Midnight Ramblings

I'm just thinking about action figures right now.

Today, I was browsing some of Drayton's stores on my lunch break and, in the SAAN store, I happened to spot one of the hottest new action figures out there: the Marvel Legends Phoenix figure. Naturally, I thought, "Should I buy this?"

I'm surprised I don't have any Marvel Legends figures in my collection yet. I mean, it's just a great concept for action figures. They take the comic character, make a super-accurate action figure of that character, and then make it as posable as possible. It's very much "back to basics." And it's proving to be insanely popular, making "super posable" the latest trend in action figures.

And Phoenix is a female figure to boot. Female figures still tend to be very rare. So, naturally, I'm drawn to the female Marvel Legends figures. Twice now, I've seen the Marvel Legends Elektra on shelves and thought, "Dude, I should get that. But not today. Next time." And of course, next time, she's gone. I guess this means I should go back and buy Phoenix. Next time.

Yeah, the scarcity of female action figures...I can't believe it still exists. It all goes back to the concept that little boys still see girls as being icky. Therefore, little boys do not want action figures of female characters. Too much like dolls and all that. Hence, when a female character does make it into action figure production, it tends to be short-packed. (That's action figure collector talk for "There's only one in a case of 12.") That means there's less female action figures on store shelves. That means collectors want them more. That means they're more valuable.

I'm curious now. How many female figures do I have in my collection? Let's do a quick grrl power tally here.... So, I have 81 action figures in my collection. Ladies, stand up and be counted! I have....

Mew Mew Strawberry [Tokyo Mew Mew]
Mew Mew Strawberry (civies) [Tokyo Mew Mew]
Lara Croft [Tomb Raider]
Arena Escape Padme Amidala [Star Wars]
Princess Leia as Jabba's Prisoner [Star Wars: Power of the Force]
Ensign Sato [Enterprise: Away Team]
Sub-Commander T'Pol [Enterprise: Away Team]
Jade [Shadow Raiders]
The Bride [Kill Bill]
Go-Go [Kill Bill]
Uhura [Original Star Trek]
Trinity Revealed [The Matrix]
Scarlett [G.I. Joe]
Scully [The X-Files]
AndrAIa [ReBoot]

So that's...15. 15 out of 81 is 18.5%. 18.5% of my collection is female! Is that politically correct? I'm not sure....

Next Issue...Total Babes!