Superbowl TeenyMates

 Who will win Superbowl XLIX?

These are NFL TeenyMates by Party Animal Toys.

Series 1 -- Quarterbacks -- 2012

Series 2 -- Running Backs -- 2013

Series 3 -- Wide Receivers -- 2014

Figures are 1-inch tall and come in random blind-bags of two.

Skylanders MB Part 3

This is the third of three posts exploring the Skylanders figures created by Mega Bloks.  The first post covers the primary heroes, the second post talks about villains, and this post post covers the specialized groups of heroes from the Giants, Swap-Force, and Trap-Team series.

Giants is the general name of the second series of Skylanders, and the specific group name of eight characters from this series.  One of the Giants resides among each of the eight elemental factions.  Mega Bloks managed to create seven of these eight characters.  Yes, only seven. How or why they didn't make the eighth character defies all logic.  I mean, they did go ahead and make two additional variant figures. Nine figures total, and not one of them is Ninjini. 

Mega Bloks, please make Ninjini!  

It is my dying-bucket-list-wish that you make Ninjini.  Please complete the series of eight and add this one figure. Until then, here are the others:

Water

Thumpback (95416)

Tech

Bouncer (95443)

Tech

Legendary Bouncer (95411)
Toys R Us exclusive variant.

Fire

Hot Head (95461)
Features button-activated LED light-up head.

Life

Tree Rex (95413)

Earth

Crusher (95442)

Earth

Granite Crusher (95482)
Target exclusive variant.

Air

Swarm (95422)
This glow-in-the-dark figure was supposed to be a Wal-Mart exclusive variant.  A regular figure was scheduled to be included in Sharpfin's Jet Boat (95301), but that obviously did not happen.

Undead

Eye-Brawl (95415)

Skylanders: Giants

Magic -- Ninjini

Water -- Thumpback*

Tech -- Bouncer*+

Fire -- Hot Head*

Life -- Tree Rex*

Earth -- Crusher*+

Air -- Swarm*

Undead -- Eye-Brawl*

*Mega Bloks version made

+additional Mega Bloks variant made

Swap-Force is the general name of the third series of Skylanders, and the specific group name of 16 characters from this series.  Each of the eight elemental factions contain two Swap-Force characters. Mega Bloks created minifigures for eight of these 16 characters.  Logic would suggest that they made one character from each of the eight elemental factions.  Nope.  Once again, logic has eluded Mega Bloks.  They decided to sell us both Undead characters, both Water characters, neither Air character, and neither Earth character.  Man, this kind of inattention makes me mad.  That's not all. They decided to make an additional three variants among those existing figures. They made a total of 11 Swap-Force figures and managed to neglect two entire elements!  This level of carelessness just makes the whole toyline look sloppy.  I want to sing their praises.  I want to think of Mega Bloks as an amazing, caring, and thoughtful company, but when such obvious details are neglected, it makes it really hard to do so.

Mega Bloks, I know I am already begging for Ninjini, but you really set yourself up for this one too:  Please make a Swap-Force Air figure and a Swap-Force Earth figure.  Pwetty pwease. You can make Blast Zone and Doom Stone.  Plus, Ninjini of course.  Just these three.  Put them in a character pack together. It would sell like crazy, I just know it!  Plus, all the collectors and fans of your toys can die happy. Until this actually happens, here are others:

Magic

Hoot Loop (95300) and Enchanted Hoot Loop (95468)

Water

Wash Buckler (95497, 95309)

Water

Freeze Blade (95469, 95310)

Tech

Magna Charge (95461) and Nitro Magna Charge (95467)

Fire

Blast Zone (95301, 95311)

Life

Grilla Drilla (95300)

Undead

Rattle Shake (95469, 95312)

Undead

Night Shift (95329) and Legendary Night Shift (95446)

 

Skylanders: Swap-Force

Magic -- Hoot Loop*+

Magic -- Trap Shadow

Water -- Freeze Blade*

Water -- Wash Buckler*

Tech -- Magna Charge*+

Tech -- Spy Rise

Fire -- Blast Zone*

Fire -- Fire Kraken

Life -- Grilla Drilla*

Life -- Stink Bomb 

Earth -- Doom Stone

Earth -- Rubble Rouser

Air -- Boom Jet

Air -- Free Ranger

Undead -- Night Shift*+

Undead -- Rattle Shake*

*Mega Bloks version made

+additional Mega Bloks variant made

Trap-Team is the general name of the fourth series of Skylanders. 16 characters from this series are over-sized figures known as Trap Masters.  Each of the eight elemental factions contain two Trap Masters. So far, Mega Bloks has released a single figure for one Trap Master.

