Happy 2015, fellow Fwooshers! In what has become a January 1st tradition, we continue ringing in the new year with the annual Fwoosh Staff Best of the Year list!
2014 was a very difficult year to pick a favorite figure because there were so many awesome things released in the past 12 months. I know the everyone had a hard time deciding and there was a lot of flip-flopping that occurred before everyone could land on their eventual favorites. So, here is our list — do you agree? Disagree? Let us know!
Star Wars: The Black Series Storm Trooper
By: Matthew K
My figure of the year is the perfect storm of my own action figure action figure obsessions:
Army builder – Check
6 inch scale – Check
Well articulated – Check
Great update on a classic toy – Check
The classic Star Wars black series 6 inch scale Stormtrooper checks off a lot boxes on my internal list. First and foremost I love to army build. I also stopped collecting the 3 and 3/4 inch Star Wars figures before they started adding more articulation, so having a trooper that can actually hold his weapons in several different film accurate poses is a bit of a revelation for me. I also love how he has the working holster so he can actually store the smaller rifle when wielding the larger one. Little things like this make figures for me. Initially this figure was pretty tough to track down, but it has become more widely available online and I’ve actually seen it on the shelves many times on casual toy hunts around town on lunch breaks and last minute shopping runs. You better believe I buy every single one I run across.
Marvel Legends: Star-Lord
By: TheSameIdiot
2014 was my favorite year for toys. Ever. Even greater than my love for the Batman: The Animated Series figures (Kenner’s originals, not this year’s brilliant reincarnation) was my love for this year’s offerings. In recent years my collecting habits have transformed; there was a time where I bought every Marvel Legends figure on the market, while today I buy only the figures I feel I can’t do without. The strange thing is that I find myself buying nearly as many figures now as I did then. The quality of today’s toys have transcended my highest expectations. Though I only collect five lines, choosing a favorite figure from the best year yet was an exceedingly demanding process.
The Marvel Legends San Diego Comic Con Exclusive Star-Lord was my favorite figure of the year. Pretty anticlimactic after all that build up, huh? Star-Lord became one of my favorite Marvel characters after reading Marvel’s recent big cosmic events, but I picked this figure because I truly love it. In a year filled with Funko’s Legacy Jaime Lannister, the Star Wars Black Series Chewbacca, DC Collectibles Capullo Batman, and countless gems in the Marvel Legends line, I’m not entirely sure what made Star-Lord standout. I never put this figure down for long, though. In the first month alone I played with it enough to turn my hands blue. The paint is stunning and flawlessly applied, the articulation is functional, and that costume is awesome. Maybe that wasn’t enough for Star-Lord to crack your personal top 10. And who could argue? 2014 was like a greatest hits album for action figures. The best part about that is I think we’re in for an even better 2015.
Star Wars: The Black Series Chewbacca
By: VeeBee
I will be honest, like many of the other guys, I could have chosen any number of figures from 2014 to be my best of the year. I was a rather remarkable year for action figures, and some of my favorite properties from Masters of the Universe, to Marvel, to Game of Thrones all delivered offerings that could be my favorite of the year, so pick was really, really tough. It had to come down to not only being a great figure on its own merits, but also a representation of a personal favorite character to break the tie.
At the end of the day, I had to go for the Star Wars Black Series Chewbacca figure. While I knew that it would be a crowded SW contingent in this list, I have been waiting for a Star Wars line like this for my entire collector life. So getting one of my absolute favorite characters during the year was a thrill on its own. Take that with the fact that Gentle Giant did a fantastic job realizing him in plastic, and it makes for a Wookiee of wonderment. I cannot believe that I finally have a Han Solo and Chewbac standing together in my collection, looking great and in the scale I love the most. We had a great time celebrating Life Day this year!
Game of Thrones Legacy: Jaime Lannister
By: Prodigy
2014 was definitely one of my favorite years ever for toys. So much great stuff from so many different companies really makes it feel like the golden age for toys. Well at least for me it does because I feel like not only are my two favorite toy lines (marvel legends and masterpiece transformers) are just crushing it right now, two of my favorite properties (Star Wars and Game of Thrones) are also getting figures that are absolutely amazing.
