two pack, or any Predator figure really, wasn’t anything I thought I really needed. I’m mostly a superhero and video game kinda guy. But when my brother texted me asking what I wanted for Christmas I thought to hell with it, get me the 2 pack. Easy to find, easy to pick out, and something I didn’t have.
I couldn’t put it down once he gave it to me. I mean, I wasn’t going to open it at my parent’s house for fear of losing something, but even in the package the figures are impressive. Sculpt, paint, accessories, it’s some things that’s been missing from my usual toy buys. And once I opened them? Fell in love with the jungle hunter Predator. Could he use a little more articulation, mainly the torso and elbows? Yeah, probably, but it’s still a mighty fine toy.
Play Arts Kai’s Solid Snake
by craarl
t’s about time. That’s the sentiment that sums up my thoughts on Play Arts Kai Solid Snake here. It took a while to finally get what was in my opinion a definitive version of the character that re-started it all. Sure there were figures that came before but I don’t think anything really measures up. When it comes to articulation and sculpting or overall design, snake has it above any of the earlier versions. He even walks that oh-so fine line between toy and hi-end collectible figure that I’ve come to appreciate so much. And now that you don’t get as much bang for your buck buying most figures at retail his 60-70 dollar price tag really isn’t that bad. He’s big and dynamic enough to be a nice eye catching display piece but he’s also loads of fun to pose and mess with.
If there is one area I think he’s lacking in I’d say (like most PAK) he missing out on some accessories. Weather its more interchangeable parts via heads or hands, or just plain weapons he could have been packing more of a punch, especially when you consider all the gear utilized in the game. Nuts to all that though, he is still the coolest figure I got all year. It was a pretty good year for toys, somewhat transitional for my tastes. I find myself buying a lot less of whats left in the mass market (except anything made by NECA, woooo NECA..) so naturally that attention had to go somewhere and i think i’m liking it squarely in this imported, expensive semi hi-end-but-not-crazy-go-nuts-hi-end premium action figure market, so bring on more next year please.
Mattel’s Metron
by VeeBee
There certainly were a lot of releases that happened this year that could have easily been my number one pick for 2012. You are seeing some of them in this article with the likes of Draego-Man, Fisto, and Arnim Zola; but I could have easily have mentioned some of the Outer Space Men, any of NECA’s Gremlins offerings, Spikor, Castle Grayskullman, or a variety of classic WWE figures too. See how I am trying to squeeze my honorable mentions in here? When it came down to it, though, my love of all things Jack Kirby and the Fourth World ultimately swayed my heart and I just had to go with the inaugural Club Infinite Earths exclusive figure, Metron. I think a lot of DC fans had been waiting a long time to get him in Classics but we waited it out and ultimately got him in a release that is worthy of his observatory magnificence.
Speculation had been rampant for years about how Mattel would find a way to get his required Mobius Chair included in the release and it took a fan’s only Club to get it done. As much as I am sad that classic DC characters are no longer on the pegs at my nearest retail stores, I sure am glad for the Club and I hope it lasts a long time as there are lots of gaps to close in the DC roster. Metron is not an overly complicated figure, he is just executed perfectly and the love he was given by the Horsemen means that even for a guy that pretty much just sits there, he can look perfectly awesome doing it. Metron! Heck yes! Now… time for the FOREVER PEOPLE! Like I wasn’t going to get a dig in for them…
Hasbro’s Masterpiece Optimus Prime
by DisThunder
There’s always something enticing about getting back to basics, and this year for me, that’s been getting back to Transformers. I’ve never strayed too far, but with the arrival of Hasbro’s Masterpiece Optimus Prime this fall, I don’t plan to stray again.
Now, technically, this is a 2011 re-release, but there is just so much done right this time, I think it warrants a spot on the 2012 list. First, Hasbro did the right thing, and didn’t neuter the domestic release a bit. The trailer, Roller, Spike, the energy axe- all came along stateside. Then, they added a little of their own flavor to him with an amped-up, animated-esque paint deco.
(Remember that Transformers/Avengers crossover? Yeah me neither.)
Sure, there’s a few little hiccups here and there, like the gap between mine’s windshields, Toys R Us jacking the price last minute, and my maybe not being 100% on his scale (I’d love him even more if he were just a tad shorter), but the fact that you can get an Optimus Prime this quality, stateside, from a freakin’ retail chain even, more than makes up for the little stuff.
-I also feel like making an honorable mention of sorts to the Reprolabels on mine, as well as the Dr. Wu’s aftermarket Spike figure. In many ways they represent one of the coolest parts about Transformers these days, and that’s the never ending supply of aftermarket parts, accessories and figures that now exist to supplement the official product. Now, if only this type of cottage industry would spread to other action figures styles and lines….
Hasbro’s Captain America (Bucky Cap)
by Prodigy
There were alot of really great figures this year but only one really changed the mold. I mean literally changed the way figure will look for one of my favorite toylines. Now while the actual figure is in itself one of my favorite toys of the year simply because I had really wanted a six inch version of the character, it’s the newly designed base figure it sits on that really stirs my drink.
