What were the top 10 best collectables you got in in 2012? Doesn't have to be something that was released in 2012, but something that was new to you in 2012...

In no particular order:

Mutt & Junkyard v1. I got this thru an eBay auction from sgcaper. Mutt & Junkyard are my favorite character in Joe mythos, and the v1 was always one of my favorite from the entire line. When I got back into collecting, he was one of the first I got, but the 25th variation, a great homage, but I wanted v1. When I opened the package from sgcaper, my mind was immediately drawn back to my childhood collection and how I used Mutt all the time.


30th Sci-Fi. I thought this was a great update to a classic figure and Hasbro did a great job bringing him into the modern era.


Renegades Airtight Like Sci-Fi, a nice update to a figure who was left out of the 25th line. Having him be a Renegades figure was an interesting way to shoehorn him into the line as well as give us another character from the show besides the core characters.


The Defiant, Payload and Hard Top. This was Holy Grail number four for me. I traded the OG half of the Con set to a good friend of mine for the Defiant. He's one of those collectors that is getting out of the O-ring stuff and collecting mostly ME, and so is getting rid of a lot of the stuff that doesn't really fit in with the ME figures. The Defiant is complete, although dirty and broken in a few places, but I'm glad to finally have one. What I love most about the Defiant is all the great features it has, tons of little nooks and crannies everywhere. Payload is one of the neatest looking figures in the ARAH line with his space suit, helmet and MMU. He looks like a real astronaut. Hard Top is another great looking figure who looks good for his position in the ranks, and yes, I got both the pistol and boom mic.



Black M. Bison I got the Video Game versions of the Street Fighter figures just for the heckuvit. They are kinda cool looking and I was able to find almost all of them at once for a good price. I saw that there was a black version of M. Bison and thought he would actually fit in well with Cobra. My friend who had traded me the Defiant had made a Dio-Story explaining where the Crimson Shadow Guard came from and he used Bison as their leader (in his version, the CSG is like Internal Affairs for Cobra), so I decided to use him in the same way. He's a great looking, very authoritarian figure.


AT-TE Not all my collecting went to the Joes. MY same friend above had an AT-TE and I thought I needed to own one. I do have Joe related plans for it, but for now, it occupies part of the small Star Wars Collection for now. It reminds me of what made SW so great back in the day: electric lights and sounds, lots of neat play features lots of room for figures, etc plus, it's just a bad ass looking machine, I loved it ever since I saw it climb the walls of a mesa in the Clone Wars movie, a bit of stretch, but still a cool scene.


3 Pack Retaliation Roadblock OK, like pretty much everyone else, I call this guy Rock. This version from the three pack is just awesome, I love the black uniform, the black weapon and accessories and camo paint. He is just a great figure, despite the reduced articulation from what we've been used to from the last few years.


Collector's Club Footloose. Another figure released to fill a gap in the Modern Era line up, Footloose is a great ME representation of his v1 counterpart. His face is a bit more intense than what we come to know the character is like, but it still works. He is certainly better than the "Footloose" we got with the RoC desert five pack. That one was just plain lazy.


TRU Exclusive Speeder Bike and Biker Scout The Biker Scouts were always my favorite of the armor clad troops from the entire saga. The Speeder Bike was one of my favorite vehicles from the saga as well and I've owned every incarnation of it since the beginning. This speeder bike is probably best detailed an most real looking, though unfortunately is doesn't explode at the touch of a button like the Vintage and POTF versions. The Scout Trooper fits perfectly on the saddle and there's a clear stand that can be used to display the bike "in motion."


The Original 13 Collection I don't know what possessed me to want to get the whole first line, but I am so glad I did. Thanks to JoeCustoms member Little Dragon, I was able to get all the O13 Joes and O3 Cobras. Shortly after, I got the vehicles to complete the collection. These guys not only bring back the nostalgia of the 80s, but also act as a great reminder of why I love this line so much. Great looking sculpts, more articulation, awesome vehicles, the the card art, the file cards, so much play just in these sixteen figures and and vehicles could be had. Should the need arise that I'd need to sell my collection, I will still hold onto these guys (and Mutt and Junkyard).

