Poe’s Point – Page 10 – Poe Ghostal's Points of Articulation

Poe’s Point > DCUC: Identity Crisis

On April 24, 2008

Batmen

American pop culture nostalgia tends to go through generational cycles. In the 1970s, everyone watched Happy Days; in the 1990s we had another Woodstock; in the early “naughts” we had That ’70s Show.

The same holds true for toys. In the 1990s, there was a resurgence of popularity for Mego and Star Wars, lines whose heyday was in the 1970s and early 1980s. Now, we’re seeing feature films of The Transformers and G.I. Joe, while lines such as Transformers Classics, 25th Anniversary G.I. Joe and the 2002 Masters of the Universe revamp show that 1980s nostalgia is big business right now. NECA’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mattel’s latest attempt at resurrecting He-Man, Masters of the Universe Classics, are more examples of action figure lines intended to cater to collectors who were kids in the 1980s.

Poe’s Point > Top Ten Cartoons of all time…EVER.

By Poe

On April 10, 2008

In Poe's Point

NOTE: Originally published on Biggerboat on 2/16/2007.

After my Saturday morning cartoons post, I decided to go ahead and compile a list of my top ten cartoons of all time. This list is unrestrained by timeslot or, I should mention, relative quality. I make no claim as to this list representing what I think are the best cartoons ever made. That list would be quite different. Today’s list is about the cartoons that have made a significant impact on me or my life at some point.

Anyone who knows me at all no doubt can guess #1 right now, but we’re going to start at number ten.

Poe’s Point > Here come the price hikes

By Poe

On March 20, 2008

In Poe's Point

Earlier this year many manufacturers announced there would be price hikes on their 2008 products. Due to a combination of rising gas prices (most plastics are made from petroleum), Chinese and American governmental policies, the current toy safety crisis, and the weakness of the American dollar, price hikes on action figures were inevitable:

Mattel Inc (MAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which manufacturers most of its toys in China, said earlier this year it will raise prices by roughly 5 – 10 percent in the second half of the year.

For those of you curious as to how exactly this will hit close to home, Scott, owner and manager of the online retailer Enchanted Toy Chest, recently posted a message on the Fwoosh forum about it:

Poe’s Point > Top Five Most Anticipated Movie Toy Lines of 2008

By Poe

On March 13, 2008

In Poe's Point

Yeah, I could write a list of my most anticipated movies this year–and there are quite a few–but to stay more on-topic, I decided to list what I think are the five most anticipated action figure lines based on movies this year among collectors. Note, these aren’t listed in the order I’m anticipating them, but on how much I think the collector community is.

Poe’s Point > Top Five Saturday Morning Cartoons

By Poe

On March 7, 2008

In Articles, Poe's Point

NOTE: This article was originally published on Biggerboat on 1/31/07.

I’ve often declared my life’s goal to make every day feel like Saturday morning. If there’s anything that makes me regret the linear direction of space-time and ache for the past as all mortals do, it’s that I can never truly recapture what it feels like to be a young kid on a Saturday morning.

Growing up in the 1980s following the FCC’s deregulation of children’s programming, Saturday morning offered a bevy of options for the child who, having woken at six a.m. to enjoy as much of his school-free day as possible, would down three bowls of sugar-loaded cereal while watching colorful talking animals and consequence-free cartoon violence. True, many of the shows were little more than half-hour advertisements for toys (or candy, or Mr. T). Others were genuinely entertaining. But what Saturday morning cartoons really offered children was a time when television catered just to them. No boring adult dramas or shows they weren’t allowed to watch. Saturday morning TV belonged to kids.

Poe’s Point > MST OK, where are my action figures?

By Poe

On February 14, 2008

In Poe's Point

When I was about twelve, in 1990, there was nothing I wanted more than figures from the movies Aliens and Predator. After all, I had Robocop toys, so it wasn’t as if there were no precedent for action figures based on rated-R flicks. Alas, the first toys from Kenner would not arrive for a few more years, by which time I had moved on to other fads.

Poe’s Point > Fiddlers and Moncs

By Poe

On February 7, 2008

In Poe's Point

Here it comes…the obligatory Convention Exclusives Editorial.^TM

Poe’s Point > Captain…America?

By Poe

On January 30, 2008

In Poe's Point

I SHOOT YOUR FACE!! So the all-new, all-different Captain America carries a gun now. Then what makes him any different from the Punisher? Especially since the Punisher recently went crazy and dressed up like Captain America for a while.

And it’s not a very impressive gun, either–looks like a plain old Colt .45 to me. Shouldn’t Captain America at least have a Magnum or something?

Mind you, I always thought it was a bit silly that Cap only carried a shield as a weapon. Even Batman has batarangs, gas pellets and explosives he can throw at people if need be. But a gun? To quote Mr. Furious, “That’s it? That’s your power? You have guns? Couldn’t you be a little more creative than that?” Again, the Marvel Universe already has a guy whose power is that he has guns.

I don’t know…I might check out this issue (Captain America #34). I wish Marvel had a $2 digital download option for their comics. More likely I’ll wait for the trade paperback, since a single issue of a modern comic reads like an excerpt from a novel these days.

To get on topic, how long until Hasbro releases a figure of the gun-toting Cap? I say he shows up within three waves.

Poe’s Point > Toys and the Chinese New Year

By Poe

On January 24, 2008

In Poe's Point

As with many hobbies, the rise of the Internet has allowed the average action figure collector to understand the intricacies of production, sales, and distribution more than ever before. Fans track and discuss case mixes, variant ratios and shipping schedules. They have favorite sculptors and designers. And with projects like the Four Horsemen’s FANtastic Exclusive, they even get to participate in the development process.

Of course, this heightened awareness also provides collectors with an insight into the sort of issues one would never consider. For instance, we’ve long known that most American toys are manufactured in Chinese factories (for better or, in some recent cases, worse). But what perhaps you weren’t aware of is the fact that, for a week or two in February, all those factories close for the Chinese New Year–meaning the toy companies have to push as much product through as possible before then to avoid serious delays.

Poe’s Point > “…its wings were stretched from wall to wall…”

By Poe

On December 31, 2007

In Poe's Point

Jason “ToyOtter” Geyer has a blog post about the online action figure collecting community, explaining why they recently banned a forum member (I don’t know who, nor does it matter). It occurred to me that I’ve been a member of said community for nearly ten years now (fifteen if you count my early days on the Prodigy bulletin boards as a member of a Transformers fan club).

My first real online action figure community was the Spawn.com boards. Eventually those boards got a little too contentious for my taste and, as Geyer suggests in his post, I founded a website (or rather, was talked into joining the founding of a website) with two other Spawn.com expatriates. Over time, I found I was less interested in writing toy reviews than I was in just commenting on the industry as a whole (plus I’m a control freak and wanted my own site), so finally, at the beginning of this month, I unleashed this blog upon an unsuspecting and uninterested public.

Category: Poe’s Point Page 10 of 11