I just wanted to take this moment to wish each and every one of my readers a very merry Christmas, and a safe and happy holidays!

I'm one of those people that look back fondly on the Christmases I had as a kid and they were always filled with a sparkling sort of magic that made the entire world around me gleam like a lit up tree. I loved it all; the food, the candy, the songs, the snow (I lived in Michigan, so always plenty of snow), the decorations and of course, the toys!

And no toys made me happier than my beloved action figures. Every Christmas guaranteed new recruits to my small plastic army of soldiers, warriors, superheroes and Jedi Knights. And every one of them I loved dearly. Even the knock off figures like Sgt. Rock got some playtime in (usually as dead guys in the background of my G.I. Joe battles, but that counts).

Things are a bit different now that I'm a "grown up", but that doesn't change the fact that I still secretly hope for new action figures every year, and in fact, have already bought a few for myself with some birthday money (I'm a December baby). But I want to extend a wish to you all; may you find every action figure you've been hoping for (or at least a couple) under your tree this year and may you kick off the new year with a happy heart, and a slightly larger collection.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Pretty big news in the world of 1980s franchise revivals, along with recent mega-hits like Transformers and G.I. Joe, came with the announcement of the upcoming A-Team major motion picture that will bring the classic '80s TV show about a bunch of renegade mercenaries helping people by blowing up stuff.

To make things even more exciting, at least to us action figure collectors, is the news that Jazwares, makers of such hit figures as the Planet 51, Sonic the Hedgehog and Astro Boy lines, has landed a deal to produce a full line of A-Team action figure, vehicles and playsets.

My dream of once again owning a 3 3/4" A-Team van, complete with the whole crew, is about to come true at last!

According to the Jazwares press release:

Jazwares™, a leader in the licensed products marketplace, has been tapped by Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising (Fox Licensing) to develop an extensive toy line for the upcoming feature film The A-Team. The launch of the Jazwares product line, which includes action figures in various sizes, vehicles, and electronics, will coincide with the movie's release in June 2010.

I pity the fool who ain't excited about this! Sorry, I just had to say it. For more information (when it becomes available) visit www.jazwares.com.

I'm starting to wonder just who it was in the Mattycollector offices that angered some voodoo witch-doctor and has now brought down a dark curse upon the company, because at the rate things are going for them considering their shoddy customer service, mishandling of peoples' payments, low production runs and several other issues, it will be just a matter of time before their offices will be drenched in a rain of blood and then attacked by a swarm of locusts.

Or maybe it's not a voodoo curse and is just an unprecedented level of incompetence. Not sure yet.

So, here's the latest snafu stemming from their recent sale of King Randor figures; it turns out that many people who bought one, won't be getting one. Or if they do, they're in for a long wait. Word is spreading like wildfire around the He-man.org forums, as well as other action figure discussion forums, that processed orders for King Randor are frozen in an "order in progress" state on the main Mattycollector order page, which is leaving many collectors wondering if their orders went through at all.

Toy Guru, the mouthpiece for Mattycollector on the He-man.org forums, posted this statement:

"Thanks to everyone who provided information. I've passed this info up to the top brass and to Digital River. Bottom line is Digital River has messed up big time - again. We're doing everything we can to correct this and the order numbers and specific issues are the best way for us to address this.

We're well aware of all of the issues and are actively working to fix them. I know folks are looking for more info, but that is the best I have right now. Please know we are 100% committed to getting all of these bugs worked out and we appreciate everyone hanging on. We are working on it!"

Hmmm... They're working on it. Great news. I'm sure we all feel completely relieved. Still, I don't mean to give Mattycollector too much of a hard time, I'm the first to admit that their products have been top notch, but I'm beginning to wonder if all of this trouble is worth it.

For more information, visit www.itsalltrue.net.

I got into a conversation a couple of days ago about what it's like being a toy collector at Christmastime and how people go about asking their loved ones for toys for Christmas. Some people seem to have no problem handing over a list to their significant other with a cheerful "Happy shopping!" whiile others I talked to don't even bother asking nor expecting action figures as gifts, because most of their friends and family have no idea what to get them.

