Josh Coldiron's TOP TEN TOYS OF 2020
JOSH COLDIRON: Well, hello there. Here we are at another year’s end. And what a year it was. You know, you were there. It kind of blew, didn’t it?
From the pandemic and what not. But we made the best of it as we could. Some of us shaved down those streaming queues or gaming backlogs. In between those moments maybe we made things and tried to improve ourselves. Some of us just managed to survive. Through the chaos of this and the nightmare year we had for politics in the States I did manage to do some toy collecting. Not as much as I planned. Some companies delayed production, especially in the spring. Other figures fell by the wayside due to the pandemic. There was a major dry period in the beginning of this year for toys. Large companies like Bandai and Hasbro managed to drop a lot of new stuff this year though.
I preordered some things from smaller companies that will likely land on my 2021 TOTY list as they still hadn’t shipped at the very end of 2020. One item I ordered back in October spent all the way up to the end of the December on a ship from China and then made its way back to the seller, which they are now shipping again at the end of December. Even some that did make it here took a very long time to get here. At one point the US was on a shipping ban list from some places I ordered, and I had to wait till it was lifted for them to be able to ship. So, the pandemic shaped my 2020 collecting in a way. And now that there is a light at the end of the tunnel as we head into 2021 here is what topped my list.
JOSH's TOP TEN TOYS OF 2020:
#10: Puzoodle Caterpillar-Roll
JOSH: Sometimes toys don’t have to be some rare expensive elaborate thing. Sometimes the simplest items can bring the most joy. I found this at the discount store Ollies back at the beginning of the year. It was a series of 3d puzzle toys that you assemble. I just thought this was a clever take on making a caterpillar out of sushi. That had other food themed animals, but I felt this one had the better design of them.
JOSH's TOP TEN TOYS OF 2020:
#9: Action Toys Steam Robo
JOSH: You remember Gobots don’t you? Mayhaps you are from outside of the US then you might remember the superior Machine Robo series. This was a diecast toy I had from the 80s that I love. I was so happy to see Action Toys remake this figure with their new design. Its super poseable and looks great. The only reason it isn’t higher on my list is they did not make his helmet the same. I feel like that would had been perfect, so now I am likely going to have to 3d print something for him to wear. All in all, it is still a solid figure. It fits in perfect with their whole Revenge of Chrono line which I fully recommend if you want to see a modern take on these 80s figures. Here you can see him with his 80s counterpart.
JOSH's TOP TEN TOYS OF 2020:
#8: 100% Soft Dumpster fFire
JOSH: What a perfect toy to be 2020 incarnate. This is actually the lamp version. I wanted the 2020 mask version but missed out. My daughter wanted the rainbow looking version, but it sold out within seconds of release. Shortly after the lamp preorders went up and I think it was the better buy. Its bigger plus you know, it’s a lamp. It will serve out the rest of 2020 in place of our Yule Fire.
JOSH's TOP TEN TOYS OF 2020:
#5: Bandai MG Freedom Gundam
JOSH: Toy releases really got stunted this year. Many were delayed and some never got shown. Bandai did a decent job with their Gundam Expo. They showed off a bit of stuff as well as put up some exclusives for sale. I managed to get my 8yo their exclusive Hello Kitty gunpla and I got this translucent Freedom Gundam for myself. It’s a solid build. Lots of parts and very detailed. Best of all, being a clear plastic kit, I didn’t need to paint it. Just build it and enjoy. It is dynamic and very interesting engineering. I feel like when I build a gunplay I get some insight into how toys are made as well as how to consider designing how robots are made for comics and anime.
JOSH's TOP TEN TOYS OF 2020:
#6: Transformers Runabout
JOSH: I got quite a few transformers this year. That is one of the few things that kept coming out. Some of which were sale items from the previous year. This Target exclusive Runabout felt like another level of figure. The colors and plastic made it feel much more premium that standard Transformers releases. many of which were also quite good. This guy just oozes of cool and is something different from the line rather than the typical characters that get constant rereleases.
