Here is a quick update about another big batch of cool new preorders as well as some great new arrivals.

New Preorders SCI-FI REVOLTECH SPIDER-MAN  We have just learned that a Sci-Fi Revoltech version of the Amazing Spider-man is on the way. it should arrive in August and is priced at $54.99. GENTLE GIANT OFFERINGS  Five new items are on their way from Gentle Giant. The 12″ scale “Kenner” figure line continues with Yoda, complete with robe and orange snake, and he is listed at $67.99, $7 off the MSRP. There is also a Ree Yees Mini Bust priced at $67.99 ($7 off the MSRP) and a White Clone Trooper Deluxe Statue that is to come with many alternate arms, and this piece is priced at $238.99, $26 off the MSRP. Part-time Avenger Moon Knight is getting his own Mini Bust, and it is priced at $62.99, $7 off the MSRP. Finally, the Deadpool Corps gets a box set including a bust of Kidpool and statues of Headpool, Dogpool and Squirrelpool; this set is priced at $179.99, $19 off the MSRP. 19″ Universal Monsters Monster Scale Frankenstein  We’ve just put up this new 19″ Monster Scale Frankenstein from Mezco. Each one is packaged in his own collector friendly display box. Living Dead Dolls Presents: Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse  New in the Living Dead Dolls collection, we have the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; War, Famine, Death, and Pestilance. Each doll comes complete with real cloth clothing and their own unique hobby horse. Pestilence also comes with a plague mask and War comes with a helmet and gas mask.. Living Dead Dolls: Toy Soldier  Another Living Dead Doll just put up is the Toy Soldier. Standing proudly in his dress uniform, the Toy Solder comes complete with a faux bearskin hat and is packaged in a special holiday coffin. KOTOBUKIYA ITEMS  Kotobukiya has a number of new items up for pre-orders. Hawkeye gets added to the Classic Avengers Fine Art Statue line with a 1/6 scale statue that is priced at $188.99, $21 below the MSRP. Boba Fett’s “Return of the Jedi” version is available as an ArtFX 1/10 scale piece, priced at $44.99 ($5 off the MSRP), and Dark Knight Rises Batman is the subject of a 1/6 scale ArtFX Statue priced at $116.99, $13 off the MSRP. In addition to these we have D-Style model kits of ARX-8 Laevatein from Full Metal Panic! and Yui Takamura’s Takemikaduchi Type-00F, each listed at $17.99, Yusuke Urameshi as an ArtFX J Figure from YuYu Hakusho at $53.99, Yozora Mikazuki and Miki Hoshii Ani-Statues at $62.99 and $71.99 respectively and a Mawaru Penguindrum One Coin Figure Box of 12 at $53.99. PORTAL GUN REPLICA – P-BODY VERSION (for past Portal customers only)  Please Note: We are reserving all P-Body Replica stock for customers who had their previous BBTS Portal Gun preorder cancelled – read below for details on reinstating your preorder. From May 16th to May 21st, we are only accepting orders from prior customers with cancelled preorders. We unfortunately do not have records of those orders, as data was deleted when the preorders were deleted – so we cannot automatically re-instate. If you would like to preorder the P-Body version, please forward us a copy of your original BBTS preorder confirmation email, or a copy of the BBTS cancellation email and a request to preorder 1 piece of the P-Body version. We have limited stock available from NECA, first come, first served – if any stock remains on May 21st, we will open the preorder on the site to all customers. MARVEL BOWEN STATUES & BUSTS  Four new items from Bowen Designs are listed for pre-order. We have the Savage Hulk 15″ Statue at $239.99, the Magneto Action 19″ Statue at $294.99, the Spider-Man Red Museum 12″ Statue at $224.99 and a Maestro 7.5″ Mini Bust at $89.99. NEW JAPAN IMPORT FIGURES  This link goes to a list of eighteen new import items. We have the Robot Damashii Unicorn Gundam Psycho Frame both by itself and with the Glowing Stage, S.H. Figuarts Deka Blue, Giant God Warrior Figma Action Figure, Ultraman Gaia Supreme