Hello everybody! It looks like the 2016 Poppies Awards were just officially announced. For nearly a decade Michael Crawford has been at the helm of bringing this group of toy pros together to pick their favorites for any given year. Since around 2008 there has been a People's Picks version of the awards as well. Most of the awards are focused primarily on action figures, but they also have categories for specific areas like: statue, bust, props, paint, scale, and both male and female figures. As an official judge for the last three years I'm glad to see the category for Best Designer/Vinyl. So many people have different views of what should or shouldn't be included in that particular category, I am elated to see that the official judges and the people in general selected very similar figures for best designer toy of the year.
But none of the top three even scratch the surface of my Best of The Best 2016 what you can see here. I found my picks to be closer to those by Crawford's own, which you published here. We both agreed on the top designer toy of the year, the incredible, horrifying, colorful, genre-defying piece by Alex Pardee, The Astronaut produced by ToyQube. as well as giving a nod to Frank Kozik's incredible, thought-provoking, General Tso's Nightmare put out by Kidrobot! As far as the People's Picks is concerned, other judges have encouraged vastly larger audiences then we could here, So it was no surprise to see corporate makers like Funko though and The Loyal Subjects at the top. Though we were pleasantly surprised to see a local make it to the top spot. Let's have a look, shall we?
The Loyal Subjects: Skeletor
THE POPPIES: SILVER + THE PEOPLE'S PICKS: BRONZE
The people have spoken and in third place is this nod to the world of masters of the universe and its arch villain Skeletor. Depicted is the "Electric" variant. One of the good things to say about figures from this brand is for such a small scale including accessories and ten 10 points of articulation at around $15 or $16 is pretty decent. The colors pop and the expression is between menacing and adorable. He also is packaged in a consumer friendly resealable blister card, which for some is a copout into other who want to both display and play, a righteous innovation. This figure made it to Second Place in the official Poppies Judges selections.
Funko (Smuggler's Bounty): Boba Fett #102
THE POPPIES: BRONZE + THE PEOPLE'S PICKS: SILVER
Despite the fact that we are not huge fans of this particular maker you got to hand it to them for having staying power with this particular license. Though not available on the standard market this version of Boba Fett, in an action pose taking off, is probably the best from Funko's Pop series. This was made available "exclusively" via they are Smuggler's Bounty subscription service. We don't know exactly how many of these limited edition figures were produced, But a rough guesstimate would be somewhere in the range of 8,000 to 12,000. One of the things that surely captured fans of both the line, and of Star Wars in general, is that this figure, for both its unique translucent base, and lack of beady eyes is a fairly nice little piece of nostalgia. Even though popularity alone should not exclude them, it's hard to truly categorize these figures as "designer" as they are made en masse in the factory at such low prices, they are more akin to candy, and often and you can find them in any big box store just one aisle over. This figure made it to Third Place in the official Poppies Judges selections.
Mondo: First Turtle
THE POPPIES + THE PEOPLE'S PICKS: GOLD (Michael Crawford: Bronze)
IT'S UNANIMOUS: And the winter is, drumroll please… First Turtle by Austin-based design house Mondo. This makes me smile. The masses really do love their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! And this sketchy fella looks to be quite well-made. From their ongoing deluxe limited edition series he came with a 5 x 7" print of the original artwork, and packaged in a simple green box, and though he boasts five points of articulation, that's a little exaggerated since he's not really an action figure. Painted with a white matte finish the masked turtle is covered in black inky strokes. He was released into variations: a regular edition for $65 and deluxe $100 (300 pieces) which nabbed you two additional head scopes and the aforementioned print. There were other versions as well. The design stays somewhat true to the mid 80s original buy Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. For this we give this decision two thumbs up. And while the choice was unanimous between both judges and the general public who voted, this figure, for all its positive attributes and qualifications, didn't even make my top 10 for last year.
Check out the full results here: 2016 Poppies Awards