My car took about a half hour today to completely thaw out before work. I know that, living in PA, I should be used to this by now but it's in my blood to complain no matter what the weather may be. Anyways, here are a few wintery toys for you to check out. I didn’t think finding toys that would fit this category would be such the arduous task that it ended up being. And in ways, I feel like I cheated and slacked a bit. A good portion of well done Christmas action figures are brought to us by Neca. So, expect to see at least a couple from them.

MCFARLANE TOYS SERIES 24 CLASSIC COMIC COVERS 'SANTA SPAWN

From the cover of Spawn 39 comes Santa Spawn! In the case that you don't already know who Spawn is, he is the creation from ex-Marvel comic artist, Todd Mcfarlane, through Image Comics (also home of The Walking Dead, Savage Dragon and Witchblade). In the comic, the story goes like this; on Christmas Eve in a rundown Harlem home, little Greg is left by himself after his mother left for work and sister ditched out to see her boyfriend. Laying in bed, Greg is awoken by a noise on the roof that resembles that of Santa: jingling bells and reindeer. Not knowing that it is actually the infamous chain wielding Spawn who is chasing a couple of burglars. As Spawn catches the burglars, a lump sum of cash falls from the burglars pocket to the doorstep of the broken home. Greg opens the door to find the money and interprets it as a gift from Santa. On to the figure. Spawn comes with all his classic accessories like his chains and intricate red cloak. He also comes with a stand that you plug him into at the knee which has the sack permanently fixed on it. And last but not least, we have the Santa hat which is removable. As far as I've seen, most Spawn toys are relatively cheap (seriously, some of the cheapest figures I've ever seen on Ebay) aside from this guy here. I was lucky to find a pretty cheap already opened complete one a while ago for your viewing pleasure. I absolutely love this figure. He's not at all posable but he's a 100% accurate toy version of the comic cover of issue 39. I couldn't personally ask for more.

DIAMOND SELECT NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS SANTA JACK

I still haven't settled my own debate whether NBC is a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie. I suppose, at the least, you can say that it can be watched at either time of year. However, this figure is as Christmasy as it gets. We have, as seen in the film, Jack dressed as Santa or "Sandy Claus." A little back story… Jack hires Lock, Shock and Barrel to kidnap the real Santa so that he can deliver the gifts himself for Christmas. I have one gripe with this figure, as I do with all Jack figures from any toy company; the posability is GREAT but you absolutely need the stand he comes with (or fashion one yourself) or you will have bad time. I mean, he really is just a toothpick with a head and, in this case, a beard and Santa hat. Diamond Select delivers some great toys and I feel they did this one justice. I also love that they are starting to release these collectors style figures in packaging that doesn't have to be damage for removal. You can feel free to display these babies in packaging or out of packaging at any point in time without the regret of damaging the box.

PLAYMATES TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ADVENTURE SERIES "ARCTIC DONATELLO

As I said before, it wasn't the easiest task finding proper winter or Christmas themed action figures... especially older ones that I am actually familiar with through my own childhood. But, I knew I could count on old reliable Playmates TMNT. In 1994, playmates unleashed their Adventure series which, strangely enough, didn’t include a Raphael figure. The lineup included Safari Michelangelo, Deep Sea Diver Leonardo and, of course our highlighted figure, Arctic Donatello. The card back, which I have pictured from a quick google search, suggests that the three adventuring dudes are searching for a lost gold "Kowabunga Collector" coin.

Apparently Raph decided searching for gold coins wasn't cool or crude enough for his liking (gimme a break). As you can see in the images I have shared, Arcitc Don came with a slew of awesome accessories including a little penguin helper and real working water gun... none of which I have left since childhood but I consider myself lucky enough that Don still has all of his limbs. Regardless of the accessories, this particular Don figure needs no extras. You could pretend Don and a group of scientists travel to Antarctica and find a spacecraft and a frozen killer alien.

NECA GREMLINS WINTER 2 PACK

Brand spankin' new this year, the lovely people at Neca deliver yet another set of figures from the movie Gremlins. This time, we get the caroling gremlins in a pack of two. I was unaware that there were two different packs until I noticed some people finding a pack with two scarf wearing gremlins that came with an uneaten gingerbread man cookie. The accessories and attire for these guys are really cool. The hat and ear muffs can be popped on and off with ease. We get a gingerbread cookie with a bite out of the top, a candy cane filled with little candy pieces and a couple books.

Everything seems to fit well except the books. Unlike the pictures, I cant seem to get them to hold their books without any help from rubber bands and little pieces of clay. I immediately started to think about the endless possibilities for these guys the moment I saw them as far as displaying goes.

Neca did a great job at hyping these Gremlins up themselves as well at NYCC this year (photo credit to news.toyark.com). All else fails, just buy a few and toss them in your tree. Who needs regular Christmas ornaments?

NECA GREMLINS GIZMO

Ok, here is where I slacked. But, I had to bust out Gizmo for this occasion. Come on.... he comes with a candy cane, a trumpet and a Santa Claus hat. Need I say more? He's quite a bit smaller than the mutated gremlins figures by the same brand as to be expected. Unlike the Gremlins figures, I couldn't get Gizmo to hold anything freely so grab some wiring or some clear rubber bands and it'll solve most of your problems. Like the Santa Jack figure mentioned earlier, Gizmo and the Gremlins also come in boxes that don't need to be damaged to have the figures displayed out of box. Good going, Neca! Gizmo comes with a few different swappable facial expressions, by the way. I wasn’t thinking much about what he'd look like underneath his face but it caught me by surprise when it popped off as I tried to take him out of his plastic prison. Nightmare fuel.