We’re going to be doing a lot of 2025 catch-up here as Christmas always slows things down. Toy producers also like to push product for the holidays so I seem to always end up with a backlog at the end of the year. Especially when stores are doing generous sales and convincing me to buy product I had already passed on. Stuff like today’s subject, the Marvel Legends Gamerverse two-pack of Captain America and Venom.
We’ve already looked at one release in this series which was the excellent Wolverine and the not so excellent Silver Samurai. The draw for me with that set was the all new Wolverine that quite resembles his sprite from the Marvel vs Capcom series of games. With this release, we get a very familiar Venom and a not so familiar Cap. I’m a Venom fan so I’m always a little tempted whenever a new one comes around and this being Hasbro’s first blue Venom did catch my eye, but I was willing to pass. As for Cap, I’ve never been a Captain America fan. He was one of the lame heroes of my youth and I only remember one kid who actually liked the character. On the other hand, I do like blue and when you have a hero with a lot of blue that gets my attention and this Cap very much got my attention. Not to the tune of $60 though, or whatever the MSRP was when this thing landed at retail. Then Target had some sale and I had reward money when this thing was in-stock at my local store making my price a whopping $16. For $8 a figure, basically 2005 Legends pricing, you’re damn right I was willing to take a look at this one.
He’s not just a blue version of the figure on the left.
Let’s get Venom out of the way first since he very much resembles 2024’s Walmart exclusive retro-card Venom. At least, at first blush. The only parts this figure actually shares with that one (and other Venom figures) are the legs and hands. The torso and arms have actually been redone as this one goes with the old hinged-ball peg setup at the head. The musculature is slightly different, less vascular, and he has pin-less arms and no veins around the forearm. Like the animated Venom, the spider logo on the back has been squished to fit inside the butterfly joint which is fine while the logo on the front more comfortably fits inside the same joint. The shoulders are bigger which makes a big difference with the silhouette making this the best Venom body Hasbro has done. It’s just a shame they didn’t make the legs pin-less to match. The new torso does make this Venom slightly taller than the old one as he stands at about 7.125″ to the top of his “masked” head.
The spider logo could have used another coat.It’s a neat portrait, but is it one we really need for a video game Venom?
What obviously stands out most though is the color. This Venom is a light blue which is fairly similar to the in-game sprite. Venom, for a long time, was always colored blue in the comics and shaded with black as comic artists often do for characters that wear all black so I’ve always liked this blue look for him. My ideal would be a darker blue that’s shaded like the art of Mark Bagley, but this is still neat to see in figure form. The default head is the Eddie head in mid-transformation which I think originated in a 3-pack. The symbiote section is new sculpt to better match the look of this version and the overall look is actually pretty impressive. The alternate head is a Venom with his green-drool covered tongue protruding. The severe underbite and shape of the eyes is very much evocative of the game art, though thinner and more elongated than the actual sprite. The only negative with the presentation is the little used white paint. The opacity of the spider logo is fine in the middle, but the legs are too thin and a lot of blue pokes through. The paint for the eyes is hardly pristine and the white paint on the hands suffers from the same opacity issues, though not as severe as the spider legs. We might as well get the accessories out of the way now too as he only comes with two clawing hands and two fists.
I think this Cap can work fine as a comic Cap if you don’t care about the scale mail.
Even though I’ve always been a Venom fan, to my surprise it was Captain America that drew me to this set. Something about this shade of blue hooked me and the way it plays off of the red and white. It’s a clean version of Captain America’s suit as there are no sculpted textures for scale mail. It conforms to the video game look, but it also conjures up memories of his cartoon appearances for me. What also got me though is the sculpt. I don’t have any other Captain America figures, the last one I bought was the series 8 Ultimate Captain America back in 2004, so I can’t say for sure how much of this figure is reuse and how much is new. There have been quite a few Caps recently, the Secret Wars one and the 20th anniversary to name just two, and I assume some of these parts come from there. The torso must be new for it to not be textured and the proportions for it and the arms are terrific. This is what I want Legends to look like. The chest is broad and the shoulders large. There’s enough thickness front to back so he doesn’t have that pancake look. He has classic heroic proportions, something the ever popular Vulcan body lacks.
The white on his shield could be better.
The paint and colors are mostly okay as well. I already said I love this blue and it’s largely colored plastic. There is a slight variation between the blue of the chest and the blue of the arms. In most lighting it’s barely noticeable, under brighter lights the arms are noticeably lighter which also includes the portion of the chest comprised by the butterfly joints. The paint on the face and head is pretty good as is the paint on the abdomen. The white star on the chest suffers some of the same issue as Venom with the opacity, but it’s not as severe an issue. The gloves and boots are molded in red and possess a nice, matte, finish. The only visual issue I have with the figure is that the wings on the sides of his head are not perfectly symmetrical. It’s minor, but also one of those things that once seen cannot be unseen.
Caps shield rush effect part works very well.
Cap does a little better than Venom in the accessory department. He has an alternate portrait with a yelling expression which is fine, though I’d have preferred something else. Maybe teeth gritting which I feel like shows up in the game more often or a smile as that would pair with his extra hands. By default, Cap has fists, but he can also switch to a thumbs up gesture. I want to say this is from his victory pose and it’s fine, but I don’t think we needed two. An open hand would have been nice to pair with his main accessory – his shield. What is Cap without his shield? This is a pretty standard one. I’ve seen some complaints that it’s too small and that may be so, but it doesn’t really bother me. It has the usual clip for the wrist that can toggle to a peg and plug into his back. Like the main figure, the opacity of the white is not the greatest and more in-line with what we saw on Venom, but the printing is at least clean. It also has an effect, a piece of translucent, blue, plastic that can clip over the shield. There are sculpted motion lines on the part for his shield rush attack and the center of it has less color than the edges. It actually looks really cool and is a perfect accessory for this set. It’s just a shame that Venom couldn’t get a game-specific accessory too.
Venom can pretty much hit some semblance of his stance in the game which is about all that’s required.
The articulation for Venom is basically the exact same as the prior Venom I already looked at with the exception of the hinged head. This lets him get into a stance resembling his default one in the game. The ball joint in the torso seems to have a little more range as well, but everything else is the same. As for Cap, he’s a little less articulated owing to an inferior torso setup. He has the ball hinge head and his butterfly joints work pretty well. The pin-less, double-jointed elbows and knees work as expected though his bulky arms give him less than 90 degrees at the elbow. The thing I don’t like is the torso though which has a perfect design to include a ball joint in the midsection. Instead, he just has an ab crunch with a waist swivel. If this guy had the same setup as Gamerverse Wolverine it would have taken him to the next level and would probably be as good as any Captain America figure ever needed to be, but instead it’s got an easy to improve upon flaw for whenever Hasbro wants to give us a Maximum Captain America and charge $50 for the privilege of owning it.
The “Gamerverse” is coming together.
As a $60 two-pack, this release is a bit of a hard sell. Do you really need a Venom in blue even if it is a minor improvement over the most recent release? Surely, if you prefer black this Venom body will see a re-release. Plus it still has that ab crunch which could be improved upon. The Cap is for those who don’t necessarily need or want the scale mail texture. The extra effect part for the shield is also nice, though very game-specific. If you don’t care about the video games it hails from, then you may not value it much. Now, if you are a big fan of the Capcom games then this set holds some added appeal. It’s a solid likeness found in the games and only Venom’s lack of a game-specific accessory hampers that. If you don’t have a past release of either character, it’s certainly more enticing, but still overpriced at $60. If you can get it for less then it quickly becomes a far better value. I got it down to a lowly $16, but it would have been worth it at far more. I would say $50 is the magic number and anything less is a good deal. I’m quite happy with it, even Venom, and I just love how they pop in my display. They’ve been my desk figures for weeks and they may remain there for a bit longer too. If this set appeals to you on a visual level then I think you’ll find plenty to enjoy.
Of course, no Gamerverse could be complete without these guys.
For more from Marvel Legends and the MvC games check these out:
Video game inspired action figures are quite the hot ticket right now. I’m not entirely sure why that is, but maybe some of that is owed to Jada Toys and how well received their line of Ultra Street Fighter 2 action figures have been received. Hasbro, for their part, has had a “Gamerverse” subline of…
On Tuesday, I posted a review for the NECA TMNT Adventures Cryin’ Houn’ action figure, a figure that debuted during this year’s edition of Walmart Collector Con. Today, we’re looking at a true exclusive from that event. Cryin’ Houn’, and a lot of other figures released that day, were basically a first to market agreement…
One of my most anticipated releases of 2025 came out of no where. I was a kid during the early 90s and into video games so I know a thing or two about Street Fighter. Street Fighter II was everywhere and is pretty much the reason why the one-on-one fighting game became a huge genre…
Just about every iteration of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has its own Shredder. He’s the big bad villain of the franchise despite having the dubious honor of being killed off in the very first issue of the comic book series. For the 2012 series, Shredder was back as the head of a crime syndicate and portrayed as a brutal, ruthless, threat to the good guys. Gone are the days of the Shredder surrounded by moronic henchmen entrusted with far too much responsibility. This Shredder is violent and enjoys inflicting harm upon his adversaries, both physical and psychological. There is no redeeming quality to him and he’s quite good at what he does. And if you’re going to have a figure line based on this version of the franchise, you have to do him justice.
This Shredder is not the screwball these other two are.
The Shredder is the sixth figure in NECA’s line based on the 2012 animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Despite that distinction, he’s the fifth release and I suspect the only reason why he’s numbered six is because it worked better for the mural that’s being displayed via the spine of the box art. This is a sculpt attributed to a trio of individuals/entities: Daniel Katcher, Richard Force, and Kushwara Studios. Nicole Falk is credited with tailoring the soft goods cape and Ciro Nieli handled the box art. Paint is credited to Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo.
That’s a lot worse than a rat scratch.
Shredder towers over the turtles in this line coming in at approximately 7.125″ to the top of the dome of his helmet. He’s a broad shouldered, but somewhat slender, Shredder perhaps having more in common with the Mirage portrayals of the character than appears at first blush. He’s still adorned with armor and lots of bladed features. The blades of his shoulders jut out from his body as opposed to vertically and his gauntlets are almost ludicrously large. The garment he wears beneath his armor is a dark magenta while the armored bits are done with a shiny silver. Those spikes are all rigid and sharp. He looks pretty on-model, though as one of those characters often obscured by shadows in the show it can make it a touch hard to determine just how on-model he is without pulling out numerous stills and production art. If anything, his arms and chest might be a little larger in figure form than it is in the show, but since it adds to his presence I’m not considering that a negative.
He can also get angry. And stabby.
The paint on Shredder is fairly rudimentary not calling for a lot of pizzazz, with one exception. Underneath the removable helmet is the burned visage of Oroku Saki. He’s pretty ugly looking and NECA did a good job of capturing that. He has an alternate portrait which portrays him as more angry and it’s every bit as good, though won’t really change the look of the figure once the helmet is put back on. The colors all match well whether they’re painted or not and there’s no obvious paint slop anywhere on my figure. Some of the finer details are less than perfect, but certainly acceptable for a mass-produced item. The cape is pretty plain as most NECA capes tend to be. It’s just a thin, black, material though there is a wire through it, just probably not where you want it to be. The wire is merely at the top of the cape and used to hook the cape under the pauldrons. It’s easy to take on and off, but it’s a shame NECA won’t do fully wired capes for posing.
They have no chance one-on-one with Shredder.
Aside from the alternate portrait, Shredder comes with three sets of hands: fists, gripping, and relaxed. For weapons, he has six blades to make use of. In the show, Shredder had retractable blades built into his gauntlets which were his weapons of choice. He has two long ones and one central blade with a diamond-shaped point. You get four of the long blades and two of the center blades which just plug into his gauntlets. You can fit all three into each hand at once, but it is a little busy looking and I don’t think he ever went into battle in such a manner. He also comes with a lone Kraang alien. The little guy looks the part and is well-sculpted as well as well-painted, but not articulated. One set of tentacles is shaped into a curve while the other set is more flat which makes it a challenge to do much with if it’s not being held. I’m guessing we’ll be seeing this guy, or variations on him, quite a bit if this line endures.
I don’t like the B Team’s chances here.
Shredder’s articulation is fairly basic and likely what someone familiar with NECA would expect. The head is on a double ball peg, though it’s limited a bit by the helmet. The arms feature joints at the shoulders, biceps, elbows, and wrists while the torso just has a waist joint. That waist joint is a ball joint, but because of the shape of his breastplate it can’t do much. Range rotating is extremely limited and he can’t crunch forward much and only tilt back a little bit. The bicep swivels are a little odd looking, like his shoulders are a touch too small, which may limit their range as well if you don’t like how they look. Hips are standard ball-joints with a thigh swivel and they work fine. Knees are double-jointed and the ankles hinge and rock. My figure does have some stuck and stubborn joints. The top elbow hinge on both arms doesn’t want to do much while the left ankle was also problematic. The gauntlets can rotate which is nice and the boots swivel too so you can keep the armor lined up with your posing.
Shredder is proof that the good guys don’t always win.
Shredder is going to be pretty limited when it comes to posing. Mine also seems to have a loose right ankle and he’s a challenge to stand sometimes. He also already took a shelf dive and his right pauldron broke off which is irksome. I had him in a pretty vanilla pose too. The torso is aggravating because NECA could have tweaked his design just a little bit to keep that breastplate from causing a problem, but opted to just plow forward with it the way it is. I always make it a point to mention that NECA prioritizes the aesthetics over articulation as I think that’s their right as action figure makers, but sometimes they go too far. There are very minor sacrifices they could be making to improve the experience, but they choose not to do so. I have probably over a hundred NECA figures at this point and I suppose some NECA fatigue is setting in. Rarely am I impressed with what I get because so often the figures just meet my expectations as opposed to exceeding them. I don’t think it’s a requirement that every figure need to blow me away or anything, but it would be nice to be pleasantly surprised once in awhile.