Ultra-Act Figure, multiple Kamen Rider figures and more. JAPAN IMPORT PRE-ORDERS PART 2  A second batch of import pre-orders gives us Infinite Stratos Armor Girls Project Laura Bodewig, Digimon D-Arts Dukemon, S.H. Figuarts Red Hawk, Robot Damashii Vox Aura from Rinne no Lagrange, S.H. Figuarts Silver Crow, Figuarts Zero figures from one Piece, Aquarion Evol and Rurouni Kenshin, a Chibi Arts Princess Shirahoshi and S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Fourze Meteor Storm and Kamen Rider Tiger. WWE – FIGURES, FLEXFORCE, RUMBLERS, RINGS, BELTS  A whole year’s worth of WWE items is up for pre-orders. We have Basic Figure Cases for waves 13 – 19, as well as Basic Figure Two-Packs, Elite Figures, Flexforce figure cases, Rumbler Two-Packs and Playsets, WWE Rings and WWE Belts, all sold by the case. DRAGON 1/6 SCALE PANZER TANK  We have just listed a new 1/6 scale WWII Panzer II Ausf.C. It is loaded with detail as Dragon vehicles usually are and has moving turret parts, opening hatches for your tank crew and more. This large vehicle is listed at $549.99 and should arrive this July. 1/18 SCALE U.S. NAVY SBD-3 “DAUNTLESS” MIDWAY – PREBUILT MODEL  Merit International is releasing a new version of the SBD-3. This prebuilt model has newly-tooled parts and is priced at $164.99, saving you $15 off of the MSRP. EVANGELION REAL ACTION HEROES – SHINJI, KAWORU  These 1/6 scale figures show the boys in their school shirts and pants. Each figure is listed at $219.99, and they go well with the school uniform versions of Asuka and Rei. RHINO 18″ COMIQUETTE  Sideshow’s new sculpt shows the Spider-Man villain hunched over in a charging pose, and is loaded with detail both in the face and the rhino armor. It measures 18″ tall by 14.5″ wide and 21.5″ deep and is listed at $389.99. HOT WHEELS HERITAGE A-TEAM VAN  This new version of the A-Team’s ride is done in 1/18 scale and priced at $59.99, $5 off of the MSRP. SDCC 2012 QUANTUM MECHANIX ITEMS  Quantum Mechanix has announced two upcoming exclusives for Comic-Con. The Battlestar Galactica Animated Admiral Adama statue measures 5.9″ tall and is listed at $54.99, while the Serenity Little Damn Heroes Shepherd Book Maquette is listed at $36.99. MLB SPORTSPICKS BRYCE HARPER  This hot new player is getting his own figure from Sportspicks without having to wait for a new wave. He comes in a batting pose and is listed at $12.99. DRAGON 1/6 SCALE FIGURES  We have two new figure listings from Dragon. The US Ranger Captain “Mill”, France 1944, is listed singly at $99.99; it is also listed as a part of a set of 6 figures including Sergeant “Mickey” and PFCs “Jim”, “Richie”, “Danny” and “Cappy” for $499.99. THUNDERBIRDS MODEL KITS  Old school fans will be happy to see these new items. We have listings for the Tracy Island International Rescue kit at $98.99, the 1/350 scale TB2 Container Dock kit at $72.99, the 1/144 scale Thunderbird 1 kit at $48.99, the 1/72 scale Mole kit at $64.99 and the 1/350 scale Thunderbird 2 & 4 kit at $42.99. MATTEL GAMES  Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja dominate the new offerings from Mattel, with four and two games, respectively, but there is also a new Cut the Rope game and the family strategy game Blokus, as well as the return of classic favorites like the Magic 8-Ball and Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots. MONSTER HUNTER REVOLTECH LIOLAEUS  The Giant red dragon Liolaeus is the first figure from Monster Hunter to be represented in the Revoltech franchise. We have this figure listed at $49.99, with an expected release date of July. 1/72 SCALE “THE LAST J-MISSION” APOLLO 17 SET  This new model kit contains the final Lunar Module as well as the Command/Service Module and Lunar Roving Vehicle. It also includes a Moon Landing display base and more, and is priced at $56.99. 1/72 SCALE F/A-18F SUPER HORNET VFA-102  Merit is doing a new version of the Super Hornet. This version is listed at $59.99 ($7 below MSRP) and should arrive this July.

