FUNKO A GO GO: Being in the middle of Retro Week made me remember all of the toys I would play with when I was a boy. I would sit for hours playing with all of my figures, imagining those little guys were real. Batman vs. Iron Man. Leonardo battling Darth Vader. Sting defeating Hulk Hogan. All of these things and more occurred on my bedroom floor. Now, being a grown man, this obsession still hasn’t stopped. I don’t play with figures (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it), but I still do collect. While Pop! figures and these old figures do not have much in common except for the characters, I thought it would be fun to look at the old guys and see how they compare to some of the newer Pop! figures.
Even though I knew nothing about him at the time, one of my favorite toys to play with was the Mattel Secret Wars Iron Man. While plain by today’s standards, old buckethead was pretty sweet in his time. He even came with a secret shield! The new unmasked Iron Man doesn’t come with anything. He doesn’t even have a mask, but he is shiny with fake propulsion coming out of his hands. Unfortunately, the only place he has been available so far was Popcultcha.com (join their newsletter!). He is currently on preorder there. Many people assumed he would be a SDCC exclusive, but that obviously did not happen. It’s almost a guarantee he will get to the States at some point, but when and where no one knows.
Another Secret Wars toy I used to love playing with was Daredevil. He is in the standard red costume, and he also comes with a secret shield! There’s also a baton, but who cares about that? There are 2 new Daredevil Pop! figures, and, of course, neither comes with a shield. They do come with batons though, but they are, unfortunately, attached to the figure. I think the old Secret Wars and the new figures do look fairly similar in design, but Daredevil’s costume is pretty basic. I prefer the original yellow costume, which is exclusive to Target, but the red, exclusive to Hot Topic, is no disappointment.
The Flash is another toy that I played with for hours. I don’t remember the exact one I had when I was a kid, but it looked a lot like this Toy Biz figure. Just a basic Flash figure, but it does have running arm movement. I know the unmasked Flash Pop! sure can’t do that, he does look a lot more detailed. There’s also a ReAction unmasked Flash, which has a more detailed face than the Pop!, but the costumes are almost the same. Both of these guys were available at SDCC, and there was also a limited supply at Toysrus.com for the Pop! as well as at Barnes and Noble for the ReAction figure.
Funko seems to be releasing a lot of Pop! figures that are based on more recent characters, so you should know about them. One line that will be getting much attention will be Harry Potter. While hardly retro, Harry Potter is starting to get up in age. The first book was released in 1997, while the movie was 2001. Yes, it has been that long. The first figure that jumps out to me is Hagrid. He’s a 6 inch Pop!, which I always enjoy. This is a very detailed figure which looks very close to his movie counterpart. He also has a sweet beard and a neat umbrella, because Hagrid is goofy and probably shouldn’t use magic. Other figures in this line include Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermoine Granger, Albus Dumbledore, Voldemort, and Severus Snape. There is also a Harry holding the Gryffindor sword and one of him in Quidditch robes. The latter is a Hot Topic exclusive while Quidditch Harry is a Hot Topic pre-release.
Speaking of rabid fanbases, the Supernatural universe will be getting a Mystery Mini line. All of your favorite characters will be available, including many who never got a Pop! release, like Bobby, which is ridiculous. Why would Bobby not get a Pop! figure? He is clearly the best character along with Dean. Anyways, according to the Funko site these will be available some time this month.
I’d like to end this by talking about one of my favorite retro toys that may actually be end up getting a Funko product. Many people are seeing that Godzilla will be getting a Pop! figure, at least according to the Gamestop release list. He will be a 6 inch Pop! figure, which is awesome. I cannot wait to see this guy if he is real. This would only be cooler if he had a Godzooky to go along with him. If you need to see this with your own eyes, just go ask Gamestop for a release list, and while you’re there, pick up Fear Kratos. Just look at him. You almost have to.
The original Kratos sold separately :)