Each week we search the toy aisles and our dusty collections to present some of the coolest action figures based on comic book characters.

The first is from the DC Universe Classics collection, Wave 18. These figures had a Superfriends theme and we decided to take a closer look at Toyman.

There have been some different versions of Toyman and you can see he comes with a couple accessories. What else would you expect but a yo yo with spikes and a top that...doesn't really do much?

The other figures in this wave include Black Vulcan, Samurai, El Dorado, Modern Captain Boomerang and Bronze Tiger. The each come with a piece to build a big Apache Chief.

I do have to issue a warning, the following pictures might be a little upsetting. At least, my daughter thought so when she saw them. Toyman is evil.

Luckily my daughter had a Justice League Unlimited Wonder Woman lying around to restore order.

The 'retro' figure comes from Kenner's 1998 "Batman: Knight Force Ninjas" line. It sounds horrible and I honestly can't even recall any of the other figures in the line but it did include a pretty cool Jean-Paul Valley Azrael figure.

He's not as highly articulated as today's figure but he's a pretty solid figure and the detail was pretty good. He came with a flaming sword and a snap on flaming-flame thingy. They don't look that impressive but still, it's a pretty cool Azrael figure. He does come with the "squeeze legs together for arm to move" action that makes his right arm move up.

If only we could see his return in the comics.

There's a bonus selection this week that goes along with Azrael. I found a "Legends of Batman: KnightsEnd Batman" figure. This was another from Kenner and was released in 1996. I think this actually belonged to some poor kid that left it behind in a restaurant I was working in. No one ever came back looking for it so it was up to me to give it a good home. He's a little smaller at 5" and stands in a slightly awkward pose but it's still pretty cool it was made back then.

That's it for this week. Hope you enjoyed the selections and be sure to check out the next installment.

From those images it looks like Toyman really wants little kids to play with him. Strong Jerry Sandusky feel to those pics!

I actually still have that Azrael figure and the Killer Croc (I think you push a button to make his upper-body twist) from the same line. Awesome figures. Got a lot of playtime when I was a kid.

Toyman's all "Come at me, bro!" in that last picture.

I'm pretty sure they did a Legends of the Dark Knight Azrael too, because I've got a different figure of him from around some time in the mid-90s.

Nice Azrael figures

My, your pictures are quite sick.

Toyman better hope my sister doesn't see those pics. She loves Calico Critters.

I really hope they release that version of Batman in DC Universe Classics at some point, the one we got was awesome but it was a version or two after this one

cool...g-man stole a toy from a kid :P

I love Azrael I need to get these toys O.O I just picked up a bunch of old issues of Azrael Agnt of the Bat ;3

oh man, I'm pretty sure I used to have that last figure when I was a kid... the ears kept bothering me though so I cut them off, lol

Is there a Lane version of Azrael kicking about?

well, I'm not much of a toyman,or an azrael *da-da-tssshhh, tomato to the face* but these are cool and I can respect the attention to detail for such old characters

The Az and Az-Bat figures are smokin!

Not my cup of tea but I love anything Batman.

HA! I still have that Azrael figure, with the flaming sword! Still need to find his arm flame, but at least I have one other accessory you failed to mention: he came with a 'falls-apart' training robot with a claw arm and a chainsaw arm.

I always found it funny that the Knightsend figure is of JPV in the costume he wore during the beginning of Knightquest and the Knightquest figure is JPV in an off-colored version of his Knightsend costume (and later re-released in correct colors as Ultra Armor Batman).

Toyman sure likes to play with toys. =P

lol the pictures in these are always hilarious

Idk what was going on with those Legend of Batman series figures. I had a really cool looking Nightwing who had one of those weird poses.

@bane122:

I loved the hell out of this toy when I was kid.

i lost that same fucking batman. ='{[

The AzBats looks fantastic!

Question for the toy-fans/figurine experts: Is there a Michael Lane/Azrael figurine as well out there?

I ended up using that Azbats to custom my own, 6" scale version awhile back:

I thought it worked out surprisingly well.

If only Toyman looked like this in the comics...

@Eyz: Sure is, from DC Direct's Batman Reborn series:

@bane122:

Yeah this is the version I have too...but his blade cape is RED. I also have that cool Azrael toy.

@bane122: Awesome!

Hmm, not bad at all. They all look pretty cool.

Was it necessary for the pony to get kicked in the butt? Haha.