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Jazwares- Fortnite Legendary Series: Slushy Soldier
Happy New Year everyone! And what an interesting year it has been. I thought I?d take some time in this special review to collect my thoughts in a ?Highs and Lows? list for the year. Full disclosure: some of this stuff could have happened late 2020 so don?t hold me to a perfect ?year in review?.
HIGH: It?s been twenty years since The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, and thy Toybox toy line, was released and I guess the perfect time for me to really get back into it. I suppose it?s more of a chance to fix a long standing error that I made by not collecting that line after the first few Fellowship waves due to being more into Transformers at that time, but the point still stands. I missed out. Thankfully the spark that I needed to get back into it was lit by my favorite local comic store that found a treasure chest of old LOTRs figures in storage and did the solid favor of pricinging them ridiculously cheap so that it was nearly impossible to not pick them up. I?m not going to lie, as a collector it felt good. It kind of set off something in me that I had not felt in a while: endorphins from the thrill of toy hunting. This led to countless Facebook market deals with some really great people and of course the odd eBay purchase to round out some holes in the collection. I?m excited to open/review these figures, as well as tell some of these stories iterating with sellers in the coming months. I should also say that I?m happy that other manufacturers are working with LOTRs and I've picked up a few of those too. Overall, it seems that it could be a good year for LOTRs fans.
LOW: The closing of the Disney Store in Canada. If you have read my reviews, you know that I love all things Disney and one of my favorite things to come out was the Disney Infinity Video game. And while I didn?t care much for playing, I loved the little 2? figurines that were released with it as interactive pieces to the game. Now the game and the figures have long been discontinued, BUT what arose in their place was a series of 5? fully articulated toys that were designed and stylized in the same way as the little DIsney Infinity figurines that I loved so much. And the best part was that because they were Disney Store exclusives they were never difficult to find and relatively cheap. Getting the news figure was as easy as driving to my local mall and seeing what was new or exciting. In 2020 it became a little harder given that The Disney Store closed for a relatively long time due to issues from COVID, but eventually did open with a different vibe; almost as if they knew their days were numbered. It wasn?t long until some stores started closing followed by the news of the final Death Blow that all Canadian Disney Stores were closing for good. I wrote a rather long opinion piece about it earlier this year, so I won?t get into it, but I?ll just say that I?m still salty about it.
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HIGH: It?s been a really great year for GI Joe Classified collectors. We have had a ton of great releases and some promising stuff on the horizon. If not for COVID and supply chain issues I?d bet that we would all have all the Joes we wanted, but I suppose patience is a virtue that we all need to learn. What is clear is that the future is bright for GI Joe and I have a lot of really great figures that I am excited to open up in the next year.
LOW: I suppose this is a bit of a one-two punch with the above ?high? but for all intensive purposes the Snake Eyes Movie probably created more division and issues within the franchise then was necessary. Firstly it was a big swing and heavily changed the historical subject matter which rarely works to ingratiate the fandom, Secondly it wasn?t a very good movie, had a bunch of issues and kind of made you hate the main character Snake Eyes, and Thirdly (and most important) it was a total bomb. Granted, it?s performance can be attributed to the global pandemic, but even if it was released in the ?before times?, I doubt it would have fared much better. And before you say anything: I loved the cast, I just didn?t feel they had the ?right stuff? to do.
High: If you are a fan of the AMAZING Avatar: The Last Airbender series you know what I?m talking about. This year has seen a sizable increase in Avatar toy offerings from just Diamond Select to include heavy hitter McFarlane Toys and new commer Loyal Subjects. And while I am still patiently awaiting a Legend of Korra figure, I love where this is heading and cannot wait for more.
LOW: This might seem like a bit of an odd ?LOW? for most collectors as Hasbro?s Marvel Legends series has been consistently killing it year over year, but I just can?t anymore. I can?t pay $30+ for another Iron-Man, Spiderman or Captain America just for the BAF piece, I?m done with the hard plastic capes and skirts that take a fully articulated figure and delineate them to statues and I?m done with hasbro reusing molds and providing limited accessories.
HIGH: I can?t remember when it was announced that He-Man was coming back to store shelves, but I recall being fairly excited. I was a modest He-Man fan in the 80?s, but really enjoyed the 2000x reboot that happened all those years ago and regret not picking any of these figures up back then. I will also say that, despite distribution issues, Mattel has done a fantastic job with the Origins line giving them a retro feel with updated articulation and all for a VERY reasonable price point. I have mixed feelings with the new Revelations figures that will be explored in future reviews, but for the most part I am happy where things are heading for the Brand in general.
LOW: I didn?t intend to end this list on a LOW note and I don?t think it is indicative of the collectible toy industry in 2021, but fear that the next few years may be a bit rough. First off the price increases are out of control and it's due to greed. Hasbro seems to be the biggest offender here with multiple price increases over the year, but the industry will soon follow. It has made me rethink many purchases and I think will lead to a bunch more collectors doing the same and could be a good thing in the long run given that things will go on sale and prices will need to drop. The other effect of these rising prices for me is trying to support more local and independent toy retailers. Obviously my favorite local comic store gets most of my dollars, but even other online places like TFTOYS.ca, canucktables.ca and toysnowman.ca have been great to deal with as well. If I can support a fellow collector?s store over a huge enterprise like Amazon or Walmart I will gladly do it and I suggest you do the same in the New Year.
Well that?s it for me and my personal HIGHS and LOWs for this year. I hope everyone has had an amazing Holiday season and wish all the best in the new year.
Pros: I actually picked up Slushie Soldier last holiday season in anticipation of reviewing him this year, so this review has been 12 months in the making. Slushie here is a perfect example of why I STILL love the Jazwares Fortnite line of figures. For starters it?s just a fun looking figure. Big old snowman with tons of little details throughout including the carrot bandolier, snowball grenades, ugly Christmas sweater, carrot knife and wreath backpack. Then you have all the great accessories that Jazwares includes: lots of weapons and a unique pickaxe in the shape of an icicle. Lastly is the articulation. Standard for these Jazwares figures, but still blows away most of the other manufacturers. Great figure and a perfect one to end 2021 and start 2022.
Cons: I think I have finally sorted out how to deal with the unnecessary hand joints which historically has been one of my major complaints. Overall I am completely satisfied with Slushie and have no real issues.
