Update: Overhaul!

 So as I've been doing reviews the past year with the newer system of rating, I still like the categories, but I'm finding there are places where the difference on a five scale between one point and the next is still not very consequential. The biggest issue I've been thinking about is the Accessory system. There's still a case to be made for not penalizing a figure for low-to-no accessories. But, some wiggle room for having enough at the same time. To this end, I'm changing most of my ratings to a 3 point system, with the idea of handing out zero's for something that is otherwise a statue, poorly painted, lacking in what it should have, or just so difficult to pose it's frustrating. So here's a totally new system! 

Sculpt/Paint /3:  1. Not well painted, basic sculpt like a kids toy rather than a collector. Few                                             details

                            2. Painted well, attention to detail, crisp lines, and few blobs or missed parts. 

                            3. Masterfully painted with lots of great sculpted details and shading. 

Articulation /3:  1. Basic swivel joints from 5-15. All single joints with limited range.

                            2. Some double joints with a good range of motion in the 16-29 range.

                           3. Very mobile with joints that allow lots of motion. 30+ points. 

Accessories /1:  0. It should have some but doesn't OR missing some key accessories

                           1.The accessories are well done. It's either everything the figure needs or most                                    of the essentials. This might be extra hands, weapons or other pieces. 

Fun Factor /3:   0. Plastic garbage! 

                            1. Poorly balanced, limited posing, not a big favourite. Statue-like. 

                            2. Decent posing options, looks good on the shelf, dynamic options! 

                            3. A top figure in the collection, very cool with tons of options for display!

Verdict /10:       1-5 Poor. This figure isn't cutting it. Is there some reason it's in the collection??

                           6-7 Limited: It has some merit, but do you really need this one? 

                           8-9 Worthy: It's worth having! Have you considered getting this one? 

                           10 Amazing. Why don't you have this figure yet??

I think this latest update will just making writing the rating posts more seamless and then it's out of an easier to digest score out of 10 at the end of all of it. 

3rd Annual Top 10 (11!) Most Viewed Action Figures!

It's that time again! I first posted on this blog on April 27th of 2017, so here's to year three!
I've bee admittedly far less active this year for blogging, though this time has given me more chances to do so recently. This year I've been branching out more into collecting some less mainstream toy lines as well as diving heavily into the Mafex Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy figures. I did mention the last year that I'd be buying the S.H. Figuarts version of PS4 Spiderman but that never happened (it is really hard to find and ridiculously expensive now)

Honourable mention also goes out to the Do you Even Bootleg Mafex Batman Justice league post that actually garnered the most views out of anything else, but isn't technically one figure! Also, note one entry has two figures because it came in a two-pack I reviewed together, so technically this is 11!

Without further ado, here are your most viewed of 2019-2020!

Update: Rating change

Although I've been using my rating system based on how some other reviewers rate their figures, 

I've decided to remove the Price/Availability category from the rating system. 

Previously it went like this:

Price/Availability:  /5 
1- You are made of money and can find one or two sources that even sell online! Damn scalppers.... 
2 - Hard to find. Available online or from the rare collector. Easily 200%+ of its original value.
3 - Mostly available online only from few sellers. Expect to pay 125-150% of original value. 
4 -Available most places at standard price, or fewer places at a decent discount (10-50%). 
5- Either available everywhere at standard price, or heavily (50%+) discounted. 

It seems it can skew a figure when the rest of the figure is excellent or a poor figure receive a higher rating. On top of that, it seems that a figure can rapidly change in its price and availability over time, making the current rating of it more or less useless after a while. I will still mention price and availability near the end of a review, but it'll be kept off the numbers! 

To this end, Verdict will now be out of /20 with the following guide:

1-5: Poor: Very underwhelming, even if you like collecting the particular type or line of figures. 
6-10: Limited: Some poseability or paint/sculpt and accessories. Limited but disappointing. 
11-15: Good: Pretty good figure on its own merits, even if you lack interest in the character/line
16-19: Great: Great aesthetic with lots of play, options and more. Get it right meow! 
20: Amazing. Best figure. Top 10 in your collection. 

1st Annual Top 10 Most Viewed Action figures!