Marvel Legends Wave 2 Bucky Captain America is my favorite figure of the year:
The figure itself is great. Crisp shiny paints, the cool Bucky Cap costume, super articulation that’s clean and moves well, and the dead on sculpt. But it’s the figure itself with the new articulation set up that really gets me. It has the new hips that function as a ball hip but keeps the clean look when posed in a regular stance. It has perfect rocker ankles that give it some impressive side to side ankle movement. Plus it finally replaces some of the really tired figures that had been used for characters Bucky’s size and weight. I literally could see over a hundred characters on this body and I would be happy with it. So kudos to you creator of my new favorite mid sized base body.
Bandai’s D-Arts Classic Megaman
by Industrial
Is it cheating when you literally receive your choice for Toy of the Year on the afternoon of 12/31?
Well if it is then color me unfaithful (mauve?) because I just opened Bandai’s D-Arts classic Rockman (Megaman to most of us common folk) and goddamn if I haven’t been waiting for this toy since the late 90’s.
If Megaman here hadn’t arrived today I likely would have gone with Max Factory’s Link from their Figma line, he too was a toy I had seemingly been waiting years for, see my gushing review here –https://thefwoosh.com/2012/12/best-toy-ever-figma-link
There’s something about ‘collecting’ and the act of actually receiving/opening and that initial fiddling that go along with a a really good brand new toy that is just so darn satisfying.
I will say that this seemed to be an exceptionally good year for toys, with the return of Hasbro’s Marvel Legends, Mattel’s continued collector focused lines, Hot Toys continuing to set the standards for high quality 1/6 scale figures, ThreeA toys regular command of my paycheck (those 1/12 zombs were soooo close to taking this spot), and I’d be remiss without mentioning NECA seemingly poised to just finally take over the toy world as they continue to improve leaps and bounds (1/4 scale Gollum is like my modern equivalent of the old Hasbro My Buddy doll, he’s going everywhere with me).
But this is the year that the far east has really stepped into the forefront of my collecting, Bandai, Max Factory and Square Enix are simply putting out some really high quality stuff that I just cannot live without. And that brings us right back to Megaman.
I’ve bought so many plastic iterations of this character over the years but this is the one that I’ve always wanted. He’s definitely based on his look from the arcade classic Marvel vs. Capcom (you’ll see no complaining from me in that regard). He’s perfectly in scale with Marvel Legends and fits really well with the Figma Link and Samus Aran figures. His articulation is everything you could want, allowing you to play, pose, swap parts with no issues. And because of his accurate diminutive stature you’re technically getting a 3-pack of toys with this purchase as he comes with an articulated “accessory” of his robotic dog Rush and a Met with a removable hard hat!
With the perfect articulation breakdown, the awesome pack-in’s, and the numerous swappable parts, Bandai’s D-Arts Rockman (classic Megaman) is my choice for 2012 Toy of the Year.
Marvel Select’s Colossus
by Franky4Fingers
Colossus has turned out to be a really big step forward in terms of articulation and just overall coolness for diamond select. a tad too tall for a marvel legends display, but great with the rest of the marvel select x-men figures to date. the articulation is both good and useful, making it possible to pull off a wide array of poses that run from iconic to just plain fun. i can honestly say colossus is my favorite of the year.
Mattel’s Granamyr
by Matthew K
I got a lot of great figures this year from NECA (Predators, Prometheus, and Rocky), 3A (Zombs) and Mattel (MOTUC), but Granamyr stands out among those as something special. It’s not just the extra height, either. For me, character selection is a huge factor here. Granamyr is the type of character we fan boys talk about wistfully in “wouldn’t it be cool if they made…” conversations online knowing that it’s not likely to ever happen. But it did happen this time. This time we actually got the oddball fan service character. The sculpt is a beautifully detailed mixture of the mini-comic drawing and Filmation version of the character and fits in great with the MOTUC collection that he towers over. Getting figures like this gives me hope for all the other non-standard figures on my wish list.
Hasbro’s Arnim Zola
by SamuRon
No, I didn’t get a second pick because I’m extra special. In a repeat of 2009, I got Tenbone’d again. This time the pwnage was perpetrated by hagop, who made the same Best of choice as me this year, with an assist from Robo, who guilted me by saying I Zola-blocked hags. After relinquishing Zola for my second choice (Draego-Man, above), Hagop claimed his dog ate his homework… Tenbone’d.
Anyways…
2012 was a great year for Marvel Legends, with Hasbro finally getting the flagship line back to retail. And it was an especially great year for Marvel villains. In the three 2012 waves, we got: Terrax, Constrictor, Klaw, Madame Masque, Madame Hydra, Daken, Mystique, Dr. Doom, Thunderball, and Piledriver. You could even throw in the Marvel Select Ultron.
But none stand above Arnim Zola, the Build-A-Figure for wave 2. C’mon! It’s Arnim Zola!
The World War II WMD dealer looks like he popped out of a Jack Kirby drawing. He’s got the classic orange and purple color scheme, with the tunic and skirt. His legs are ribbed for your pleasure, and he’s got the trademark Kirby flare on his crotch flap. And that Zola face? Pure evil.
To top it all off, via the Madames and Wrecking Crew running changes, you can give your classic Zola a modern twist – the BAF pieces that came with Madame Hydra and Piledriver let you build a Red Skull trapped in a Zola construct. That’s why Zola is the best of 2012 – quit arguing and just accept it.
Aaaaaand, that’s a wrap! Hope you enjoyed your year of new toys in 2012 and let’s hope that 2013 is even more impressive!
