TOP TOYS OF 2023 by Josh Coldiron
JOSH COLDIRON: Well, hello again. Here we are again to listen to me gush about the wonderous plastic crack I obtained this year. This year is very different since I am finally traveling again. Collecting toys hits different when you finally leave home. And a year for toys, it has been. It is going to be a tough to choose just ten.
I have gotten more awesome toys in a single year than possibly ever. Not only was I able to score some great stuff off the local marketplaces, but I got a head to Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan this year to fill a suitcase. From gunplay to art toys, there were a lot of little treasures I stumbled upon, and without further ado here they are.
#10 TOY OF THE 2023: Little Parrot Bebe Building blocks
I have made it no secret that Bebe is one of my favorite blind box toy series to date. I got a lot of great toys from their various lines this year, and when in Malaysia I discovered a whole store with ones on display I had never seen before. While at Amcorp mall, a hub of collectibles in KL, I saw a lot of great things. While looking around I found a shop that had Building blocks of Astro Boy and a set of Little Bebe with a mech in their front window. The store was no open though, and I missed my chance to get it. Even though I kept hunting for it on my trip I managed to find it another way. I found a place online that had it and after a couple weeks it was on my doorstep. This was such a fun build because I did not have high expectations of non-Lego brand bricks. The instructions were great, and the final build was excellent, flashing lights and all. If you like Bebe and giant robots, this is a set for you.
#9 TOY OF THE 2023: Dr Wu Tactical Commander
If Dr Wu keeps pumping out awesome micro-master sized figures each year, my top 10 list will likely have one on it. I have loved the line so far, but this year he outdid himself. He took the previous Optimus Prime mold and made an Ultra Magnus variant. Not only that, but he also does every possible color variant that may have occurred in Transformers toys. Rather than getting yet another Ultra Magnus, I picked up a Diaclone variant. For those who don’t know, Powered Convoy was the OG version of the Ultra Magnus toy. I enjoyed this so much I had to get a second. Rather than another character colorway, I got a solid gray version. I liked this because it was a call back to the prototype toys and it also showed up the details of this mold that get lost when painted over. Dr Wu knows the way to my heart and that way is paved with micro machine sized robots.
#8 TOY OF THE 2023: Destroid Tomahawk
Robotech, or macros to the rest of the world was a very influential mecha anime on my younger years. I remember being impressed with the drama, and branching story arcs that followed other characters. Sure, it was 3 anime stitched together, but to young me it was a big change in animated media I consumed at the time. I didn’t get a lot of mecha toys at that age outside of Exo Squad. That show and line itself was great as well, but they did a cross over with Robotech which gave me a chance to get the 80s destroid mecha. I was a huge fan of these. They had the realism of Battle Tech/ Mech Warrior but were far better designed visually. I always loved the Tomahawk and later in my life I regretted not picking up these Yamato figures when they went on clearance. I hesitated and the aftermarket prices went up. I told myself on this trip to Tokyo I will get a Tomahawk. Arcadia did a reissue of the Yamamoto ones, and Bandai had a new one coming out. Sadly, the Hi-Metal R version was not out yet, and I did not think the stickers on the Arcadia were that great. While exploring a Mandrake shop, I ran across one on the way out of the building and had to have it. Even though it was the same mold as the Arcadia, it was the Olive Drab version which was just super realistic looking as far as mecha decos go and has a special spot on my shelf.
#7 TOY OF THE 2023: Legacy Armada Optimus
I always must have an Optimus Prime on my list every year. Magic square was almost there with their very screen accurate G1 Prime. It was awesome, even with a few minor flaws. Unexpectedly though, and official Hasbro product took its place. Their rehash of the Armada Prime is just too epic that it was certainly my top Transformer of the year. It has the core bot which strikes up memories of the game made for PS2 by Atari. Then it also has a combined mode that took something that was kind of goofy in its original form and made it into a highly poseable epic robot. My only gripe is the hands are not on the same level as their Jetfire figure, but I am sure a third-party company will resolve that. Now I just hope they give us a new Overload to match up with him.
#6 TOY OF THE 2023: MAK Snowman
M.a.k. has been something I had seen much of my time exploring mecha designs from around the world, but I did not have a lot of experience with it. I had some limited run mini figures, but for the most part it seemed to be model kits. Collecting magazines like Hobby Japan since the 90s has given me a view of this semi realistic looking mecha concept, and I always thought it was cool. When Pop Mart announced their colab with Monster and Maschinen Krieger, I had to have them. I called some places in the states, but no one had heard of it yet. I planned on hunting for some when I hit Asia this summer. First, I found some at a Pop Mart shop in KL. I found plenty I liked, but I really wanted the Snow Man deco. I had seen the original version years ago and I always felt it was a clever take on the mech design. It was a little sinister, and a little fun. It felt like something stuck in a decades long war could be painted on a mech. My next venture was to hunt some in Singapore. While having a long layover on the way to Japan I ventured over the Jewel to hunt for toys. I ran across a shop with a huge assortment of Bearbricks as well as the Pop Mart Mak figures. While I got some nice additions, I didn’t find my Snowman. I also didn’t get to go visit Mister ToysRevil since our schedules didn’t line up.
