The Top 24 G.I. Joe Figures... From the 90s!

This is a guest article written by my little buddy, Al. He's a fan of G.I. Joe himself, and was let loose on my collection. I gave him the task to find his favorite figures among the later ones, the ones from 1990-1994. There's a lot that could be said about the demise of the original G.I. Joe - A Real American Hero toy line, and the way it ended was down right sad. But, as Al points out, there are a lot of gems here. Surprising ones even. 

The entire article is written by Al, and he has also taken the pictures. So, not a lot of work done by me. Which, honestly, is just the way I like it. 

Read on for the list of the top 24 G.I. Joe figures from the 90s!

The Top 10 Greatest Toy Lines Ever - TLDR!

tldr:

10: Marvel Legends. I love the superheroes. Great articulation. 

9: M.A.S.K. The perfect blend between G.I. Joe and Transformers. 

8: Micro Machines. Solid, fun and most importantly: Tiny!

7: Masters of the Universe Classics. Great mix of all the various He-Man/She-Ra universes. 

6: Kenner's Star Wars. Started the golden age of action figures. Awesome toys, despite modest articulation.

5: Transformers G1. At its best, the greatest action figures ever. Cool concept, great comic. 

4: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Hysterically creative, solid. Awesome playsets. 

3: Dino Riders. Severely underrated. Ridiculously detailed dinosaurs.

2: Lego Collectible Minifigures. Easy to collect, detailed, colorful, cute, and an extreme variation of characters.

1: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. Price and selection. Characterization, build quality, articulation. Monumental comic. Vehicles as impressive as they were numerous. 

Read the full article here. 

The Top 10 Greatest Toy Lines Ever!

This is a list I've been thinking of for a good while, and now is as good a time as ever. If you read my stuff, you would think this list could be named "Top ten action figure lines", but that would actually not work. Sure, it's mostly dominated by action figures, but there may be a few entries that just happens to fall in a different category.

I have collected, played with - and ultimately considered a huge selection of toys for this list. Some of the toy lines were rather difficult to leave out, and I feel like mentioning a few of them (but not all, because that would ruin eventual surprises).

 I did consider the original, 1/6 scaled G.I. Joe, for historical reasons, and the great variety of accessories. They were before my time, but I enjoy them whenever I see them today. In the opposite category, when talking about toys that predate the 80s, are the Mego dolls. I just can't see understand attraction. 

A powerful contender was the Real Ghostbusters line. Creative monsters, solid build quality, all over fun toys. There have also been many great superhero lines, like Toy Biz' X-Men, and the various DC Direct lines. I'm also impressed with many of the contemporary toys, whether they're based on movies, like the Avengers figures, or the toys from the smaller, more independent toy companies, like Four Horsemen.

Japanese toys I considered included the various Valkyries based off the Macross shows (like the Bandai VF-25 in my banner), and the range of anime robots in the mighty Soul of Chogokin line.

While the top ten may be familiar to most of you, and in many ways be "obvious" choices, they were the toys that has impressed me the most and given me the most joy.  Essentially, these are my top ten toy lines. 

Agree, disagree, want to share your own list? Leave a comment below!

Top 35 Collectible Lego Minifigures

It's been an absolute blast collecting this line, from Lego. The price point, the availability, necessary swapping, the chase - and of course the incredible designs and character choices - this has proven to easily be one of my favorite toy lines ever. And as expected, here's a new list!

Why 35 you ask? Well, first of all, this is an update of my previous list, the Top Ten Collectible Minifigures, but instead of just making a new Top Ten, I chose to do it slightly different. It made sense to make a new list now, as we have seen ten waves of figures, 160 in total (161 if you count the super rare Mr. Gold). 
In addition, 2013 marks the 35 year anniversary of the Minifigure.

Another, equally important reason why I chose such large number is that there are just so many awesome minifigures in this toy line. Even outside the 35, there are still dozens of figures that I absolutely adore.  

There are a couple of changes. Some figures from the Top 10 has fallen out, some have greatly switched positions, and you will see that the top three has radically changed since last year. This is simply because my opinion has changed, some of the figures have grown on me, and some I've grown tired of. In addition, we've seen three new waves of figures since the last list.

Are these the best, coolest, cutest and awesomest minifigures in the line? I obviously think so. Agree, disagree, would you like to share your own list? I would love to hear your comments. And be sure to check out pictures of all the 160 collectibleminifigures so far!

Well, enough chatter. Come on in for the full list!

The Top 10 Female Action Figures of the 80s

I felt a bit like an outsider, because my peers certainly didn't share my opinions, but as a kid, I loved the female action figures. They were rare, they were something different, and most importantly, they were usually extremely pretty. I guess I was a victim of... biology.