There were alot of figures that I debated over from Marvel Legends like Ms. Marvel, Marvel Now Captain America, the SDCC exclusive Starlord, and the recently released Storm from the latest X-Men wave. I debated over picking a Masterpiece transformer because Bumblebee and Wheeljack are very deserving. Star Wars black produced figures like the perfect Stormtrooper, Chewbacca, and Jedi Luke. So many great figures but in the end one figure in particular kept making me go back to it. It’s become one of those figures that I find myself constantly taking off the shelf moving it to the desk to play with and get into cool fighting poses.
Funko Legacy Game of Thrones Jaime Lannister:
Masterpiece Transformers: Bumble Bee
By: DisThunder
Who would have thought making a VW Beetle a Masterpiece figure would end up so much damn fun?
Well, the Bumblebee fans that have been clamoring for him for the better part of a decade, maybe, but not this guy. This guy? Never a big Bumblebee fan.
So, somehow, here I am, weeks later, still transforming and rolling this little bug around the floor and flipping him into an equally little robot, and still loving every minute of it. I don’t even like VWs! But you know what I do like, for the most part? Masterpiece. And Bumblebee here is one of the single best examples of what Masterpiece has to offer. The fluid transformation, with enough clever bits to keep it interesting, bridges two clean and proper modes that scream Bumblebee without having to commit completely to a single iteration. And with a little smirking head, an equally little hidden pistol, and a ton of useful articulation, Bumblebee generates a genuine level of personality. And getting a plucky little Autobot with personality seemed like a lost cause in the Micheal Bay Age. But we should expect nothing less from a canary-yellow espionage agent . Vrooom!
Marvel Legends: Agent Venom
By: TheManInTheAnthill
I’ll be honest with ya: I’ve never even read a comic with Agent Venom in it. Still, I have to give him the nod, not because I’m head over heels in love with the figure, but because I was actually able to find one. Oh, sure, he’s pretty common now, but in the first few weeks of his release Agent Venom was a hot commodity. The fact that the figure was exclusive to a drug store, and dribbled out erratically after shipping sent collectors into a frenzy. I was one of the lucky ones, as I managed to snag mine within days of its release. Like many savvy action figure collectors, I benefited from having a man on the inside. I got the call that the shipment had dropped, had a figure snagged from a case in the back, and was playing with my Agent Venom before I’d finished my first Silver Edition Red Bull of the morning. And while I think Black Cat and Carnage are better-looking figures, and Baron Zemo and Black Widow are more interesting to me personally, I have to give it up for Agent Venom based on the toy-high alone.
So, what do I think about Agent Venom? Ahhh, he’s all right. I’m not exactly head over heels at seeing that Face-Off Punisher body again. The figure’s paint is weak, and the articulation oddly-limited. The re-use of the belt from the previously-released Ultimate Captain America still looks laughably overcrowded and seems like it would get in the way when wall-crawling, but what do I know? I popped it off after a minute and tossed it into the fodder bin, as I prefer my symbiotes a bit more streamlined. The molded holster with non-removable gun was lame, and the clip-on symbiote arms could have done with some articulation. All in all, my nomination of Agent Venom has less to do with the actual figure than my excitement at actually finding him. I didn’t have to wait months, or resort to the secondary market. I just went into a store and bought the damn thing. In 2014, that alone is reason enough to celebrate.
S.H. Figuarts: Super Mario
By: Industrial
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Maurice
By: snowman
2014 was a pretty great year for toys. From Star Wars black series to Michael Keaton Batmen (yes–plural!), the selection of Best Of for this year was not an easy task. I’m forever a fan of variety in a toy collection, so my selection for 2014 goes to my first and only fully articulated Orangutan—Maurice from NECA’s Planet of Apes line. While I enjoyed what screen time this character had in the new Apes films, it’s the toy that really blew my mind. NECA has been on an unbelievable winning streak these past few years, and this figure shows why. The sculpting is virtually flawless and the articulation is both functional and well hidden. At a retail price of $18, it’s one of the few times where I felt I should be paying more. NECA has taken the most passive and introspective character in the franchise and given us one of the most striking and dynamic figures of the year.
