Airbender

My kids have always loved Avatar: The Last Airbender, and we own the entire series on DVD (which we haven't needed for a while because it's been available on several of the various streaming services we subscribe to). I've seen lots of episodes of the show, because my kids are frequently watching them, but I've never actually sat down and watched it, despite their recommendation that I should.

I started seeing these toys at stores, however, and it made me want to watch the show. The toy was so cool that I wanted to own it...but I couldn't buy a toy for a show that I have never even seen, no matter how cool it is. What, do I claim it's a Christmas decoration like I do with Fortnite guys?

Then again, how much of a chump am I that I would spend hours and hours of my life watching a TV show just so I could own a hunk of plastic that went with it? Especially after my own children told me I should watch the show, but I never took their advice.

Well, I'm a pretty big chump, because that's exactly what I did. My daughter and I sat down together a few Sundays ago and started watching the show. We watched several episodes before giving it a rest. Then this weekend, we did it again.

I got myself Appa, the flying sky bison; Aang, the Avatar; and Sokka and Katara of the Northern Water Tribe.

Appa, the thing that tempted me into doing all of this, looks great, but is really just a big hunk of plastic. It has very few moving party on it, but I still love it. I feel like toy lines need to do more of this kind of thing. It only cost $20 for this big old thing.

Growing up, there were toys like the Wampa, the Rancor, the Tauntaun, and the Dewback that you could get for your Star Wars guys, and they really added something cool to your collection. I commend McFarlane Toys for putting this thing together, because it's exactly what an Avatar line needs.

There are other creatures like this that people ride on. Maybe they'll do a few more beasts of burden in the future.

At the very least, it got me interested enough to watch the show, and I'm enjoying it so far.