Water

 Snap Shot (95328)

Skylanders: Trap-Team

Magic -- Blastermind

Magic -- Enigma

Water -- Snap Shot*

Water -- Lob Star

Tech -- Gearshift

Tech -- Jawbreaker

Fire -- Wildfire+

Fire -- Kaboom

Life -- Bushwhack

Life -- Tuff Luck 

Earth -- Headrush

Earth -- Wallop

Air -- Gusto

Air -- Thunderbolt

Undead -- Krypt King

Undead -- Short Cut

 

*Mega Bloks version made

+Mega Bloks version coming soon

Skylanders MB Part 2

This is the second of three post showcasing the Skylanders line of Mega Bloks figures.  This post will focus on the various villain and enemies.

First of all, in the video-game franchise, there are so many more bad guys than those which have been represented by Mega Bloks.  Some are quite creative in appearance.  It's unfortunate that more baddies have not been made into figures.

Second, many of the block-building sets basically amount to giant villains.  Significant examples are the Chompy Bot (95416), Troll Mechs (95413, 95422), Fire Viper (95468), and the Giant Green Chompy (95352).  Perhaps I will add these someday, but for now I am just showing the minifigures.  Let's check them out...

Ogres.  These enemies carry large axes and can teleport. The first one is called an Axecutioner (95442) and the glow-in-the dark variant of the same sculpt is called Biclops (95471).

Trolls. These are the main minions of Kaos.  They love to build weapons and fight the Skylanders.   There have been three troll henchmen released so far.  Regular (95413), translucent (95415), and glow-in-the-dark (95422). 

Greebles.  These are the main minions of Skylanders: Swap-Force. In the franchise, a villain can order them from the Minions Monthly catalog. Other than henchmen-for-hire, they seem to mainly be thieves and pirates.  Mega Bloks has created three versions.  Purple (95301), translucent (95356), and red (95467).

Glumshanks.  He is a very distinguished troll.  He is also Kaos' sidekick, friend, and butler. He has appeared in two sets.  Green (95443) and red (95497).

Kaos.  He's the main villain -- an evil Portal Master.  He has appeared in four Mega Bloks sets. Black outer robe (95443, 95469, 95486), and brown outer robe (95472).

Imps. These are small, easily-defeated creatures. The red ones are called Flame Imps and the blue ones are called Gnashers. The Flame Imp comes in two packs (95438, 95475) and the Gnasher in only one pack (95440).

Chompies.  These are the common, annoying little monsters of Skyland.  Chompies are found in many more varieties than Mega Blocks has made, including Black Chompies and Bone Chompies.  The rarest is the Purple Chompy -- both in the video game and Mega Bloks sets.  The Purple Chompy only appears in two sets (95480, 95482), whereas the others are included in many diverse sets.

Chompy Mage.  He's a wizard who can summon Chompies.  He can also turn himself into a giant green Chompy. He comes in one special set, Chompy Pack Attack (95352).

Skylanders MB Part 1

Mega Bloks began releasing their versions of Skylanders characters in 2012.  Having finally tracked down a particularly rare set, I'm motivated to begin dissecting this relatively complex toyline.  It's also worth noting that this is the first Mega Bloks line that I've been able to follow since its inception.  More than 60 sets in, you can imagine that I have a lot to say.

Since there has never been a Mega Bloks blind-bag release, all minifigures come from block-building sets. Fortunately, the majority of figures came in small "Hero Packs" and "Portal Packs" which were not too expensive.  Even most of the larger block-building sets eventually came to discount stores, making them quite affordable as well.

I've decided to present these figures categorized by their eight elemental factions: Magic, Water, Tech, Fire, Earth, Life, Air, and Undead.

Even though the Giants and Swap-Force figures can be divided into these factions, I am going to keep them grouped together, and showcase them at another time.  Finally, I will present all the minifigures who represent the "bad guys." These will all be added in separate, distinct posts. 

This post is a comprehensive look at the primary hero characters.