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In no particular order, these are my top toys of the year.

Hot Toys Rescue Captain America - The First Avenger uniform looks good but to me the Rescue costume just strikes me as "Cap" and is my favorite look from that film. The figure is great and looks awesome on the WWII Indian I bought just for this figure.

Sideshow 212th Airborne Trooper - I just received this one a few weeks ago and while it has a few very minor imperfections it is still my favorite Clone Trooper from the prequels. The figure really works for me and I even picked up a second one to customize.

MU Commander Rogers 4" and 6" figures - I absolutely LOVE what Ed Brubaker and his art team have done with Captain America the last few years. When Steve Rogers returned from the dead but didn't immediately go back to being Captain America he took up this "Super Soldier" uniform and went on some superspy adventures in addition to leading S.H.I.E.L.D. This uniform is one of my favorite comic book redesigns and getting the figure in both 4" scale to go with my Joes and a 6" ML figure to fill out my ML Cap collection was awesome.

Hasbro's Avengers 4" line - All of my favorite Marvel movie heroes in one line, what's not to like? Well they also threw in some comic goodies like Ultimate Thor and the Skrull soldier. Yes the Iron Man armor is shorter than the IM2 figures but it really is nice to get the entire movie Avengers team in the same scale.

Hasbro SDCC Shockwave HISS w/ Destro and B.A.T. - I've never had a fondness for Shockwave or Destro but this set just speaks to me. The Retaliation HISS design is incredible even if it is overshadowed by it's POC predecessor but the purple and silver really make it pop. Throw in a great battle ready Destro and that deliciously bright neon green B.A.T. and you have a set that looks great on a shelf.

MOTU Classics - even with the hassles and headaches of Mattycollector.com this is still one of my favorite lines to collect. With the release of Sorceress early this year I was able to complete the collection of figures I had to have from this line. Everything else is just gravy. Throw in a sweet beast in the Griffon, the giant Procrustus and the preorder for Castle Grayskull coming next year and you have just a few of the reasons MOTUC is one of my top pics for 2012.

GI Joe Convention Set - I don't really care much either way for the Oktober Guard. But the Club managed to hook me into this set with the Iron Grenadiers and one of my childhood favorites in Voltar. Great variations on Destro's army and a fantastic 25th style update to Voltar.

Hot Toys The Avengers Nick Fury - It's Sam Jackson as Nick Fury. Need I say more? I had a customized 12" Fury that was a stand in until Hot Toys decided to make one and I happily retired it once I got the HT Fury in hand. The figure is everything I could want in a 12" movie universe Nick Fury. And the addition of a light up Tesseract in suitcase is just one of those extra things Hot Toys does to make these figures worth the high dollar amount they charge.

Sideshow 12" Utapau Clone Trooper - For some reason I've really grown to love the 212th Attack Battalion of the Grand Army of the Republic. I picked up the Clone Wars inspired Boil and Waxer set to stand with my Commander Cody, never thinking I'd have the chance to get the original 212th trooper (which commands big bucks on ebay). But fortune favors the patient and through some great timing I managed to get not 1 but 2 of this figure for my display (1 regular and 1 with the exclusive stand). My 12" 212th collection is now complete.

McFarlane Halo figures - I've never played the Halo games and don't own and XBox so I can't really explain my love of the Halo universe. With the switch from Reach to Halo 4 the figures have changed for the 3rd time in the time McFarlane has put them out. I have accumulated a nice little Spartan army of Reach style figures and added a few of the Halo 4 Spartans as well. I picked up 3 of the Warthog and 1 each of the weapon sets for them and plan to customize 2 of them at some point. And with the cryofreeze chambers and the awesome ODST drop pod I have enough fodder to make an incredible Halo display... eventually.