Looking back at these toys now, as an adult toy collector, I realize three things: The female action figures were severely  under-represented, to the point where it's actually offensive. Secondly, the toy makers struggled to translate the characters' beauty from cartoons and movies. And lastly, I realize that I still absolutely love these action figures. So much that I want to share a list of the ten best female action figures of the 80s. Skip a lot of paragraphs for the list, or simply read on! Either way, click in to read more, and leave a comment if you feel like it. Agree, disagree, how would your list look like?

Copied by a bigger blog. Should I feel honored or insulted?

I checked one of my favorite blogs yesterday, and my jaw dropped. It's been exactly two weeks since I posted my list of "Top 10 Collectible Lego Minifigures". So imagine my surprise when I clicked into Topless Robot to find this.

Now, this could be nothing but coincidence, had it not been for the fact that I know the TR people read my blog.
Sure, the author of that list has made adjustments (top 21 figures instead of 10), and has used the digitally drawn pictures from TLG instead of using their own figures and pictures. I also know the author already has written a few pieces on Lego....
But really... who hasn't?

Admittedly, the nature of my original list is not very original, but the time frame, the way it's written, the way it's presented makes it just too apparent.

This is no coincidence.

It is normal procedure among bigger bloggers to steal from lesser known ones. We see it every day. And it had to happen to me (it probably already has, I just haven't seen it until now). So when it finally happens, I guess I should feel honored. But at the same time it's damn annoying to not at the very least be credited for inspiration.

Top 10 Collectible Lego Minifigures

Check out the new, updated list: Top 35 Collectible Minifigures! 

It's been an awesome ride so far. Series 7 is out already and more are planned. The collectible, "blind-packed" minifigures from Lego is one of the coolest toy lines today. Seeing as we currently have over hundred different minifigures, a top 10 list is more than appropriate.

Unlike the 100 best G.I. Joe figures, which you can take for gospel, I have to admit that this list will be very  subjective.
I would love to hear your opinions, so leave a comment below with which minifigures you like best, and how your list would look like!

Read on for the ten best collectible Lego minifigures!

But be warned, the list doesn't start right away.. Scroll down a bit if you just want to see the list.

The 100 Best G.I. Joe Figures

This is the hundredth article I have written for this blog. And to celebrate, I've chosen to create a list of the hundred best G.I. Joe figures!

Naturally I want to make blog entry number one hundred something special. All though it feels strange to leave out the food part, I have been wanting to make a list of my favorite toys for quite a while. This is the right occasion. Now, I had initially planned on it being the top ten toys I own. But as soon as I started sorting my favorite toys, I realized it would be all Joes anyway. And I would never be satisfied with just ten. Or twenty. Or fifty.

So here's the hundred best figures in the G.I. Joe - A Real American Hero toy line (that I own). Also, this marks not only blog entry one hundred, but also the start of G.I. Joe Month here in Toys and Bacon. I'll make sure to get some food related stuff in as well, but every article for the next month will have a relation to Joes.
Now on to the list...

Figure Friday: The Ten Best MOTUCs

Masters of the Universe Classics is the only contemporary toy line I'm collecting. There are good reasons for this. I still pick up the occasional Lego set, and random modern Star Wars figures. I'm likely to get some of the new G.I. Joes, and the new line of TMNT coming this fall is very interesting.
But with MOTUC I try to get every figure they make. I find myself liking every figure to a certain extent. Some I like better than others, naturally. But all in all, these are just toys that give me so much. They look great on the shelf, they are fun to play with, display and take pictures of, and it's the very apparent nostalgia thing, as I had many of these characters as a kid.
Sure, the toy line has its issues, with quality control and customer service, but I still think the toys are worth it.

Last week, during the New York Toy Fair, we got an idea of how the rest of the year will be, and besides a few weird characters and unfinished designs, 2012 looks to be incredibly strong for this toy line. Fisto and Sorceress are arriving soon - two figures that look to be excellent, Stinkor looks amazing, Slush Head too. Thunder Punch He-Man is quite possibly my favorite variant of the main hero, and the announce two-pack featured two incredible unnamed snake men. I wasn't sold right away by Frosta and Spikor, but these were both prototypes, and may still see changes.
All in all, I suspect 2012 may be a great year for Masters of the Universe Classics, if we just focus on the figures that are being made.

So with that, I felt the time was ready to take a retrospective look at the figures. And what better way to do that than with a top 10 list?

Read on for the ten best figures in the Masters of the Universe Classics toy line!

Top Ten Difficulties When Making Sushi

Why I haven't made a top 10 list yet is beyond me. Ideally, I should have saved this topic for a future return of the Ocean Week, but I'll definitely have something interesting in store when we return to the deep blue.

Read on for the top ten difficulties that arrive when you make (and eat) sushi.