AFJ’S FAVORITE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY TOYS

AFJ’S FAVORITE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY TOYS

By Robert T. Trate 

The Guardians of the Galaxy toys are a perfect blending of two properties. We have characters with a rich comic book history and now an incredible series of movies. It has been three years since the last Guardians film, but that has not stopped Marvel from satisfying the public’s need for toys. AFJ has gone through the all the POP! and Hasbro toys and compiled a list of our favorites. Not a top 10 mind you, because we know that when Avengers: Infinity War arrives we will only be adding to this list. Give us your favorites in the comments below! 

FUNKO’S 2015 COMIC CON EXCLUSIVE ROCKET & BABY GROOT 
Die hard POP! collectors will recognize this as the 2015 Comic Con Exclusive. We know it as they very cool blue outfit Rocket and Baby Groot from the end of the first film. It is insane how many POP! Vinyl figures there are now. Equally insane is the price that many of these bad boys go for.

MARVEL’S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY MILANO STARSHIP 
What is a Sci-Fi movie with without a kick-ass starship? Peter Quill’s starship delivers the cool factor as well as having a unique design. The vehicle itself has sound effects, lights and launching rockets. However, this isn’t your Millennium Falcon you had as a kid. Since Hasbro and Marvel made the main figures for this line in the 6-inch style, the ship and the price would have been enormous. The Milano Starship is perfect for the 2.5-inch scale figures. Included here is a more casual and mask-less Peter Quill. Hey, just put the ship in the background and use a little-forced perspective imagination. If you need a new ship for your desk this is the one.

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES STAR-LORD ELECTRONIC HELMET 
Hasbro hit pay dirt with their cosplay-esque Star Wars Black Series helmets, their Iron Man helmet, and Captain America shield. Thankfully, for Guardians’ fans, Star-Lord’s helmet was the next item to get the green-light. We love this helmet here at AFJ. It’s the perfect thing to go without next item.

MARVEL’S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY STAR-LORD QUAD BLASTER 

Who doesn’t need a reason to buy a NERF Blaster? The original Star Lord’s Quad Blaster had an expanding option that opens up to reveal all four cannons. Sure there is a sleeker one for the second film, but this is still the one for us. For the big kid and the little one, this Blaster is a what Sci-Fi toys are all about.

MARVEL’S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY BIG BLASTING ROCKET RACCOON ELECTRONIC FIGURE 
Rocket was undoubtedly the breakout character for Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel and Hasbro gambled on that big time with the original toy line as he was featured heavily in it. The “Big Blastin’ Rocket Raccoon Electronic Figure” is packed with movie phrases as well as lights from his gigantic gun. Sadly, he doesn’t come with much articulation. This is not a figure you pose. He does, however, fire that gun and move about. For the kids, this will thrill for a day or two. For an adult, he makes a great addition to your comic book shelf.

MARVEL’S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY LEGENDS-INFINITE SERIES ROCKET RACCOON 
In all honesty, the only two figures that we wanted in the original line were the Groot and Rocket. As it would happen, Groot was the first line’s Build-A-Figure. So he became a little tough to acquire. Rocket here was purchased the second we saw him. He still remains one of our favorites in the Marvel Legends line.

2017 TOYS ‘R’ US MARVEL LEGENDS GROOT EXCLUSIVE
Hasbro did not make Groot theBuild-A-Figure for the Vol. 2 figures. Nope. They did, however, release him as a Toys ‘R’ Us exclusive. I still wonder why? Just look at the amount of Groot POP! figures and how many Funko has sold. If this was our call Groot would be at all the brick and mortar stores. Making it a TRU exclusive only makes him harder to find and drives the price up.

MARVEL LEGENDS YONDU
Yondu did not get the Marvel Legends treatment for the first Guardians of the Galaxy film. He did get a figure in his comic book likeness for the 3.75″ line. Thankfully Merle, I mean Yondu, got his Marvel Legends figure for Vol. 2 with the arrow and alternate mohawk head. 

FUNKO POP! VINYLS MARVEL’S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY – COSMO
It was awesome to see Cosmo as part of the Collector’s menagerie and in the end credit scenes. However, Cosmo appears on our list because of his involvement with the Guardians in the comic books. Hopefully, Cosmo will continue to appear in larger installments of the film’s franchise.