Background

For over 70 years, little green Army Men have been a staple of most boys' toy collections. There might be a few reasons for that – they're nearly indestructible (save for matches and lighter fluid) and they're fairly inexpensive.

Luckily for toy collectors, we've seen some companies using those same standards and manufacturing techniques to produce new “Army Men” style lines. One of those series, called AJ's Toy Boarders, features skateboarders in lieu of guys with guns.

AJ's Toy Boarders' “roots are skate, surf, & snow so when (they) design each rider (they) use real moves that would be used by todays riders. Each rider is hand molded with attention to detail and style.”

The Facts



AJ's Toy Boarders
Material: Plastic
Dimensions: About 2" tall
Points of Articulation: Zero
Designs: 8 different poses (Pushing, Nose Grab, Smith, Cruising 1, Cruising 2, Nose Manual, Tail Grab, and Ollie)
Pricing: $4.99 per 24 pack

Packaging

The Toy Boarders come bagged with a header card. There are 24 figures included, with silhouette illustrations and names of the eight different characters displayed on the card back.

Our Opinion

Similar to those little green Army Men, the Toy Boarders shoot for acceptable quality, high quantity and a cheap price.

As you can see from some of the closeup shots, these are not immaculately sculpted toys. Sometimes the faces look rather hideous around the plastic seams (from the injection molding). But others don't look like they just peered into the Ark of the Covenant. And I must say that the various skateboarding poses are captured fairly well in the sculpts. And none of the figures I checked out had balance problems.

There are a total of eight different poses in the series. And while I have no idea what these moves are, since I gave up skateboarding at the age of 10 after receiving a nasty brush-burn on my knee, I like that each character is unique. They all have different hats, hairdos and outfits. But each piece is that same mint green shade of plastic.

Like most things, it ultimately comes down to price. Each pack runs $4.99 plus shipping, but that price is for 24 pieces. That equals $0.21 per Toy Boarder. Not bad at all.

For that reason, I think these would be great for kids (much like the indestructible Army Men). If junior loses one...no worries. And if you're either into skateboarding, or if you collect M.U.S.C.L.E., Z.O.M.B.I.E.S. or any other mini figure line, I think you might dig these.

You can pick one up at the following:

AJ's Toy Boarders: $4.99 per pack of 24 figures