I'm sure there are more things I could list here but the topic called for a Top 10 so these are the ones that immediately came to mind. With G.I. Joe taking a hiatus for most of the year I was allowed to expand beyond and into other areas like 12" customizing and Halo armybuilding.

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Not sure if I can come up with 10, but for me:

(in no order)

30th Airtight
30th Law and Order
30th Lifeline
30th Sci-Fi
Renegades Cobra Trooper
Renegades Tunnel Rat
Resolute B.A.T.
Dreadnoks Battle Set (counting as one since its unopened)
Jungle B.A.T.
Ertl 1/50th Bobcat

So I did get to 10.

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Renegade Storm Shadow: The ultimate white ninja action figure. Almost like having Alexander Lou on your shelf.

Retaliation Red Ninja: The perfect ninja fodder

Retaliation Snake Eyes from Wave 2: Great modern interpretation of the iconic ninja commando

Dollar General GI Joe line: $6 GI Joe figures with basic equipment. Great selection of figures.

Renegade Trooper: Great generic trooper. Looks legit to maintain Cobra's business facade.

Renegade Duke: Excellent version of the character and the figure makes a great base to make so many others.

New Captain Action line: This line is so cool. Quality figure and the costumes are so much fun.

Playmobil Top Agent series: Spies and villains. Great sets and vehicles. So many possibilities.

Playmobil Mystery figures: They're just fun to collect.

Sleeping Dogs on XBox. Awesome games that keeps on giving

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In no real order

- PTE world peace keepers Little Bird gunship - I think I was so impressed with these guys from watching Black Hawk Down I knew I always wanted one! Now Wild Bill and AirBorne have a new ride!

-Renegades Airtight - I love how Hasbro took the new toon styling and tweeked it to pay serious homage to the original!

-Renegades Law and Order - See above (Airtight) and now Order looks like he could weather combat a bit better, also new bits like the vest, gunbelt and radio are pretty sweet

-POC Lifeline - All about the accessories and While its ok for Doc to be a pacifist my combat medic comes equipped to wade into the fight, which makes me happy. (BTW Does anyone else include doc with a weapon to defend against monsters, animnals and robots? Mine has a Colt 1911)

-POC Gen Hawk - Great Gear, good feild look for the character ad that case computer is sweet!

-BBTS Sets - Both filled some glaring holes in my collection

-30th Sky Striker - Never owned an orginal so it was a great pick up and has tons of play value

-DG Shipwreck - Great update to the character! my defacto now

DG Storm Shadow - Since SS has always been neutral/joe to me this was a great way to have him back on the team with his old 90s styling.

- Outpost Defender Road Block - purchased 2nd hand (thanks Goldbug) - great version of the character

- Retallion Dojo battle set for Rock and Beachhead - great well equipped versions of the characters

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In no particular order...

-Renegades Storm Shadow: One of the best Joe figures ever made, and especially impressive in a year where budget considerations were making Hasbro cut back on accessories and articulation. They certainly didn't half-ass this one, making it the only figure I didn't feel ripped off paying $10 for at retail.

-Sif: It's a real shame this figure didn't get a wider release. It's easily one of Hasbro's best female figures of any line.

-Lego Monster Fighters Vampyre Hearse: This is my first Lego set in many, many years. I got it for Christmas out of the blue, and I love it. I know it's passe to complain about how all Legos seem to be licensed properties these days, but it really is good to see a non-licensed theme. And an awesome one, at that.

-SW Republic Attack Shuttle: A SEVERELY underrated toy. It's a real shame that Hasbro decided to advertise this based on all of its goofy play features, because I think that drove a lot of people away from buying it. In reality, it is a perfect example of how play features should be done. None of them are intrusive. The wings that open into battlestations look perfectly fine closed up, and there are multiple 'realistic' ways to open the back troop hatch without using the stupid "turn it into an attack tower" feature. Really, if you can still find this somewhere, grab it.

-Slice Red Ninja from the Target 3 pack: Probably the closest we're going to get to an official Slice figure. I don't know why, since Hasbro has shown some Dice love recently, but no official Slice. Still, this is a great stand-in, and uses the Renegades Storm Shadow mold, which is always a plus.

