Stranger Things 85 - Gourd Horde Figure

 I finally broke down and picked up the Gourd Horde figure from the Stranger Things: Tales from '85 animated series line.

 

 

I haven't watched the show yet but it's kind of hard to pass up a weird, pumpkin-headed creature.I'm kind of on the fence about the show. Of course, I'd love more Stranger stories and this looks like a fun 80s Saturday morning show. On the other hand, it introduces at least one new kid to the gang so unless they die, it''s kind of odd they never get mentioned in the main show.

 

 Getting it out of the package was a bit of work. It's got way too many of those elastic-y things holding it in the plastic. Once I got it out, I was surprised at how much articulation they packed into this thing for a $10 3.75" figure!

 

I was just expecting a basic 5 POA, but no! The head has a good range of up/down motion and it's got articulation at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles. And a bonus action feature: if you press down on the stem, you can make the jaws chomp.

 

 Granted, because this is designed to be a creature that lopes on all fours, you can't really use that articulation to do as much as you could with a bipedal figure but it's still cool to have options. The vines on the back kind of give it a Carnage/Venom vibe. There's also "hidden" paint that can be seen under a special flashlight (black light) that comes with one of the other toys.

 

 

These guys would make good pets or a hunting pack of minions for 6" scale figures.

 

Or downright terrors when facing off against LEGO minifigs.

 

If you're looking to start your own Gourd Horde, I believe this line is a Target exclusive as that's the only place I've come across them so far. 

Star Wars "Stained Glass" Hammerhead Custom Figure

 I only just found out about Plastic Vomit Customs after seeing this post on Instagram from GI Jigsaw. And them I immediately went to PVC's Instagram and order one of these bad boys because it's just something I need in my life.

 

 Way back when there were only 20 Star Wars figures, Hammerhead joined the line up. Like a lot of Gen X, I was the perfect age when Star Wars hit theaters and was instantly obsessed. While I had to have every figure (it was much easier then!), my play adventures didn't stop with the main heroes. I was really into the droids and aliens.

 

 In 1978, we had one sequel novel and about a year of Marvel comics to carry on the story. The galaxy was wide open for making up your own stories, especially if you were a seven year old kid. Hammerhead usually teamed up with the other cantina aliens to form a bounty hunter gang. When you've only got Darth Vader, a "Death Squad" Commander, and a couple Stormtroopers for baddies, you gotta shake things up once in awhile.

 

Out of the initial 20, my favorites were Hammerhead (still my all-time favorite Kenner figure), R5-D4, Power Droid, Death Star Droid, and Snaggletooth. See? There's a pattern! I distinctly remember taking Hammerhead and R5 with me whenever I could. I don't know what it is about Hammerhead that made me glom on to him so much. Maybe it's the weird head, maybe it's the soothing aqua bodysuit.

 

 And that's what brings us to this Root Beer candy looking fella here: Plastic Vomit Customs Stained Glass Hammerhead. He was 3D printed using transparent resin and is gorgeous! He looks so much better in person, but maybe I'm biased.

 

 

Plastic Vomit Customs has a lot of other amazing vintage style 3.75" figures, and not just Star Wars inspired! My next purchse is probably going to be a Sleestak figure! 

 

You can check them out on Instagram. There are links there to their Facebook and eBay pages as well. (Pro tip: stuff is cheaper on IG and FB.) Some of the IG posts are for limited run figures and some can be ordered on demand from their post.

Playmobil Dracula & Witch Figures

Playmobil occasionally releases some Halloween, or at least Halloween-adjacent, figures and playsets. I didn't see any last year but they're back this year with a witch and the Lord of Vampires himself, Dracula.

 

I don't have any stores (that I know of) in the area that really carry Playmobil so I usually have get them online. I haven't even found the blind bag figures anywhere lately which is too bad because they tend to sneak in a horror themed figure in each wave.

But on to what I do have...

Marvel Legends Hallows' Eve Figure

 I picked up Hallows' Eve a few months ago but managed to put off opening her until now. It only seemed fitting to talk about her in October.

Although her regular human identity has been around since '95, Hallows' Eve only made her debut in 2022. Like a lot of comic characters, there's a lot of back story but the quick version is that she is the girlfriend of Parker-clone Ben Reilly and was given her powers by Madelyn Pryor in Limbo. She has an awesome power and it's why I love this character so much even if she's a bit on the shady side: she can create Halloween masks that give her the abilities of the character.

 

A few examples are a ghost which lets her become intangible and invisble, a witch that lets her cast spells, and she's even made a Spider-Man mask that gave her Spidey's powers and web slinging. She can also create something "normal" like a police officer to disguise herself. The ultimate Trick or Treater!

Let's get a closer look at her after the break.

Marvel Legends - Clea

 The long time love, now wife, of Dr. Strange has finally been immortalized in plastic in the Marvel Legends line! Apparently she's a hot commodity if eBay prices are anything to go by. I got lucky and ordered her from Amazon UK for just $5 over retail with free shipping.

If you've been around long enough, you'll know Dr Strange is my absolute, all time favorite Marvel character...well, maybe my favorite hero. On any given day Doctors Strange and Doom could be holding the top spot.

I've been a fan of Strange for I don't know how long so finally getting Clea is such a treat. You can read more of me reminiscing about my history with Strange here. Clea has been around almost as long as Strange himself and she's the niece of one of his oldest, most notorious foes: the Dread Dormammu!

Naughty or Nice Christmas Gremlin Figure by Fresh Monkey

I'll take any excuse to talk about Halloween no matter the time of year so it's only fair I give a little space to Creepmas with the Christmas Gremlin figure from Fresh Monkey's Naughty or Nice Collection.

