"Where does he get those wonderful toys?"

"Where does he get those wonderful toys?" (Batman).

OK, so I like toys. Not the embarrassing-to-find-during-an-airport search kind, just gadgets and action figures.

I had a goal to make nice to myself everytime I landed a gig, but I've lowered my expectations and now make a mad purchase when I feel I've done really well at an audition. I tend toward the more obscure toys, like Beta Ray Bill (who gets a new limited series starting January), Kingdom Come Hawkman, etc.

So, thanks to my Southwest Airlines swimsuit audition a couple of weeks ago, I recently added Archangel from the Toybiz Marvel X-Men collection. This thing looks awesome, is "super poseable" (his hands are segmented, and his freakin' feet are jointed!) and faithfully captures the resurrected character.

For those in the know, you'll remember that the Angel (Warren Worthington III), had the wings he was born with amputated during the Uncanny X-Men "Mutant Massacre" story arc (the same arc that saw fan-favorite gentle giant Colossus kill someone for the first time). X-Men enemy Apocalypse grafted a new costume and cybernetic wings onto Warren, which was kind of like Warren trading in his soul to be able to fly again.

If the stigma "geek" can be attributed to it, I'm probably interested in it ...

And they're "Action Figures" -- not "Dolls"!