New Arrivals MOVIE MASTERPIECE DX08 1/6 SCALE 1989 JOKER  This figure is sculpted after Jack Nicholson’s performance of the Joker in the 1989 movie “Batman”. It has the PERS moving eye system and comes with multiple hands, many accessories, a full outfit with purple overcoat and more. We have this figure listed at $249.99, $15 off the MSRP. MOVIE MASTERPIECE 1/6 SCALE BLACK COSTUME SPIDER-MAN  “Spider-Man 3″ brings us this version of Spider-Man in his black costume. It includes multiple hands, an additional Tobey Maguire head sculpt, multiple webs and a Sandman diorama display base. This figure is listed at $194.99, saving you $15 off of the MSRP. BATHING APE x TRANSFORMERS OPTIMUS PRIME – GRAY CAMO VERSION  We were able to get a small quantity of these and ended up with a few left over after fulfilling our pre-orders. This piece is very limited and is priced at $299.99. TRANSFORMERS PRIME ROBOTS IN DISGUISE VOYAGER SERIES 02 – CASE, SET, SINGLES  We have received a small restock shipment of Voyager Series 02. We have the case of 4 (two of Optimus Prime, one each of Starscream and Bulkhead) priced at $89.99. We also have the set of Starscream and Bulkhead in stock, priced at $64.99, and singles of Optimus Prime at $18.99 each. UN-22 G2 OPTIMUS PRIME  Our restock shipment of G2 Optimus Prime has also arrived. This figure is primarily black and red, emulating the G2 Laser Optimus Prime, and is listed at $44.99. LEGEND OF ZELDA TWILIGHT PRINCESS LINK ON EPONA  This statue shows Link wielding his sword from the back of Epona while the horse rears up on its hind legs. It measures about 17″ tall and is limited to 1500 pieces worldwide. We have it listed at $419.99, $30 off the MSRP. STORM 12″ STATUE  This piece shows Storm as she appeared in her black outfit and headdress from when she joined the X-Men. This piece is listed at $229.99. SMURFS FIGURES  Ten more Smurfs figures from Schleich have arrived at our warehouse. These include Swimmer Smurf, Gymnast Smurfette and Weightlifter Smurf, and they are priced at $5.99 each.

Hurricane Hordak joins the nation's punched

Thunder Punch He-Man is yet another one of those He-Man guises that I never had as a kid; I never even knew anyone who had one. It was a gimmicky figure, given its use of caps to create a “super punch” sound, and action features like that never appealed to me as a kid. The figure also came along a little later in the line in 1985, by which time young Poe was obsessed with Transformers.

The vintage TP He-Man was a bit unusual because he featured some brand-new sculpting, specifically his chest and arms, as well as (if I recall correctly) a solid head rather than a rubbery hollow one. He also lacked the traditional He-Man uber-tan, for whatever reason. Mattel also sold replacement caps for the figure separately.

The Thunder Punch outfit made an appearance in the minicomic “The Treachery of Modulok.” At one point, Hordak has erected an impenetrable barrier of magical energy around himself. It’s a thorny problem, best solved by a counter-spell or a psychological ruse or–

…well, there you go. Cunning strategy, He-Man!

Childhood lessons like this are why I solve all my problems with punching. My co-workers find it off-putting at times, especially when they say something like “Can you re-send me the link for that survey?” and I respond by punching them in the face.

Design & Sculpt: Thunder Punch He-Man has exactly one new sculpted part: his right hand, which is a closed fist.

He also features the narrow Tri-Klops bracelets instead of the standard He-Man bracers, which is in keeping with the design of the vintage figure.

I’ll talk about his armor and backpack in the Accessories section.

Plastic & Paint: Here’s where this figure starts to differentiate itself. Like the vintage figure, the tops of the boots are white fur trim, rather than being the same brown as the rest of the boots. It’s something that probably should have been a feature on the very first He-Man figure back in 1982, as it makes more sense (for example), but was probably skipped for cost reasons; TP He-Man was the first time Mattel corrected it.

Also like the vintage figure, the bracelets are red. The benefits of red bracelets in aiding punching are well known to those in the punching community.