I, personally, ran into this with my dear wife. I wouldn't even dream of asking her to get me toys for Christmas, because let's face it, hunting down specific action figures is a harrowing experience as it is for us, so imagine what a nightmare it could be to people not "in the know" about what's hot and what's not and where to find what at the right price.

Still, it made me curious about what my readers might wish for on their Christmas lists if they were given free reign? I would definitely have the elusive City Strike Snake Eyes on my list! I'm also going through an intense vintage action figure phase, trying to snatch up several figures I has in my youth, so I imagine that my dream Santa list would have a slew of old-school figures on it, like an original Mork from Ork figure or a colossal Shogun Warriors Godzilla (you all know the one, with the shooting fist and tongue of flame). Ahhh, it's fun to dream.

So let's here from you! If you could ask Santa for any action figures this Christmas, any at all, which would you want? Also, what's on your realistic list this year? Are you looking forward to getting anything special? I want to here from you!

Have you ever been trolling through the action figure aisles, desperately searching for any DCUC figures besides Captain Cold, only to come up empty handed time and time again? Do you find yourself wishing that you could just go online and buy the whole wave is one big swoop and get the searching over with so you can have more time to actually enjoy your figures? Well, now you can!

Now you can just plunk down a credit card and get it all over with thanks to Mattycollector offering the entire wave for sale on December 23rd. While this is great news for those who are sick of the constant heart-crushing searches, it's kind of a bummer for people that have things like Christmas presents and stocking stuffers and giant Butterball turkeys to buy. I mean, really Mattycollector? You're launching these figures two days before Christmas? That's pretty messed up. You guys better watch it or you'll be visited by three spirits. I'm just sayin'.

Anyway, according to Mattycollector:

So big news! We will indeed be selling our first wave box set of DCUC 6″ figures on Mattycollector.com. This great program will kick off with Wave 11. The box set will include standard carded versions of:

Well, that's just great. So, bittersweet news from Mattycollector, but for DCUC fans, I sure hope this is something to help them have a very merry Christmas. I'm sure it will be great for neckbeard scalpers.

You can get your salivary glands warmed up for some serious drooling by visiting Mattycollector.com.

I'm a sucker for a funny action figure list and CRACKED.COM (the cybernetic descendant of the classic humor magazine) has delivered a doozy. As collectors, we're no strangers to that odd accessory that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, but even in the world obligatory over-sized Rise of Cobra neon green missile launchers, there are accessories that defy logic to a stunning degree.

CRACKED.COM breaks down the worst of the worst, from motorcycles for DC Comics' the Flash (He's the fastest man in the world, why would he need a motorcycle?) to bullet-proof shields for the son of Krypton (Helloooooo... he's naturally bulletproof), but some of the list-makers weren't that bad, or at least that odd, like the various Batman re-paints (Jeepers! He's orange!). I mean, Batman has been every color in the book, so I'm no longer surprised by it.

Still, it's worth reading the list for the Spider-Man Adventure Hero pictures alone!

You can read the whole list at CRACKED.COM. But I must give you a WARNING! Some of the language is a little adult (there's an f-bomb or two).

I'm not trying to be some voluntary mouthpiece for Entertainment Earth, here, but to help make up for the fact that I posted something about Toyrocket's big sale (boy, did that open up a can of worms) I thought I'd give a shout out to Entertainment Earth's big, giant Gift Rush Sale where you can get all kinds of goodies for cheap!

I have personally ordered from them several times and have always had super easy dealings and quick shipping from them, so I feel considerably better about referring anyone to them as opposed to that last little fiasco that went down with you-know-who. And no, I do not own stock in them nor are they bribing me with action figures to say all of this.

