Walking Dead - The Tank in Atlanta

One of my favorite parts of Season 1 is when Rick turns the corner when first arriving in Atlanta, straight into a hoarde of zombies. He crawls under an M1 Abrams Tank parked in the city streets and eventually climbs into the escape hatch at the bottom of the tank. Hope McFarlane does the Zombie Tank Commander as a figure in the future. A few zombie soldiers would be pretty cool. Anyway, here is TV Series 1 Rick Grimes with zombies from TV and Comic Series 1.

The 1:18 scale BBI M1 Tank worked pretty well against the 5 inch WD figures.

Looking forward to TV Series 2, but how come no Comic Series 2? Bummer. Keeping fingers crossed.

Babes, Beasts, and Brawn: By Steve Kiwus

So want to know what it is like to be an action figure sculptor? Want to know what goes on behind the scenes when it comes to licensing? Want to see a bunch of action figures you wish you had, and never made it to market. Want to see the evolution of the flat chested, boy looking female action figures, evolve into what we see today as a correct, and sometimes exaggerated homage to the female figure. Then this is a great book to have.

Eastern Warriors

Released by 21st Century Toys Ultimate Solider 1:18 line, these are the few figures that portray enemy combatants to modern day 1:18 action figure soldiers. I have never seen these in any store. Had to buy them online. "Eastern Warriors" are armed with RPGs and Soviet style machine guns. Obviously, not very politically correct and would never make it in the Big Box stores.

Saving Private Ryan figures from Dragon in Dreams

Dragon recently manufactured some Saving Private Ryan figures, including SGT Horvath (Tom Sizemore), PVT Jackson (Barry Pepper), PVT Caparzo (Vin Diesel), CPL Reiban (Edward Burns) and PVT Ryan (Matt Damon).

However a year or two back, Dragon In Dreams released two awesomely detailed figures, Captain Millers and Private Daniel. Captain Millers is obviously a recreation of Tom Hanks' Captain Miller character. Private Daniel is Barry Pepper, the Sniper. Great figures. Great equipment, and equisite packaging.

Each of these run about $200 on the secondary market. They sold out pretty quickly.

Marvel Universe

So I keep wanting to start collecting the Marvel Universe series, the relatively new 3 3/4" series by Hasbro. But then I keep comparing them to Marvel Legends and I just can't do it. The card artwork for Marvel Universe is pretty cool unto itself. But Marvel Universe figures cost $8-10 which is what I used to pay for a Marvel Legends figures. Of course, today's rare Marvel Legends lines are being sold for $15-17 a pop as well. Can't do that either.

One other issue - same as Marvel Legends, they keep releasing different variations of Captain America, Iron Man, Spider Man and Wolverine. I understand why from a business perspective, but then they mix it with such little known characters. So many great characters that haven't been done yet and we have to pick between "another" Iron Man and some little known character.

Oh well.

Snowtroopers on Hoth

As rebel troops retreat, Imperial Snowtroopers overrun the defensive position and prepare to enter Echo Base. This diorama includes the rebel turret gun, radar cannon and trenchworks. The snowtroopers, including the Ralph MacQuarrie designs, bring support with a Scout Walker and tripod cannons.