Shaaking Up

I’ve been thinking about my most wanted things that aren’t Transformers. Star Wars wise, it’s the 20th anniversary of ROTS so both Saesee Tiin and Holocomm Palps seem feasible (assuming they’re still doing holocomm figures). Marvel Legends wise, Gorgon and Triton have both been rumoured, and there’s apparently going to be a Hulk wave next year, and so Doc Samson seems feasible. Yellowjacket could pop up in an Avengers wave (seems weird he didn’t turn up when Haslab Giant Man came out). There’s an 18+ Marvel Lego set coming out in January so that could be the Baxter Building - perhaps they didn’t get to see what the MCU version looked like in time. (Mind you, we’ve only seen what it looks like in the trailer - they might end up in a different building.) Lego Wayne Manor seems like it could happen at any point, they seem to be ignoring the rest of DC so it’s always on the cards. Finally, Dr Doom and Nightcrawler Lego minifigs seem extremely likely for 2026 with the new Avengers film and series 2 of X-Men ‘97. A Lego Fantastic 4 set for this year has leaked so they’re in the bag. (As well as the long awaited Mark IV Iron Man armour.) It all seems so feasible!!!

I saw Thunderbolts, and really enjoyed it. Felt a bit more low stakes, but when they use good writing rather than a big fight to settle things at the end it gets my vote. In many ways it seemed like the original Guardians film but on earth (and without the music). It also had that same quality where they focus on a couple of characters, but they all get a little time to shine (except one character……). I even found myself enjoying US Agent much more than the TV show. He’s a dick, but seemed much more self aware. I’ve also really enjoyed Daredevil, it’s a half series so shorter, and maybe a bit more focussed than the old Netflix series. I’m looking forward to Fantastic 4. Suddenly the MCU is looking a bit more interesting than it has done for a while.

I was hoping for a bit of exciting news for the May Fourth event but nothing doing. I did reconsider my collecting rules for Star Wars black - it’s characters from the 2003 Clone Wars series where you see them die, but including Ahsoka and Darth Maul. A bit dark but I’m trying to stick to 3.75” scale for the less important characters. Shaak Ti gets a pass since there’s two deleted scenes from ROTS where she is killed (one by Grievous and one by Darth Vader). I did think about Barriss Offee and Luminara Unduli but they don’t feature so prominently in the films (as well as not featuring in the death scenes), actually I thought about it quite a lot but eventually realised I’ve got nice versions of them at 3.75” and that’s fine. Shaak Ti is finally here, just need Saesee! I realise that all the prequel Jedi so far are listed as AOTC on the box so it’s not unreasonable to think some ROTS figures might be a while coming (maybe a Saesee Tiin/Agen Kolar 2-pack?). There are some rumours about just that so we’re not done for the year just yet. I saw a photo of Obi-Wan with clone armour and wondered if I maybe need that figure, then after checking some old photos from 2021, realised I already had it. Whoops!

A Shanna Marvel Legends reveal has suddenly popped up out of nowhere, great! She is the last X-Men related (ish) character I wanted, she also completes my list of favourite cameo characters from the 90’s cartoons. (I would like better versions of X-23, Iceman and Angel, but pretty much done …….)

So a quiet month spending wise, have continued to sell quite a lot of stuff, my spending for the year so far is a record low. Looks set to change for the second half of the year though. Lego incoming!