Poe’s Review > Spikor (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

August 23, 2012 | Poe

Sega’s first attempt at an “edgier” Sonic

I admit I’ve neglected to write up a post about it, but I did get The Power and the Honor Foundation‘s excellent Volume One: The Art of Masters of the Universe Toy Design. It’s everything the Mattel art book should have been (for the same price). Anyway, the book includes an early concept sketch of Spikor. He’s similar to the final version except the porcupine aspect is played up more – he’s brown and has a more animalistic face. Why Mattel decided to make him purple in the end is beyond me, but I now find it part of what makes the character endearing.

I had the vintage Spikor as a kid. He appealed to me because of his color scheme (I like purple), the fun rubbery spikes, and the odd extendable trident feature. Like Whiplash and Leech, Spikor survived (or post-dated) the day that I gave away many of my He-Man figures to a cousin in Florida. He eventually became a generic monster foe to the likes of the Ninja Turtles. (more…)

Sightings > Rare Robo Force Figure “Tiltor” Unearthed

August 21, 2012 | Poe

First off, big thanks to Battlegrip for pointing this out. It had totally flown under my radar.

As longtime Poesters are no doubt aware, I’m a big fan of the 1984 Ideal toy line Robo Force. They were fun, if somewhat goofy, robot figures with suction cups and accordion arms that could “grasp” when a button was pushed on the back. I wrote an article about them for ToyFare years ago where I interviewed Paul Kirchner, one of the creators behind the line. The article had a sidebar about unproduced Robo Force toys, including Tiltor, the Changer.

The line was quickly pushed out of the market by the juggernaut that was Transformers, but apparently at least one Tiltor did make it out into the wild somehow. A collector and diehard Robo Force fan found one on eBay – for twenty-five bucks. You can see the story of the discovery of the figure here, along with plenty of photos. Then head over to Roboplastic Apocalypse for a transcript of a podcast wherein the saga of Robo Force and Tiltor is discussed at length. Like, at. length. But I kid – it’s a great, fun read.

Doc Thomas Reviews > Starman (DC Signature Collection, Mattel)

August 21, 2012 | Doc Thomas

This Starman is based on the Kingdom Come version of the character.

I’ve always been a Marvel man. Sure, I’ve been a fan of the Batman since Miller’s seminal graphic novel, and I’m apparently one of the only sane people who loves Superman Returns, but I was always much more fond of the Marvel universe than the DC. This can be in part attributed to Bryan Singer’s excellent X-Men films raising the bar for comic book movies back before the 90’s ended, and then in part due to the phenomenal Marvel Legends action figures that redefined the way we collect today. But that line ended, and although Hasbro took the baton from ToyBiz it hasn’t quite been the same.

When Mattel decided to apply DC characters to that same formula the result was a great series of toys, but one that was incredibly hard to collect in Australia; while Marvel Legends were plentiful in Oz across their early run, the DC Universe Classics were barely available, if at all. Fortunately friend Poe was able to help me acquire basically the entire series, and since then I’ve been reading a lot of the great DC arcs, currently knee-deep in Blackest Night. I’m a convert; for all their mistakes and baffling choices, especially with the sad reboot last year, I’d argue DC can rise to the occasion with stories just as strong as Marvel’s.

I jumped at the chance to subscribe to Club Infinite Earths, to continue collecting characters from the DC universe, and I feel like I’ve been rewarded for it: the DC Signature Collection has offered both entirely new, and fan requested, characters, like John Constantine and Saint Walker, as well as excellent new versions of figures that have previously seen toys, like Atrocitus. Metron was an excellent incentive to subscribe – as was previously reviewed on here, he’s an excellent toy and a great centrepiece for your New Gods display. I’m happy to continue subscribing; even though I’ve fallen off the MOTUC wagon courtesy of the $75+ Fearsome Foe Whatsits, CIE’s figures are all interesting to me, even characters I’ve previously never stumbled across like Starman. (more…)