Thankfully, Shredder doesn’t need incredible articulation to have shelf presence.
Shredder is a B+ entry in the line. He looks like the character and is pretty menacing, he’s just not at all fun to mess around with. Some of that is the character design as there are lots of sharp things to avoid and the blades have a tendency to fall out. And then some of that is just on the engineering for a figure that can’t do a whole lot. Most will likely just have him stand there on their shelf and that will be that. And that’s what I plan to do with him. I have no plans on going too deep with this line, but I knew I wanted a Shredder to go with the turtles. This mostly gets the job done.
If you missed the rest of the 2012 NECA TMNT toy line coverage then check these out:
After a bit of a hiatus due to the Christmas holiday, we have reached the last of the four brothers from NECA Toys’ line of action figures based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the 2012 animated series that aired on Nickelodeon. And who better to save for last than the party dude himself: Michelangelo. Mikey…
We are onto the third member of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its everyone’s favorite hot head. Raphael got softened for the 1987 cartoon series to make him sarcastic and a bit of a goof-off. He didn’t take anything too seriously and had a certain dry wit about him. It’s quite different from his…
We were able to get through some of the logistics of this line with Leonardo, so for this second review we can just get right to it. One of the best decisions the 2012 iteration of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made was bringing back veteran voice actor Rob Paulsen. He’s voiced countless characters over the…
It’s the end of the year so that means it’s time for year-end awards and accolades. It’s easy content and who doesn’t enjoy reflecting on another year gone by? Unless, of course, that year was a bad one. I don’t think 2025 is going to go down in history as a particularly good year, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some great toys released or announced. I don’t always do posts like this, but I felt like I did a lot of toy reviews this year so it felt warranted. It was also interesting because some staples, like NECA’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon line, didn’t put out a ton of figures. And yet I still managed to have reviews up almost weekly this year. I have a bunch coming in early 2026 as we play catch-up, but that’s probably true most years. It did feel like this year in particular had a heavy dose of releases at the end of the year and I think I know why – which I’ll get to momentarily. My rules for this list are pretty simple though: if it came out in 2025 and I got it then it’s eligible. Even if I haven’t technically posted the review yet. And since I’m based in the US, it’s all US release windows so if Asia was enjoying something at the end of 2024 that didn’t arrive at my house until 2025 then it’s fair game for me. Now, let’s get started with an atypical category:
The Storyline of the Year – Tariffs
Yes, those wonderful tariffs are being brought up again, but hopefully it’s the last I need to say about it until they’re gone. The “brilliant” strategy of the new administration in the US was to tax the hell out of imports because someone convinced the president that a trade deficit is akin to being robbed. It’s not. And even though tariffs are paid by those who are doing the importing, it’s a regressive tax that is passed onto the general public either in whole or in part. It varies from company to company, but it also created a bottleneck in shipping and some packages have been tossed or seized for “reasons.” I had one seized, but was fortunate the shipper re-sent without any additional charge to me, but it has meant I’m on week 6 for a package that still isn’t here as of this writing. I’ll tell that story when I get to the figure review. Anyway, tariffs have had a huge negative impact on a lot of industries this year and I’m not going to pretend that my hobby is the worst affected, but it still sucks and continues to suck as we head into 2026.
Reveal of the Year – Mondo X-Men ’97 Beast
He looks so good!
I don’t know why, but it feels like we’re always waiting on a toy company to deliver some version of Beast. Back in the early days of Toy Biz, Beast was one of the last characters featured in the cartoon series to make it to plastic (poor Jean had to wait even longer for a non Phoenix version) and current Marvel Legends collectors are waiting on him to finish up the X-Factor squad (they may technically be waiting on a properly costumed Angel too). With Mondo’s X-Men and X-Men ’97 line of sixth scale figures, we’re still waiting on Storm, Jean, Morph, and Beast, but in 2025 all but Morph were shown. Storm already went up for preorder too and I think Beast is expected next. Mondo showed him off in their end of year stream (they had previously announced and displayed him at a convention) and he looks fabulous. We’ve never had a proper animated Beast. The last one Hasbro did is good, but the portrait isn’t right for that version of the character. Animated Beast never had those whited-out eyes which I have always felt was inappropriate for the character as the pupils show the human within the beast. I’m a little afraid of how much a chunky boy like Beast is going to cost, but I can’t wait to add him to my collection in 2026!
Honorable Mentions: Mondo Squad Rocko’s Modern Life, Big Bad Workshop The Tick, Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Apocalypse
Worst Toy Line of the Year – Jakks Pacific The Simpsons
Jakks got to take over The Simpsons from Super7 which meant more releases at a much cheaper price. Their output has been fine. I have nits to pick with them as I do most things, but for the price it’s hard to complain. What lands Jakks on this list though is just how damn frustrating the line is to collect. My local stores never got anything past Wave 2 until very recently when they got Wave 4. I was able to snag a Barney off of Target’s website, but nothing else from his wave has shown up in store for me or online and it’s very annoying. I’ve basically “quiet quit” the line as I’m not paying scalper prices for them or blowing a ton of gas riding around hoping to find them because the on-line inventory tracking is so poor.
Honorable Mentions: None
Figure I wish Arrived in 2025 – S.H.Figuarts Gamerverse Cyclops
A weird thing happened in 2025. Two companies, Hasbro and Bandai, decided to unleash upon us a “Gamerverse” line of figures. Hasbro has been doing that for years, but mostly for the Spider-Man games on PlayStation. In 2025, both companies are dipping their toes into Marvel vs Capcom and, oddly enough, both are focusing on the Marvel side of that equation. For Hasbro, it’s not a surprise as they don’t have a license for anything Capcom, but Bandai has been doing Street Fighter figures for years. Maybe they’ll get to more from them, but thus far we’ve only seen Marvel and sneaking out in Asia just before the end of the year is the first figure in the line – Cyclops. There are some things about the figure I’d change based on what I’ve seen so far, but overall I think he looks like the best Cyke that’s ever been. I like the Legends Cyclops I have from the VHS styled line of X-Men figures, but that one came with almost nothing. The X-Men ’97 one comes with some effect parts, but it looks horrible. This one may be the last Cyclops I’ll ever need so I’m really eager to see how he looks and moves in person.
Honorable Mentions: S.H.Figuarts Across the Spider-Verse Scarlet Spider, Storm Arena Street Fighter Alpha 3 Sagat
Debuting Toy Line of the Year – Storm Arena Street Fighter Alpha 3
Storm Collectibles has been releasing figures based on Capcom properties for years, but always in a weird scale and for a large sum of money. Perhaps feeling pressure from Jada Toys, Storm decided to launch a new line in 2025 based on designs from Street Fighter Alpha 3 and this time they were finally listening to fans. The Storm Arena line is a true 1:12 scale action figure line where each figure comes with alternate hands, portraits, a stand, and effect parts and for the low price of $26! I honestly didn’t see this one coming. Larger characters, like Sagat who is due any day now, will retail for more, but still at a hell of a price in today’s market. And the figures do not sacrifice anything as far as I can tell. The sculpts are terrific, the articulation is excellent, and they even retained that soft plastic torso Storm loves to use. They only managed to release two figures in 2025 and they’re basically the same figure with different heads – Ken and Ryu, and yet I was tempted to make them Line of the Year anyway. They are that good and I can’t wait to see how Sagat turned out. 2026 could really be the year this line takes off.
Honorable Mention: NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), Marvel Legends “Not Marvel vs Capcom” Gamerverse, InArt The Dark Knight Rises, Mondo The Real Ghostbusters
Most Disappointing Cancellation of the Year – Super7 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Vintage)
Super7 did not have a good 2025, but it did manage to finally make it’s long-planned pivot to action figures based on the 2003 version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, though how long-planned that was we don’t know. When Super7 first announced they were doing figures based on that show it was supposed to be in conjunction with their line of vintage-inspired TMNT. The release pattern would go Vintage, 2003, Vintage, 2003, etc. Well, plans apparently changed as Super7 clarified things to say the vintage-inspired line is “on pause.” I don’t know about you, but anytime I’ve seen a toy line described as being on pause the phrase has been synonymous with cancelled. Other than Marvel Legends, which saw Hasbro pivot to a 1:18 scale line when oil prices were incredibly high, I can’t think of another line that came back. Maybe Super7 will buck the trend, but it’s disappointing because there are some Technodrome-sized holes in the collection headlined (for me) by Heavy Metal Raph. We know Super7 was running into issues with Playmates who did not like them recreating their figures, but this is a case where the company needs to take a stand and go to bat for its collectors. Paramount wanted them to do 2003 which is fine, but they should have negotiated at least one final wave to give their fans what they have been waiting for. They managed to do it for Rat King, surely they could have for the rest.
Dishonorable Mention: NECA Gargoyles
Toy Line of the Year – JoyToy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
This is a line I never saw coming. When JoyToy first showed off their 1:18 scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I was very much intrigued, but thought they would mostly be a one-off in my collection. Then came Shredder, Bebop, Rocksteady, April, Krang, and on and on it went. JoyToy pumped out a ton in this line in 2025 and there’s still more on the way including a 1:18 scale Turtle Van! And it’s not just the volume of releases, but the quality. These figures have a ton of unique sculpt, accessories, and paint and the roster is basically complete even if the line came to a sudden end today. We got freakin’ Zork already – that’s insane! Trying to pick a favorite is almost a pointless exercise and it’s the line I’m basically most excited for when a new reveal is announced because I never know what to expect. If you dismissed this line because of the scale or because it’s a little bit of a chore to collect due to the restrictions then I suggest giving it another look. It’s really been phenomenal.
Honorable Mentions: Storm Arena, Mondo The Real Ghostbusters
Worst Company of 2025 – Super7
All of that stuff I said about Super7’s vintage-inspired Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line can basically be copied and pasted here, but that doesn’t really tell the whole story. Not only did Super7 bungle some of their lines, they also laid off a huge chunk of their workforce and closed their retail locations. I get it, things must not be going well there and tariffs certainly didn’t help, but they dumped some of the people responsible for what little success they’ve had in recent years which didn’t make a whole lot of sense. And they’re still just doing stupid stuff with their line. They are expected to deliver wave 2 of the 2003 TMNT line in the coming weeks, but wave 3 consists of Hun, April, and a Raph with a motorcycle – who asked for that?! And their prices continue to climb where now it seems like $65 is the new norm for them and the figures hardly live up to the term “Ultimate” anymore. They are in a price point all on their own that is grossly out of touch with the wider market. I have no idea how they survive 2026 at this point. I’m not rooting for them to fail, just expecting it.
Honorable Mention: None
Worst Figure I Reviewed in 2025: Super7 Ultimates! Ghost Papa Emeritus IV
I call him Mr. Frumpy.
Probably no surprise that my pick for worst company of the year is also responsible for the worst toy I reviewed in 2025. This Papa Emeritus isn’t terrible on its own. It’s the same body we’ve seen before with a few tweaks, but the blatant false advertising really stuck in my craw. The base figure is merely okay. It looks a little cheap especially considering the price, but is a decent likeness. With the soft goods though it just looks frumpy and awful. The solicitations they sent out for the figure with the soft goods look nothing like the final version. I don’t expect any release to precisely match a promotional shot, especially one using digital renders of a figure and not a prototype, but there’s a limit and Super7 betrayed its fanbase with this one. And yet, I still ordered Papa V Perpetua with the hope it will actually resemble the figure I purchased so clearly I’m part of the problem.
Action Figure of the Year – The Runners Up
Marvel Legends Gamerverse Wolverine – this figure is a blueprint for what I want to see from Marvel Legends going forward. The sculpt is unique and appropriate for this version of Wolverine, but mostly it’s the articulation. They finally went with the double-ball peg joint in the diaphragm and combined it with a ball joint at the waist. No more ugly ab crunch. The only thing that sucked about this release is you had to also pay for a crappy Silver Samurai since it was sold in a two-pack.
Mondo X-Men ’97 Nightcrawler – a sixth scale figure would have to be really special to take the top spot, but Nightcrawler came close. Maybe if I had been able to get the limited version, or if the economic conditions didn’t push the price to over $300 for the same, I’d have given it to Nightcrawler, but runner-up isn’t bad. This figure looks impressive, as all Mondo figures do, but it does something most don’t which is they made it fun to pose. Even their Spider-Man couldn’t manage that. Look for the full review in the coming weeks.
JoyToy Groundchuck – I said it was hard to select just one figure from JoyToy’s excellent line of TMNT figures, but if I had to pick one it would be Groundchuck. Not only does he look impressive, he comes with so many tremendously fun accessories. I love it when an action figure creates a dilemma for me when it comes to displaying it on my shelf and this one qualifies. I currently have him with three effect parts attached which is kind of ludicrous, but oh so much fun!
Action Figure of 2025 – InArt The Dark Knight Rises Batman
Queen Studios really came out of no where for me. I wasn’t asking for a Batman based on The Dark Knight Rises, but this figure looked so damn good that I couldn’t say “No.” This is, quite simply, one of the best 1:12 scale figures I’ve ever had the pleasure of handling. The sculpt is incredible, the likeness is spot-on, and the articulation is great. If you got the deluxe version then you also got a ton of accessories as well. In a way, it has the opposite problem for me when compared with the JoyToy Groundchuck in that he just looks so cool standing in a vanilla pose that I am not tempted to pose him with anything else. The shortcomings with this release are few – the alternate portraits are too similar, no wired cape, and it’s not sold in the US. It was still relatively easy to import for under $100, which while not cheap, actually feels worth it compared with other figures in that price range (it’s cheaper and likely better than what Mezco is prepping). While it’s not exactly fair to compare such a figure to one that costs $25, this one is so exceptional that it just had to be it. It’s so good that they got me to preorder their next Batman based on Arkham Origins even though that’s another figure I wasn’t asking for and they damn near got me with their Dark Knight Rises Catwoman. I expect it to be every bit as good as this one too. Keep your eyes on Queen Studios and their InArt line because they are making some terrific stuff.
