JOSH COLDIRON's TOP TOYS OF 2025
Josh Coldiron: Another year has come and gone, and more toys have found their way onto my shelves. What a year it’s been for collecting. A hobby that started off easy became a little more challenging as the year went on, largely due to a trade war.
This was a year where not a single item on my list came from my local area. I still supported a few local shops and picked up some great items from them, but none of those made it into my top ten. Every piece on that list required going beyond my usual efforts.
Some of those adventures took me to the other side of the planet. Let’s get right into it and see what twists and turns I went through to secure some of my most sought-after items.
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2025 - #10: Diaclone Horus VERSAULTER Mk-II
This figure was a result of pure FOMO. I wanted a Horus for a while, and I am glad I got it because I predict it might end up one of those that costs too much for collectors down the road. With the trade wars going on, toy prices have gotten high, at least for us in the states, which has made it harder for me to collect this year.
This is one of those figures, where I see the retail price all over the place. Retailers in Japan are even listing them to sell to buyers in the states for over triple retail.
I got lucky, and one online shop I like, had it for a fair price. I snagged it right away because I knew if I waited, I might never get one. This is one of two items on my list that got sent to my door. Dicalone is already such a cool series. It is one of the toys lines I have that make me want to play with toys. This new take on this mech, with all these modes and cross compatibility with other figures in the line, makes it something worthy of my top ten this year.
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2025 - #9: Tomy Flip Floppers
ps Sometimes a memory comes flooding back of something you had decades ago. Something you had not thought about since you had it in your hand. I had a flash of a toy I once had as a kid. I was maybe 5 or so, which surprised me that such memories rattle around in my head still. I have been lucky every year as it seems I am able to find something tied to a core memory that truly encompasses the nostalgia of my childhood.
Flip Floppers were a cute series of wind-up figures that had multiple modes. My two favorites were this car that flips on both sides, and a space shuttle that opened to reveal an astronaut. Sometimes these toys feel like something I cannot find anyone else that ever experienced them. Maybe there were just too many toys coming out in the 80s for people to experience all the same ones, but these stood out as something special from those days and I am glad to have it in my collection to share with my kids.
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2025 - #8: Son Goku’s Harahachibunme Set
This is actually a shared toy. It is on my shelf, but it belongs to me and my kids. We have shared memories enjoying the original Dragon Ball, and then the DBZ series together. While we all prefer the OG Dragon Ball, we still enjoy grown up Goku and his insatiable appetite for mountains of food.
We were in a gunpla shop in Ipoh that I like to visit when I go to Malaysia. Normally I only see model kits there, and I didn’t see anything I was really looking for. I thought I was going to walk out empty handed for myself, until we all saw this set behind the counter. The three of us laughed over our memories of Goku chowing down in the show.
It was a silly toy, but we all wanted it. One part irony and another part cool factor, my daughter decided we need it, but it needs to go on my shelf because it would mess with her shelf’s aesthetic, and it would get lost in my son’s shelf. It serves as a memory of the times we laughed together enjoying those millions of episodes with characters screaming to fill up run time.
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2025 - #7: Auldey Optimus Prime
e I can’t seem to go a year without adding another Optimus Prime to my collection. While I was visiting Malaysia, I got real familiar with the Shopee & Carousell apps. Sure, it is fun to hunt around and find things, but some things are nice to get sent directly to my door in a small town where these is not a lot to do other than eat the local cuisine. So in between; breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner, and supper, and the late-night snack—I hunted things on these apps I really wanted. One of them being the Auldey (Premium version) Optimus Prime.
What the listing did not make clear was that this was actually in China, so it ran close on the clock for arriving before I had to leave town. I do feel like we have an over saturation of the main transformers cast, but I will always want to get a prime that represents a prefect screen accuracy and this is it.
It is so poseable and has the look nailed with the added premium colors, that it just brings me so much joy. I really want more from this line, and now I must figure out how to get them here back home since they will likely not get a US distribution.
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2025 - #6: Bongo Toys Jezzy
These 3rd party Transformers really try and push those boundaries of names of these characters and their own companies. Even with the unserious company name, this is a serious toy. Often these G1 characters get remade to the sunbow character designs from the 80s. While I do love them, I am getting bored of buying different iterations of the same design. How many slight improvements can we make to these characters.
At this point, they are spot on, but now it is time for something different. This is something with the vibes of Flame Toys, but with its own design, and solid vehicle mode that isn’t also just another take on a Porsche.
This toy was on my list of things to collect while over in Malaysia. After a few weeks of being there I was thinking I would not find it, but I got a guy. I love visiting the Amcorp Mall in KL. There are so many solid shops, but there is one guy who always gives me fair prices and has the things I am looking for. I was super happy to find this solid figure, but he also hooked me up with something a little later down on the list as well.
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2025 - #5: Miniforce Dinoid
South Korea has been going hard on their robot designs lately. Even Tobots have some solid designs coming out now and then. I see those at H-Mart now and then, but their basic figures go for MP Transformer prices in the states. There had also been some really solid mecha from Metal Card Bots, and those were high on my list. I was out of space, and had to be picky, so I was opting for the Metal Card brand. Strangely I was having a hard time finding any.
