Month: September 2011

Guest Review > SDCC Gizmo (Gremlins, NECA)

At Toy Fair 2011 NECA unveiled one of the greatest things I’ve in a very long time – plans for a minimum of four waves or four figures from Gremlins 2: The New Batch, one of my very favorite movies ever! The first two waves were revealed to consist entirely of the different Mogwai, will balljointed articulation just about everywhere they could get it and even articulation eyes! While the line is slated to hit stores in late summer/early fall, it was launched with a sort of “preview” figure of Gizmo exclusive to the San Diego Comic Convention. Continue reading “Guest Review > SDCC Gizmo (Gremlins, NECA)”

Five Pitches for More Toy-Based Movies

Whatever you think of Michael Bay’s Transformers films and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, there’s no denying that toy-based movies have been successful. So what beloved childhood toyline will be made into a movie next, and which auteur’s vision will it be?

I asked several fellow geeks to join me in imagining what would happen if Hollywood convinced some of Hollywood’s most successful directors to make movies based on playthings. Continue reading “Five Pitches for More Toy-Based Movies”

Poe’s Point > Thoughts on the Mighty Spector & Other PowerCon Reveals

Unfortunately there are no good official pics of the Mattel PowerCon reveals. There are a few tiny, watermarked images on Mattycollector that do the figures no justice and are really just sad. The best pics I’ve found are in this post on the Fwoosh, so that’s what I’ll be referring to in this article.

First up: Stinkor. You know, for all we’ve been told about how the designers have been told to minimize the Millennium features on MOTUC figures, we’re getting an awful lot of Millennium features on these figures. Stinkor gets a new gun, stink-tanks on his back, and a Millennium-style head (along with a repainted Mer-Man vintage head). I’m not the biggest Stinkor fan. He was a bit too goofy and gimmicky even for five-year-old Poe. But the Four Horsemen have done a great job on his design, and I won’t begrudge him his place in my collection–I have a hunch he’ll actually be one of those figures that grows on me once I have him in hand. Continue reading “Poe’s Point > Thoughts on the Mighty Spector & Other PowerCon Reveals”

5 Questions With > Josh Van Pelt of the Power and the Honor Foundation

The Power and The Honor Foundation is a fan-funded, non-profit organization that is dedicated to documenting, archiving, preserving, and sharing the rich history of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra Princess of Power. Their first product, The Power and The Honor Foundation Catalog Volume One: The Art of Masters of the Universe Toy Design, is now available for order.

I got in touch with PHF executive director Josh Van Pelt to find out a bit more about the project.

Poe: Tell us a little about yourself and your history with MOTU/POP fandom–when and how did you become a He-Fan/She-Raver, and how has it developed over the years?

JVP: Since I was born in 1977, some of my earliest memories are of playing with my He-Man figures in the early 80s. I can remember getting a Castle Grayskull for Christmas in 1983 and always having a large box of figures, vehicles, and playsets that I would drag around the house. After school each day, I watched Masters of the Universe on TV and recreated the battles between He-Man and Skeletor with my action figures.

Most of my original childhood He-Man figures disappeared over the years and I did not restart collecting MOTU until I went to college. When we needed a break from schoolwork, my girlfriend (now wife) and I would go to fleamarkets, toy shows, and comic book stores, mostly picking up loose figures.

Still in college, I decided to start a website, The Cafe Wha?, where I created a very amateur site that sold MOTU figures, accessories, and minicomics. This was a great way for me to build my own collection and help other collectors complete theirs. It also allowed me to meet hundreds of fellow collectors, many remaining friends even after The Cafe Wha? closed.

Since graduating college in 2002, I have had very little time to dedicate to my MOTU collecting but I continue to keep an eye out for one-of-a-kind pieces that I might never see for sale again. The past few years, my action figure and toy collection has remained relatively stable but I have been able to preserve a large collection of prototypes, original artwork, and rare items. Continue reading “5 Questions With > Josh Van Pelt of the Power and the Honor Foundation”

New Joker & Robin prototypes surface on eBay

Some recent eBay auctions have revealed some details about Arkham City-related figures.

DC Direct has only announced Robin, Bruce Wayne and Harley Quinn for their Arkham City line, but this week eBay has a slew of so-called “zombie Jokers” from China. There are so many it seems unlikely they’re fakes or customs (though they could be discarded prototypes for a figure that won’t be produced).

As the trailers for the game have made clear, the Joker is in rough shape in Arkham City, suffering from some sort of ill after-effects from the Titan formula in Arkham Asylum. This vomit-inducing prototype captures that a little too well, frankly. Moreover, he’s obviously just the Arkham Asylum Joker with a new head.  I’d been intending to buy every Arkhamverse toy that’s made, but this one may test that…it will depend on his accessories, I suppose.

Next up is a prototype Robin from Mattel’s Arkham City line. Nothing new here, just a better look at the production figure.