If you want to read more about the best figures of 2025 then check these out:
Is this a review I really need to do? Probably not, but I’m doing it anyway. Queen Studios wasn’t a shop that was on my radar going into 2025. I’m guessing that’s true for a lot of folks and that’s probably why they had a media blitz when it came time to promote their brand…
Video game inspired action figures are quite the hot ticket right now. I’m not entirely sure why that is, but maybe some of that is owed to Jada Toys and how well received their line of Ultra Street Fighter 2 action figures have been received. Hasbro, for their part, has had a “Gamerverse” subline of…
Last week we had ourselves a look at Dirtbag from JoyToy’s line of 1:18 scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures. As most probably expected, we’re back this week with a look at his buddy Groundchuck, the mutant bull that could have very easily been named Bull’s Eye, but maybe Playmates felt that was too…
When X-Men premiered on Halloween 1992 the big bad guy of the day wasn’t Magneto, it wasn’t Apocalypse, it was the Sentinels. The mutant-hunting robots were chosen because they represented the threat from humanity as it pertained to the protagonists of the show. Any show or comic book can put some scary dude in a cape and call him the bad guy, but X-Men wanted you to know that the biggest threat out there for the heroes was humanity itself which had allowed its fear and bigotry to manifest itself in the form of giant, killer, robots. It sounds kind of crazy, even silly, but it worked as those cold, detached, humanoid robots stalked a young girl and even killed one of the X-Men. And when it came time to bring the X-Men back for X-Men ’97 it was decided pretty early on that the Sentinels needed to be a focal point of that return season.
So…this guy is so big my background is basically useless. And I even cut off the top of his head in this comparison with a standard Marvel Legends release and a Mondo sixth scale one.
The Sentinels, being 30′ robots have never made for easy toys or action figures. Back in the old days, there was a Sentinel toy that was probably 14″ tall or so and was more of a play thing than something that looked cool or intimidating. The legs didn’t move, it had blast off hands and toes, and there was a retractable claw on one hand. It seemed almost lame even to me, but I still bought it when I had 20 bucks burning a hole in my pocket. In the Marvel Legends era, the Sentinel was the second build-a-figure and was the first I completed. It was more of a modern look, but still cool and I hung onto it for a long time until eventually selling it when I thought I was done with Marvel toy collecting (hah!). More recently, we’ve had a HasLab Sentinel, smaller arcade game Sentinels, and now this new made-to-order one. The HasLab model has been basically Hasbro’s crowd funding way to make more riskier products. It has always struck me as ridiculous that a company the size of Hasbro needs to resort to crowd-funding for anything, but the model has worked mostly well save for a failure here and there. The newer made-to-order model is simpler and something that strikes me as a better way to do things. They put a product up for a price and if you want it you order it, and if you don’t you don’t. It took about 14 months for fulfillment, but the Sentinel is here and hopefully it’s spectacular.
The battle damaged face looks great and is good for punching.
The Sentinel retailed for $175 direct from Hasbro with free shipping. It arrived in a brown box with a brown shipper box inside it. Within that is the actual product box. It contains a graphic on the front illustrating what’s inside with a larger picture on the right spine of a Sentinel in action. The other side has a group shot of the cast of X-Men ’97 and the rear has a cross-sell along with a shot of the figure in action with other X-Men ’97 action figures. There’s no window so if you got this as an in-box collector it might not do the trick for you, but if you just want a box that looks nice and fits in with the other X-Men ’97 boxes then this is fine. Inside it is another brown box and tray with the figure inside. It comes bagged and all of the accessories are bagged as well to protect it as much as possible and it seems good enough. In spite of that, my figure does have some dings on it. There’s light scuffing on the chest and on the side of the neck. I don’t think it has anything to do with how the product is shipped, I think this is just from assembly at the factory, but it’s a little disappointing.
The scene that has stayed with me since 1992.
Apart from those blemishes, the Sentinel cuts a nice figure and presents well. Those scuffs are only visible up close, and while they shouldn’t be there, they don’t really impact my enjoyment of the product. This dude is pretty damn big and even though I saw lots of images online including Hasbro’s display at San Diego Comic Con, it still didn’t prepare me for how big it is. I have the Sentinel at about 22″ in height which is also the advertised height. It has some heft, especially in the lower legs. Now, the plastic is pretty hard and I likened the feel to a Super Soaker when someone asked me my thoughts, but it presents reasonably well. It is a Legends release so there’s not a lot of paint. The darker purple near the collar is painted on as are the black lines. The face has painted details and there’s a little linework on the top of the head and some on the belt. It’s mostly clean, though there is a blemish on the black linework on the rear of my figure that I’ll probably touch up, but the figure isn’t overly shiny. And mostly it just looks like a cartoon Sentinel. It’s based on the updated look in X-Men ’97 which really isn’t all that different from the ’92 look so if you’re interested in it as a fan of the original series it should work. It also works as a classic, comic, Sentinel if that’s your preference compared with the more modern HasLab and should fit into a comic or animated display without issue. And at 22″ I think it has enough size. Are they usually presented as bigger in the show? Yeah, probably, and my guess is they’re more like 30′ tall, but they’re also pretty inconsistent (compare the first episode with the season finale and, in particular, Wolverine fighting them in the tunnels) in the show.
“This one’s for you, Morph!”
And the sucker is so big that I don’t think I could manage to squeeze it into a display at any other height. Nor do I think I could have found room for more than one, but Hasbro would probably like for people to double, or triple, dip on this release and the accessories aid with that. The Sentinel comes with an optional dome and face plate to display some battle damage. The dome is basically just missing a section so it exposes the “metal” underneath while the face plate is all cracked and broken. The sculpt and paint of the optional face plate looks terrific and I suspect it will give folks pause over how to display this thing. To further aid in the battle damage is an optional vent for the chest. This one has two wires poking out of it and it’s sculpted and painted well. Apart from that, there’s a pair of blast effects. They come in three pieces: a wide burst, a smaller burst to sit inside it, and the plume for the center. One centerpiece is longer than the other for a little variety and the parts are made of translucent, red, plastic with yellow painted on for a little pop. The smaller, inner, burst is actually translucent yellow so there’s a nice mix of color. They look good, but I do wish we got more of a beam effect too since that’s how their blasts were represented in the show. They can plug into the hands or the feet so if you have a means of suspending one of these in midair you could do a flying pose. The port on the hand can also accept the tentacle parts that came with the HasLab which is nice for those who have it, but why not toss one in with this set too? It’s already tooled so what could that possibly cost?
If only the VHS Cyclops came with a blast effect.Morph may have died, but Beast didn’t make out too well either.“Surrender, mutant!”
Even though this guy is much larger than your standard Legends release, it still moves like one. I don’t have that HasLab Sentinel, but I know one of the biggest issues people had with it were loose legs. To apparently address that issue, Hasbro put ratchets everywhere on this guy so nothing is loose. If you wiggle it a bit it will jiggle and the arms could move on you, but just don’t do that! The head and neck are separately articulated so there’s good range there. Again, I have some scuffing on the neck of mine, but it wasn’t caused by the articulation though I would still advise being a bit cautious. Shoulders, biceps, elbows, and wrists are all typical Legends articulation. What’s not are the fingers and thumb where each joint is a peg and hinge so you can individually pose each digit which is cool. Toy Biz loved articulating the fingers on the 1/12 figures back in the day and it was awful, but at this size it works fine. There’s a ball-joint at the waist and the crotch piece is a soft material so it can pivot in all directions without worry. Beyond that, we have the hips, thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, boot swivel, and ankle hinge and rocker. Range is pretty fair everywhere. No, he can’t do splits, but he can do walking poses and kick forward, should you want him to. The double joints at the elbows and knees aren’t going to produce much better than a 90 degree bend, but they don’t really need to. They are pin-less, but there’s also exposed screws that are holding things together. There’s no toe hinge, but I’m okay with that as this is more stable. And even with the tight joints, standing him can be a little precarious. I like the proportions, but I kind of wish they made the feet a little oversized to help with that stability, but I also haven’t had this guy topple over either.
If you’re pressed for space, something like this might be the best way to pose this guy.
Is this Sentinel worth $175? Yeah, I think it is. It’s not going to blow you away with how it looks. The lack of paint means it’s not like that giant dragon Four Horsemen solicited last year. It also doesn’t cost the nearly $1,000 that thing did. It’s an oversized Marvel Legends figure with Marvel Legends quality and I think the price is fair. It gets a little dicey post release as Hasbro does have extra product. Since they don’t charge upfront for these made-to-order pieces, consumers are free to cancel and either through that or via extra stock for replacements and such there are some available on the Pulse website at the time of this writing. I don’t know if that will be true when this goes live. They are no longer $175 though and are up to $220. Either production ended up being more than anticipated or those wonderful tariffs jacked the cost up, but it’s now not the same deal it was last year. It could also be part of Hasbro’s plan to reward those who preorder and keep that order with a cheaper rate and upcharge the Johnny-come-latelies. I don’t know, but I do know that $220 feels like a lot more and I’d have serious reservations about that price. I’m glad I don’t have to think about it and locked my order in a year ago, but if you missed it and feel FOMO kicking in then I guess you have a decision to make. Hopefully you got some cash for Christmas or something to make it an easier call. I think the Sentinels are some of the biggest (obviously) and most important villains for the X-Men and I’m so happy to finally get this version of the character in plastic. The HasLab wasn’t for me, but this is. Now where the hell can I put this thing?
Do you need some X-Men ’97 or ’92 figures to battle your Sentinel? Check these out:
Today we finish our look at wave 3 of X-Men ’97 Marvel Legends action figures and I think I saved the best for last. Cable was one of the non-members of the X-Men to play a pretty substantial role in the original animated series. He showed up in multiple episodes in both the first and…
This is it! This is the big one! Back on Halloween of 1992 Fox premiered X-Men and we were introduced to a character named Morph. For comic readers, it was a bit of a re-introduction as Morph was based on the character Changeling, but for copywrite reasons, had to undergo a name change. Changeling wasn’t…
The television event of 2024 for me was none other than X-Men ’97. I loved that show and I can’t wait for the second season to come around. It’s just a shame we may still be as much as a year away, but to somewhat tide us over until then we have this third wave…
If Michelangelo is here then you know what time it is!
After a bit of a hiatus due to the Christmas holiday, we have reached the last of the four brothers from NECA Toys’ line of action figures based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the 2012 animated series that aired on Nickelodeon. And who better to save for last than the party dude himself: Michelangelo. Mikey has always been the more carefree, happy-go-lucky, turtle. He doesn’t take anything too seriously and just wants to have a good time. He does have a big heart though and the 2012 version of the character was perhaps the most childlike one we’ve seen yet. He is a teenager like his brothers, but he is the smallest of the four and kind of the baby of the bunch. Maybe there’s a bit of arrested development there, growing up in a sewer probably isn’t the best for emotional growth, but he can throw down when he has to and proved himself shockingly competent when stranded in Dimension X.
Michelangelo is the only one Raph has bragging rights over when it comes to height.
Michelangelo is another sculpt by May Thamtarana with paint by Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo. He’s number two in the series and with four turtles you can almost complete the mural on the side of the boxes which was done by Ciro Nieli. Michelangelo stands at 5.25″ making him the shortest of the four, as he should be. He has a smiling, almost cherubic, portrait by default which suits the character. Like his brothers, he also has a battle portrait with whited-out eyes and a yelling expression. As perhaps the most expressive of the turtles in the show, it’s a shame we only get the two heads. I’d love a pizza scarfing head, an excited yell, or something even more cartoonish. NECA likely plans on selling us more Michelangelo figures though so they don’t want to give it all up on the first go even if the box does say “ultimate.”
All of the turtles come with a slice, but Michelangelo is the only one who definitely needs one.
Michelangelo’s proportions and coloring looks pretty accurate to the show. He has thin arms and a pear shape to his body as it widens the further down you go. The plastron and belt have some nice distress effects sculpted and painted in while the pouches for his weapons are also present. Paint is mostly clean and NECA made sure to capture the freckles on Mikey’s cheeks. I do have one bit of paint slop near the left knee where it looks like some of the brown from the kneepad transferred to the leg. He’s very pleasing to look at overall and he might be my second favorite in the aesthetics department behind Donatello.
Mikey’s weapons got an upgrade in 2012.Old reliable.I feel like he needs a board to make proper use of these hands.
Michelangelo comes with a fairly substantial assortment of accessories. I already mentioned the second portrait, and for hands we have a set a gripping, pointing, hang loose, a relaxed left, and a C-grip right hand. The hang loose gesture is the same that came with Leo and it’s a much better fit here with Michelangelo. The C-grip hand continues to confound me to some degree as I’m not sure what accessory it’s intended to be used with. I guess the T-Phone, though you will have to heat the hand up first as it’s not quite wide enough to accommodate it. Which, yes, Mikey has a T-Phone as well as a slice of pizza and stink bomb, same as the other turtles. He also has his trusty nunchaku which are painted plastic handles joined by real chain link. The handles come apart where the chain meets them like the toon Michelangelo’s nunchaku, only here we’re not swapping to a spinning effect. Instead, Mikey comes with the longer chain with bladed weapon at the other end. In the show, Mikey’s ‘chuks could basically extend somehow and had a pop-out blade to make them just a little more formidable.
Aww, Icecream Kitty!