As of April 23rd, 2018, this blog has officially been running for a year! It's funny to think I've been writing this little hobby blog for *slightly* over a year. Anyway, I figure I'd celebrate that by starting a Top 10 Most viewed action figures. I figure *pun intended* I'd show off the blog posts that were of most interest to my readership. Here goes from 10th to 1st!



#10. DC Icons Aquaman
I did not expect him on this list, but it is --1. Nice that he made it and 2. Painfully funny that he is once again last on a list. I do actually like the figure, even with the gimmicky telepathy effect! He's simple, sleek and I like the glossy green parts of his suit.

Amazing-that-it-got-a-place Award!

"Willy's in trouble at the aquarium!"

#9. DC Icons Nightwing
He's always had a simple design in costume but Nightwing is my favorite in DC comics and this figure is my favorite Nightwing of the ones I own. I love the idea of a sidekick evolving to be his own thing. It's a natural progression that isn't often taken advantage of in comics. His kali sticks could be less plain but I'll be damned if I don't find his face sculpt one of the best of any Arkham or DC Classics I've seen.

Author's Favourite Award!

DC Icons line really should've made their
staves and sticks more interesting...basically
that's a metal bar with no features

#8 DC Icons Batgirl
Such a great Rebirth version of Batgirl. The fact this came with her big motorcycle is SWEET. With skid effects on the platform that comes with it! And a bunch of great accessories. She's a bit tricky to balance given the very light weight of the figure but is so great.

Punch pose! (for Instagram!)

Best Accessory Award!

#7 DC Collectibles Nightwing - Arkham Knight
He's only been in two of the four games, but his appearance in Arkham Knight was very pleasing. He had speaking parts, awesome dual play fights, and even some of his own missions and challenge maps. The character has a bit to be desired though. I don't particularly like his head and mask design. His articulation from his ab is just bad. His legs and body proportions also seem kinda weird. Oh well!

Update: TMNT Tuesdays!

Starting tomorrow, I decided I'd mix it up a little bit with reviewing some TMNT figures every Tuesday for the next little while. They're pretty basic figures mostly meant for kids, which makes it not so much work to write and shoot.

The TMNT Line has been owned by Playmates Toys, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong toy company, Playmates holdings, for many many years (since 1966).  Playmates actually sort of hovers for me between the area of too-bright, bulky, unarticulated Vs. adult collectible toy for this line.
The turtle brothers actually have a decent amount of articulation and range for their price point as well as the typical unpainted sprue accessories. The other characters look fairly close to the show but don't really have as many posing options, which is a shame.

Back in the day (oh yes I did), the older TMNT line had the characters in every kind of style and outfit imaginable, such as:

Wind up toys:


to "disguised" turtles (I had Mikey, but really was jealous of my friends' leonardo)



to some REALLY bizarre stuff:


*All images courtesy of tmnttoys.com

There have been quite a few lines since the first line based on movies and other tv shows.
I have a soft spot for TMNT toys because they were the very first action figures I remember having as a kid since I was so inundated at the time by the 1980s TV cartoon. I didn't have most of the crazy versions, but I do distinctly remember owning the basic four, krang, a mouser, foot soldier, and maybe some random versions like the turtle transforming Raph.

The TMNT toys are what actually got me first into collecting as an adult, ironically enough a few years ago. I had seen a friend get a few nice figures that looked great on his shelf and reminded me how much I missed the cartoons and make-believe pastimes of my youth, then I was introduced by the same friend to the newer TMNT (2012) series. I was kinda blown away! It was CG, but it was, what I considered, to be pretty good. The humour was great, and they even added in many japanese terms, something I think the other series --including the original--were missing.

I am kinda sad to see the series end! I'm not a big fan of the aesthetic look of the new upcoming series: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but I was willing to give the 2012 series a chance, so as a fan I'll do the same for this series.

Update: Rating System Upheaval!

So remember how I mentioned how I wasn't completely satisfied with the rating system and it would be subject to change? Well, here is another subject to change!

Problem #1: Even though a particular figure is actually very good, the verdict often ends up being quite a bit lower than I feel it deserves given how high it scores in most areas. 

Problem #2: The system is unbalanced since the last update, since now a good Accessory and Fun Factor rating can be swamped by a bad Price/Availability score. 

Solution #1: Set the Price/Availability down to a 5 point system (which is easily manageable). 
Problem #3: A 35 point Verdict system seems clunky and not very translatable into a %, or equal part system.