 

 As you might guess based on the name, the Naughty or Nice line is Christmas themed. They have traditional Santas, elves, and reindeer but they also have naughty versions including some wicked Krampus figures!

This is just wave 2, there's plenty more!

I'm always on the look out for things that will help inject a little creepy into the winter holiday season, so this Gremlin was a no-brainer at $20. The chonky figs like Santa and Krampus get into the $35-$40 range (but they're also 6.5") and while I wasn't considering them at first, after getting this one in hand, I feel a lot more comfortable dropping cash on this line. The also have Pocket Collection versions which are 4" tall. And who doesn't need a Krampus that you can carry in your pocket?

Let's break him out of his plastic prison, shall we?

Hasbro's Dungeons & Dragons - Sheila

 Here we are, finally wrapping up Hasbro's Dungeons & Dragons figure line based on the 80s animated series. The line of figures has had a mediocre reception by fans at best. If they couldn't do these right, I almost would have preferred a retro 3.75" 5 POA line which would likely be what we should have got back in the 80s.

At any rate, here's the final figure...Sheila the thief.

I've mentioned it many times before but whether it's actual tabletop RPGs or computer based games, I tend towards the sneakier, more Dexterity-based classes. (Could it be because my last name is Dexter?) And despite how cool the other kids' magic items are, an invisibility cloak is the one you could get the most day to day use out of.

Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons - Presto

We're almost done rounding out the crew from Hasbro's Dungeons & Dragons animated line. The penultimate kid trapped in a world he never made is Presto the Magic User! Now it's been a minute since I watched the entire series so I don't remember if he actually cast spells himself or if it was all the hat. I mean, I know most everything he did was trying to conjure something out of the hat but did he have the magic in him? If not, is he even a Magic User?

Presto was the only kid that exclusively went by a nickname. Must think he's pretty hot stuff to get by going by one name. The show bible lists him as Albert and in a '96 D&D comic appearance, he introduced himself as Preston, which makes more sense as an origin for Presto.

 

Here's Presto Stayin' Alive with his d4. He also comes with two magic effects and an alternate hair. No, you read that right. Not an alternate head...alternate hair. 

 

Prepare yourself...

 

Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons - Eric

 Back in November, I picked up the second wave of the animated Dungeons & Dragons kids. Thanks to a hot tip, I got them from Target online at a discount, $40 for all three figures! Quick note, the second wave is no longer available online.

One thing they got right with these three is they didn't cut off the side art that overlapped to the other boxes.

Out of all the kids, Eric was always my least favorite. To me he always came across like a whiny, rich brat who was super annoying!

I had high (unreasonable?) expectations for the second wave of figures. Maybe between production runs Hasbro figured out they did some things wrong with the first wave and corrected their mistakes?

Oh, dear reader, if only that were true...

Plunderlong 8-Ball Figure

 It has been so long since the Plunderlong/Plnuderstrong Kickstarter ended that I forgot which figure I had picked! This guy washed up on my doorstep last week.

In addition to 8-Ball, I also order the "Leather Crate" which probably sounds a lot more kinky than it is. The figure also came with this cool (and heavy!) two-sided golden coin. Let's bust him out!

8-Ball comes with two bundles of dynamite, two sets of hands, three heads, a helmet, and a torch. I had some trouble swapping the heads and had to put him under a hair dryer for a bit. To be fair, Lone Coconut had mentioned this in a project update. Now that I've gotten off the head he shipped with, I'm a little shy about fully plugging one on there in case it gets stuck. It doesn't seem to make much difference if the head rests on the neck and you'd only notice it if you were moving the figure around.

Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons - Venger & DungeonMaster

 Finally getting around to wrapping up wave 1 of Hasbro's Dungeons & Dragons animated figures and we've got the biggest for last: Venger and DungeonMaster.

Two figures for double the cost, how can you go wrong? If you're lucky, you might be able to find them at 50% at Target. I learned my lesson with pre-ordering all these figures. I could have easily gotten the entire wave at clearance price so no pre-ordering wave 2.

DM is a solid figure and I mean that quite literally! He has no legs and his torso just kind of goes all the way down to his feet, which are also melded into the body. No issues with the shoulder or wrist joints which are the only articulation. He's a cool little figure that I'd keep on my desk at work if that was an acceptable thing to do. Now I feel like I need to get a Black Series Yoda so they can hang out together.

 

Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons - Hank

 I was going to hold off on the next D&D figure installment but since the second wave just went up for pre-order (affiliate link) I figured it would be a good time to post.

Hank the Ranger is my second favorite kid in the series. Not so much because he's the leader but because he's got the coolest weapon, a bow that shoots endless energy arrows!

 

For those of you that haven't yet experienced the new windowless boxes, here's how the figures and accessories are packed.

 

Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons Figure - Bobby & Uni

 Come, traveler, let us return to the realm of Dungeons & Dragons to meet a boy and his dog...uh, unicorn.

Today we're joined by Bobby the Barbarian and his unicorn friend/pet Uni. Good job with the naming there, kid.

Again, loving the external package design even if the contents are wrapped in thin paper with nothing really to keep them from getting tossed around inside. Remember last time when I said how much I liked the way they were making a larger image with the box sides? Well, someone fell asleep on that.

Where is the top of Hank's bow or Diana's right foot?? I swear this line just gets more disappointing the further down the rabbit hole I go. I can't overstate how much I want to truly love this line but keep feel like I'm getting kicked in the teeth. Oh well, let's see what's in the box.