No matter how hard you try, you can’t try out everything. There are just so many hours in the day, and there is…well, there is a lot of stuff out there, and more of it is being produced every day. That’s what we do, as humans: we make stuff. So much that it is impossible to get around to watching every show, reading every book or comic, listening to every piece of music or watching every movie.
In order to narrow the scope down, sometimes you have to be led to one thing by another thing you’re already passionate about. As a toy collector, I see a lot of toys based on and around properties I might have had no previous experience with or connection to, but oftentimes those toys open me up to material I might have skipped right by on my passage through life. A lot of times I use Fwoosh as a hive-mind brainstorming session to open me up to new things, because wearing new grooves into my brain and expanding my interests is one of the things that keeps me from more-or less sane.
This is in no way a “top ten” list, because it would be impossible to narrow it down that way, but this is more like the first ten things that popped into my head. It might be because I have a certain figure laying on my shamefully messy desk here, or it might be because it’s something I just recently bought, or it might be the rare occasion of being something I have on semi-permanent display.
First off, Boss Fight studios pretty much did a one-two punch with a pair of properties. I’ve bought one of their HACKS figures to fiddle with, but the scale they’re in is not one that I am currently aiming my collecting habits to. But I had to cave when I saw the Bucky O’Hare figures. I was familiar with the property, but had never gone past that. But the figures were so cool that I ended up buying a collection of the original comics and watched the cartoon. I have gone from “oh, those are cool” to a full on fan of the franchise.
Similarly, the Sam and Max figures grabbed my attention, and while there is no currently available collection of the comics (that’s affordable, at least) I did watch the cartoon, and I fell in love with it’s surreal oddballness. It was far too short, but it cemented a deep appreciation for the concept, and now the Sam and Max figures are two of my most-anticipated toys
Regardless of how much hate or indifference she seems to get, I will never stop proclaiming my love for the very brief Gwenpool comic. By playing with the very nature of a comic book, it presented something very fun and very entertaining, and I doubt I would have read it if not for the Marvel Legend figure. Unbelievably, I now have both a Marvel Legend and a Mafex version, along with an Evil Gwenpool as well.
In keeping with the ML theme, “my” Hercules wears a skirt, so when the recent modern Hercules was first announced I was slightly bummed that it wasn’t a redo of the one I have a particular fondness for. But the figure looked so good—and I knew I’d end up with it anyway—that I ended up picking up the initial series that first featured this modern look, and found a very well done story. Hercules trying not to be a drinking and carousing idiot and updating his speech patterns seems like it could go screwy on the surface, but it was handled excellently in the book.
I am not a Power Ranger fan. I was older when they first appeared, but I know myself well enough to say that even as a kid it would not have been something that grabbed me. Real people on Saturday morning? Not my thing. I have also never collected Power ranger toys, but Hasbro’s entry into the PR world meant that I had to try one out. And then I got another. And another. Aaaaand…I’m a Power ranger collector. Dafuuuu? But I still had no actual experience with the property. That is, until I started reading the comic series from BOOM! This is exactly what I want out of the property, and I kept picking up more and more of the trades until I was finally caught up. I never would have seen myself as having the slightest bit of interest in the Power ranger property, but here I am collecting the toys and reading the comics. All because of a cool figure.
A few years ago Veebee reviewed a Figma Sherlock Hound figure. I had never heard of the property, but the figure was so damn cool—and it came with an actual vehicle!–that I had to quickly buy one, and while I was waiting for the figure to arrive, I gave the cartoon a shot. I found a smartly written and utterly charming take on Sherlock Holmes that immediately endeared me to a figure I didn’t even have in hand yet.
Being a Turtle fan that will pretty much buy any version of the 4 teenage mutants at any opportunity, there was no question that I would buy the Turtles based on the Batman VS TMNT movie. And while I would have no doubt eventually gotten around to watching the movie anyway, I did end up pushing it ahead of the line. It was generating good buzz and it mixed several things I love, so I figured it would be fun. What I didn’t expect was finding the best take on Batman since the 90s animated series, and a completely awesome Turtle cartoon, all at the same time.
Maybe the strangest on this list (for me, at least) is the Mezco Space Ghost figure. I’m a cartoon fan, and I’m a Hanna Barbera fan, two things that one would think should mean I had already watched the Space Ghost cartoon decades ago. But I had never watched the original Space Ghost cartoon until I got the figure. It was always one of those things I meant to watch but never got around to. The figure was so damn cool that I immediately did what I should have done a long time ago, and edumacate myself on Space Ghost. Now I don’t quite feel so stupid.
The next one is a serious head-scratcher: Until Neca came out with their Rocky figures, I had never watched a Rocky movie.
I know, right? What planet did I originally come from?
I ended up getting the boxed set on blu-ray when I bought the figures and watched the entire series. I think it’s because I hate keeping money. Dead presidents piss me off so much.
And finally, Star Wars toys made me watch Star Wars.
A long time ago.
In a theater far far away…
So basically, it’s the droids’ fault.