JOSH's TOP TEN TOYS OF 2020:
#5: Transformers Optimus Prime
JOSH: I mean what could a year of Transformers releases be if it did not include some incarnation of Optimus Prime. This was another Walmart exclusive, which seems to be a current trend, repaint of the siege Optimus Prime. This figure is done in a cell shaded style as if he was from the cartoon. Even the standard version that was released is one of the best official robot versions of Optimus. Giving him a paint job that makes him look like he jumped off the screen takes this to a whole other level. I always wanted a cell shaded Transformers figure and this was Hasbro brinbing that style to the masses.
JOSH's TOP TEN TOYS OF 2020:
#4: Transformers Generations Selects Zetar
JOSH: So, Amazon is also in on doing some of these exclusives. They tend to carry the select line which is more geared towards collectors. Some of them are main line characters but others are some obscure bots like this. This guy has a lot going for him. He has that hokey 80s vibe but done up in a modern cool way. He comes apart and can be used as add-ons for other bots. He looks a bit like a modernized Screw Head as seen in these pictures. I actually like this mold so much I would buy it again if they made him in the Screw Head’s black and red colors.
JOSH's TOP TEN TOYS OF 2020:
#3: Earnestcore Robot Build
JOSH: Robot Build is such a bad name for such an awesome toy. It is a bad name because to search for the title you get a lot of unrelated results. Earnestcore Craft is another title you can find the product listed as overseas. It’s not a great name, but at least it lets you find their products. If you have followed my writings or videos you know I love Mugenbine and construction toys. I think they are a great means for coming up with new design ideas. Plus, they are just plain fun. This toy comes apart into many pieces and you can reconfigure it or combine it with other sets. It is far more versatile than Mugenbine. Almost more like Assembleborg but easier to assemble. It’s not a cheap toy but it’s really awesome. It is something you really need at least a couple different ones of to see its full potential, but even if you just have the one you can still appreciate it.
JOSH's TOP TEN TOYS OF 2020:
#2: Bandai Figure-rise Mechanics Arale-Chan
JOSH: Dr. Slump is one of the few Manga I enjoyed. It is funny and is a precursor to the Dragon Ball universe he created. I always been a fan of the girl robot Arale but often could only find gachapon figures of her. This is a model kit made by Bandai with loads of option parts. What I love about this so much is they did such a good job engineering the part separation that you do not even need to paint it. It has a few different configurations. You can build her robot skeleton and then either put opaque parts on her to make her look like the character or use some translucent parts on her that let you see the robot inside. I wish it came with a shell that let you do half robot and half Arale ala Jason Freeny but it still looks awesome on the shelf as is. This is one of the first kits my daughter helped me build and it is what got her started into gunpla.
JOSH's TOP TEN TOYS OF 2020:
#1: Namdai HG Mazinkaiser Infinitism
JOSH: If heavy Metal was personified as a robot, I think it would look something like this. I was on a big kick of finally finishing old model kits over the summer. Now that it is too cold to spray paint outside, I wanted to do a kit that didn’t need any paint. I ran across this HG kit from Bandai of MazinKaiser Infinitism. I normally avoid HG kits just from my experience back in the 90’s but the shop had some built in the display that looked pretty good. Let me tell you, this is not your father’s HG gunpla. Other than some panel lining this kit didn’t need any detail work. Until you pick it up, you’d swear it was a high-end figure and not a model kit. Its light weight is what gives it away. This kit was loaded with option parts to sort of give your own take on it. That or they were there from other forms in the source material. It’s hard to say since the instructions did not explain it better. Even though it is a smallish model kit, it has earned a spot on my high-end shelf where my SOC Voltrons and Fewture Getter resides. So like this figure, lets rocket punch the crap out of 2020 and march on to a better 2021.
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View his previous year's TOP TEN LISTS:
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2019
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2018
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2017
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2016
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2015
TOP TEN TOYS OF 2014
