2009 battlegrip.com Awards

Awards aren’t usually worth all that much, but one of the benefits to running my own website is that it gives me an excuse to post my own awards. I’m only handing out a few awards this year, but each one of these is important to me and — I hope — important to some of you. Enjoy!

Best Vinyl Toy of 2009

Without a doubt, Kano’s (website, Twitter) Boba DEF (review here) is the absolute best vinyl toy of the year.

A great blend of urban styling and retro Star Wars action, the Boba DEF toy actually turned out to be a hell of a lot of fun. And the $75 price tag on the release was well worth the money; Boba DEF lives on a shelf in our dining room and he looks amazing.

Best 3.75-Inch Scale Action Figures of 2009

I’m sure no one is shocked when I say that Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line is the best 3.75-inch action figure series of the year. What started out as a line of toys I was only kinda interested in turned into a line packed with great figure after great figure and a ton of surprises.

A few posts worth checking out here include my Marvel Universe Action Figure Reviews post and my Marvel Universe Wish List.

If you’re a fan of 3.75-inch scale action figures and superheroes then you’re most likely already collecting this series. And if you’re not collecting this series then hit the stores; some of the earlier releases are still on pegs and new waves are hitting every few months.

Great job, Hasbro!

Most Playable Designer Toys of 2009

Another one that won’t surprise you, I’ve gotta say that Onell Design’s Glyos System toys are the most playable designer toys of the year. Inexpensive, durable, and perfect for building and customizing, the Glyos figures are so unlike most other designer toys that some who look down on vinyl toys have started collecting these.

2009 was a great year for the series, but it sounds like 2010 is going to be phenomenal. If you haven’t yet given these a shot then jump over to the store and grab a few Buildman toys. And then get busy building!

Best Resin Toy of 2009

uhoh Toys’ Bullhorn (review here) is my favorite resin toy of the year. Bulky, dark, articulated, and fun, Bullhorn stands out as the resin toy I pull off the shelf the most often. It’s fragile, yes, but it’s still cool as hell.

And that’s it, the battlegrip.com 2009 awards. I know it’s not much, but I wanted to take a little time to highlight my top picks of the year.