Christmastime Toy Haul - Universal Monsters, Batman and Star Trek
The final Saturday afternoon haul of 2023 is also our Christmas present haul and we've got Star Trek, Batman and loads of Universal Monsters to share!
One of our prized presents is the new Playmates release of the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The NCC-1701-D is seen here in all her glory, complete with lights and sounds. Everything from the copy to the artwork replicate the classic 1990's version of this toy, but inside you'll find the Enterprise has a few upgrades including new sounds, better detailing and yes, even the saucer separates! The only downside is that there is no "always on" mode that allows you to display the ship 24 x 7 with lights activated.
And I had to add these two classic figures to my collection. From the same 90's Playmates line as the Enterprise-D, here are Dr. Beverly Crusher and Locutus (aka Picard as Borg).
Another Christmas present this year was Marvel's Marvel Boy form the Legends series. I don't know a lot about the character beyond his appearance in Young Avengers, but I like the design and the sculpting is well done.
The next two figures are ones I've had my eye on for a few weeks now--the McFarlane Toys Batman and Robin. Thanks to Gamestop, I was able to pick these up and they do not disappoint. The matte black suits feature the muscular sculpting from the movie, complete with Bat nipples.
I came late to the Universal Monsters, but the merchandising has really stepped up in the past years from the TMNT figures (see below), new comics and even Jada figures at Ross this holiday season.
Cereal Creatures viewers may recall we picked up the Head Knockers Dracula as part of our Thanksgiving haul, so it was only natural that the Frankenstein monster had to be part of our Christmas haul. My favorite thing about this design is lab electrodes and other early-century scientific equipment on the base of the statue. It really adds to the design.
I almost left our favorite toy store, 1313 Mockingbird Lane in Lawrence, KS, without ever seeing this. Irony jokes may begin. Yes, it's the Invisible Man, albeit a tiny, tiny Mego version of him. Had my brother not pointed him out, I would have never noticed. The Invisible Man is one of my favorite Universal Monsters and I there's not a whole lot of merch compared to the other monsters, so this had to be a pickup.
I don't have a lot of classic or vintage Universal Monsters collectibles, so that's what I added to my Christmas List for this year. I wanted things that showcased unique art and I used this Revell model as an example. Little did I expect that I'd actually get this model! I'll likely never assemble him but look at that artwork! I showed the back of the box, too!
Another unique figure that I found under the proverbial Christmas tree is this 80's Universal Monsters figure of Frankenstein.
I hadn't planned on getting this TMNT x Universal Monters crossover of Leonard and the Hunchback. But on a run to the local Walmart, lo and behold, there he was! And, since I've got all of the other Universal Monsters turtles, I couldn't skip out on this one, could I?
As I said, I've picked up all of the turtles--including the new Leo monster--this time as the Creature from the Black Lagoon! Wow! Look at that design. This has to be my favorite version so far!
And our final Christmas present is another version of the Creature from the Black Lagoon! This Glow in the Dark carded version from NECA joins several other monsters in this black and white vintage-style packaging and makes a perfect display piece!
Happy Christmastime! We at Cereal Creatures hope you find all the toys that you want under your tree this year! (Or give Santa a break and just buy them yourself!)
