This is that time of the year to brag/write about our toy exploits of the year that is coming to an end! The year 2025 is nothing short of exceptional as we (Bangaloreans) got not one but two ComicCons yeah that’s true and I also got a chance to visit Malaysia and the rest is history. Yeah two ComicCon because 2024 we dint get one and the same was pushed to January 2025 and 2025 coming happened around December 2025, both of them are exceptional in its own ways… some said its getting worse now a days but it good for me!
In terms of toys, I picked few action figures from India and a lot in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! Here is a list of all that I managed to acquire this year and I am happy that I picked quite a bunch of action figures, so I can do a “Top 10 Action for 2025”. At the tenth place is my Marvel character Iron Man in his Mark-II armour… This is a very silvery figure that I picked in Malaysia and is a must have if you are building a Hall of Armour just like me! What I liked the most about this figure is the open face sculpt, with extreme likeness to Robert Downey Junior.
One other figure I never know existed is this Starwars The Black Series – Lukę Skywalker who took the ninth place easily without flinching a finger! Yeah I loved the movie “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” and one of my favourite piece is the pod race scene, which was further enhanced by this kid Anakin Skywalker. Me being a non Starwars fan, I don’t collect all the Starwars Black figures but only collect some of my favourite characters, one of them is this Kid… Anakin Skywalker and I was lucky enough to find him at a sale price.
At number eight is Phoebe from Ghostbusters: The Family That Busts Together two pack. This is a brand new series I opened this year and this two pack was one of the first. I got this two pack in Kuala Lumpur and I got a a pretty good deal! This Phoebe figure is a looker and I love the accessories that came along more that the figure itself. Oversized outfits and head sculpt got her a place in my Top 10 for this year!
One other series I am trying to complete is the Avengers: Infinity War, and the progress has been quite slow because Hasbro started releasing figures from comics far often than movie figures. But fortunately, I could get a Bruce Banner figure, which kind of is crucial as he comes in this form through out the movie. I wasn’t sure if I could get my hands on this figure but seems like this is kind of a peg warmer in Kuala Lampur so I got a good deal. This is not a fancy figure but a regular suited body figure with a beautiful head of Mark Ruffalo, which got him seventh place in my Top 10 action figure 2025 leaderboard.
Just like me building Ironman Hall of armour, I am also building a Dark Knight Garage… I been slowly collecting piece to make this display with diorama background. One piece that wanted is this Catwoman by McFarlane Toys, which came with the batpod but I missed the first release and now out of my budget to import, so I dropped a post in Facebook Toys group and I for a hit. Then after waiting for so long, I got it in hand on time for this review. She is a beautiful figure and works perfectly with the Batpod that I got this very same year. She definitely deserves this sixth place.
Human Torch from the new Fantastic Four movie take the fifth place and it is an exceptional figure! This for sure has great photographic and display potentials even in non F4 display. This is one of the Indian toy store pick of this year and I was extremely happy for picking this from The Entertainment Store, Bangalore. I love visiting toy store and picking from physical stores, so this Human Torch is a very special pick. This action figure also got me closer to my dream Fantastic Four universe, yeah now I am at Fantastic Two state, the other one being “The Thing”.
Then on card is Egon from Ghostbusters: The Family That Busts Together two pack. This again is a unsung hero who is a peg warmer as the movie dint do very well, but I like the two pack for it potential and picked it! The other figure (Phoebe) got eighth place and this semi transparent Egon got into Top 5 and secured a fourth place missing top 3 just by few points. This is a figure which will do magic in my toy photography session and I am already loving it so much.
Since I saw the Dark Knight movie in cinema, I wanted that Batpod but then only Mafex had that and it was far above my budget so I was waiting a budget alternative. Finally my prayers were answered by McFarlane Toys but then again Indian retail prices were far higher so waited for sale to drop… Finally this year I picked a good deal in Amazon that too the newer Batpod with Batman on it! Hooray one stone, two Wishlist item dropped. So no wonder what these got the third place in my top 10. This set is a beautiful set and will sure grace my Dark Knight Garage Diorama for sure.
The runner up place is snatched by the BVS (Batman vs Superman) Armoured Batman by Fondjoy. I was looking for a decent Armoured Batman since I missed my chance of taking home Mattel Batman way back, I was actually relieved that McFarlane Toys is coming up with this Armoured Batman, then few days before the purchase, I found out that “Fondjoy” also makes this and the quality is kind of better, so I clicked the buy now button and was really happy I did. This figure also checks off one other scale Armoured Batman.
At the most prestigious place this year is the ZD Toys – Igor AKA Mark XXXVIII (38)… Yeah this Igor had a total screen time of less than 10sec but he made a solid impact in my heart, maybe because he is unique in both shape and size! I have been eyeing this figure for sometime now and the Comiccave version was way out of my budget but finally this year ZD Toys decided to release it and I was in Malaysia to pick the first few piece from a store in Kuala Lumpur. I would be building a display piece for this guy and that will for sure stand out. Overall I had a decent year and my dream to visit toys in Amcorp Mall in Kuala Lumpur came true and also we got a few new Toy Stores opened in Bangalore. Hopefully 2026 will be better and I would be showing off my figure in my diorama style display, fingers crossed. Till next year… Happy New Year!
