Around The BLOCKhead

By: Erich Arendall

Episode 11: And The Rest...

Let's see here. Thus far, I've covered Minimates (more than once), Stikfas, QEEs, PALz, Cubes, Cuboyds and Kubricks. I probably should cover Minimates again, eventually, too -- they just keep adding lines to the mix. Despite all the various block figure lines mentioned, thus far we've only scratched the surface. This month, we take a look into the lesser known and darker streets of block figure lanes. From the poorly produced to the downright creepy. Yes, we're getting it all over at once, so I never have to think about it again.

Just as a note, this is not a comprehensive list of all the various block figure lines out there. I'm simply covering the rest of the "major players" that might come up in your next Block Figure Appreciation Society meeting. Also, I'm leaving out the biggest block figure players LEGO and Tyco's LEGO-compatible Mega Blocks, because they're easily examined at your local toy store and need no mentioning beyond that. I mean, really, if you haven't seen LEGO and Mega Blocks then you're way past my help.

But, I digress. Let's get back to the underbelly of the block figure world, shall we? We'll start with figures that I actually have purchased for my collection.


Maximum posabiltiy and weapons
aren't always the best combination.
We begin our tour with something I actually have on hand, one within the Shockinis line. Developed by New Jersey-based Shocker Toys, the Shockinis are a highly-articulated 3-inch block figure. In scale and pose-ability, they remind me of the Stikfas line. However, Shockinis are much blockier and one doesn't have to assemble them from scratch. Developed to be a customized toy, most Shockinis are generally solid-colored figures which can be purchased in styles like male, female, four-armed and four-legged. My sole Shockini was based off Arcana Studio's comic character Kade. The toy came with a mini-comic (which was good, because I wasn't familiar with the comic beforehand) and a sword. Unfortunately, my Shockini was too heavily painted and a twist of it's ball-bearing left wrist actually tore his hand off. For me, it wasn't such a great loss. While I love the articulation, there was something I found unappealing about the blocky shape. However, if you're looking for customizable figs, you could do a lot worse than the Shockinis.


"Illegal alien! Halt or I'll shoot!"
Like Kubricks and Minimates, the Mez-Itz figures (from Mezco) are associated with a number of different movie and media lines, some of which one might not expect to have action figures. Under the Mez-Itz belt, one will find Run DMC, Edward Scissorhands, Army of Darkness, Alien/Aliens--just to name a few. I picked up the Robocop pack, because I really wanted ED-209. Standing at about 3 inches, the Mez-Itz figures have slightly more articulation than a LEGO or Kubricks figure in that they can twist at the waist and nod. However, with their rotund bodies, bulbous heads and giant eyes, they are an unsettling toy (The Edward Scissorhands pack was too scary for me to even think about directly linking).

Unfortunately, my order for the toys had not arrived by the time this article was due (deadlines are a bitch), so I can't offer direct pictures of Toynami's imen. With a height of 2.5 inches, the imen are about the same height as a Kubricks or PALz figure, but stand taller than toy's average Minimate. With the expected articulation of block figures (no elbow or knee joints) these toys still stand alone, thanks to their magnetic feet. Yes, finally, toys for your refrigerator all over again. imen are typically based on anime and cartoon franchises, and many of their figures are based off robots. It's the robot figures that make the imen shine. I ended up picking up the entire first wave of Robotech toys. For my refrigerator. It's just a shame they didn't have any Zentradi or Invid figures to battle against.

Finally, we have Neca's limited entry into the world of block figures, Pulp Fiction Geoms. They're about as tall as a Mez-Itz (3") and are just as creepy--with their big, round heads and skinny necks. Unlike Mez-Itz, however, they have articulated elbows. Due to the weird-looking factor of the Geoms, they didn't sell well and can be found in Suncoast and Sam Goody's bargain bins throughout the US. Neca has also never produced any other Geoms lines.

Well, that about wraps it up for the more well-known block figures lines. There are others that exist in the world, but one has to look. Or, they're cheap knock-offs. For example, when searching for Kubricks toys on eBay, one might discover the Terminator line, but on visual inspection see that they have a lesser sculpting and paint quality than one would expect... That's because they're not Kubricks. They're Bloxx. And while LEGO and Mega Blocks only get a cursory mention because they're well-known, Bloxx only gets a cursory mention because they are knock-offs. But since they're often proclaimed as Kubricks, I thought I'd just let you know.

-erich

To see the Mez-Itz ED-209 in action, it does make a brief appearance in the webcomic Attercap.Net. The other toys mentioned? Not so much.

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Copyright © 2008 Erich Arendall