2010 Battlegrip.com Awards
Last year I posted my own 2009 Battlegrip.com Awards and was a bit surprised — and a little sad — when there was only a single comment. I guess my choices were either less than spectacular or everyone was too overcome with excitement for 2010 to comment. Regardless of the lack of comments, though, it is now time for me to hand out a few awards for toys that I played with in 2010.
Best Mass-Market Action Figure Line of 2010
There was never any doubt that Iron Man 2 from Hasbro was going to be my favorite mass-market action figure line of the year. I know it has been a little while since I posted a review of a toy in the series, but that’s not because I’ve stopped grabbing the toys. And with places like Wal-Mart and Target having these knocked down to $5/figure this is a perfect time to score some awesome toys before they vanish from the shelves. And when I posted the list of Top Ten Toy Reviews at Battlegrip.com in 2010 I could tell by the hits that I wasn’t alone in loving this series.
Yes the Iron Man 2 action figure line wasn’t at all perfect — and I still haven’t found the comic Iron Monger so the distribution is spotty at best — but the good so strongly outweigh the bad that I cannot help but love the series. Congrats, Hasbro, on creating such a great toy series that fits perfectly with last year’s “Best 3.75-Inch Scale Action Figures of 2009,” the Marvel Universe line.
Best Custom Toy of 2010
Without doubt the absolute greatest custom toy of 2010 has to be Matt Doughty’s (Onell Design) custom Glyos Zoneye toy. Inspired by Mark Nagata’s (website, Twitter) Kaiju Eyezon toy (review here), this customized monstrosity is a hell of a lot of fun to play with and it’s a crime that this toy hasn’t been put into production and released into the wild.
I had a couple of opportunities to play with this toy at Matt’s house this year, and during my last visit I stole enough time to write a Zoneye review. I think that if you take the time to read my review and look at the photos you’ll see why I made this my choice for best custom toy of 2010 . . . and why I’m going to continue to nag Matt and Mark to get this guy manufactured and into vinyl.
Best Resin Toys of 2010
With as many of them as I own is it any wonder that oOMoSOo’s (blog, Flickr, Etsy) Snot Beast resin toys are my favorite resin toy line of the year? Tiny, inexpensive, and cute as hell these toys look great in a group and I hope we see a v3 in 2011. I reviewed the basic design a couple of times (first review, second review), and the larger v2 design (review here) and if you do not yet own one of these I recommend grabbing one as soon as you can.
What made me choose the Snot Beast over the other resin toys I bought in 2010? It’s gotta be the combination of low price and wicked design. I love how each beast has two faces and oOMoSOo’s color choices make me quite happy. I know that these don’t appeal to everyone, but these are my awards and I have spoken.
Favorite Toy Website of 2010
I visit a lot of toy websites and blogs each week, but time and again I find myself at ActionFigurePics.com and enjoying their photos and coverage of Marvel, DC, and Masters of the Universe Classics. With battlegrip.com as scattered and random as my mind I know that I never focus on any one thing for long so it’s sites like ActionFigurePics.com that help keep me updated on the more mainstream side of toy collecting. And the photography at ActionFigurePics.com is almost always excellent, so I have no choice but to hop over there a few times each week to see the latest shots.
But it was a close one in this category, so in the interest of sharing I wanted to mention a few other sites that have kept me entertained and informed throughout 2010.
- Dork Dimension – Nate doesn’t update the site often, but when he does it’s always something good. This is the place to go for a wide variety of stuff, including looks at older toys and even the occasional trading card series. Thanks, Nate, for a fun 2010!
- Infinite Hollywood – I’m not into Newt’s coverage of wrestling, and I don’t agree with his Top Ten Toy Line Mistakes of 2010, but the site is fun and one I suggest you start watching. Newt has a unique voice and is as scattered in his coverage as I am; but in different directions so that makes his site fun for me.
- Poe Ghostal’s Points of Articulation – Though it’s almost wall-to-wall Masters of the Universe at Poe’s website, I enjoy his approach to toys and try to hit the site every couple of days.