The last accessory is probably everyone’s favorite: Icecream Kitty. The mutated cat that lives in the freezer is included and she’s pretty well done. The figure doesn’t move, but it doesn’t really have to. It’s a nice spread of stuff, but with Mikey it feels like more could have been included. Some soft goods, pizza-stained, briefs would have been pretty funny. Some spinning effects would have also been much appreciated. I love the real chain look, but they don’t display well since gravity is always going to do its own thing. Like the other turtles, Mikey’s gripping hands are all really stiff so you may want to heat them up in order to get him to hold anything. With the handles of his weapons coming apart at the chain, they are easier to slip into his hands than some others. His second head also would not go on for me without heat, but your mileage may vary there.
Since we’ve looked at all of the turtles now feels like a good time to bust out the Playmates originals.
Michelangelo’s articulation is the same as the others, but with him the range is a little less. His upper body is so much smaller that getting much range out of the shoulders can be a challenge. The right shoulder on mine is a bit stubborn as well at the hinge. It’s not stuck, but it also doesn’t appear to enjoy being articulated. The hips seem more restrictive as well. The rest are fine and nothing required heat in order to function. He’s going to get into some basic poses, but likely won’t impress in that department.
Ninjas on the prowl.
Michelangelo is about as good as the rest of his brothers. In my book, that makes him pretty solid. This is a line that does a good job of capturing the aesthetics of the show in a very generic way. The characters are unmistakable for what they are, but the available portraits and articulation are limited enough that you likely won’t be able to recreate your favorite scene. That’s pretty par for the course with NECA though which is very much an aesthetics forward approach with articulation and accessory count secondary. Aside from the hands, there is no reuse between the turtles so this isn’t as cheap a line to produce as some which is also probably why a lot of accessories are repeated. NECA was able to keep the MSRP at $38, which while not exactly cheap, is also not horrendously overpriced. These are a much better likeness at a far friendlier price than what Super7 did with its 2003 line. All that is to say if you liked the other 2012 offerings from NECA then you’ll like Michelangelo. And if you bought the other brothers you’re probably not skipping this one anyway. They are the best looking figures based on the show thus far and likely will remain that way for a long time to come. We may be done with the turtles, but we’re not done with wave one just yet as we have one final figure to look at: the Shredder!
If you missed the other reviews of NECA’s 2012 turtles then look no further:
We are onto the third member of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its everyone’s favorite hot head. Raphael got softened for the 1987 cartoon series to make him sarcastic and a bit of a goof-off. He didn’t take anything too seriously and had a certain dry wit about him. It’s quite different from his…
We were able to get through some of the logistics of this line with Leonardo, so for this second review we can just get right to it. One of the best decisions the 2012 iteration of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made was bringing back veteran voice actor Rob Paulsen. He’s voiced countless characters over the…
We’re going to start this one off with a question: When you order directly from a producer, do you expect to be first in line for product? NECA’s recent launch of its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure line based on the 2012 Nickelodeon series raised this question. On September 16, NECA launched the line…
Before 2025 left us, it had one big piece of news to drop when it comes to action figures: Playmates Toys will no longer hold the master toy license for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. If you’re into the action figure collecting hobby or have ever been a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles then you’re likely aware of how big this is. Just in case though, without Playmates there would be no TMNT as we know it today. In the 1980s, the comic was a surprise hit and it attracted the attention of Marty Freedman and his Surge Licensing brand. At the time, there wasn’t much to Surge, but TMNT co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird decided to let Freedman sell the property as a potential toy franchise. The only problem was no one was biting.
Enter Playmates Toys which, at the time, was known mostly for dolls and such. The action figure market had been burning pretty hot in the 1980s and basically every toy maker wanted to find a way to penetrate it. There was definitely an element of oversaturation come the middle part of the decade. Kenner’s Star Wars line had basically created the modern action figure, but that line had slowed considerably following the completion of Lucas’s original trilogy with 1983’s The Return of the Jedi. Mattel had made huge in-roads with Masters of the Universe, and it paired with an animated series had basically created the modern blueprint for how to market toys to boys. Playmates was the only company interested in turtles and their involvement was contingent upon an animated series being created to accompany the line. The existing comic book just wasn’t going to cut it because of its limited reach, but also because it was not a book intended for kids. Playmates provided most of the financing for the original mini series that launched the TMNT franchise which debuted in late 1987. The first wave of figures followed in the summer of 1988 and the rest is history.
The source for the news that Playmates will not be continuing with TMNT.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has never been as popular as it was around 1988-1991. Still, it’s also never really gone away and alongside the franchise this whole time has been Playmates. Peter Laird stuck with them when it came time to reboot the franchise in 2003 and Viacom stuck with the company after acquiring it in 2009. That meant toys for a new film franchise, a new animated series, and then the successors to those. In 2025, Skydance stepped in and bought Paramount, which is the parent company of Viacom. With the master toy license apparently expiring at the end of 2026, Skydance has decided not to continue with Playmates for whatever comes next for TMNT ending a partnership that lasted nearly 40 years and is responsible for what the franchise is today.
As an adult collector, I won’t pretend like the mere fact that Playmates will no longer be making toys based on TMNT is a thing that upsets me. I long ago outgrew what Playmates was doing who remained committed to creating affordable toys for children even as the demographics of the action figure consumer skewed older and older over the years. Sure, they made some attempts at more collector focused toys and their reissues of vintage-era toys over the years likely hold more appeal for adults than kids, but Playmates wasn’t out here truly trying to compete with other companies producing adult collectibles. For that, we’ve had NECA, Bandai, and to a lesser extent, Super7. For years, the master license agreement Playmates held prevented other companies from making collector-focused toys based on TMNT, but that went away in the 2010s. Collectors may have still fumed at Playmates at times since they did have a hand in ending Super7’s line of vintage recreations, but I never personally blamed them for protecting their own designs. If Super7 wanted to recreate those old toys in 1:10 scale then they needed to get the legality of that all cleared up on day one and not figure it out as they went along.
This news is undoubtedly terrible for Playmates and those who work for the company. In the notice to investors announcing the decision, Playmates included the percentage of revenue TMNT had for the company over the past several years and it’s pretty staggering. I don’t know how they replace that. This year, Playmates has tried at bringing back Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, but I have no idea how well it’s performing (based on the toy aisles around me, not well). I know they had Godzilla and Voltron somewhat recently, but neither seemed to have made a big splash. Where they go from here is anyone’s guess and I hope this doesn’t put an end to them.
With the agreement with Playmates coming to an end, does that also mean NECA’s days are numbered?
From a collector standpoint, what this means for the other companies holds great interest to me. It is not uncommon for other licensing agreements to be tied to the master license. In other words, if the master license expires at the end of 2026 for Playmates then it’s possible the same is true NECA, McFarlane, Super7, and everyone else. TMNT has become the property that has the most cooks in the kitchen these days. It’s almost comical how many companies have made TMNT figures of late. The licenses for overseas production (like JoyToy) may not be impacted at all nor may a license for an odd scale like Mondo’s who is embarking on a new line of sixth scale turtles in 2026. Or maybe they are? We don’t know, and it likely depends on what comes next.
Typically, if a company is not renewing the master license it’s because another company came in and outbid them. So far, we don’t know that to be true as no one has come forward with such an announcement. This is curious as one would expect that whoever did land TMNT would be pretty excited about it and would want to make such information known to its own investors. With Toy Fair a mere two months away, it’s possible such news is being saved for the trade show, but in today’s world that rarely seems to happen. It’s possible this news that Playmates will not hold the license after 2026 was designed to drum-up bidding for it. If Playmates apparently can’t afford it any longer it begs the question who can? Most immediately assume Hasbro could be in play. As one of the biggest toy producers in the world they’re always going to be linked to any major property that comes loose. Mattel could be in play, but that company just laid out money for the DC license – can they take on TMNT too? McFarlane, who previously held the DC license and will be losing it this coming year, just started dabbling in TMNT in 2025 – maybe that relationship has worked well? Could they possibly afford it?
Whoever does get the license will likely want more control over the property like Hasbro does with its Disney properties and like Mattel will exercise with DC. This could very well be the end for NECA, Super7, and the rest as far as TMNT is concerned. Unless one of them can manage to afford the master license or if Skydance surprises everyone and elects not to pursue a traditional master license. It’s possible that with Mutant Mayhem 2 on the way in 2027 that Skydance just wants to license that brand out to someone to make toys geared towards children. Maybe they end the general license and instead put into actual agreements certain eras of the franchise. NECA gets ’87 and 2012, Super7 gets 2003, McFarlane keeps IDW, etc. I doubt it, but until we hear otherwise I suppose it’s possible.
And why do I doubt it? Because companies like Skydance are in this to make money. Playmates likely paid more money for the master license than any of these companies and it wouldn’t surprise me if their sales are still more profitable than the collector market. As new owners, Skydance holds no allegiance to these old agreements. In corporate acquisitions, it’s not at all uncommon to see the new owner end past agreements and forge ahead with its own. They like to be able to tell their shareholders that they’re responsible for whatever revenue they make and not attribute it to the old regime. It’s stupid, but that’s how these things often go. And eliminating these deals and obligations can also lead to something else: a potential sale of TMNT.
It’s probably not a good thing when your new owner doesn’t view you as a key part of the company’s future.
When Skydance acquired Paramount this summer, new chairman George Cheaks circulated a memo in which he named the key franchises for Paramount as SpongeBob Squarepants, PAW Patrol, RuPaul’s Drag Race, South Park, Ms. Pat, and The Daily Show. Notably absent was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and this memo was often brought up in news reports about the cancellation of the Paramount Plus series Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It begs the question that if Skydance doesn’t view TMNT as a key part of its present and future does that mean they want out of the turtle business? It’s certainly possible and if the franchise isn’t tied down by any other external agreements that might actually make it more attractive to potential buyers. The sequel to Mutant Mayhem is due to arrive in the fall of 2027 and how Skydance handles that could reveal a lot. If a delay is announced early on in 2026 that could be a bad sign. It feels like anything could be on the table there as Warner Bros. has recently shown the world these massive corporations do not care one bit about cancelling a movie for tax write-off purposes.
The only certainty right now is that Playmates will stop producing toys for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at some point in 2026. Where they cut things off remains to be seen. If they have more stuff planned for the current iteration of the franchise do they continue with it or just shut it all down? Do they just go all out with rereleases in 2026 as those are quicker to produce (assuming they still have the molds) and probably sell just as well as the new stuff? It seems like if they’re ever going to cash-in on the likes of Scratch and Hot Spot now would be the time do it. As someone who fell in love with TMNT back in the 80s when Playmates came onboard I’m definitely sad to see this era come to an end for no reason other than it’s just something that’s always been. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles no longer being associated with Playmates would be like Hasbro dropping Transformers or Mattel selling off Masters of the Universe. For me, this will be the biggest shake-up in toys since Marvel went to Hasbro ending the Toy Biz era. My hope for 2026 is that these other companies don’t take anything for granted. If they’ve been holding back on anything, now is the time to do it because tomorrow is promised to no one.
If you want to reflect on the Playmates output for TMNT then maybe these will interest you:
I think it was during the summer of 2020 while spending one of the many days of that year inside and isolated that I stumbled upon a Twitter post about an upcoming book titled Rad Plastic. I believe the tweet was from the account The Toys That Made Us, which is (was?) a Netflix series…
Last week we took a Turtle Tuesday off which feels like a rarity for this blog. And that’s because there seems to be new stuff featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles branding coming out all of the time. And it’s only going to become more plentiful as the franchise celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.…
A few years ago, Mattel launched a new subline of action figures based on their most famous IP: Masters of the Universe. The subline was titled Origins and it basically took the vintage toys of the 80s and updated them with more modern articulation while still preserving that vintage aesthetic. And ever since then, collectors…
Hailing from the pages of Marvel Comics it’s Iceman with his trusty…face…shield?
As a kid in the 90s, there was a social pressure to not choose the obvious when discussing favorite parts of a fandom. It’s basically a method of gatekeeping, a really silly, annoying, habit that’s not exclusive to children. If you enter into a certain band’s fandom there are some who will claim you’re a fake fan if your favorite song is the most popular one. Likewise, if you claim to be a fan of X-Men and say your favorite character is Wolverine there would be kids who would assume you’re a phony. You’re just trying to fit-in and so you picked the most popular superhero on the team as your favorite. No real fan says Wolverine is their favorite. And yet his books are the most read, his action figures sell the best, and it’s plainly obvious the character is popular for a reason.
Iceman (who is not going to be fun to photograph) with the Vulcan-body Cyclops and the Amazing Web-Man who I think he shares a lot of his sculpt with.
Nevertheless, I succumbed to such pressures as a kid. Wolverine probably was my favorite member of the X-Men, but if you asked me back then who my favorite character was I’d tell you it was Iceman. And it wasn’t as if I was lying as I really did love the character of Iceman. He was my introduction to X-Men without me really knowing it via the cartoon series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. There he was teamed up with Spider-Man and the made-for-TV character Firestar. Played by Frank Welker, Iceman had a really neat transformation sequence into his icy form that stuck with me well beyond that show’s expiration date. It was the only thing I really remembered from the show and for a time I wasn’t sure if it was even real or if my brain made it up as TV shows back then had a habit of just disappearing to make way for something else. Iceman didn’t get to be a part of future televised X teams, but you bet your ass I was pumped when he showed up for an episode of X-Men. I can remember the episode title flashing on the screen and knowing it had to be referring to Iceman and the hair on my arms stood up. It was awesome!
The new Iceman with the last ice men I purchased. Kind of crazy this one on the right is still the only Bobby Drake we’ve ever received.
