In no particular order and quite off the top of my head --

ULTIMATE COBRA COMMANDER -- The. Best. Modern. Cobra. Commander. Period.

CONVENTION FREESTYLE & CHUCKLES - Wish I owned them. I love Chuckles' glow-in-the-dark shirt, and Freestyle adds an impressive new female character, with a cool specialty and a cool code-name, to the Joe Team.

TRANSFORMERS METROPLEX -- Wish I owned him, too. I hope Hasbro continues to do this well by Transformers as the 30th Anniversary continues.

DATA-VIPER - A cool new Cobra trooper division. I'm impressed.

KWINN -- A bit on the short side, but a good likeness, and it gives us the other major incarnation of Kwinn in his "jungle" outfit. We needed that.

RETALIATION JINX -- An impressive and distinctive figure!

STAR WARS BLACK SERIES 6" BOBA FETT, GREEDO, & HAN SOLO -- Okay, I'm combining three in one here, but this is a very impressive line and these are its best representatives so far!

BATMAN TV SERIES -- HECK, JUST ABOUT ANYBODY -- I watched this show as a kid, I'm still watching it on MeTV, and a good action figure line is so long overdue it's ridiculous. Definite kudos to Mattel on this one!

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE LORD DACTUS -- One of the more bizarre characters from the 2002-era series in a Classics-style figure. They had to work a little harder to get this one as effective as it is, and I'm impressed.

THOR THE DARK WORLD - THOR, KURSE, DARK ELF, LOKI -- Okay, I preatty well named the whole line, but it saw a return to good articulation, and my stars, the level of sculpted detail on these! Would that we had gotten Malekith.

DC UNIVERSE SIGNATURE SERIES FIRE & HUNTRESS -- Speaking of adding some impressive female figures to a line. It is a catastrophic tragedy that this line didn't get fully renewed for 2014. Okay, at least we'll be getting Ice. But still...

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE FALCON - Definitely the best Falcon figure I've ever seen.

Okay, that's twelve or so. Big deal. Trust me, I could keep going...

This was a difficult one.. I don't really remember buying a lot of toys at retail or in general, save for retaliation cases.

Here's what I came up with
1. Tomahawk. It's that good. If they ever go down in price, I'll buy several. Thus far, tru is the only brick n mortar I have seen them at.
2. Dollar general green shipwreck. Hello, endless custom fodder and potential. I've bought every one I've run across.
3. Ultimate Duke, for the same reasons. Although I've only managed to get one, and the prospects of scoring more seem rather slim.
4. Arkham Origins Deathstroke.. I stuck with my New Years resolution to skip buying random toys, but deathstroke made me break it when I spotted him in October. I did rather well until then. Fantastic looking figure.
5. Battle kata Roadblock. The ultimate version is great, but I find far morei customizing potential in the battle kata version, since its a boil and pop on the forearms, different legs and you start to get the chance to go in a lot of different directions for characters.

Honorable mentions would be several more retaliation figures, for all the reasons everyone has mentioned.

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Top 10 Joes: (In no particular order)

Ultimate Cobra Commander - Great looking figure, I like the helo pack, only disappointment is the arms need better articulation

Ultimate Road Block - best of the Rock figures, finally an M-2 he can hold right

Night Force Repeater - A character/figure I never thought too much about, but that figure kicks butt

SAW Viper - despite the garish colours, a troop builder I've always liked

Eaglehawk - The Tomahawk would be in my list of 10 best Joe toys ever, to get a modern version of it with such a great looking pilot was nice

Falcon and Viper gliders - From Dog and Joe toys. J_man's gliders are awesome and if you're looking to fill a void in your collection, these are a great fill in. Smaller than the originals, these will fit modern figures and they just plain look cool.

SDCC JetFire - A vehicle we've been waiting for for a while and it came through nicely, the rest of the set is nice, but Jetfire is the highlight

Kre-O Mutt and Junkyard and Check Point Alpha - because it's another Mutt and Junkyard!!!!! While I have no intention of collecting these sets en masse, I got CPA so I could get Firefly. I broke down on a bored day and built the CPA along with Law & Order, it's pretty darn cool.

Kwinn - I never had any attachment to the character, but liked him. I like that he's such a different looking, non-military figure

Ultimate Storm Shadow - just a great figure all around, my definitive SS

Firefly from the three pack - My favorite figure of the year. FF is my favorite baddy and I think this figure captures his awesomeness perfectly and is a great modern representation of his Classic V1 look.