We always begin with Magic, which means we always begin with the star of the franchise: Spyro.  He has shown up as a total of six different versions.  It's interesting that the most recent Mega Bloks version is a Legendary Mega Ram Spyro -- a character that does not exist in the video games or primary toys.  Mega Ram Spyro is only a regular character and a dark character, not a Legendary character, as created for this particular Mega Bloks set. Please correct me if I am wrong. The only other Magic character made is Pop Fizz. We have two version of him.  One has some extra pieces to convert him into Fizzy Frenzy Pop Fizz.  The other is a figure that is supposed to change colors based on temperature.  When it gets warm, it turns a slightly darker shade of blue.

Spyro (95418) and Silver Spyro (95426)

Spyro (viking hat, 95482) and Dark Spyro (viking hat, 95435)

 Legendary Spyro (95446) and Legendary Mega Ram Spyro (95356)

Pop Fizz (95459) and (95468, warm)

Pop Fizz (95459, transformed) and (95468, cold)

Fizzy Frenzy Pop Fizz (95459)

The second elemental faction is Water.  For some reason, Water is drastically underrepresented.  There are only two characters (and no variants) that have taken a Mega Bloks form: Chill and Gill Grunt. I can't believe that they have never made Zap.  I always hoped that they would make the dragon for each faction.  It's sort of unbelievable and very disappointing that they haven't.  Oh, well.

Chill (95408)

Gill Grunt (95438)

The third elemental faction is Tech.  These are the tinkerers of Skyland, so it perhaps comes as no surprise that the folks at Mega Bloks love Tech.  Three characters are represented: Drobot, Sprocket, and Trigger Happy.  Apparently, Mega Bloks has a bit of an infatuation with Trigger Happy. Three variant figures exist.  More drastically, these figures appear in a total of seven sets.  Yeesh!  This is more than any other character, even Spyro. The regular version of Trigger Happy is included in four sets, the Legendary version in two sets, and the glow-in-the-dark version in one set.  Mega Bloks, please stop selling us Trigger Happy!

Trigger Happy (95432, 95480)

Legendary Trigger Happy (95473, 95356)

GID Trigger Happy (95422)

Trigger Happy (95425)

 Sprocket (95421) and Drobot (95439)

Fetch!

The fourth elemental faction is Fire.  In contrast to Water, the Fire element is well-represented. Here we have four characters and another three variants.  The characters are Flameslinger, Ignitor, Eruptor, and Hot Dog. The variants are Molten Hot Dog, Legendary Ignitor, and Silver Eruptor.

Hot Dog (95440) and Molten Hot Dog (95475)

 Ignitor (95431, 95443, 95482) and Legendary Ignitor (95446)

Eruptor (95437) and Silver Eruptor (95494)

Flameslinger (95420)

The fifth elemental faction is Earth.  Here we have three characters and two more variants.  The characters are Prism Break, Bash, and Terrafin.  I find it hard to believe that they never made Flashwing. What a great figure that would have been.  Anyway, Bash comes in his regular form, plus a translucent blue form.  Terrafin comes in his regular form (3 sets) and a "pirate" version (2 sets).  He wields weapons in only one set.

Pirate Terrafin (95409, 95481) and Terrafin (95433, 95480)

Terrafin with weapons (95429)

Prism Break (95441)

Bash (95481)

Bash (95481) and Blue Bash (95424)

The sixth elemental faction is Life (or what I call "Plants").  This faction has been well-represented with four Mega Bloks figures.  Stealth Elf exist in both regular and Legendary form.  No other variants have been made. The same Shroomboom appears in three sets.  The other two characters are Stump Smash and Food Fight. Even though this faction is represented better than most, I really wish they would go ahead and make Camo!

Shroomboom (95423, 95480, 95352)

Stump Smash (95474)

Food Fight (95305)

 Stealth Elf (95436) and Legendary Stealth Elf (95356)

Action Time!

The seventh elemental faction is Air. Mega Bloks has pretty much neglected this group.  It's unfortunate (sad, really) that they never made Whirlwind.  C'mon guys!  All we've been given is three different variants of Jet-Vac!  That's it -- one character.  I call this a Jet-vac set-back.  Come on, Mega Bloks, please make Whirlwind!

Jet-Vac (95423, 95480) and Sheriff Jet-Vac (95427)

Jet-Vac (95423, 95480) and Legendary Jet-Vac (95411)

The eighth and final elemental faction is the Undead.  Three characters have been made: Hex, Cynder, and Chop Chop.  Cynder has three variant figures, and Chop Chop has two. There is a third Chop Chop with a bigger sword and shield -- but that's not really a true variant. It looks like they were tying to make Duel Blades Chop Chop and forgot to give him a second sword. Oh, well. Hex is the real highlight here anyway.