Probably the most controversial aspect of this figure is his pale skin. This was a design decision by the Four Horsemen and Mattel, and I agree with it. First off, it matches the vintage figure. Second, it does add some variation to all those versions of He-Man on the shelf. And finally, the bio even states that He-Man has been living in caves for a while, which arguably explains the pale skin. Personally, I really like the pale skin. It emphasizes how certain He-Man is that he will get his punches in before the other guy, therefore avoiding any easily-seen bruises.

Articulation: Thunder Punch He-Man has the standard MOTUC articulation: a ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders and hips, swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, top of the thighs and the top of his boots, and hinges at the elbows, knees, ankles and torso. None of it interferes with punching.

Accessories: The accessories are TP He-Man’s best features. They include:

• The armor & backpack
• A circular set of “caps”
• A translucent sword
• A chrome shield with a removable tray
• A translucent “thunder punch” effect

The backpack opens up on hinges so you can place the “caps” on the circular tray inside. Given that the caps won’t actually fire, this is another one of those odd cases where we get a feature that resembles the vintage version but is non-functional, like the dials on Optikk, Sy-Klone and Hurricane Hordak.

The shield is interesting. It’s chrome to match the vintage figure, and while I’m not really a fan of chrome in this line, it does make the accessory stand out. As with the original shield, the Power Sword can be stored in it.

The shield tray is molded in silver and pops right out, though its surface is rather scratched up. The red “caps” can be placed into the tray. The tray and the caps are a new feature not seen on the vintage figure’s accessory, and they’re a nice way to make use of the caps as a kind of symbol or design rather than having them sit unnoticed inside the backpack.

Then there’s the Power Sword and the “Thunder Punch” effect. Both are molded in translucent pale yellow, which matches the vintage figure’s sword. The punch effect is obviously the cooler of the two accessories, dragging a swirl behind it that represents either a kind of smooth force or perhaps it was originally sharper to represent lightning, but was smoothed over by the production process. I found it a bit tricky to fit the effect over TP He-Man’s hand, but once it’s on there it stays put.

It kind of looks like he’s punching with a glob of Vaseline on his hand.

Quality Control: My figure’s head had some paint scratched off the nose. Fortunately I’ve got two or three extra He-Man heads from various figures (like Prince Adam) that I can replace it with.

Overall: I ended up liking Thunder Punch He-Man much more than I expected. While he is yet another He-Man, his closed fist, paint variations, and accessories make him a fun and unique addition to the line.

Image from He-Man.org

Link to the all-in-one page

It’s Stinkor Day! Whether you think the reversed forearms were a deliberate action by Mattel or an accident they tried to cover up…you’re getting one if you’re a subscriber.

It’s also Slush Head Day (congrats Mike Bock!), Mighty Spector Day, and Snake Mountain Stands Day. For you DC Universe Classics fans, it’s also Golden Age Flash Day.

She-Ra® Bio
Real Name: Adora of the House of Randor™

After crossing over from Etheria to Eternia® with the help of Light Hope, She-Ra® joined forces with her brother and the Masters of the Universe® who were caught in a four-way war with the Snake Men™, Skeletor® and Hordak®. She used her cloned sword to harmonize with and channel the Powers of Grayskull™ to form new arms and armor in the midst of battle. Her Bubble Power™ armor greatly enhances She-Ra’s stamina and allows her to funnel great fumes of energy at her foes. She remained on Eternia® to fight off evil until both she and He-Man® were called to the stars to fulfill their destiny, traveling to the Tri-Solar System to end the oppression of the Horde Empire.

Like He-Man, She-Ra can “harmonize” with the Powers [sic] of Grayskull to form new arms and armor. He-Man gets the awesome-looking Battle Armor; She-Ra gets…Bubble Powers, which allow her to funnel great “fumes” of energy (energy apparently having been transmuted into a gas at some point).

This bio does reveal a few things, though: it confirms the existence of Light Hope in the MOTUC Bio Universe (MBU) and mentions the four-way war between the Heroic Warriors, the Evil Warriors, the Snake Men and the Horde that occurs near the end of the timeline. I’m a bit unclear on how this war ends, though we know Skeletor defeats Hordak and takes off into space to conquer the Horde Empire and the universe itself.

So, some new information and a serviceable if uninspired explanation for the Bubble Powers (as it includes no mention of, y’know, bubbles).