Toy Biz did manage to get Iceman into its X-Men line of figures pretty quickly. It was one I sought, but he proved hard to get. I never did get the original release which had a color changing feature, but I was able to finally score it on a refresh. By then the color change gimmick was gone and replaced by a feature where you put him on his ice sled, filled a cut-out with water, and then stuck him in the freezer. After a little while, that water encased the figure’s feet in a block of ice for you to remove and I guess just slide across a surface. Cool? I didn’t really care as I hated action features so any gimmick that didn’t intrude upon the sculpt was fine by me. A second edition Iceman would eventually follow, modeled somewhat on his Age of Apocalypse look, but I never did find that one. When Marvel Legends became a thing, Iceman managed to see release in the eighth wave. He was pretty mediocre even by the standards of the day being too slight and formless, but he had a neat Sentinel hand base frozen in ice. Toy Biz would do better with the sister line, X-Men Classics, and the Iceman released there. That one was on a standard buck, and while not perfect even back then, was a major improvement. There were also two chase versions one modeled after the character’s appearance in Ultimate X-Men and the other a de-iced Bobby Drake. That Bobby version instantly became my most wanted and I managed to track down two of them. Worry not, I didn’t scalp either and instead traded one for a chase Moon Knight.
I understand why Hasbro would go transparent with Iceman, but I wish we got a figure that looked like the comic art.
That X-Men Classics Iceman is the most recent Iceman purchase I’ve made. Until now, obviously. There was a three-pack released a couple of years ago based on Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. I wanted to like that set and probably could have settled if the Firestar or Spider-Man was mediocre, but it was my beloved Iceman who was left out in the cold. The figure was hideous and about the only good thing was the portrait. I just couldn’t do it, even when it hit clearance. Hasbro has come back though with a release of the character for its Secret Wars line. This series is a throwback, an homage, to what was essentially the very first proper action figure line for Marvel. Back then, Iceman received a release, but he wasn’t sold in the US. This new figure is like a long overdue makeup. It also reminded me of the very first Toy Biz one and that was enough to get me to throw down my $28 even if I had some reservations about what I was seeing in those solicitations.
Hasbro elected to give this Iceman a snowball. A nod to his original appearance or just an easy, cheap, accessory?
Iceman stands at around 6.25″ to the top of his head. He is essentially a blank body cast in transparent plastic. The base appears to be the same as some older Spider-Man figures namely The Amazing Web-Man and Cyborg Spider-Man, minus the cybernetic arm. In other words, this is an old mold though it has been updated with pin-less joints. Considering that the figure is transparent, that’s both a blessing and a curse. These pin-less limbs require a different composite of plastic be utilized for the elbows and knees, and as we saw with the Crystar figure last year, the result is the plastic comes out cloudy. With Iceman, it means his elbows and knees have a milky color to them. Had Hasbro elected to add an overspray to the rest of the figure this effect may have been minimized, but they left him almost purely transparent like that classic Toy Biz release. There is a very subtle frosting applied to the chest, but that’s about it. That does mean if you like seeing the inner workings of an action figure Iceman is showing you the goods. He’s got nothing to hide. Even the soft plastic belt is transparent. The only paint is reserved for the X logo and the details on the face – basically eyes and teeth. It’s not a bad look and it certainly makes sense for a man of ice to look this way, but I do wish Hasbro added a little blue tint to the plastic just to dress him up a bit.
My attempt at a throwing pose. Too bad he doesn’t have a throwing snowball accessory.
The approach to the presentation is fine, even if it’s not what I’d do personally (I’d want him painted like he is in the comics, basically white or a very light blue with some shading and squared-off anatomy), but what I can say is poor are the overall proportions. This just isn’t a good looking body. The shoulders sit so low that it looks ridiculous and you get these gaps between the traps and the top of the shoulders. What human being, let alone superhero, has a body like this? The shoulders are also undersized taking away from the heroic look the character should have and the width of the body is comically small. From a straight-on perspective, the chest looks okay. There appears to be a little frosting to the plastic to create the illusion of a cubed-off look to the pecs, but it kind of makes him look like he has moobs instead. Turn the figure to view from the side, and the width of the chest is preposterously thin. There’s no front-to-back bulk to this guy. It’s like a person with an average build drew muscles onto their body. Iceman isn’t supposed to be a behemoth, but he should have far more bulk than this. This is a mold that should be chucked in the trash.
I’m not sure about this thing.
For accessories, we get a mostly typical mix with some new stuff thrown in. Iceman has two portraits: smile and angry. Both are fine, but I wish we had a neutral one too. For hands, he has a set of fists and a set of relaxed hands and he also has a snowball that the relaxed hands can handle. For power effects, we get a small, icy, platform that I wouldn’t consider a proper ice sled. It looks fine, but it’s just way too small in both length and width, but at least there’s some white paint on it to give it a frosted look. He also has two power effects that clip onto the wrist. I like the idea here, but these effects suck. They appear to be designed to clip onto the wrist so that the relaxed hands rest on them. The problem is, they end up pointing straight down so angling them to make it look like he’s creating an ice sled looks pretty bad. They also look bad as just a blasting effect if you want him to shoot at bad guys. Clipping them on backwards actually presents a better angle, but also looks stupid. They also end with a flat surface like they should be contacting the shelf or table you end up putting him on. I think they would have done better if they made the hands part of the sculpt or if they designed them to work with flat palms that get inserted into the effect. This feels half-assed and like a first try that no one decided to spend just a little more time on. If the ice sled effect were wider maybe it could have been fudged more easily, but maybe that would have broke the budget. There’s also an included shield with a lenticular image of Iceman’s portrait on it that shifts to Bobby. This thing is an homage to the old toy line and every figure comes with one. It has a clip and a peg on the back of it so you can affix it to the figure’s forearm or peg it into its back. I can’t imagine anyone would. It’s cheap and kind of lame – into a drawer it goes!
From the front, I think I’m less sure.
The articulation for Iceman is pretty basic, and also pretty frustrating. This mold is the type of figure that seems to have most of the joints one would want, but actually getting the figure into the poses you want is harder than it looks. The head is on a ball hinge that gets no tilt so it kind of sucks. There are butterfly joints at the shoulder, but they mostly provide range going back and not forward. There are bicep swivels, double elbows, wrist hinges and swivels, ab crunch, waist twist, ball-socket hips, thigh cuts, double knees, boot cuts, and ankle hinges and rockers. Range is acceptable at all of the major spots while the ab crunch is certainly antiquated. The boot cut is pretty worthless because it breaks up the shape of the leg when utilizing it. The waist twist is the same, but at least the belt is floating to kind of hide it, granted we’re talking transparent parts here. The transparent plastic does seem to result in tighter than usual knees and elbows, but I could get them to work without heating the figure up. It’s not a terrible action figure from an articulation standpoint, but we can definitely do better, Hasbro.
Do you want to build a snow man? If so, no smoking. Disney doesn’t like it.
If you couldn’t tell by now, I’m not in love with this figure. I even regret buying it to a point because there’s just no posing away some of the issues I have with the sculpt. Those shoulders always look goofy and the body is just way too slight. The included effect parts are a nice thought, but how good is that when they don’t really accomplish what they intend to? The old X-Men Classics ice sled is better than this and that thing was a flat, blue, plastic and kind of lame. At least it worked though. I wasn’t expecting to do anything with the silly snowball accessory, but I think that’s how I’ll end up displaying him because I just can’t look past those blast effects. I waited 20 years for a new Iceman figure, and I’ll be waiting longer for an actual good one. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll show up in X-Men ’97 giving Hasbro an excuse to fix this thing. As one of the first openly gay X-Men, I could see him fitting into the spirit of that show so it’s not impossible, though does Disney have the courage to go there? That I have serious doubts on. This is what we have though and for some collectors out there it might be good enough, but for me it’s not.
If you liked this look at Marvel’s Iceman then maybe you’ll enjoy some of these:
Marvel Legends are still sold primarily at major retailers. This includes the likes of Target, Walmart, and even Best Buy which has been adding more toys to its portfolio over the years. And since they’re made by Hasbro, a company that has been selling toys to kids for generations, they still mostly operate on the…
There are a number of Christmas specials out there that are basically known by all and I’ve written about most of them here. Some have been annual traditions especially when we had more of a monoculture in the US, but the slow death of cable television has made those annual traditions fade away. One holiday…
Today we finish our look at wave 3 of X-Men ’97 Marvel Legends action figures and I think I saved the best for last. Cable was one of the non-members of the X-Men to play a pretty substantial role in the original animated series. He showed up in multiple episodes in both the first and…
Before we got onto the conclusion of our big Christmas Special ranking, let me just wish all of you a merry Christmas! It’s cliche, but it only comes once a year and you never know how many you’re going to get in a lifetime. For my family, it’s a somber one as it’s the first Christmas without my mother-in-law. And she absolutely loved Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. If she knew I didn’t place that one in the top 10 she’d probably be angry with me, but you know, the top 25 ain’t too shabby either.
The Christmas Spot is a labor of love for me. I love Christmas and I love indulging in it as much as humanly possible each year. And that means watching as many Christmas specials as I possibly can. I love discovering new ones, especially so if they’re new and actually enjoyable, but I also can’t disagree that settling in with an old favorite isn’t a ton of fun too. And a lot of what makes up the top 10 can be described as an old favorite. I suppose that likely comes as no surprise considering the name of this blog is The Nostalgia Spot. With Christmas, a holiday that burns even brighter for children than it does adults, it’s pretty much impossible to separate nostalgia from the equation. I try to be as objective as possible, but I know that I can’t remove those childhood memories and affection from a lot of these. There is a drive to go against the grain, zig when others expect me to zag, but I also hate being a contrarian for the sake of being one. No one likes that guy. As a result, these ten are pretty familiar and not all that different from the last time I did this. It just couldn’t be helped, but their staying power in my heart and in my mind is also a testament to their quality. And I do think I have a couple in here that probably aren’t in a lot of top 10s and I even have two that aren’t even ten years old! That’s enough preamble though, it’s Christmas and you all have stuff to do and places to be, so let’s get to it:
Wayne (right) has to overcome disappointment and deal with a new partner in Lanny this Christmas.
It’s funny how the Disney holiday special Prep & Landing still feels new to me, even though it’s now old enough to drive in most states. When this one first came up I was averse to it for no particular reason. I just lumped it in with Disney Channel fair and assumed it was for little kids, if not outright bad. Boy, was I wrong. It was actually recommended to me by my parents, of all people, who had somehow made it part of their annual tradition. I say “somehow,” but this actually is the rare Christmas special to still get a showing on network television year after year. A lot of those have dried up, but so long as ABC is owned by Disney it seems like we can count on Prep & Landing to be shown every year.
And that’s a good thing because it’s pretty great. In this special, we’re introduced to the concept of Santa Claus having an entire division of elves called Prep and Landing. These elves arrive first and basically clear the area for Santa’s arrival. They’re like his own Secret Service. It’s a genius bit of lore because it opens the special up to spy type missions in addition to traditional Christmas special tropes. Wayne is a part of this division only he’s getting kind of sick of it and seeing his partner get a promotion instead of him basically sucks the life out of him. He gets partnered up with an excitable new recruit named Lanny on the big day (an odd time to announce promotions, honestly) following the bad news and basically tries to coast through the night. Nowadays, we call this quiet quitting. This results in disaster and Santa is forced to pass over the house where little Timmy lives (it’s always a little Timmy) and the shock of that realization forces Wayne back into form in a bid to save Christmas for this kid. It’s a unique setup and a pretty relatable premise about feeling unappreciated at work which honestly is something that likely appeals more to adults than kids. Not that there isn’t plenty for kids to latch onto. That relatable element, and the newness of it all, is what makes this original Prep & Landing much better than its sequels. A new installment was actually premiered this year and if you want my opinion on it it’s fine. Maybe better than Naughty vs Nice, but that’s a discussion for another day. When it comes to what I consider modern Christmas specials, this is the one I use as a measuring stick.
Donald elects to remain in the cold north for Christmas and the results are pretty dramatic.
This Christmas special is one of two in the top 10 that isn’t even a decade old. It also prominently features Donald Duck who appears in a whopping six of the top 10! I knew I was a big Donald Duck fan, but even I didn’t realize it ran that deep. One of those six was Prep & Landing where he just has a cameo, but six is six. This one features the famous duck in the starring role. He is the “duck” in Duck the Halls and that subtitle almost feels like it only exists to placate the ego of a certain mouse. If Mickey is in something, he needs to at least share top-billing with the rest of the cast. It’s like a rule they have at Disney.
This special comes from the most recent era of Mickey Mouse cartoons by Paul Rudish. It takes the classic characters and adds more of a mad-cap feel to them. They’re all allowed to be funny with no straight man to play off of. In this one, Donald wants to spend Christmas with his pals, but since he’s a duck that’s a no-no as he’s supposed to migrate with the rest of the flock. This happens every year, but this time is different as Donald opts to stay. The results are disastrous as the cold weather literally causes the poor guy to fall apart forcing Daisy and the other ducks to stage a rescue attempt. Meanwhile, Mickey and the gang is well aware of Donald’s deteriorating condition and vow to get him south, but Donald wants none of it and basically goes insane and runs around town naked with a tree skirt draped around his shoulders. It’s wonderfully funny with just some great visuals to go along with it. I suppose if you don’t like this non-traditional take on Mickey then Duck the Halls won’t change your mind, but I love everything about it. What it lacks in Christmas feels it more than makes up for with humor and outlandish visuals. I just wish Alan Young had been around to voice Scrooge McDuck.
It’s quite likely that the modern Disney company would prefer you forget this image exists.
