That’s right – Odds ‘n Ends is back! I’ve just got too much stuff to write about and don’t want to spam your RSS reader with a slew of Sightings posts, so instead I present the return of O&E.
Also, because I eliminated the discussion board, I thought I’d try creating a “weekend discussion thread” and see if it appealed to anyone. So feel free to post about any (toy-related) topic you want in the comments below.
Anyway, on the odds and ends.
- Good news, everyone! Castle Grayskull pre-orders have reached the halfway point (which may be 3,654, if the title of the .gif used for the meter refers to the number of pre-orders). Mattel’s Scott Neitlich did a couple interviews about the playset, which you can read at CastleGrayskull.info and Pixel Dan’s site. They’re worth a read-through, if only to see what features are being considered and which ones probably won’t happen.
- Some follow-up on my Biollante post from earlier this week: it’s unclear whether the Godzilla figure (based on the suit from Godzilla vs. Biollante) is an S.H.MonsterArts prototype or just some sort of stand-in. But one thing that occurred to me, which I’d forgotten about, is that according to the Heisei series timeline, the Godzilla in GvB is only eighty meters tall. Due to a ridiculous time travel plot in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah that I won’t even try to describe, the Godzilla of the rest of the films (including Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla, the one the current S.H.MonsterArts figure is based on) is 100 meters tall. But judging from this photo, Biollante is in scale with the rest of the line, which means they’re evidently going to ignore the height difference and just increase the eighty-meter-scale monsters to the 100-scale ones. Which is fine. I just…spent a surprising amount of time thinking about this, apparently.
- Speaking of Tamashii Nations, IAT has a good round-up of all the info from the event, including S.H. Figuarts classic Power Rangers, new D-Arts Megaman stuff, S.H.Figuarts Sailor Moon, Ultra-Act Zetton, and D-Arts Pokémon.
- Doomkick has an interview with the man behind the awesome-but-expensive Bog-Nar of the Warlords of Wor. Discussion of the $100 price is included. I get why it’s so expensive, I just…can’t afford it.
- Anyone else catch Mockingbird Lane last night? I thought it was fantastic. Really wish it had been picked up, but it’s Bryan Fuller, so it was doomed. If Bryan Fuller and Joss Whedon ever tried to make a television show together, TV execs would grab each page of their sublime, brilliant screenplay as it came out of the printer and deposit it directly into a shredder.
- Sponsor News: BBTS has Hot Toys Resident Evil – Ada Wong; Takara Seeker Elite 3-Pack; TFC Uranus SR-71 Blackbird; Carlito’s Way – Al Pacino 1/6; G1 Commemorative – Astrotrain, Ultra Magnus, Powermaster Prime.
- It seems even Matt, formerly of X-Entertainment and now of Dinosaur Dracula, is not immune the blogger ennui I’ve suffered myself recently. We’re exactly the same age, too. Maybe there’s some sort of third-life-crisis going around our generation. Blogging about toys really shouldn’t have this much angst.
- And so, on a related note, henceforth I’m only blogging when I have a post I actually want to write. Sadly, that means no Minicomic Monday, at least for now. That one post was just too much work for not enough funny.
- This Week’s Notable Posts > Reviews: Beast Saga Series 1 (Takara-Tomy) Review by Ben Leach; NECA’s AvP:Requiem Alien Warrior: Still the best 1/12th-Scale Alien figure? by Poe; The Cryptkeeper! (Tales from the Cryptkeeper, Ace Novelty) review by Weirdo Toys blogger Justin Gammon; Interviews: Interview > Monster Artist Extraordinaire Matt Frank; Interview > Brian-Man of Spy Monkey Creations, Part III; Toy Aisle Trolls: Rodimus Crime, Maash-Up Topless Robot Lists: The 10 Best Spawn Creature Figures, Ten Greatest Giant Movie Monsters
muldertp
Poe, I don’t consider it a failure at all. I read every single article and appreciated the weekend content. I just didn’t really have anything to say about it. I think it’s a great idea.
Mysterious Stranger
So the magic number for the Castle Grayskull preorder looks to be about 7,000 if that 3,654 number is accurate. That seems like a low number to me, especially for the price.
dayraven
bog-nar looks fly, but not even in the ballpark of $100 fly. huge swing and miss, and a shame too, as both my kids found the character and look intriguing, but when we got to the price tag, even an 8 and 10 year old knew that he was a no sell.
dwaltrip
Love seeing Odd's 'n End's back Poe!
jackstatic
Love Odd's and End;s. Always catches me up on stuff i might have missed.
FYI: Toys R' Us Expresses have opened up! So yea! Few I went to had a TON of stuff regular tru hasnt had in, but was also about 10% more expensive. (Pretty much using NYC Prices) They had Catwoman, Alfred, AND Rhas Al Guul from the dark knight rises line, HOWEVER at $22 a pop i wasnt gonna bite
Dayraven
I know, it makes me a bad geek doesn’t it?
Either way, I personally don’t care if mocking gets picked up, I”m kinda inundated with quality geek viewing right now. Face off is almost over, making monsters has to be getting close for this season, Grimm is still a few eps to go, the wife is making me watch once upon a time with her, and of course, we’re just getting this season of the walking dead rolling and lastly, I’m preparing myself for a post-no reservations world… My platter overfloweth. And it goes without saying, I’ve got the last season of Spartacus coming in January, so again, my platter overfloweth.
And I still haven’t made up my mind about arrow yet… But I’m watching it regardless. 🙂
dayraven
i watched mockingbird lane w/ the wife, and to be honest, i was bored to the point that i fell asleep during it. i just didn't care for it at all, watching portia de rossi and the fat kid from stand by me pretend to be post coital pretty much bowed me directly out of the story. it felt very much like taking everything that was fun and laughable about the original and instead trying and failing to make it angsty and "modern." i even was bored by eddie izard, whom i ordinarily tune into things just for… he was cute, but it all felt like the munsters ala tv buffy (and i know i'm about unravel my own geek DNA, but i HATED buffy the vampire slayer. i kind of feel like, if we had rioted, as a fanbase, when buffy kicked off, we wouldn't have twilight today)
sorry man, but i definitely felt like good riddance to bad rubbish for mockingbird lane.
Poe Ghostal
Well, given that you hate Buffy I think our tastes are pretty diverse anyway, so, no prob!
Poe Ghostal
OK, so this discussion thread was a dismal failure. Good to know 🙂
Monte
I’ll chime in to suggest a flaw in your McFarlane list at Topless Robot: awesome as Cy-Gor is, he’s not even the best McFarlane gorilla; get Code Red. He will change your life.
As for the angst, I go through the same thing, hence the lack of recent updates at Two Fisted Toy Talk. Well, the angst and the fact that I have no Internet at my house and I’m too broke to buy new toys to discuss…
Anyway, my theory is that toy blogging turns us all into Milo from the Phantom Tollbooth; when I’m not toy blogging I think about how awesome it’d be to start a toy blog, but once I’ve done so I quickly grow weary.
Poe Ghostal
I own Code Red…I still like Cy-Gor II better. Better articulation, plus the interchangeable hand. And I've actually owned THREE Code Reds (maybe four?) over the years, and his shoulder cannon always breaks off.
Monte
Crap, I hope mine doesn’t break.
Also, please end each Friday with a catch-all weekend thread; I am frequently discouraged by the lack of weekend updates to my favorite blogs.
Rustin Parr
1) CyGor II is definitely Code Red's superior – my apologies
2) Your Phantom Tollbooth connection is brilliant – that is exactly the same problem I have ALL THE TIME