-PotF2 Bantha: I don't know why, since it doesn't fit into any other part of my collection, but I love this thing. Picked it up at a flea market MIB.

-Masterpiece Thundercracker: Finally completed my MP Seeker collection without having to import anything (...I don't give a crap about Sunstorm, I just wanted the big 3). Getting this was even sweeter after a scalper here taunted me that I'd never get it unless I bought it from him for a ridiculous price (...or traded him SDCC exclusives).

-Sith Witch from Target 3 pack: I don't even like the Clone Wars figures, but this one is awesome. I've loved the concept art of the sith witch for years, and this figure is a perfect recreation of it.

-DG Snake Eyes: Always my favorite Snake Eyes design. Awesome to see it in modern-sculpt.

-Avengers Black Widow: Went back and forth on whether or not to have this on the list, since I'm still pissed about Avengers figures not having any torso or waist articulation, but other than that, this is a really solid figure and a great likeness.

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Preproduction Retaliation Wave 2 Roadblock, General Hawk was right this figure is amazing.

Dreadnok set Roadpig

Avengers Black Widow

MU Beta Ray Bill because well I never thought we'd get a Beta Ray Bill. Although the Beast from that wave is amazing too.

Ashiko Cycle, yeah I know people hate how it can't stay together in robot mode but the concept and cycle are pretty dang cool.

The Con OG set. Very nice set.

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Top of the bunch would be the Alduin/dragon shout wall that D hooked me up with on a serious solid. I have been wanting one since Bethesda debuted their image years ago.

Second would be the Schleich Shadowrock castle. This thing is huge and huge in awesomeness.

Third would be the clear Invisible Woman from the 4-pack. Bit a heavy bullet but she helped me complete a totally clear Predator gal custom.

Fourth would be the wealth of heads and weapons that Slayer Dave gave me at SlayerCon2. Aside from the most interesting and unique weapons, there was a great 1:18 Gimli, Aragorn, and Legolas head set. Most awesome.

Fifth and Sixth would be the Kili and Fili two pack, along with the Legolas and Tauriel pack. Good, solid two-packs with sweet accessories.

Seventh, the nice Safari-Papo Dragon Man mutant figure. The details are incredible and the lower jaw opens and closes. Good for any Dragonkin D&D adventures and big enough to make any adventurer nervous.

Eighth was MU Kraven the Hunter, which now became my new Conan custom buck due to the darker flesh and body type which was the same as Absorbing Man bases I used previously. The skull-knee boots are just icing on the cake.

Ninth was a SW Dewback that I had found loose at the comic book store in their $5 bin. A real find since all the kit was with it (bridle and such).

Tenth was one that was in front of me the whole time, which was the MU Black Widow. Been making Drow women from painted Mystiques when I had the great base body in front of me the entire time. From neck to feet she's ready with no painting, which is a plus for me.

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Boy, am I glad we're allowing group entries on this. In no particular order:

Walmart 6" Avengers figures. Only thing that would've made these cooler is if we could've gotten a Black Widow figure in it. And that Hulk -- dare I say it -- incredible!

2012 G.I. Joe Convention Set. Proof that the Club is determined to give us some very cool modern-style figures that are just not terribly likely to happen any other way. Of course I am first and foremost an ARAH fan, and I am very pleased that we have the Guard in that format, but I am also pleased that the Guard has entered the modern era as well.

DC Universe Signature Series. The only place to get DC Universe action figures that aren't part of the horrific "New 52", and really, even those haven't been seen at retail. But we got seriously cool figures like Jay Garrick (long overdue), Metron (also long overdue), Rocket Red, Poison Ivy, Mirror Master (come on, give us Weather Wizard), and the Doom Patrol and the Metal Men were pretty well rounded out.

Masters of the Universe Classics. Okay, there were some oddball characters (Dekker!??!), but on the whole, these figures are the ultimate incarnation of the Masters. Needless to say I am delighted that both the Masters and the DC line are continuing into 2013.