I wanted to break these two up, but I just could not do it. Toy Tinkers is our other Donald Duck starring vehicle only this one is much older than Duck the Halls. This comes from the 1940s when Donald was on fire. Mickey may have been the mascot for the Walt Disney Company, but Donald was the star. And in this short, he gets paired up with perhaps his greatest rivals: Chip and Dale. The two chipmunks are going to infiltrate the duck’s home on Christmas lured in by the warmth, festive decor, and those nuts. A bowl of nuts may feel more decorative than anything these days, but to a pair of chipmunks it’s a feast.
Chaos ensues when Donald realizes the rodents have invaded his home. Not one for sharing, Donald essentially declares war which is probably why this Christmas short still remains absent from Disney+. Donald disguises himself as Santa and hands out presents to Chip and Dale, only for a revolver to emerge from one such gift that Donald gleefully shoves in their adorable little faces. Modern Disney probably isn’t crazy about one of its most famous cartoon characters brandishing a realistic firearm in such a manner. And from there, a firefight breaks out. While Donald is using a pop gun, it looks realistic and fires nuts and ornaments like a machinegun. There’s a bunch of war-like parody images as the chipmunks return fire and even explosives are introduced. It’s one of the most Warner-like of all the Disney cartoons. And it’s just a ton of fun and it’s all over in less than 10 minutes. I love this era for cartoons and I love a good Christmas themed short. There’s just one I prefer to this one, but Toy Tinkers is always a good time around the holidays.
Speaking of chipmunks, here we have A Chipmunk Christmas starring those lovable little rascals Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. The trio had been in a bit of a lull until the son of creator Ross Bagdasarian, together with his wife Jan Karman, paired up with the legendary Chuck Jones to bring us this animated classic. The chipmunks were given a makeover that is very evocative of the Chuck Jones style and the existence of their classic “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” meant the special didn’t need to come up with its own theme. All it needed was a purpose and a plot.
For that, we get a pretty typical Christmas special plot. Alvin needs to learn how to appreciate what he has and not focus on the “getting” aspect of Christmas. The twist here is he figures that out in the first act when he gives away his prized Golden Echo harmonica to a sick little boy. From there, it becomes a story about how Alvin feels a need to replace that harmonica before his adoptive father, Dave, finds out he gave it away. And in his quest to do so, he appears selfish and greedy in the eyes of his father because he doesn’t know what’s really going on. It’s all going to work out in the end and whatever ailed young Tommy even magically disappears once he gets the harmonica. What I also like about this one is that Mrs. Claus gets to get in on the act instead of her more famous spouse. It’s a delightful little reveal at the end that I can still remember seeing for the first time as a kid. The antics of Alvin and his brothers are fun and this one does register in the “feels” department. Plus, the chipmunks never looked this good before and really never will again making this Christmas special feel all the more special.
In this one, Grandma is going to steal the spotlight from the famed orange cat and that’s okay.
I often here people refer to A Charlie Brown Christmas as this very low energy, low stakes, Christmas special. The way it’s phrased is to imply surprise at its staying power and how universal the love is for the special. One holiday special that might be even more low energy by comparison is 1987’s A Garfield Christmas. In this one, Garfield, Odie, and John head to the farm where John grew up to celebrate Christmas with his family. They have dinner, trim the tree, sing, read a story, and that’s about it. A very ordinary Christmas that is held every year by countless families that are far bigger than John’s. The fact that A Garfield Christmas is so beloved is because it’s driven by its characters.
Garfield is a character that requires little explanation. He embodies the emotions we humans attribute to cats. He’s lazy, enjoys eating, and would prefer to spend Christmas in his nice, warm, bed. In some respects, we can all relate to Garfield. The rest of the family helps to round things out. John and his brother, Doc Boy, provide some humor via their apparent case of arrested development going so far as to try and get their parents up at 1 in the morning to open presents. A lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to the emotional side of this special is provided by Grandma. She’s a high energy grandma, but she’s also a sad character as she reveals in a long monologue how Christmas is the time of year she misses her late husband most. It’s the moment in this one where things kind of stop in their tracks. We were having fun just observing this family up to that point and now find ourselves all thinking about the people missing from our own lives this Christmas. If you can’t relate to that part, you will some day. The special has a sweet ending and it’s buoyed by some lovely animation and even some decent songs that do not overstay their welcome.
Homer bets it all on Santa’s Little Helper and it actually hits, just not in the way he expected it to.
The 1980s were a great time for Christmas specials and sneaking in right at the end of the decade is The Simpsons. You don’t need me to tell you about The Simpsons. They’re basically the most famous family in America, animated or otherwise. It will never stop amazing me that this show is still running, but we’re currently in season 37 of the show with no end in sight and it all started with this holiday episode. “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” wasn’t supposed to be the premier of the show, but it’s how it all ended up happening. And as a result no matter how many Treehouse of Horror installments the show does, it will always share a special bond with Christmas for as long as it lives.
Returning to this one annually is always a fun reminder of how this show began. The Simpsons wasn’t all that different from other sitcoms of the era with the main exception being that the family was kind of poor. The premise of this episode is that a thing like Homer losing his Christmas bonus could absolutely ruin the family’s holiday. It’s further compounded by Marge having to blow the family’s rainy day fund on getting Bart’s tattoo removed. Not wanting to let his family down, Homer tries to keep everything under wraps and secretly takes a second job as a mall Santa Claus, but when that ends up only paying out a measly thirteen bucks he’s forced to go to drastic measures and gamble his small sum of money at a dog track in a last ditch effort to raise enough funds to provide for his family. Since it’s The Simpsons, things can’t just work out for Homer in a nice, tidy, fashion, but he and Bart fall ass backwards into an even better present for the family: a dog. It’s also interesting going back to this one because the show is very much not at all concerned with preserving the Santa Claus myth for its audience. The writers definitely envisioned the show as more of an adult one that older kids and teens would probably also find interest in, but it ended up taking off most with a younger audience. As a result, this may be the only one in the top 10 of my list that you won’t want to expose the youngest viewers to, but for everyone else it’s a true classic and remains the best Simpsons Christmas episode.
When it comes to Christmas, this is as good as it gets.
I mentioned it already in the Duck the Halls portion, but Mickey needs to receive top-billing in anything he appears in. Take this cartoon for example which, by all rights, should be considered a Pluto short, but it’s actually considered a Mickey Mouse one. It follows a familiar premise when compared with Toy Tinkers and even comes after it, but I find this one just a bit more enjoyable. It’s also simpler and the violence is far more tame so you can find this one on Disney+ all year long.
Mickey and Pluto begin this one in search of a Christmas tree. While doing so they encounter the pair of Chip and Dale who enjoy poking fun at Pluto for some reason. I guess because he’s just a fairly normal dog while they are chipmunks of a much higher intelligence. Pluto chases them up a tree which also ends up being the one Mickey settles on and the two end up inadvertently infiltrating the mouse’s house. There, they find a lovely home among the well-decorated tree. There’s the allure of nuts as well, but Pluto is not having it. After trying and failing to get Mickey’s attention to point out the rascals, it turns into a chase sequence which basically destroys the tree and results in Mickey strangling his dog. Yes, he really strangles Pluto. Despite that bit of animal abuse, this cartoon short is quite enjoyable and it all starts with the beautiful backgrounds and animation. The interior shot of the titular Christmas tree is the most Christmas shot ever dreamed up in animation. If I had the money and the ability, I’d go to great lengths to own that animation cel of Dale taking it all in. It’s just gorgeous and I love indulging in this one several times a year.
This one could have easily been called Dewey’s Christmas. Or should I say Bluey’s?
This is likely the one that’s going to be the biggest outlier in my list and I am okay with that. When most people my age hear DuckTales they likely refer back to the series that began in the 1980s and was part of the inaugural Disney Afternoon programming block. That show did not have a Christmas episode despite featuring a main character named Scrooge. To make up for it, the 2017 reboot had two Christmas episodes and this first one is one of my most favorite things.
DuckTales is a modern animated series with a strong throughline. It’s not entirely serialized though in such that someone just jumping in at any point would feel lost, but those who have kept up will probably get a little more out of it. And the main plot of the show is that Donald Duck has been left to raise his nephews all on his own, but eventually needs a little help and turns to his uncle Scrooge. The boys have never met their mother and do not even know if she’s alive and what happened to her because their uncle and great uncle refuse to discuss the matter, but they know it caused a major rift in their relationship. And we also have Scrooge who, like his namesake, appears to hate Christmas only in this episode we find out that’s a ruse. He just pretends to hate the holiday (though he truly hates Santa Claus for other reasons) so people will leave him alone freeing him up to go galivanting through time with his friends the ghosts of Christmas. It would seem they visited the wrong Scrooge years ago, but enjoyed hanging out with this one. Using the powers of the Ghost of Christmas Past (who is a cricket in just one of many nods to Mickey’s Christmas Carol), the group travels to holiday parties past, only this year Past is plotting to make sure the night never ends as he’s pretty lonely.
When the group travels back in time, there also happens to be a stowaway: Dewey Duck. Dewey is able to drop-off and land at McDuck Manor back in a time when his Uncle Donald and mother Della lived there as children. It’s through this bit of time travel that the young duck gets to meet his mother for the first time, only he can’t tell her who he is unless he wants to risk his very existence. Even sharing his name could have unintended consequences. It’s a really powerful plot device that only time travel could bring about. We saw Marty McFly meet a past version of his own parents which is interesting, but in his case he at least knew both of them in the present. Dewey has never interacted with his mother and to first do it with her as a child is wonderfully creative. It’s also kind of heartbreaking. The episode is careful to balance this all out with plenty of humor and some action as well as the two plots converge for the climax, but it’s also the sort of plot where if one sits with it and digests it they’ll likely find it pretty affecting. I just love it and there’s some wonderful callbacks in it that even one-time viewers should get. If you have never experienced it then I recommend you right that wrong. It’s the rare holiday episode I watched in the moment and I knew I’d be returning to it for years to come.
Despite knowing how this one will turn out, it never fails to produce some happy tears.
I swear I didn’t set out to spotlight a bunch of Disney Christmas specials, it just worked out that way. Until doing this, I was almost unaware of how much enjoyment Disney has brought me over the years at Christmas time, but there’s no displacing the classics. Mickey’s Christmas Carol is my favorite version of Dickens and it’s not particularly close. Some love the Muppets (ironically, another Disney IP) while some love the more traditional, but for me it’s all Mickey and primarily Scrooge McDuck. This was my introduction to the character who would go on to star in DuckTales voiced by the wonderful Alan Young and I’ll never be able to separate him from Ebenezer Scrooge as a result. A huge tip of the cap goes out to my mother and her Christmas Tape she made in 1987 for me and my sister. On that famed relic, Mickey bats lead-off along with a trio of classic Disney shorts in Donald’s Snow Fight, Pluto’s Christmas Tree, and The Art of Skiing. A truly splendid way to fill an hour of television.
This version of A Christmas Carol quite simply has it all. There’s gorgeous animation, wonderful backgrounds, terrific voice acting, humor, and all the feels one would expect from this classic story. I love Disney’s version of the three ghosts and Marley and they will always be the first images that come to mind when speaking of those characters. The music is terrific and the sequence at the graveyard is both terrifying and heartbreaking. The resolution is as uplifting as it would have been if played by human actors and maybe it’s even better since these characters can emote in very specific ways. It’s kind of amazing what Disney can do with that duck visage which should be pretty rigid, but in the capable hands of Disney animators is capable of any expression needed. I already mentioned Alan Young by name, but this was also my introduction to Wayne Allwine as Mickey Mouse and he would go on to voice the character into the new millennium. He is probably my favorite Mickey voice actor for this particular take on the character and he’s wonderful here. It’s also the swan song for the original Donald, Clarence Nash, and while he doesn’t have a huge presence in this cartoon he sounds just as good as ever when called upon. My only disappointment with this one is that it disappeared from network television at some point in the 90s. Why? I don’t know, but it never should have. Especially with Disney owning ABC. I’d love to see that 80s block revived, but for now this one can at least be found on Disney+ and is also free to stream on YouTube.
As if it could be any other. Once again, I am declaring the animated classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas! the best Christmas special of all time. At this point, I can’t imagine anything dethroning it. It’s the perfect combination of story, visuals, song, and nostalgia that makes for the best Christmas special. How could one improve upon the Grinch? It plays to those who love Christmas and those who are exhausted by it. The Grinch is both relatable and a villain with a redemption arc. And in the hands of Chuck Jones he looks as good as he ever did and ever will, and we now have two feature length films to prove that point.
I honestly can’t remember if the Grinch was my favorite Christmas special as a kid. It was certainly up there, but I can also recall really loving Rudolph, Mickey, Frosty, and even ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. The Grinch was always there though, that really consistent player smack dab in the middle of my Christmas Tape. Working in his favor is the half-hour format. I love a good short, and if a special is special enough to command an hour that can work in its favor too, but the half-hour cartoon is certainly my preference. The songs in this one are simple, but oh so effective. We all know “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” but the songs sung by the people of Whoville are just as catchy and the moment when they all sing on Christmas morning still lands hard for me every time I return to this.
What will always please me the most though, are the visuals and the Grinch and Max dynamic. The Grinch is just so expressive in the hands of Chuck Jones. His scowls, his nervousness, that smile! I mentioned wishing I could afford an animation cel of the interior of the tree in Pluto’s Christmas Tree and right up there would be a cel of Grinch in full smile. Even though an image can’t do it justice since it’s the animation that sells it as the smile just keeps creeping up his face well beyond where you would have expected it to end. And the way his hair unfurls is just the icing on the cake. Max is also adorable as the poor pup victimized by Grinch throughout. He is the sympathetic core of the picture, but he’s also infectious in the few moments he’s excited. We root for the Whos to get their Christmas back, but we also really just want to see Max have a happy ending. I love this one and I will love it for the rest of my days. I cannot foresee a time in my life when I will get sick of watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas! I am always down for a viewing and it feels like I can’t possibly watch it enough each season.