As for non-Joes: With so few choices in the Joe line this year, it was a huge Star Wars year for me (damnit), and I found a lot of really cool stuff. Marvel did well this year too.

Republic Gunship - other than an AT-TE and a couple of Clones to go with it, I never collected any of the Prequel stuff, but this thing just jumped out and grabbed me at TRU, now I've got a few more Clones and Jedi to go along with it

X-Wing Fighter - Always my favorite craft from Star Wars, the latest Vintage Line version is awesome. While not as awesome as the Wedge version from Target a couple years ago, it's a pretty nice and a price where I could build a squadron. Only draw back is that it has Biggs' markings.

Mara Jade - A nice figure despite the big Texas hair. I've always liked the character and it's nice to get a proper figure

Avengers Assemble Black Widow - Not build on the standard female buck and with a great head sculpt

Padme Amidala - I looked at her a couple weeks ago and didn't really care for her, but I wanted a Padme that would fit in with my Clone Wars Obi-Wan and Anikan, so I got her when TRU had a buy one get one deal, turns out that even though she's not a perfect likeness of NatPo, she's a really nice figure

Knight Rider - the KITT and Michael Knight from Entertainment Earth. Just too cool all around, great features on the car and a half decent looking Hoff. KITT is a bit too big for 4" figures, but I can live with it.

Iron Maiden Figures - A couple of McFarlane figures Iron Maiden and Final Frontier album cover figures and the little figures that are about an inch and a half tall, mounted on a base, they're part of a game that uses characters from all kinds of different sources; Marvel, DC, movies and literature, each character is given strengths and weaknesses and they battle. Have no interest in the game, just the figures.

Amazon Exclusive Slave 1 - it could be better, but not by much, like most of the Vintage Collection stuff, it is big and detailed

Vintage Collection TIE Interceptor - I never saw a classic version of this thing, so I don't know how it compares, but it is highly detailed and has the wing pop off feature. A highly detailed cockpit that sits a pilot nicely. Just missing the sound features

Stuff I got this year, but not from this year:

Vintage Collection AT-AT
Big Millennium Falcon
Imperial Shuttle
ARC-170
Real looking Clone Wars Obi-Wan and Anikan
Tanks for the Memories, Evil Head Hunters and Vacation in the Shadows Con box sets
O-ring Cobra de Aco (Thanks Cyko!!)
Nintendo 64 with a bunch of games (Thanks RogueTiger!!)

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Yeah, I gotta throw in the SDCC Joe/TF Set. Granted, Jetfire is a standout, but the whole set is cool.

Yes! Probably my favorite figure of the Convention set. I think he turned out top notch.

A few others -

-Eaglehawk
-Transformers Generations Springer
-NECA Dutch from Predator

Pretty much everything from Wave 3 of Retaliation. Still amazed at how much goodness was in there.

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here's mine in no order
Igear Transformers Ironhide
Transformers Springer
Transformers grimlock
Ultimate Storm shadow
Ultimate Duke
SDCC Jinx
Clubs Big Boa eventhough I don't have
Convention Lady Jaye whom I don't have either
MU Rogue
and MU Professor X

Mine for the year:

Marvel Universe Elektra - This was a great base for my Red Sonja. I needed her at least as tall as the Conan that I made and she fit the bill perfectly when given the head of the Avengers Black Widow redo.

Pacific Rim Leatherback Kaiju - this thing screams awesomeness.

Wolverine Movie Black Ninja (5 PoA one) - when I was making my Umbragen Drow, the one thing I had wished I had was a bare foot in black plastic to pair with the body of the Jubilee. Using a sharp Xacto and a pin drill, I cut and swapped out the booted foot for their wrapped ones. Rocker ankle worked fine with no deviation. The rest, and the heads will make good ninja still.

GIJOE Retaliation Lady Jaye - that figure was fully loaded with all kinds of accessories, with a great head sculpt.

Marvel Universe Kraven the Hunter - don't know if it was this year or not, but I got mine this year as I found them. Perfect new base for my Conans.

Schleich Griffon Vulture - Sure, it's static, but this thing is the best vulture that I have seen done to date.

Schleich Illoris and Leolynn (redo) - I bought the figure online (as my TRU stopped getting certain waves of Schleich Elves) and once in hand, it was too good to customize. Wrote all about it on Amazon. The toddler is removable, and the entire figure captures the joys of motherhood in that great playful pose.