- toybot studios – The place to go for kaiju coverage and the art scene, as well as looks at Ashley Wood’s World War Robot and some other off-the-wall areas of geekdom that I rarely encounter, I have to say that toybot studios has probably cost me money because I almost always find something cool when I visit the site.
So there they are, my four awards for 2010. What were your favorites of 2010? Do you agree with my choices, or am I so stupid that you need to set me right? Hop on into the comments section and speak. Let us hear about your choices for the best of 2010.
Awesome! as far as a v.3 snot beast goes i think you will be pleasantly surprised, as i started work on on yesterday.
as far as best websites, for me id say my favorite two are : battlegrip of course as i check this every morning.
and spankystokes as i also check it everyday.
@oOMoSOo – Great news. I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with. And thanks for the vote of confidence; I try to make the site as much fun as possible and hearing it’s one of your favorite sites makes me quite happy.
Interesting.
Best mass market toy – Transformers: Deluxe Class. Rarely disappointed with these guys. Some of the newer guys that were released in 2010, such as Tracks, Jazz, etc were all-time classics.
Best Custom Toy of 2010 – tough one. I don’t follow much outside of Glyos, so I’ll go with the Rebel Wrecker. Honorable mention goes to Clopos (also Glyos), who was finally available again, albeit in a limited quantity.
Best Resin Toy of 2010 – the Chaos sculpt available in the Glyos Custom Corps 3. Excellent stuff.
Favorite toy website in 2010: I have about 14 sites that I hit daily that are related to, or about, toys. My favorite is probably 16bit.com. Enough news is covered at that site to keep me informed, with just enough reviews to keep it interesting.
Keep up the good work in 2011, Phil!
The MU range has really come into its own over the last few months. There’ve been a few miss-steps, for sure (my Iron Man 2020 actually had holes in it!) but there’ve been some excellent toys, too.
My best picks on
Mass Market Toys:
#1 G.I. Joe
I got access to it late and was mostly enhancing my need for Joes through watching the old TV series whilst finishing my studies and through a dear firend i gathered vintage Joes & 25th/ROC Joes in MASSES! Golly. I cleared out my Star Wars collection cause this has gotten my new obsession.
Best Not mass market:
#1 RxH Chao Q Bean
I just like his/her cuteness.
Best Custom:
#1 Custom Gobon RENEGADE wave by Onell/Glyos.
Top stuff!
Best site:
AFP is not bad, i like the random updates and there’s almost 3 of them daily in the mail which is pretty cool. Though your site, phil, goes to rank #1 for its diversity!
wow, thanks Phil..! I’m honored to be mentioned. Battlegrip.com is a daily read for me as well…!
@DoctorKent – “Best mass market toy – Transformers: Deluxe Class. Rarely disappointed with these guys. Some of the newer guys that were released in 2010, such as Tracks, Jazz, etc were all-time classics.”
Great choice. I’ve found that the Generations line has renewed my interest in Transformers; Hasbro has been doing a great job with the line and I can’t wait to see what’s revealed at the NYTF.
And thank you. I’ll do my best to keep posting stuff in 2011.
@Ralph – “Best site:
AFP is not bad, i like the random updates and there’s almost 3 of them daily in the mail which is pretty cool. Though your site, phil, goes to rank #1 for its diversity!”
Thanks! I appreciate the support, and knowing that you enjoy the diversity makes me feel that I’m not alone in loving a variety of different things.
@toybotstudios – My pleasure. You run a great site and I often find new things at toybot studios. And you’ve definitely contributed to my growing kaiju collection.
great article. i would have used one of Jin Saotome’s customz as custom of the year, but you are fair. i’m totally into your pick of the iron man line as Best Mass-Market Action Figure Line of 2010. thanks.
@rupertvalero – Got a specific one of Saotome’s that you would identify as your favorite custom of 2010? I’m always happy to check out toys I may have missed.