Monkey Boy

Monkey Boy

Monkey Boy has grand delusions of one day being a financially successful artist, but currently works two jobs and can still barely pay his bills. He lives in Florida where the heat and humidity makes freezer time a must for almost every action figure. How he pays for toys is anyone's guess, but he is known to go long periods of time without eating. When parents or friends give him a hard time about his toy collecting habits, he mumbles vague and barely comprehensible excuses about using them as models for his art.

1. What got you into reviewing? What figure was so cool that you just had to tell everyone about it?

Pepe the Prawn from Palisades' Muppet figures. I had to let people know about it!

2. What's your favorite review?

Yo's review of McFarlane's Mummy. I had bought the figure on a whim and then essentially tossed it aside, until I read the review and realized what I had missed about this awesome toy. Oh, and I learned that his skirt says "M K F A R L A N I M K G".

3. Best late night talk show host?

Conan O'Brien, without a doubt.

4. Who's your favorite hero/villain?

I guess I'm partial to Batman, because I like that he's less of a superhero and more of a crazy person. But that's what everyone says, right? I think I also like that he has such a great rogues gallery. As far as villains go, I think Thanos is up there. I like characters that have human flaws, even if they're not human.

5. Best thing about toys right now?

Not sculpt, not articulation, but being able to combine the two, like SOTA's Street Fighter line and Mezco's Hellboy figs. I think if I traveled back in time and showed some of today's figures to myself 10 years ago, I would go insane and need to be locked away!

6. Worst thing about toys right now?

The fragility. I'm usually gentle with my toys but I don't understand how kids play with these things without breaking them. Stuck joints, brittle plastic...

7. What's your guilty pleasure?

I guess saying "I collect action figures" is a little stupid for this category. I guess I would say spending hours looking at Internet Movie Database trivia so that I always know way too much about way too many movies, many of which I've never even seen.

8. Sculpt, paint or articulation?

Sculpticulation. Actually, only with a combination of all those elements am I truly happy. I'm willing to sacrifice in all areas.

9. Mexican, Italian or Chinese?

Women? That's a tough call. All three, please.

10. What's the first toy you remember getting?

A vintage Boba Fett figure on a Return of the Jedi "fireball" card. I think it's worth like a hundred dollars or so now, but I opened the hell out of it.

11. Favorite toy of all time?

A very tough call. I'd probably say Kaiyodo's Nicholas D. Wolfwood figure from the Toy Tribe/Trigun line. It was the first figure that really introduced me to interchangeable heads and hands, and its accessories blew me away.

12. Favorite band?

I like all kinds of stuff, but right now I'd say my favorite musician is Canadian rap/folk artist Buck 65. I also enjoy Badly Drawn Boy and The Mars Volta very much though.

13. We all buy a lot of toys; what do you actually collect?

Diecast cars. I'm a car buff as well as a toy buff, so they go together well. It gets expensive though.

14. Your most wanted toy line?

Figures from Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi Trilogy, especially El Mariachi and Agent Sands.

15. Who makes the best toys?

Another tough call. I'd say the best all-around toys right now are SOTA's Street Fighter line and Mezco's Hellboy line. Both companies managed to make great, sturdy figures with solid sculpts, nice paint and great articulation. As far as consistency through the years though, I have to hand it to Hasbro, they've been stepping up their game and matching the competition while remaining a mass market company.

16. What's your favorite candy?

Any kind of chocolate. I think I have a blood sugar problem.

17. What toy that you never got as a kid have you sought out now that you're an adult?

Vintage GIJoe. I desperately want a 1985 Snake Eyes.

18. What obscure, unmarketable property would you love to have as figures?

Figures from George Lucas' Willow.

19. What are you into besides toys?

Cars, music, art, movies.

20. What's your secret stash for finding toys?

Wal*Mart, at the late hours of the night, when I go there for something other than toys and just check the toy aisle out of habit. That's when I tend to get the best results for those one-per-case figures.