Top 5 Fridays: Imaginext DC Super Friends Toys

Alright boys and girls we're back with another Weird Science Top 5 Fridays and for this week's installment I figured we'd take a look at a very cool line of action figures/vehicles/playsets that might have slid under your radar because........... Well because they are meant for 3-8 year olds.  I'm talking about the amazing Fisher Price line of Imaginext DC Super Friends action figures, that when you initially see them you might scoff or just keep walking by, but let me assure you that this is probably the best line of action figures that DC is licencing right now.  That's right I'm a grown ass man that loves himself some toddler toys and I'm not ashamed to say so because if you've checked them out or at some point in the future might, you'll know that these toys are something special.  Whether it's from the diverse line of heroes and villains, the small price for getting a figure and a vehicle in one package or the many different playsets with their fun action features......... It's just a really fun line for boys, girls, men or women who love DC Comics and the heroes that encompass that world.  So for today's list I'll be running down the Top 5 products from this line that make it the best DC toy line out right now.  Let's check it out and maybe I can persuade some of you to get on the Imaginext trolley.






#5.  Clayface

First on our list we'll look at the awesome figure Clayface, who you won't be able to get with a vehicle or another character but what you do get is an over sized monster with a hammer attachment to his hand and a hinged mouth that allows Clayface to consume any hero or villain you see fit to exact some sort of vengeance upon because you happened to have a bad day.  I'm not saying I do this or anything or that I have some sort of god complex when playing with toddler's toys, I'm only saying that you can if you want.  Besides for the action features and the size of the figure it also comes painted with a really gross gloss that gives the appearance of dirt and grime mixed in with the muck of the villain.  It's a really cool figure that retails for about $8-$12 and even with all it's awesomeness it's at the bottom of the list, so can you imagine what I have in store for you next?




#4.  Gotham City Jail

Next up we have the Gotham City Jail playset that comes with a Batman and a Bane figure.  While this is just a plain ordinary Batman, it's probably one of the ones you'll want because it's the Keaton Batman look and you can never go wrong with a Keaton Batman.  As for Bane, well this Bane is freaking awesome.  In the center of the playset is a chair for Bane to be strapped into and when you turn the playset's action feature, a black light turns on above the chair exposing the black light paint that has been designed to look like Bane being pumped full of his precious venom.  Now without the black light, he's just an ordinary run of the mill Bane, but let me tell you when I turned on the light and saw those green veins, well it was a selling point for me.  The Gotham City Jail features opening front doors, an action feature that opens the jail cell doors and a removable Bat Signal that can be put in different places on the set.  For the imagination side of it you have a control board in the upper left hand room if you want to pretend that someone is monitoring the jail.  It might not sound like much, but I would of loved this playset as a young kid and I love it as the man child I am today.  Definitely a cool playset even if it only has four jail cells when Gotham is just awful with villains.  This playset retails for about $24-$30 and it's totally worth it.  I also suggest you pick up the Toys R Us exclusive Commissioner Gordon figure with police car to add to the fun of this set.

#3.  Gorilla Grodd

I have a weakness in me when it comes to Gorilla Grodd.  Just the idea of a intelligent gorilla villain just tickles me in a way that....... Well I'll keep that to myself.  So there I was, walking through Target picking up somethings when I happen to spot this figure sitting on their toy shelves and when I got home....... Well, I forgot to pick up what I initially went for and got a strange look from my girlfriend when I came home with only a gorilla action figure and a sappy smile on my face.  But if you have this figure you'll understand, because it's a great figure and even though I think he's a bit too big for the scale of the rest of the figures, he's still one of my favorite toys.  He has all that articulation that the people who normally review toys talk about and his action feature includes a missile that shoots from his forearm gun.  It's a pretty standard figure that just comes with something to shoot from it, but when you look at the toy....... You just want to play with it!  It's a Target exclusive that retails for about $8-$13 and it should be relatively easy to find, so I expect all of you to go pick yourselves up one and get to playing.  I know that I didn't really get into anything special about this toy and why it's on this list, but it's more of a personal thing, with my love for Gorilla Grodd and all that and even with it's simplicity, it's one of the best in the Imaginext DC Super Friends line.

#2.  Scarecrow and Poison Ivy   Lex Luthor

We've got a twofer for #2.  I couldn't decide between the Scarecrow/Poison Ivy two pack or the Lex Luthor with battle armor for this spot so I said "What the hell" and now you get both.  First off, when I saw that Imaginext was putting out Scarecrow and Poison Ivy figures my jaw dropped.  How often do we get figures in stores that represent Scarecrow or Poison Ivy?  Think of it and then think about how often they package them together?  That's right never.  It's huge to me that these two characters would get a Imaginext figure at all, Scarecrow for his obvious fright reasons and Poison Ivy for simply being a female.  Don't think that's out of line to say because let's face it, for boy's toys getting a female character is something that doesn't happen very often and we get Poison Ivy to join the Wonder Woman figure and the Harley Quinn figure as the female representatives of Imaginext DC Super Friends figures.  I just really love the fact that the Imaginext Batman Rogue's Gallery is getting to the point where it might rival any other toy line with it's sheer amount of characters.  These figures are packaged together and retail for about $8-$12 and if you can find them, then totally pick them up because where I'm from they're scarce.  Now for Lex Luthor and his battle armor...... Who doesn't want the arch villain of Superman, especially with armor that he can properly take him on with?  Now you've got a basic Lex Luthor figure like you'd get with the pair next to him, but then you can put him in a gigantic power suit that comes with the action features of a kryptonite blast projectile and on the other arm a gripping claw to squeeze the life out of our Man of Steel....... or whomever you want to squeeze the life out of.  I put these characters up here to help demonstrate the variety of characters that this line offers and because they're just really cool.  Get yourself a Bizarro figure....... that's right they have a Bizarro figure that almost made this list.  Get him and add him to your Lex Luthor to really give Superman a run for his money.  Lex Luthor and his Battle Armor retail for about $11-$18, go get yourself one.




#1.  The RC Transforming Batbot

Now there's a few of you out there that I'm sure will just skip the video, but please watch it because there is no way that I'll be able to convey how cool this toy really is.  SO GO WATCH IT!  All right, I'll assume you all watched it now so let's get to it.  This toy is a beast!  Now let me explain to you that there are a ton of Batmobiles in this line and you can pick up any number of them with a Batman figure, which is awesome for those of you who want to have all the arsenal that Batman has in his war on crime, but the one you'll really want is this transforming Bat Tank.  The Bat Tank with it's RC controller can move about and transform into the formidable Bat Bot.  This Bot with over a hundred sounds and phrases can fire four discs and unleash it's pincer claws when going after crime in Gotham City.  While this toy is a bit on the pricey side retailing around $60-$80, it's worth the price for your kid or the kid in you.  I was really worried when I got into this line of figures that they would soon be cancelled............ It's something that happens every time I get into something, but then I saw this preview of the figure at ToyFair, all my worries were put aside.  It's a really cool figure with a lot of features and this is definitely the cream of the crop when it come to Imaginext DC Super Friends figures/vehicles.

That's it for this week's Top 5 Fridays and while not all of you are into action figures..... especially for this age range, I hope you enjoyed the look and diversity of the figures presented and go off on your own and check out all the different characters, vehicles and playsets that are in this line.  See you next week as we go after another Top 5 list and hopefully something that's just as fun as this one...... This was very fun for me.  I hope you have a great weekend and we'll see you in seven.