MOTUC Bio Discussion Archive

Ultraforce NM-E by Galoob

While at a conference last week in Worcester, Mass., I stopped by the comic shop/toy store That’s Entertainment. In addition to newer toys, it has a slew of older stuff (including a lot of cool old Godzilla toys). I browsed for a while, but the only thing I actually ended up buying was this Ultraforce NM-E figure. I’d seen it on eBay many times and considered buying one during my Marvel Legends days, as he seemed a perfect enemy (pun intended) for the likes of the X-Men. He sort of looked like a cross between a Brood and a Danger Room robot.

He also looks very ’90s, which is primarily a result of being part of Malibu Comics‘ “Ultraverse.” Malibu was an independent comic company that existed from 1986-1994 until it was bought by Marvel. Its attempt at cashing in on the comics boom of the early 1990s was the “Ultraverse,” a series of comics that very closely resembled what was being produced at Image Comics around the same time.

No doubt hoping to hop on the comic book gravy train McFarlane Toys and Toy Biz were developing with their Spawn and Marvel lines, Galoob picked up the Malibu license and produced a line of Ultraforce toys, based on the short-lived animated series, in 1995 (by which time the company had been acquired by Marvel). The Ultraforce toys proceeded to rot in KayBee stores around the country for the next five or six years.

Part man, part computer NM-E is a bio-mechanical killing machine that once slaughtered the squad, Hardcase’s first team.* He is completely invincible, although he can be put out of commission temporarily. NM-E is armed with formidable high-tech weapons and scythe-like limbs that slash, detach, and extend. He thinks, adapts and never quits. (*See HARDCASE Comic Book #1. –Ultra Editor)

I feel confident in stating that no one, not a living soul, saw Hardcase Comic Book #1.

Design & Sculpt: For 1995, the sculpt is actually pretty good – probably close to the standards of the McFarlane stuff at that time, and arguably better than every other figure in the Ultraforce line. Some sculptor, and it would be awesome to find out who, put a lot of love into this sculpt.

There’s some good detail around the biomechanical piping and the teeth, as well as the musculature and the veins on the back of the hands. Whoever sculpted this picked up on its obvious similarity to the xenomorphs of the Alien series.

Plastic & Paint: As a mass market toy from 1995, NM-E is solid. Even the weird little antennae on his head are glued on tight.

He’s painted silver what appears to have been a black wash followed by a black drybrush to give it a worn metallic look. It’s no Kriegaffe, but I think it looks pretty good, and not so far off from what you see on similar figures today.

The only part that looks rather dumb is the little skull on the neck, but that’s due to the comic book artist who designed the character, not the sculptor.

Articulation: NM-E has swivels at the neck, shoulders (all four), waist, and V-cuts at the thighs. It’s about average for the time period, but thanks to the extra arms it allows for more variety in posing than you might expect.

Accessories: NM-E comes with two missile launchers that fit over his upper hands, and can figure two red missiles. I tossed the missiles in a box for that “1990s-comics rectangular-fronted gun that shoots indeterminate projectiles/energy” look.

Quality Control: None – not bad for a 17-year-old toy.

Overall: I remember seeing a pic someone took of a bunch of these surrounding a Marvel Legends Captain America, and it looked very cool. More than fifteen years after it was produced, the sculpting and paint work on this figure are good enough that they can serve as adequate foils for your average comic book superheroes.

My raven score takes into account both how this figure would have seemed in 1995, and how I rate it as a fun figure now.

Click for a larger version

First off, congrats to Poester ER, winner of last week’s Figure It Out contest. The figure was, technically, Cpl. Slash from Starcom, but as many Poesters pointed out in their guesses, they way I cropped the image it could also have been Sgt. Borek, so I accepted either answer.

Guesses for this week are due to poe@poeghostal.com by 12 noon ET on Friday. Please put “Figure It Out” in your subject line. Winner will be chosen at random from among correct guesses and will receive a Poe Prize (a little vending machine UFO toy, just so you’re not disappointed). Contest is open to all, including Power Pals, friends, family, and international Poesters. One entry per person. Good luck!

10 High-Risk Sci-Fi/Fantasy Careers

This was a really fun one to write.