The truth is that I just can't pass up spreading the word about killer action figure deals. This works in my benefit because I've got a birthday in December and that means birthday money and that means birthday shopping for myself, and I can tell you right now that seriously eyeballing that exclusive Star Wars Joker Squad set like Ralphie eyeballed that Red Ryder BB gun.

Anyway, whether you're buying gifts for fellow collectors or for yourself, I strongly suggest checking it out. You can "get your shop on" at www.entertainmentearth.com. Have fun! And please forgive me for that whole Toyrocket thing! Come on, it's Christmas!

With the latest issue of ToyFare magazine, collectors of the insanely popular Masters of the Universe Classics line from Mattycollector got a first look at the upcoming Evil Lyn figure, due out in April. And it seems like as soon as fans got one gander at the figure, they all simultaneously turned giant, green monsters in ripped, purple pants, yelling, "Collector MAD!" Why, you ask? Well, it turns out that the new Evil Lyn figure is a straight up repaint of the Teela figure.

It's no secret that action figure collectors hate repaints like cats hate water-pistols, so Mattycollector should have expected the wrath of collectors everywhere to be unleashed like the Orc hordes of Mordor, but quite frankly, and I'm going to catch aitch-ee-double-hockey-sticks for this, but I just don't think it's that big of a deal!

Let's not forget that the original Evil Lyn figure was a straight repaint of the original Teela, and did we care then? No! Because we were eight years old and deep within the grips of fantasy-themed action figure awesomeness. In fact, the Masters of the Universe line was always renowned for using repaints, which gave us such characters as Faker and Stinkor (a repaint of Merman).

The intrepid Poe Ghostal had some interesting thoughts on the subject and steered readers to the Heman.org forums, where some people are loosing their minds with rage over the issue while others are taking it in stride. Still, this is how it boils down for me; I love MOTU and will unashamedly buy this figure, repaint or not, and actually consider it part of the homage to the original figures from the '80s. So, of all the things we could scream at Mattycollector over, this, in my opinion, isn't one of them.

I stumbled on to this story on the official website of Oprah's favorite bald guy, Dr. Phil, in which a woman was invited onto the show explaining that her husband is addicted to action figures and it's ruining their marriage. First of all, I found myself thinking, "This necessitates a cry for help to Dr. Phil?" and secondly I thought, "Uh oh... Is this what I'm turning into?"

Well, if the story is to be believed, I'm fine, because while I do have a somewhat extensive collection, I keep it relatively out of my wife's way, and apparently the guy in the story is filling their entire house with boxes of little plastic superheroes and movie characters and has racked up a $2,000 a month habit.

The wife states, "He'll sit there and look at [the action figure] lovingly and place it in a mylar bag, bubble wrap it and hoard it in big plastic container. We have an entire room packed with big plastic tubs filled with video games and action figures. I absolutely hate these toys. I just want to crush them." Whoa! Easy, now! Let's not go crushing action figures, lady. Those are fighting words.

Okay, I know I'm making light of what may or may not be a serious problem, but I just can't help but think there are worse things a husband could be doing to ruin a marriage. Just ask Tiger Woods. Still, on the other end of the argument, I do have to concede that $2,000 a month on action figures is pretty excessive and this guy may want to seriously curb what he chooses to buy. And to be honest, the good doctor with the fabulous mustache does give some good advice on doing things with moderation, so thank you, Dr. Phil.

If you're concerned that you or someone you know may be a full-blown action figure junkie, or if you want a good chuckle, you can read the full article at www.drphil.com.

The designers at Sideshow are absolutely amazing. I have no idea how they come up with such awesome sculpts and detailed accessories time and time again. A little while back, I posted a link to their release of the 12" Cobra Sniper, and these uncanny toy-makers are up to their old tricks again with their upcoming 12" Firefly figure.

This thing has more awesome accessories than Richard Simmons has pairs of tiny silk shorts.

Here are the specs according to Toy News International:

To pre-order the Sideshow 12" Firefly (scheduled for a 2nd quarter 2010 release), visit The Big Bad Toy Store. And don't let any of those pesky G.I. Joes stop you.