Oh come now, you should not looked so shocked. Yesss, yesssssssss!
The planet is going crazy, and maybe we will all be bound for Third Earth soon enough, but as far as action figures go, 2021 has been an absolute banger. I was pretty much ready to have a top 50 list this time around, but I figure that even in such a rich year, 20 is still kind of pushing it. Sure, pre-orders continue to dominate the plastic landscape, but as those pre-orders start to arrive, coolness comes with them.
On top of all that, some of my favorite properties are currently being treated exceptionally well, so when you have TMNT, Marvel, Star Wars, Masters of the Universe, Ghostbusters, and others getting all kinds of plastic goodness, well, it can be difficult to choose a favorite figure of the year. However, as a ThunderCats fan, I have been waiting for the ULTIMATES! line to really start to pick back up, and it has come back with my favorite TCats character ever. It is always such a rad thing when your favorite character is also the best figure, because Slithe wins it going away for me this year. I have been waiting my whole life for this figure.
Again, I know this is not a surprise, but I absolutely adore this figure. It is something that I have wanted since the Mattel days, and the time I have spent talking with Eric Treadaway about the character and how the figure would come together over the years has finally seen amazing fruition. Everything from the build to the expressions are just what the character needed and deserved, and I am so happy to have this sinister leader of the Mutants of Plundarr on my shelf for all time now. There were so many good figure that came out this year – Mezco Conan, ML MODOK, Goliath, Inspector Gadget and a so many more that would, in any other year be 100% deserving of the best. Heck, ULTIMATES! Muckman made it in the last couple weeks of 2021 and gave Slithe a run for his money, but in the end, the scaly green brigand held off the competition, and I just cannot put this figure down.
Slithe is my favorite release of the year. I am so delighted to finally have this figure, and I am so happy that ThunderCats are back and we should be looking forward to lots of goodness in the months and years to come. 2022 has a very high benchmark to live up to, and Slithe has a permanent spot in my collection as one of the best there has ever been.
Oh, and if you are at all interested in my favorite 20 figures from 2021 (I have been doing this for a few years now), here they are:
Source: Fwoosh