While I did not expect a lot of Japanese or Chinese toys here, there was a couple Gundam bases, and a Pop Mart on every corner. I was starting to think I was not going to finally get a Korean mecha. They tend to be overpriced in the states, which is why I did not have one yet. It turns out, Toys’r’us is the mecca for Korean mecha. There were so many displays and figures I had never seen before.
While I thought I was there for a Metal Card Robot, which I would have gotten if I had room, the Dinoid was so tough on the shelf, it outshone those other designs. It had to be mine, and I regret nothing, because… DINOSAUR!!!!
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2025 - #4: Heat Boys Donatello
Hoping back over to Amcorp Mall and the friendly hookup at Repair Hangar Toys, they also had something else that was high on my list, that I was unable to find in my hunting in Malaysia. The Heat Boys’ Ninja Turtles figures are so awesome looking. I did not feel the need to have all of them, but I thought Donatello was the best of the bunch. His gear made him seem even more like a serious mech over the other designs. Now, what I did not expect about this, was how absolutely premium the packaging and presentation was for this figure.
While there is a little Saturday morning silliness with it being ninja turtles, this is a labor of love that was amazing put together. Not to mention, heavy. This is a metal figure—a heavy metal figure. While some other toys I have on this list have an aesthetic I prefer, the quality of this turtle is something that must be experienced in person. It is a game changer, and I will be on the lookout of other properties that they work on.
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2025 - #3: Moshow SonGoku
Oh Moshow, how you have become one of my favorite companies. I love giant robots, and I grew to love their amazing original designs. Or at least what I thought was original designs. Turns out this was a mech from a series I was never exposed to, Moshow took its design to the next level. My buddy Kidchuckle gave me the full rundown of this classic Super Robot series.
While in Malaysia I was determined to get a new MoShow release. I had hunted around and was having no luck. Older releases were common, but realistically many of the designs they were due to release were delayed. This SonGoku was the most interesting of the ones that just had dropped but it was just about sold out everywhere.
I found one shop outside of KL that had one still in stock. They told me they could send it to me from KL since I was not going to have a car to get to the outskirts of the city. What was wild, is that shipping is so fast there that it showed up next day. I was out exploring and then in a sudden panic to get back because I did not know if they drop kicked my package over the gate, or if it was left out in the rain. Luckily, it was well packed and came in perfect shape when it arrived.
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2025 - #2: Moshow Lancelot
I went back and forth with which was my top MoShow figures of the year. While I really loved the design and dynamics of SonGoku, one other it had to stand against. Lancelot has some small design details, like the lion faced shoulder pads that make it one notch ahead. I also liked all the small paint accents that really brought out all the mechanical detail.
This one I got on a trip to Dallas TX, where I found one of my new favorite stores, Teso life. Never before in the states had I seen so many CCS, Moshow, JoyToy, or CangDao toys in one place. Even with all this glorious stuff on the shelves together, one stood out to me. The epic Knight Lancelot Mecha was the one I knew I had to have in my collection.
While even there it was cool, it wasn’t until I opened it that it revealed its secrets to me. The level of quality and details that I have grown to expect from this type of figure blew my mind and left me in awe. And that put it on my 2nd spot.
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2025 - #1: CCS Gurren Lagann
Now onto my top find this year. I had some really excellent finds this year and I went back and forth on what was my top four were going to be. I think this figure garners the spot for a few reasons. One of them being the journey to get it. I had wanted this figure for a long time, but I missed out on the first run. I had watched the preorder for a couple years of a reissue. It was supposed to finally drop the summer I was in Malaysia, so I figured this was my chance to catch it on release. Turns out that it was going to start hitting shops there a week or two after I left. I was afraid I might had missed my chance.
We took the train to get back to KL from Ipoh and then boarded our plane to Seoul, Korea with no GL in tow. I had kind of put the Gurren Lagann out of my mind and was now focused on getting my Korean made mecha. One day we went to a place called the Kukje Electronics Centre. Don’t let the name fool you, it was very much like my Amcorp mall in KL. It has quite a mix of things, but it was also very loaded with toys, toys from Japan and China. I could had spent days here. There was good food downstairs, and then several levels of toy hunting. I had combed each shop looking for something cool. The last shop I came to was stacked from the floor to ceiling with Gundam with a path to walk in that was about my shoulders width. There was one guy shopping in there already so, I took my time for him to come out so I could fit in there. I walked around and was in total sensory overload. There was so much in there I could not really even zero in on any single toy.
I headed out and the owner stopped me. He had the single customer come over and ask me what I am looking for. I really didn’t think he would have what I wanted, but I pulled up an image from my toy hunt list and showed him the CSS figure. I expected him to shake his head no, and then be on my way. He pointed his finger in the air and nodded to indicate yes. The translator says he has it. I was still in disbelief since there were so many Gurren Lagann figures that maybe he had a different one. He then took me to the heart of this mecha pile where he had the exact figure I was looking for. I was so excited, and between the helpful customer and my translator app, I was able to get this gem. I am grateful that the customer came over and helped translate between us and the friendly owner who was patient with me. I finally have the mecha to pierce the heavens from my shelves and it is a glorious bit of mecha.
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