If How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is not your favorite Christmas special then that is okay. It’s more than okay. It’s okay if your favorite isn’t even in my top 10, 25, or not in this countdown at all. Whatever your favorite is, I hope you feel as strong about it as I do the Grinch. I hope you have that one Christmas special that can turn your day around with a simple viewing. It just makes you happy and helps you to appreciate what a unique time of year Christmas is. I hope you enjoyed this countdown and that you have a wonderful Christmas this year and all the years to come!
If you can’t wait until next year for more Christmas then check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
Well folks, we did it! We made it to another Christmas! These things come faster and faster each year which makes something like an online advent calendar helpful as it attempts to keep the season from going by even faster. It’s cliché, but the years go by even faster the older you get and if…
We have reached another Christmas Day! It’s a great time to celebrate and enjoy the moment for tomorrow we mourn the passing of the season. It’s the great come-down every year. For this holiday, I am once again returning to my list of the best of the best when it comes to Christmas specials. This…
Welcome to Christmas Day 2022! We made it another year and another long year is ahead of us until we make it back, but right now, it’s time to celebrate! And in keeping with the theme of this year’s countdown, we are once again looking at another much beloved Christmas special on this day. Before…
Welcome to Christmas Eve 2025! Christmas Eve is the party night while Christmas Day is the more low key, family, experience. For those not wanting to spend the night at the eggnog bowl, we have eleven Christmas specials here that you would do well to kick back with and enjoy. We’re into the Top 20 and these are among the best of the best. In truth, while these are all in an order of how great I think they are the truth of the matter is I consider most of these pretty interchangeable. What likely impacts you most is personal taste in Christmas specials. Do you like your special to be wholesome? Crass? Vulgar? Musical? Nostalgia plays a big role too and certainly some would view these next 11 and say “Of course, a kid who grew up in the 90s would come up with this,” and that’s probably fair. Someone who did most of their growing up in the 70s probably has a very different list. However, I’ll defend my list as being as objective as I can possibly make it. I look for uniqueness in my specials. I like to laugh, for sure, but I also appreciate those Christmas feels. This collection of Christmas specials is pretty robust. Most have those feels in them and if they don’t it’s because they found a way to subvert the Christmas special in a fun way. And we’re taking it to 11 today, so let’s get on with it!
I love The Tick. When it aired on Fox Kids in the early 90s, I didn’t appreciate it enough for what it was so, in a way, there’s very little nostalgic attachment for me here. As a kid, I wanted my superhero cartoons to be serious like Batman and X-Men. The Tick wanted to lampoon such though its target was more Silver Age than modern. As an adult, I appreciate The Tick for what it is and when I did a rewatch a few years back I was surprised at how well the show held up. It’s just very funny and also clever. The Tick is a buffoon, but a likable one. He’s more excitable than anything and that is on display here in “The Tick Loves Santa.” The Tick, being a bit childlike, is the only hero who believes in Santa Claus so when a villain disguised as Santa starts getting up to no good it really messes with his head. The real deal is going to reveal himself and personally enlist The Tick in taking down this Multiple Santa and he’s more than happy to do so. It’s a tremendously fun, off-beat, Christmas special and I especially love The Tick’s interactions with the local police early in the episode. If you dismissed The Tick as that dumb show with the big blue guy all these years then I recommend seeking this out. Especially if you’re a little fatigued with modern superhero media and want to laugh at it instead.
The Christmas episode of Hey Arnold! is such a favorite of 90s kids that I kind of resisted it for a long time. I just didn’t really vibe with Hey Arnold! as a show. I wanted my cartoons to either be action-packed, superhero, dramas or riotous toons not grounded by much of anything. Hey Arnold! was not that. It was most like Doug when compared with other Nicktoons, but even Doug had a certain silliness about it via its character designs and some of the odd lore in the show. Plus, it had Doug’s over-active imagination for when it wanted to break-out of its confines. Arnold really doesn’t have that. It’s a slice of life show with a very optimistic and well-meaning kid as its lead. He’s almost too nice, too perfect, like he’s a kid created by an adult trying to find the ideal child. “Arnold’s Christmas” makes good use of such a character and puts him to work in trying to reunite a father with his long, lost, daughter. It’s a tragic tale about a refugee in America and the struggles that come with being such. It’s probably a Christmas special we need now more than ever as many individuals in a similar situation presently face deportation for the crime of not being white enough. It’s a heart-warming Christmas special that also finds a way to weave the Helga/Arnold dynamic into the plot in a satisfying way as well.
This is a pretty by the numbers Tom & Jerry short from early in the duo’s life. It contains their original designs which were maybe a touch more realistic in terms of shape, especially with Tom, while still retaining that rounded-off, cartoon, aesthetic. What makes it special is it’s the first cartoon where the two warring entities find a way to get along for the sake of Christmas. Mostly though, it’s just freaking gorgeous. MGM and the duo of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera had something to prove. This is very much on par with the best the Disney studios were putting out in terms of technical delight. The Christmas backgrounds are wonderful and inject some lovely coziness to the feeling this one brings. There’s some good gags with Jerry and the toys and even a little bit of a heart pull moment. And I just love the ending with an adorable Jerry discovering a mouse trap placed outside his little hole in the wall is actually a Christmas present. His ending smile is just so infectious and so warming. This is a fantastic Christmas short from a wonderful era of cartoon-making.
It just wouldn’t be Christmas without these dumbasses.
Okay, this is quite a change-up from the prior three entries. If you’ve been following along with my rankings this year then you probably know that when it comes to Christmas specials of a decidedly different flavor I’ve been trying to group those together when it makes sense. Since we’re into the top 20 it no longer makes sense. This is truly my raw opinion and we’re just ranking these by my own personal enjoyment level. And I really enjoy Beavis and Butt-Head Do Christmas. It’s a subversive take on two well-trod classics: A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life. Ordinarily, I’d rail against such an approach but Beavis and Butt-Head make it work. The duo, of course, learns nothing in their Christmas adventures. Beavis sees a vision of the future where being a loser asshole causes him to go through life without ever being with a woman and his takeaway when he wakes up is that the future is cool because he has a VCR and some porn. Butt-Head gets to see how much better Highland would be if he never existed (the guardian angel is there to encourage Beavis and Butt-Head to commit suicide), but he just concludes that the world sucks, but it would suck even more without them. It’s a rare moment when I agree with either Beavis or Butt-Head, but I have to agree with his conclusion here.
A Pinky and the Brain Christmas was really rewarding for me to rediscover. It was one of those Christmas specials I saw in the moment, but kind of filed away. I was too old at that point to be paying attention to the broadcast schedules of cartoons. I know I liked it, but I don’t think I really appreciated it in the moment. Coming back to it I found it to be truly delightful. I’m not as well-versed in Pinky and the Brain as others. I experienced the duo mostly via Animaniacs and probably watched very little of their spin-off. For me, this was the first cartoon featuring the two where they nearly achieved Brain’s goal of global domination. His plan worked, but his shame of being such a dick to Pinky causes him to abort his mission and it’s a surprisingly powerful moment. Before we even get there though there’s a fun mission involving the pair traveling to the North Pole, infiltrating Santa’s workshop, and making it back home disguised (poorly) as reindeer. It’s a great Christmas special that makes use of the extended runtime over a standard Pinky and the Brain cartoon that never feels long or overstays its welcome.
I can see how some would find the portrayal of Santa Claus in this one off-putting.
Merry Wednesday, everyone! This is the first of some truly “out there” Christmas episodes from American Dad! It establishes the lore that the Smith family and Santa are enemies after Steve accidentally murders Santa. He does so because Stan irresponsibly gifts him a machine gun and has him open fire on a snowman not taking into consideration that the bullets would fly through the snowman and come into contact with whatever was beyond the target. Like Santa. Why was he hanging out at the mall? I don’t know, I guess one mall Santa is the real one at any given time because the guy needs to make some extra money to pay for all those toys. Since Santa is a magical being, he can’t be destroyed and does come back to life and opts to spend Christmas Eve seeking revenge against the Smiths. The B plot is Stan absolutely hating his son-in-law, Jeff, and the two coming to an understanding by the end. It all culminates in a bloody, massive, violent, battle between the Smiths and the army of Santa. It’s definitely not for everyone and making Santa a villain (albeit, one who had a right to be pissed at the Smiths) is certainly a choice and one that probably turns some folks off. If you like your Christmas specials on the more subversive end, this is about as good as it gets.
In 1999, Futurama showed us how horrible Xmas could be in the future. In this one, we learn that humanity created a robot Santa to essentially make Santa real, only his standards were too high and he decided everyone is naughty. Worse, going on the dreaded Naughty List doesn’t earn one a stocking full of coal. It sure seems like murder is on the table as people are forced to hide in fear for their lives. Fry gets to learn all of this the hard way when he gets caught out late on Xmas Eve out looking for a present for Leela whom he unintentionally slighted with his insensitivity. It’s the first episode that seems to bring the pair together and it will be a long time before that relationship pays off. For now, it’s sweet and not overdone and I love all of the little, funny, moments that exist in this one. And all of the casual nudity is wonderfully utilized. This should be thought of as a pretty dark sort of Xmas special, but it somehow manages to avoid feeling like such and I owe that to how funny it is. Plus, there is a happy ending unlike the follow-up Xmas special.
We have yet another Nicktoon on our hands and this one stars a character I pretty much loved from the start. Rocko’s Modern Life is a show that holds up remarkably well. Even ignoring the obvious adult jokes they managed to slip into the show (that have subsequently been cut, unfortunately), the humor is surprisingly wide ranging as the show sought to lampoon exactly what the title implies – the modern world. Rocko is a young adult newly on his own just trying to scrape by and he runs into all kinds of challenges along the way. The poor guy gets crapped on, but he’s so good-natured that the show manages to remain funny as opposed to abusive. In his Christmas special, mostly the same is true. Rocko tries to celebrate Christmas with a little get-together with his closest friends, but it blows up on him when Heffer’s family basically invites themselves over as well. Not wanting to let anyone down, Rocko rolls with it and prepares to host a massive party, but when Mr. Big Head starts a vicious rumor about diseased elves attending it blows the whole thing up. Rocko ends up exactly where he didn’t want to be – alone on Christmas. Moving in across the street are actual elves and a little, mute, elf takes a liking to Rocko leading to a pretty wholesome and heart-warming resolution. Along the way though there’s a lot of great gags. My personal favorite is the Christmas tree which behaves like a dog, until its murdered by Heffer when he cuts it down. A touch dark, perhaps, but totally in-line with the humor of Rocko’s Modern Life and the slightly more edgier Nicktoons. It’s yet another Christmas special I really liked as a kid, but kind of forgot about until I started doing this blog. That’s the gift The Christmas Spot has given me in that it’s brought some of these specials back into my life or introduced me to them for the first time.
One special I definitely did not need this blog to reintroduce me to is A Charlie Brown Christmas. I’ve seen this one way more times than I could possibly count. I’ve been watching it (along with several others) over and over every December since 1987. It’s the first ever Peanuts special and it’s a great introduction to Charlie Brown as a character who, despite being a good kid, seems to be disliked by his peers and has wretched self-esteem. He’s a punching bag, and Christmas just makes him depressed which is certainly a relatable feeling for a lot of people. He’s given a lifeline by Lucy to direct a Christmas pageant, only no one seems interested in taking it seriously. When he produces a laughably bad Christmas tree for the pageant, everyone basically dismisses him by first tearing him down and then laughing their asses off at him. Linus then reminds him of the true meaning of Christmas and old Charlie Brown finds renewed purpose and the other kids basically come around and realize they’ve all behaved like jerks. It’s a Christmas special that captures that awkward stage of adolescence where it feels like all of one’s actions are heavily scrutinized by their peers. Linus injects a secular element as well which helps endear it to another audience since the vast majority of these specials ignore that aspect of Christmas. Due to its repeated airings, A Charlie Brown Christmas is obviously a classic and there’s no way I couldn’t put it somewhere in the top 20. Leaving it outside the top 10 is probably sacrilegious for some, but I’m content with this placement. I enjoy this one, I will watch it multiple times a year, but I definitely enjoy the 12 specials ahead of it more. And maybe even some of the ones grouped just behind it, but let’s not scrutinize the placement any further or else I’ll go back to tinkering and never finish this thing.
This Christmas special from SpongeBob Squarepants is brilliant. Many specials that came before it have found a way to reference the classic Christmas specials, but few embraced them like this one. A SpongeBob Christmas was a network-aired, prime time, Christmas special constructed in stop-motion animation like the classic works of Rankin/Bass. Genius! And it manages to exceed the gimmick by just being a really good, fun, Christmas special. Plankton, the resident villain of Bikini Bottom, concocts a plan to turn everyone into jerks with tainted fruit cake. By doing so, he’ll seem like a saint by comparison and make it onto Santa’s Nice List to finally receive the secret formula to the Krabby Patty recipe. The only problem is that the fruit cake doesn’t work on SpongeBob, he’s just too wholesome and pure, but Plankton gets over that hurdle by unleashing a SpongeBob robot on the town that basically wrecks everything it encounters. SpongeBob has to save the day and does it through song. Corny? Of course, but “Don’t Be a Jerk – It’s Christmas” is one of the best, modern, Christmas songs around. It’s so unbelievably catchy and fun that I remain surprised it never really broke free from this special to enter regular rotation with other Christmas songs. And despite my love of Christmas specials, I’m actually not that big on Christmas music so me praising a Christmas song is actually pretty high praise. A SpongeBob Christmas is just the rare Christmas special that when I watched it for the first time I left convinced I had just witnessed a new classic and it deserves this ranking.
This one could have kept it clean, up until now that is.