Transformers Convention Classics-style Action Master-colored Thundercracker. Managed to find one of these on eBay for a reasonable price. It's just such a wild-looking Transformer that I had to have it. Now, if we'd just get Sunstorm...

SDCC Shockwave HISS Tank with Destro and Constructicon B.A.T. Let's see, take one of my favorite Decepticons, turn him into a HISS Tank, throw in an interesting Destro with a Decepticon emblem on his uniform, and a VERY interesting Battle Android Trooper -- heck, yeah, I had to have this. Took some doing, but I got it.

Various modern-style Joes based on longtime favorites. This would include Sci-Fi, Airtight, the Techno-Viper, Lifeline, Barbecue (a Christmas gift from a friend), and the Cobra Lamprey (I couldn't afford the entire "Defense of Cobra Island" set, but I snagged a Lamprey and am extremely impressed!), and that Dreadnoks 7-pack. Finally a figure of Zanya!

Transformers Generations Imports at TRU. The Generations line needs to be reinstated far beyond this, but I'm certainly not complaining about getting cool Generations toys of the likes of Wheelie, Hot Spot, and a few others.

Avengers 4" Skrull Soldier. Best Skrull ever. Cool army builder if you can afford it, and many times more interesting (and better articulated) than that Chitauri Warrior.

Dollar General G.I. Joes. Not easily acquired, but nevertheless acquired with a little help from some friends. With the odd situation regarding the movie and its toys, these were a good new item to enjoy, if you could track them down, and the line certainly gave us modern versions of characters like Storm Shadow, Shipwreck, Snake-Eyes, and others that we would not have likely otherwise seen.

Biggest, most pleasant surprise of the year has been the Hobbit line by Bridge Direct. Kind of renewed my waning interest in figures.

Marvel Universe. When I've been able to find them, they have been pretty consistently great this year. Both as what they were supposed to be and as custom fodder.

30th Sci-Fi, Lifeline and Airtight were a great finale for the Joe line. At least if my guess about how distribution will doom the Retaliation toys proves accurate.

And I'll also be grateful for most of the other Renegades and 30th figures we got. They make great custom fodder.

lifeline
sci fi
airtight
renegades storm shadow
dollar general storm shadow
retaliation joe trooper
staduster mini comics
convention oktober guard Daina
con shrage
vintage python patrol

Most of my toy purchases now are figure lots to make customs of, but I did buy a few playsets this year.

1. Marx Navarone playset. This thing is so damned cool. It's technically scaled to little green army men, but Joes can stand up inside of it.

2. Indiana Jones Akator (sp?) playset. A repaint and rework of the Mustafar playset, it's surprisingly well done.

3. Jurassic Park Command Center. I didn't get the whole thing, just the main shell. Pretty nifty.

I'd love to see that display, as the lull in Joe product (and reading the Halo novels for the first time) really re-sparked my interest in the Halo:Reach and Anniversary figures.

I'll have to take a look at what I actually purchased in 2012 and get back to this.

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Just a few additional thoughts:

Suburbanator, definitely agree with you about Payload. Easily the best Joe Astronaut ever! Great pictures you took, too.

I probably should've mentioned the SkyStriker myself (thank you, MobileBattleBunker), since my original one was long ago damaged. This one was a more than agreeable replacement.

Spin Doctor, I really hope you're wrong about the future of G.I. Joe. 2014 is the 50th anniversary of G.I. Joe. It'd really suck if 2013 was really the end of the line.

Since the distribution problem is brought up every year or even with every new assortments, maybe it would be time for Hasbro to find a real solution, like perhaps selling online directly to the consumers. Cut the middle man since the middle man (Wally) tries to dictate how the game is played anyways.

Maybe the Club could secure full waves for it's members. (Duh!)
What a great perk it would be for members of the GI Joe Club to actually be guaranteed the possibility to buy every figures without worrying about availability in stores or online scalping prices.

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