Review: Hasbro Battle Beasts Bodacious Bovine

Have a cow, man! The Bodacious Bovine came out as part of an eight-pack. It's a cow, but udder-ly devoid of feminine characteristics. You're going to love this.
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Review: Hasbro Battle Beasts Eager Beaver

Most of the figures I tracked down as a kid were aquatic in nature - so Eager Beaver was another no-brainer. The figure shows that whole quasi futuristic vibe you've come to love from Takara and Hasbro, with big armor and not much in the way of pants. This unique style was largely cribbed in Beast Saga, and it's not too dissimilar from Masters of the Universe. The outfit is unique in that it doesn't feel slavish to the creature's habitat, and also shows off some of the more distinctive features of the anatomy.[ READ THE FULL REVIEW ]

Review: Hasbro Battle Beasts Tanglin Pangolin

Since American toymakers tended to have (and still have) an allergy to really cheap toys, Tanglin Pangolin came out as part of an eight-pack. In the USA, series 3 was sold only in boxes of eight while the other series were two-packs or packaged with vehicles. This is one I didn't have as a kid and tracked down a few years ago. I didn't even really know what a pangolin was, but I dug armadillos and penguins and other creatures so why the heck not? These are tree-dwelling insect-eating armored mammals, and they're endangered which means kids of the 1980s probably were super into them. (I was a manatee fanatic myself.)
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Review: TheGodBeast Kabuto Mushi Hunter Mushi Action Figure

Marty delivers his figures fast. I placed an order on April 25 for Kabuto Mushi Hunter Mushi - it was in my hands April 30. He is amazing. His figures are really good too - since most are new colorways of a pretty good mold, and I've been trying to cut back on armies, I only get these very rarely... this Boba Fett-inspired figure came out in a batch resembling Skeletor and other familiar faces. How could I refuse?
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Review: Onell Design Glyos Neo Granthan Pyrotellica Action Figure

Clear with more paint! The Neo Granthan Pyrotellica is an orange release that looks like it probably owes a little bit - OK, a lot - to Micronauts. The previous Armorvor toys have rarely been clear, and those that have only had a tiny bit of paint. This is the first one to have painted faces on clear plastic, making it unique for a variety of reasons beyond merely being a new color with a newish head sculpt. Seemingly fans didn't jump on this one, because it didn't sell out quickly and actually stuck around along with his brothers beyond the point that the orders actually began to show up. It's still available as of my writing this, which is odd for a generally popular mold.
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Review: Plastic Imagination Rise of the Beasts Cerula - Green Scorpion with Grey Paint

He's green! The Glyos-powered Rise of the Beasts line is pretty fantastic, although it's hard to view them purely as wholly their own thing. I keep expecting to see squat little guys, but Cerula - Green Scorpion with Grey Paint is more of what a small figure of the 1990s might look like, rather than the 1980s. The overly-muscular creature is fundamentally the same as Cahriv except for the coloration.
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Review: Onell Design Glyos Neo Granthan Cliffstalker Action Figure

The name is evocative! The Neo Granthan Cliffstalker is a brown, chocolate-flavored take on the Battle Beasts-inspired Glyos figure. With an orange skin and a red Black Core, this feels like many of the popular 1980s robotic toys out of Tomy. While not a perfect match, it immediately reminded me of Robostrux mixed with a little bit of the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing. He is orange with blue eyes, after all.
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