We round out today’s entry with one more subversive and downright disgusting Christmas special, but it’s one that mostly plays things straight. That’s the beauty of the first South Park Christmas episode. It’s actually a pretty wholesome Christmas special about a Jewish kid who feels left out at Christmas. I’m not Jewish, but I have to believe that’s not an uncommon sentiment among Jews around Christmas time. It’s basically the genesis for the Adam Sandler Hannukah song. This is South Park though, so in order for Kyle to bridge the gap with his Christmas-loving peers he needs to turn to a literal magic piece of crap. Mr. Hankey is shockingly hilarious the first time he shows up. A talking poop in a Santa hat? He carries himself in an oblivious manner as if he doesn’t understand how gross he is. Others certainly notice though and they basically just see Kyle manhandling a piece of his own excrement and rightly have him committed. The show does take some liberties with Mr. Hankey in going out of its way to play up the gross factor. He didn’t need to end up in Mr. Mackey’s coffee, and we certainly didn’t need that fake commercial where live-action actors select their best Mr. Hankey to play with, but it wouldn’t be South Park if it didn’t push the boundaries of good taste. Still, there’s a strangely heart-warming resolution to this episode and I find Kyle’s song about being a lonely Jew on Christmas legitimately sad. The combination of all of those elements basically make this the perfect subversive Christmas special. It hits all of the Christmas special bullet points, but gets there in a very non-traditional and downright disgusting way. That’s why I still think it’s the best Christmas special from South Park. And if I have one regret with my body of work it’s that I didn’t cover what is probably the second best, “A Very Crappy Christmas,” but we can’t do them all can we?
That concludes this installment of the Christmas special countdown. Tomorrow, we do the top 10 and the all-time best Christmas specials. There probably aren’t too many surprises ahead, but as I look at the top 10 I do like that it feels like “me.” We’ll talk more about that tomorrow, but for now, Merry Christmas Eve and enjoy all of the merriment, drive safe if you’re traveling, and don’t forget to leave out milk and cookies for the big guy tonight!
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
When Pixar released Toy Story in 1995 it proved to the world that audiences would accept films created entirely within a computer. Prior to that, 3D animation was thought of as a gimmick, something for commercials and video games, but not something that could carry an entire feature length film. It’s similar to the prejudices…
It feels like, at this point in time, we have hit peek 90s nostalgia. I can recall when it felt like 70s nostalgia hit pretty hard and then the 80s arrived not too far after. It’s inevitable whenever a generation that spent much of their adolescence in a given decade hits adulthood. And by adulthood…
When it comes to doing these write-ups, I naturally trend towards older Christmas specials. The name of the blog is The Nostalgia Spot, after all, so it would only make sense for me to favor stuff that’s at least a decade old, if not more. The fact of the matter is, there’s really not enough…
We’re kind of setting fire to the whole Christmas thing with some of the selections today.
We’re into the final days! Yesterday, we took a look at one of the most wholesome and pure Christmas specials around in The Snowman. Today, we’re mostly looking at the polar opposite. I’m talking crass, gross, adult animation with some gentle stuff to round things out. This is a tough area of the list as we’re talking about the best of the best. I’ve also ranked the top 25 on two occasions now and there’s a temptation to mix things up, but I don’t like change for the sake of change. As a result, this might not be full of surprises from here on out if you’re familiar with my previous rankings, but we still have a few to get to that were unranked in 2020 when I last did this. One such show is batting lead-off for us today and it’s one that probably doesn’t have mass appeal.
Solar Opposites is a show about a family of aliens who flee their home world to Earth with the goal of terraforming it to suit their needs, but the pull of Earth culture seems to slow down their mission as they grow comfortable with life on the blue planet. This special released on Hulu in 2021 is the sort of Christmas special that really wants to crap on a lot of more popular stuff. Chief among them the movie Jingle All the Way. I think I’m on record as saying that movie is terrible so it doesn’t bother me that the plot is centered around how bad it is, but Solar Opposites doesn’t stop there. We also get shots of one of the characters having sex with Clarice from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and plenty of blood, guts, and gore. So what makes it good? Shock value? No, it’s the willingness to have the characters embrace the holiday like only a mad man with an extensive blog on the subject can relate to. This one is all about getting that big, Christmas, boner and then feeling like it’s not good enough. The plot literally causes the main characters to lose their Christmas spirit though sci-fi means, but sometimes in life we can all relate to the feeling of it being Christmas, but not feeling like it is Christmas. And it’s really, really, funny if you like this sort of thing. Not every joke lands, but the volume is there.
This looks like a nice wholesome Christmas special…
If Solar Opposites is too crass for you then I’m afraid it doesn’t get any better with the South Park episode “Woodland Critter Christmas.” This one was much talked about the second it aired. The first act paints it as a very by the numbers Christmas special starring a bunch of talking animals. Stan is the central figure and he finds them tiresome and it seems like that’s going to be the joke – an unwilling participant in a crappy Christmas special. Then the swerve comes in. Stan helps vanquish a mountain lion that was plaguing the cute, little, critters only to find out that mountain lion was the only thing standing in-between humanity and the birth of the antichrist. The critters are revealed to be a pack of Satan-worshipping mongrels who celebrate immediately with a blood orgy, and the rest is history. It almost doesn’t matter what follows because the episode peaks there with that bit of shock humor. And if that isn’t something that would make you laugh then this very clearly isn’t the Christmas episode for you. I do admit, it’s not as good on repeat viewings as the reveal is a huge part of the episode’s success, but it holds up better than I would have guessed. And if you have had to endure something like The Chucklewood Critters, the climax of the episode is pretty cathartic.
Those first two entries are probably the most perverse of the entire list so you can now exhale if you want something a little more family friendly, though this episode of King of the Hill isn’t quite that. This is the episode where Hank’s mom brings her new boyfriend with her for Christmas at the Hill residence. When Hank forgets his novelty foam finger in the house while on the way to the big game, he returns to witness a horrible sight – his mother getting plowed on his kitchen table by the new boyfriend. The shock of such a sight causes Hank to lose his sight and he has to try and keep it under wraps. He, of course, can’t and then has to come clean about what caused his blindness. His inability to accept his disability and also to just communicate with those around him leads to lots of awkward and humorous situations throughout the episode. It’s the type of humor King of the Hill handles well, but the catalyst for the plot is what really helps it to land.
Less adult, but still gross in parts, is Shrek the Halls. I’m not much of a Shrek fan. The movies are a little much for me. I can appreciate the fractured fairy tale approach to the original, but can’t really tolerate the soundtrack and the visuals have not aged well. To my surprise, what has aged well is this Christmas episode produced basically in tandem with the third film in the franchise. It builds off a solid premise of Shrek, being an ogre, having no concept of Christmas and trying to figure it out for the benefit of his young family. Only he’s a bit embarrassed by his lack of Christmas knowledge and has to contend with Donkey, who he finds supremely annoying (we all do). Shrek’s little family Christmas turns into a big, unwanted, party that ends in disaster and the ogre has to learn a lesson about what family really is. It moves along at a nice pace and since it was produced with the third movie the production values are actually quite high. The usual voice cast is present and I think everyone is here. I confess I don’t remember anything about Shrek the Third. I also think these characters just work better in a short format. No one is able to overstay their welcome so a very obnoxious character like Donkey is able to remain funny as opposed to annoying. I think Shrek is poised to make a comeback in the not too distant future, but I have a hard time believing it will be as good as this little half hour Christmas special.
Homer gets to play Grinch in this one which is something he’ll do again in a more obvious manner in a future episode.
This episode of The Simpsons comes after the show’s golden era, but every time I return to it I think I like it a little more. I considered ranking it higher, but I’m sticking with #27 which is no slight. This one begins like a conventional episode where the kids are stuck inside leading to a humorous situation that results in Bart breaking his coccyx. Confined to a wheelchair, Bart has trouble going to school because Springfield Elementary isn’t up to code forcing the school to turn to the mob for help (in reality, the mob forces itself onto the school). This causes the school to go bankrupt and then the Christmas element enters. First via a school play to coax the miserly Mr. Burns into making a donation that fails, and then via a toy company that takes over the school to use it as a testing ground for new toy ideas leading to the creation of Funzo. The episode just keeps rolling from there as there’s no B plot, it’s just one joke after another. It’s a pretty entertaining and unexpected ride with a terrific resolution. It just continues to make me laugh year after year and it’s a no doubt top 3 Simpsons Christmas episode. I just can’t bring myself to rank it above what I consider to be the top 2.
I love Fred’s design as Santa, even if it is weird seeing him in boots.
Don’t confuse this placement of The Flintstones one spot ahead of The Simpsons as me saying The Flintstones can even hold a candle to the more recent series. I just have a real soft spot for this hour long special that arrived in 1977. I used to look forward to catching this one on Cartoon Network annually because something about it just works for me, even if I’m not much of a fan of the franchise. This is basically an extended version of the episode “Christmas Flintstone” where circumstances are altered, but mostly it just gets Barney into the mix. Santa falls off of Fred’s roof and hurts his ankle meaning Fred has to fill his shoes. Literally. Barney gets to ride along as Fred’s elf and the pair need to make all of the deliveries for Santa and make it back to Bedrock for a work Christmas party or else Fred risks getting fired. Not only does it recycle some of the plot of a prior episode, it also recycles songs from the Hanna-Barbera production A Christmas Story. I guess the thinking was that special wasn’t a big hit, but why let the songs languish there? The pacing isn’t perfect, but I enjoy the ride and it’s still one I have to come back to every year.
There are so many all-timers in this one when it comes to jokes.
Just sneaking ahead of “Grift of the Magi” is this story about a mother and her son. This is a low key Christmas episode of The Simpsons, though don’t mistake that for unfunny. There are some all-timers in this one like everything surrounding the fictional video game Bonestorm and the ending with Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge. In between all of that is Bart stealing a copy of the video game he covets and getting caught, nearly keeping it from his parents, and getting caught again. Marge is left to wonder if her little boy is no longer her little boy while Bart just really wants to make it up to his mom, but the wound he inflicted is just going to take some time to heal. It’s the type of Christmas episode that will make you want to call your mom when it’s over and it gets me every time. Now, buy me Bonestorm or go to Hell!
The best Bob’s Burgers Christmas episode takes place mostly in the family wagon. Linda, unable to contain her enthusiasm for Christmas, put up the tree too early and we get a wonderful montage of her doing so, then having to redo it because it dies. By the time Christmas Eve arrives the tree is well past dead and a fire hazard, but you can’t Christmas without a tree, Bobby! So, the family piles into the car and heads out on Christmas Eve to get yet another tree. Meanwhile, the kids are plotting to set a trap for Santa Claus which snares their buddy, Teddy, who had to go to their house to turn off the oven when the search for a tree stretched too long. Bob runs afoul of a large truck leading to a road rage incident and the Belchers suddenly fearing for their lives. There’s a great guest spot by Bobcat Goldthwait and some nice payoff with a couple of episode-long jokes. My only issue with this one, and it’s one I can’t really hold against it, is that it outs the Santa myth via an exchange between Bob and Tina where he discovers she still believes in Santa Claus. I say I can’t hold it against it because this isn’t a show aimed at kids, but that one, quick, exchange has kept me from sharing this one with my kids. I’m pretty sure they don’t believe anymore, but they haven’t admitted it and I have yet to cop to anything so we’re just all comfortable living a lie for now. When that lie is out in the open, we’ll come together as a family and watch “Christmas in the Car.”
Okay, now we can move onto some more traditional Christmas special fair and it doesn’t get much more traditional than Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. This one is pretty much thought of as one of the original Christmas specials. Mr. Magoo beat him to it, but I don’t care for that one (hence why I’ve never looked at it for this thing) and he hasn’t exactly passed the test of time. The Rankin/Bass stop-motion special has been airing annually since 1964. It’s an institution at this point. You really don’t need me to tell you what it’s all about because you have probably seen it many, many, times. You also already know if you like it or not and right now you’re either thinking I have it too low or too high. I’m not sure how many would actually say it’s in the top 25, but way in the back like I am. And this one is largely carried by nostalgia and tradition, but I do still enjoy it when I sit down and watch it, just only once a year for me. A lot of the other ones up here I’ll watch multiple times because I’m a Christmas junkie, but Rudolph is one and done, but that is also partly because it’s an hour long. It’s an endearing story and the deer puppets hold up better than a lot of the other ones from Rankin/Bass. I’ve already said plenty. It’s a classic – let’s move on.
Did you know that there are several Frosty the Snowman specials that air around this time of year, but this is the only one that’s a Christmas special? Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, Frosty Returns, The Legend of Frosty the Snowman – these all do not mention Christmas at all and nothing suggests that they take place anywhere near Christmas time. It’s fine since the original song isn’t really a Christmas song either, it’s just a wintery song about a snowman coming to life. Rankin/Bass made it a Christmas thing and thus we associate Frosty with the Christmas holiday. This special is another that has endured. It’s pretty much this and Rudolph these days when it comes to network TV. ABC pushes the modern Disney stuff, and some of that is quite good, but only Frosty and Rudolph remain from when I was a kid (and my parents, for that matter). And I love this one. It’s got some great performances, a fun little story, and even a little sadness. I still say the darkest moment in any Christmas special would be what happens offscreen in that green house. Karen literally had to watch her friend melt to death. Does melting hurt? Can Frosty feel pain? We don’t know, but that must have been torture for both. Professor Hinkle, frankly, got off easy in the end.
And that does it for today. Tomorrow, we continue this countdown with 11 entries because it felt weird to end the thing with a top 11 as opposed to a top 10. Just what made it into the top 21? Well, you could probably spoil it for yourself by going back and seeing what I had to say in 2020, but I recommend you don’t. It’s more fun that way.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
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