Legendary Heroes Pirate and Ship playset. - okay, technically the ship was the payoff, with its black sails, excellent rigging, and the best part, wave lifting feature with the off- set wheels on the bottom which make the ship move up and down as if at sea. Most awesome.

Thor :The Dark World - Dark Elf - The closest I will ever get to having a great Drow base. Pity the best of the line was the shortpacked one.

Marvel Universe Aurora - Going to get great mileage with this one moving her head from my extra Tauriel bases to custom Wood Elves.

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It feels weird to wonder if I even purchased 10 distinct toys in 2013. I definitely did, but the number of releases was quite small compared to years past, and there were probably long periods of time where there simply wasn't anything to buy.

In no particular order, these are my favorites, though keep in mind I still haven't gotten around to opening my Eaglehawk, half of my Retaliation wave 3.5 figures, or my Generations Metroplex.

(1) Retaliation Ultimate Storm Shadow - there's just something about a figure with a bow that can actually hold the arrow separately and in a believable firing pose.

(2) Transformers Generations Springer/Sandstorm - although maybe a bit oversized, the Springer mold is by far the best rendition of the character ever (including the Fansproject Warbot Defender) and is a triple changer to boot (finally)! Then, Sandstorm, despite technically sharing a mold with Springer, is so extensively retooled as to essentially be a completely different toy. For each figure, the two vehicle modes are a great blend of futuristic and believable design.

(3) Transformers Generations Impactor - the toy itself isn't phenomenal, but it's great to finally have an Impactor toy!

(4) Charticon exclusive Aftershock - most of you probably haven't seen this, but this was a fantastic exclusive for the show and is a fantastic modern update for G1 Quake.

(5) Dollar General wave 2 Storm Shadow - T-Ginzu - 'nuff said!

(6) FSS 2.0 Wide Scope - even though I'm a big fan of the new characters from the JvC era, Wide Scope wasn't high on my list to get an update since he was basically just Shockwave with a different name due to copyright issues. However, the Club did such a great job on him, though it doesn't hurt that the fantastic Shock Trooper tooling has proven so versatile.

(7) FSS 1.0 Big Boa - the Club nailed this one too. The new tooling and the deco are nearly perfect, and the canceled Training Duke accessories are such a perfect fit for the character.

(8) Fansproject Crossfire Stunticons - it would have been great to get these closer to Deluxe scale, but they are fun toys and great updates to the originals. Hopefully Diesel will be a great update to Motormaster.

(9) Night Force convention figures - some were better than others, but I think the Club and Boss Fight Studios did a great job of giving us a lot of vintage characters that hadn't previously been offered in the current style. Heck, I thought Spearhead was much better than I was expecting, and the POC Dusty head really seems better suited for him than it does Dusty.

(10) Retaliation Cobra Combat Ninja - combined with the wave 2 Firefly head sculpt, we finally have a figure based on a JC member. The full camo detail from the preview pictures would have been nice, but this was still a great representation of the movie Cobra Trooper and is a great generic trooper too. Once again, the Shock Trooper tooling proves how versatile it is - it's amazing how much use that it has gotten, yet I would probably be fine with it being used many more times. The Blue Ninja alternate head is a nice addition too.

Honorable mention: Retaliation 3-pack Firefly, Ninja Combat Cruiser (is that technically a 2012 toy?), Mastermind Creations Terminus Hexatron, Avengers Assemble Black Widow, Mech Ideas Apex and Geminus, Keith's Fantasy Club cassettes, Wave 2 Battle-Kata Roadblock, SDCC Jetfire Skystriker, SDCC Bludgeon, Star Wars Black Series Pablo-Jill, Star Wars Black Series Vizam

Not eligible since I haven't opened them or don't yet have them in my possession: Ultimate Roadblock, Ultimate Firefly, Kwinn, Ultimate Cobra Commander, Eaglehawk, Generations Metroplex, Blind Master, Wave 4 Jinx, Fansproject Function(X) Quadruple-U, Unique Toys Sharky 3-pack.

8) TMNT Mousers. I finally found these guys. While I wish they had the added Greyryder articulation, just the fact that they finally released a multipack of these guys after all these years in a scale that works well with Joes is pretty astounding.

9) Kmart exclusive Ewok Catapult set

10) Retaliation wave 3.5 Cobra Commander for all the reasons everyone has mentioned. There is no way this basic Commander figure should be in all of our lists and yet he is that good.

11) Eaglehawk, honorable mention. I love that they re-made it.

Item I don't own but thought was also worth mentioning, Big Boa. Really cool, but I just couldn't make it happen this year.

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