[ TOYSHOPS visited by Josh featured in this dedicated Facebook album ]
I kept hunting though and I even saw them in Tokyo on the last leg of my trip. Here I am with a pile of these figures but no Snowman. As soon as I got back in the states, I found some shop out west who was selling open box figures. Since these didn’t really get hyped here yet, I had a chance to get my Snowman at a good price. Seeing it in hand was even better than expected. The figure has such nice details and is well made. Trekking across the globe to hunt for this and finally having it in my hand in such an effortless manner, I was happy to finally add it to my collection.
#5 TOY OF THE 2023: Running Horns
I love the Hands in Factory’s work. I wish I had more of it. These “ It was a Good Day” figures are so high quality, especially for the price. This was another one I was afraid I was going to miss out on. I only had one figure from their series, and I wanted more. Luckily this was another case of checking the same kind of toy shops that sell open blind boxes and being willing the pay a little more to get the ones I want. I did get two of them, but Strike is the one I liked the most. The details are painted on so well, the sculpt is excellent and there is so much personality. Honestly, it felt like a more premium figure than the price suggests, and that quality and styled packed into this little figure puts it high up on my list. I can only hope their future series keep up this trend and I can keep adding them to my collection. I don’t hunt for art toys like I used to, and their designs pull me back in.
#4 TOY OF THE 2023: PG RX78-2
I have built a lot of model kits over the years. I have built plenty that I think are more visually my taste than the OG Gundam. However, this one ranks high because, it is the Ultimate building experience. Sure, it does look cool, and it is a fresh take on a piece of mecha history. Building it though, was just amazing. It is like a user experience designer worked out this kit and instruction manual. Things were assembled in a clear and logical manner. It still took a long time to build, but honestly, with each cool phase of assembly, I did not want to hurry along. It felt like I was building a real mech myself. On top of that, it was super posable, has lots of maintenance bays that opens and it has some gosh dang LEDs throughout. Oh, did I mention it is about a foot tall. It has presence on my shelf, it is one of the best model kits I have ever built.
#3 TOY OF THE 2023: Metal Slug
I’ll never forget spending the late 90s in a pool hall playing Metal Slug on the arcade. At the time if you wanted it in your home, you needed a NEO GEO console, and that was big money back then. The game has so much charm, and some of the very best sprite designs and animations to date. One summer an old high school friend and I spent $20 in quarters to beat this run n’ gun. I love this series so much. Now my kids and I play it together. If you remember last year, I got a transforming mecha of the Metal Slug tank. It is a great piece. When I was hunting for toys in KL I found a shop with some cool stuff and their site listed much of what they had in stock. Sadly, their site said these figures were out of stock as did most other sites. I guess I discovered the too far past release. Happenchance, I did end up in their store. Well, one of their smaller stores which was packed floor to ceiling in boxes. I and a few people could barely fit in there at once. I went through my list of toys I was hunting and each one was either not out yet or out of stock. As we looked around, I stumbled on a set of the Metal Slug figures I really wanted. Maybe the site was not updated correctly, but there they were. I had to have them. They capture what was so great about the sprite design in the game and they displayed perfectly with the Metal Slug tank. Even though they are really just plastic statues, they give me great joy each time I look at them on the shelf and that earns them a high spot on my list.
#2 TOY OF THE 2023: Moshow Progenitor Effect Wu Chenghou
Something I have learned to appreciate in my years of toy collecting is quality. Sure there are characters or designs you want a physical version of in your possession, but sometimes those are just ok in how they are built. MoShow has been making some unique high end gokin and kind of flew under the radar. I think it could be the samurai inspired designs of the early releases, but they took those designs and continued to push them to the next level to create some really cool mecha. This design really caught my eye, and I really wanted it. It became one of those situations where I was trying to hunt it down in Malaysia as it was selling out. After some hunting I found one to ship from China. Rather than trying to fit, what turned out to be a huge package, into my luggage I was able to just have it meet me as I got home. Visually it is such a cool design. It might have some lines that pull from 3rd party Gundam, but it still very much feels like its own design. It was packed wonderfully and came with such a huge assortment of accessories that you can deck it out in whatever kind of configuration you want. The engineering, quality, and look are above almost any toy I had handled. It is likely one of the best quality toys I have ever own, so you’d think that would put it at number one. It is almost there, but other factors can sometimes propel something to the top.
#1 TOP TOY OF THE 2023: Power Pocket Turbo Prop
This list so far has consisted of toys that are well made, have excellent engineering, or captured the essence of some past media. This toy—is a time machine. This is something I long forgot. Something I had as a kid, that I played with endlessly. A toy that sparked my imagination when I would make up stories of adventures with my little characters. While searching for something else I ran across an image of these Power Pocket toys. The image itself was a shock to my core memory that it put me on a mission to find them. They were so clever. A toy that was designed to fit in a frame that allowed you to keep all its parts in your pocket. There were lots of cool ones. A rocket launcher, race cars, and a skeleton to name a few. This one however is the one I enjoyed the most. It became my mission to find one, so I started googling them just to see pics of them. During this research I found there was one for sale in my local marketplace. It was like brand new. When I finally got it in hand something happened that does not happen with that many toys I have owned. It takes me back. I can see through the eyes of myself when I had one. I can see the house I lived in, and even remember the stories I imagined playing with these as I launched it across the room to complete some heroic mission. The feelings and the memories from my childhood that this toy triggers, good or bad, are the reason I put it at the top of my list. There is something rare and magical about that.
Thanks for joining me in this years’ journey through my toy collecting and may the new year bring you a toy that takes you someplace special. Perhaps someplace long forgotten.
Josh Coldiron
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