Masters of the Universe Classics: Modulok
By: Ibentmyman-thing
I had too many choices for best toy of 2014, which is an awesome problem to have, but in the end I had to go with the one figure that made my inner child the happiest. Modulok was the perfect update to one of my favorite Masters of the Universe figures. I had big hopes resting on his Classics update, and I was not disappointed in the slightest. It took a figure that was ingenious and tons of fun back in the ’80s and improved on it by quantum leaps and bounds. Fully articulated with all the appendages, the dual heads, the swappability, the 1000s of different forms that are possible…despite all the great toys that came out this year from so many different companies, Modulok clawed its way to the top of the heap with all of its multi-armed and multi-legged insanity.
Sometimes being an adult collector you get jaded about toys, or even cynical, because there are so many ways that a toy can go wrong or not live up to what you want to see in your head, either through design bungling, budget cutbacks or just lack of forethought. Part of being an adult is realizing that not everything can be perfect, but part of collecting toys is ignoring that adult part and wanting that supreme satisfaction of a toy done right. It’s reassuring that sometimes toys can and do go completely right. Modulok went right in every way that a toy with this much wackiness can, and for that it had to be the Best of 2014 for me.
Star Wars Model Kit: Darth Vader
By: Robokillah
I possess the wondrous gift of forgetfulness. I barely remember what I did last week, much less what came out this year, so as usual the pick for my Best of 2014 is the last figure that set my toy shelf on fire: The Bandai 1:12 Scale Star Wars Darth Vader Model Kit. Perfectly marrying customizing and model building to figure collecting, the Vader model gives you both the satisfaction of building a toy with your own two hands and being able to put an impressively sculpted and articulated action figure up on your shelf. Start to finish the most fulfilling purchase of my collecting “career.”
That’s not to say it doesn’t have some slight flaws. The cape and skirt are hard plastic, but articulated so it doesn’t get in the way too much. And the figure doesn’t have the heft we’re used to with our usual solid toys. But for me, at the end of the day, this is THE go-to 6-inch scale Darth Vader. And the price is nice too. Before shipping the set was cheaper than most other 1:12 figures at retail. I absolutely can not wait to get my hands on the Stormtrooper next and whatever other offerings from the Star Wars universe Bandai decides to give us next.
Marvel Legends Infinite: Now Captain America
By: Pablolobo
I’ve been wracking my brain over the best figure of 2014, and it isn’t easy. depending on how you cut the deadline, Marvel Legends Captain America Wave and Spider-Man man fall in 2013 and 2014 and were some of the best figures on shelves in 2014. X-Men also some love this year and cranked out a great Storm figure, the Inhumans received love and Black Bolt might be the standout in that exclusive set from SDCC.
S.H. Figuarts continued to knock figures out of the ballpark left and right with releases of Batman, Joker, Kamen Rider, Power Rangers, Dragonball Z, Naruto, Mario, Luigi, Pokemon and oh so many more. And let’s not forget lines like Soul of Chogokin and Monsterarts Really when I look through the figures I bought from them this year I don’t know what to choose from. Goku? Naruto? Godzilla (which one)? Alien? Predator? Danguard Ace? Oh the choices.
And then there is figma, my new love affair. From Indiana Jones to the Avengers to Indiana Jones to Guyver and oh so many more that I’m incapable of listing right now, figma is definitely a leader. I’ve loved every single figure, they are a joy to play with even the odd ones like Goro.
And there are so many other figures to choose from 3A Toys had some gems this year, Hot Toys undoubtedly killed it, Masters of the Universe Classics, Star Wars the Black series, Transformers, Third Party Transforming toys, LEGO, and so many more toys and action figures.
But this is about the figure that I keep coming back to. The one that I pull out all the time and play with, admire, look at, use as a “torch” for the other figures to stand up to in my collection. The figure that’s gotten me to go back and start reading their old comics. It’s a figure that I want to see in more media and character that, of late, inspires me. A figure that should be top of it’s Top 5. It’s a no brainer. Marvel Legends Infinite Now Captain America.
That’s it from us, what do you think of the choices? Are they solid? Is there a glaring omission? Do you have a favorite 2014 figure of your own? Sound off in the comments below. Here is to a fantastic 2014 and an even better 2015 at the Fwoosh!
Happy New Year!