Solution #2: Re-balance EVERYTHING by changing all categories to a 5 point system, thereby making a Verdict rating of 25 points. Seems like this would work while allowing for a bad Price/Availability score not to ruin a whole verdict score. It also is perhaps true that the amount of variance in the sculpt and articulation doesn't really need a 10 point range for evaluation purposes.

Ok, so here is the revamped system!

Sculpt&Paint:  /5
1 - Little /No paint. Sculpt work is very basic molding and is missing details in many places. 
2- Some paint work. May have shading. Sculpt is passable but missing details.
3 -Decent sculpt work, decent painted parts, some decent shading. 
4 -Very well done sculpt and paint work, many eye-catching details, very character accurate. 
5- Excellently done paint and sculpt, spot on to the character represented. 

Articulation:  /5
1 - 5-10 points of articulation: No special joints, primarily swivels
2- 11-15 PoA. Some ball joints. Limited range. No or few doubled joints.
3 - 16-20 PoA. Improved range. Ab joints and ankle articulation present. 
4 - 21-29 PoA. Doubled wrist, ankle, knee and elbow articulation. May include toe and butterfly joints. Good range of movement in most joints.
5 -30+ Joints. Amazing poseability and range. May include extras (eyes, clothing items). 

Price/Availability:  /5 
1- You are made of money and can find one or two sources that even sell online! Damn scalppers.... 
2 - Hard to find. Available online or from the rare collector. Easily 200%+ of its original value.
3 - Mostly available online only from few sellers. Expect to pay 125-150% of original value. 
4 -Available most places at standard price, or fewer places at a decent discount (10-50%). 
5- Either available everywhere at standard price, or heavily (50%+) discounted. 

Accessories:  /5
1 = No accessories, or 1 accessory. It may be lacking in some detail or paint. 
2 = 1-3 Accessories, usually extra weapons. Decent detail and/or paint. 
3 = 2-5 accessories. This may include extra hands or effects/swap-able pieces. 
4 = 5+: Extra hands, maybe a head, weapons and other good pieces.
5 = Nearly everything you could want given the character! All well done. 

Fun Factor: /5
1 = Figure is poorly balanced, many QC issues, difficult to pose in anything other than the standard standing "vanilla" pose. Likely to break with "over-play"
2 = Figure can balance, has some variety in poses. Solid, and unlikely to break with play. 
3 = Figure can balance in a variety of poses. looks good on the shelf, compares well to other figures in its line or universe. Very good aesthetic look and mix of glossy and matte.  
4 = Lots of fun, the way the sculpt and paint work out create a dynamic, solid figure that balances in tons of poses. May even be able to balance on one foot! 
5 = This is a top 10 figure. Tons of fun, great poseability. You'll probably never get rid of this figure, according to me anyway! 


Verdict:  /25
1-5: Poor: Not a good figure, even if you like collecting this particular type or line of figures. 
6-10: Limited: Fine for the completionist/hardcore collector, but basically you got a statue.
11-15: Okay: Some decent poseability or paint/sculpt and accessories. Limited options. 
16-20: Good: Pretty nice figure on its own merits, even if you lack interest in the line/character.
20-23: Great: Great aesthetic with lots of play, options and more. Get it right meow! 
24-25: Amazing: Is this what action figure Nirvana feels like?

This makes more sense and maybe my readers can more easily translate this into a % figure and/or something that is easier to think about than out of 40! 

Update: New Set up and Return!

Sorry readers that it has been so long (months!) since my last post. I recently moved to a new house and have finally got a fully dedicated hobby room! With some new shelves and a new lighting set up, I give you the new and improved Jay's Toy Shelf (Shelves even!). Expect some more regular posts to follow! 

Not one, but two Detolf shelves! 

SH Figuarts Naruto Collection (Minus Naruto as he is under review!)

DC Icons Shelf

Arkham Rogues Gallery shelf!

All the Batmen..plus allies!

First figures I started collecting after a few Arkham ones! 

Some random DC Collectibles and DC SH Figuarts!

My tiny tiny weensy Marvel Legends shelf!

Brief Hiatus!

So due to family visiting and summer vacationing, The Toy Shelf will be on temporary hiatus until the end of August. Hope everyone has a great rest of their summer!