Chop Chop (95434) and Legendary Chop Chop (95411)

 Chop Chop (95434) and alt-weapons Chop Chop (95495)

Cynder (95442) and Metallic Cynder (95428)

Hex (95482) and GID Cynder (95422)

Hex gives you a hex!

Finally, Mega Bloks has made one figure for an acquaintance of the Skylanders. He is more of an ally than a hero.  He fixes things for the Skylanders and pilots them around in his ship.  His name in Flynn, and he is found in one set (95461). 

That's all folks! 

All Sets:
Set Number -- Set Name -- Minifigures

Skylander's Giants
95408 -- Sky Turret Defense -- Chill
95409 -- Turret Air Raid -- Terrafin v2
95413 -- Troll Mech Ambush -- Tree Rex
95418 -- Arkeyan Copter Attack -- Spyro
95422 -- Swarm Mech Invasion -- Swarm, Cynder v2, Trigger Happy v2
95423 -- Ultimate Battle Arcade -- Jet-Vac, Shroomboom
95442 -- Crusher's Pirate Quest -- Crusher, Cynder
95443 -- Dark Castle Conquest -- Bouncer, Ignitor, Kaos
95411 -- Legendary Figure Pack 1 -- Bouncer v2, Jet Vac v2, Chop Chop v2
95415 -- Zeppelin Air Assault -- Eye-Brawl
95416 -- Chompy Bot Attack -- Thumpback
95420 -- Troll Tank Gundown --Flameslinger
95421 -- Heroic Turret -- Sprocket
95459 -- Arkeyan Robot King -- Pop Fizz

Skylander's Swap-Force
95300 -- Frost Guard Battle Arcade -- Grilla Drilla, Hoot Loop
95301 -- Sharpfin's Jet Boat -- Blast Zone
95461 -- Flynn's Rescue Ship -- Hot Head, Magna Charge, Flynn
95467 -- Evil Airship Attack -- Magna Charge v2
95468 -- Fire Viper Attack -- Pop Fizz v2, Hoot Loop v2
95469 -- Outlands Kaotic Castle -- Freeze Blade, Rattle Shake, Kaos
95497 -- Boss Tank Showdown -- Wash Buckler
95480 -- Ultimate Battle Arcade v2 -- Jet-Vac, Shroomboom, Trigger Happy, Terrafin
95482 -- Collector's Edition Pack -- Granite Crusher, Hex, Ignitor, Spyro v3
95446 -- Legendary Figure Pack 2 -- Night Shift v2, Ignitor v2, Spyro v4
95481 -- Champion Figure Pack --  Freeze Blade, Bash, Terrafin v2

Skylander's Trap Team
95329 -- Chainsaw Charger -- Countdown
95352 -- Chompy Pack Attack -- Chompy Mage, Shroomboom
95486 -- Cut Throat Carnival --Fire Trapper Wildfire, Kaos
95356 -- Legendary Figure Pack 3 -- Stealth Elf v2, Bash v2, Spyro v5, Trigger Happy v3

Battle Portal Packs
95431 -- Ignitor
95432 -- Trigger Happy
95433 -- Terrafin
95434 -- Chop Chop
95435 -- Dark Spyro (v6)
95436 -- Stealth Elf
95437 -- Eruptor
95438 -- Gill Grunt
95439 -- Drobot
95440 -- Hot Dog
95441 -- Prism Break
95473 -- Legendary Trigger Happy (v3)
95474 -- Stump Smash
95475 -- Molten Hot Dog
95479 -- Magic Spyro (color change chompy)(UK release)

Hero / Enemy Packs
95424 -- Bash (translucent, v2)
95425 -- Trigger Happy
95426 -- Spyro (silver, v2)
95427 -- Jet-Vac (sheriff, v3)
95428 -- Cynder (metallic, v3)
95429 -- Terrafin
95471 -- Biclops
95472 -- Kaos v2
95494 -- Eruptor (silver, v2)
95495 -- Chop Chop v3
95305 -- Food Fight
95306 -- Trigger Happy (again)

Spinner Packs
95309 -- Wash Buckler
95310 -- Freeze Blade
95311 -- Blast Zone
95312 -- Rattle Shake
95328 -- Snap Shot
95329 -- Night Shift