Today’s my bachelor party, and we’re starting off with an Imax showing of The Dark Knight. After that, I have no idea what the plans are…but don’t expect any more updates this weekend.
Incidentally, Pete of Fanwank gets married this weekend, so let’s all wish him the best!
In the meantime, feel free to use the comments below as a discussion thread. I recommend holding off on the Dark Knight talk until my post on it next week, so let me give you some topics:
(Jeesh, that title’s a mouthful, ain’t it?)
I’m not going to do an official review of these, since Michael Crawford’s does the job nicely. This being the Weekend of the Bat, though, I thought I’d talk about them a bit in honor of The Dark Kuh-nigghit, as an outrageously-accented Frenchman might say. (Incidentally, the word “knight” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word cniht, which was pronounced “keh-nikt.” At some point English speakers stopped bothering to pronounce the “k,” thus giving modern Batman writers their beloved “dark knight/night” pun.)
I already reviewed the Movie Masters Dark Knight version of Batman for OAFE (link), so I’ll just crib that review for my basic take on the MM line.
In 2005, Mattel’s line of kid-targeted 5″ figures held little interest for collectors (outside of a not-bad Collector’s Edition figure). Collectors wanted 6″ figures with the sort of articulation that was beginning to appear in Mattel’s DC Superheroes line. Well, guess what? Mattel delivered this time around.
For The Dark Knight, Mattel has created “Movie Masters,” a line of 6″-scale action figures featuring detailed sculpts by the Four Horsemen and featuring the extensive articulation found in their comic-based DC Universe Classics line. While the initial Movie Masters waves are limited to The Dark Knight and Batman Begins, Mattel’s license extends to all the DC movies, so it’s possible we’ll see a 6″ Christopher Reeve Superman or Michael Keaton Batman in the future. (more…)
ODD: CornerStoreComics gave an update yesterday on shipping for DC Universe Classics and Movie Masters; Mattel “should be shipping” DCUC3 “toward the end of this month.” In my grumpily pessimistic view, that means I’ll receive my figures sometime around August 15. Dwaltrip, it looks like you’re gonna win. I’d be very happy to be wrong, though!
END: Sadly, it seems Random Happenstance will be closing for the time being. Googum has some of the best figuretoons out there, and he will be missed. (more…)
Hey toy fans of all ages,
Well it is that time again. Mattel is gearing up for our really big show down in San Diego at the annual Comic Con July 23-27th 2008.
We’ll be there in full force with the largest booth presence we’ve ever had to meet and greet toy fans of all ages. There will be some fantastic give-aways, fan panels and huge reveals from all your favorite Mattel lines include DCUC, JLU, Infinite Heroes, CARS, Batman the Dark Knight and more. Plus we guarantee a few surprises to help kick off our new Masters of the Universe Classics line- you won’t want to miss out!
And don’t forget some amazing unique exclusives at the show. Details about Lobo, Grayskull, Giganta, McQueen and a few other surprises are below. And be sure to stick around for the biggest news of them all… Starting the Monday after Comic Con, because you demanded it, Mattel will be launching a brand new Collector Website with the latest news, updates, previews and – the big one – EXCLUSIVE action figures from your favorite Mattel toy lines like CARS, DCU and more! Wait – you want more? – this new site will also be the EXCLUSIVE home of Masters of the Universe Classic action figures with a new character available EACH MONTH starting this fall! (more…)
ODD: Saw Pearl Jam in Boston last night (OK, the Comcast Center in Worcester, but that won’t mean much to most of you) and am still recovering from three hours of standing and woo-ing. I thought Eddie was trashed by the end of the show, but hey, it only added to the fun. I got to go to the concert courtesy of Mike, my cousin and best man for my impending nuptials. (more…)
OAFE has just posted my review of the Dark Knight Movie Masters Batman.
It’s being reported on several message boards that Toys R’ Us stores around the country have pulled Mattel toys off the shelves, including The Dark Knight, Kung-Fu Panda, Speed Racer and even DCUC.
I contacted my sources at Mattel to find out if this was an official recall on their end, and this was their response:
There is no recall on any of these products. Individual retailers are free to decide what product is on their shelf and how much space it gets, but there is no recall.
TRU employees on the message boards have agreed that this appears to be an internal recall, but that hasn’t been officially confirmed. According to these employees, the toys are “under investigation,” but not definitely recalled for safety reasons.
So what’s going on? I suspect it has something to do with TRU’s stringent new safety rules, which went into effect March 1. There may have been some sort of procedural issue, i.e., Mattel didn’t test their products enough times for TRU’s new standards, or didn’t date-code their items properly.
It’s quite possible all the product will be back on shelves within the week…or Mattel could announce a recall later today. I’ll update this post with any new information I receive.
UPDATE: Over at the Fwoosh, user Big_Ricks_Customs went the extra mile and got in touch with Toys R’ Us’s corporate office:
Anyway I called the corporate office and they gave me the exact same speech the manager at the store gave me. “Those figures are under investigation right now by TRU. TRU always tries to present the public with the highest quality product as possible. Until this investigation is done these figures won’t be available at TRU or TRU.com.” When asked if this was a Mattel recall he said “no”. I asked him if this was a lead issue like last year and he said “no”. He said if I feel uncertain to just return my kids toys and they will give a full refund (didn’t say they were mine Laughing ). I asked if all the DK stuff is involved and he said that they are pulling all product till this investigation is complete.
Well there it is as shady as he was he did give some answers at least. I don’t think they wanted news to get out so quickly as I caught him by surprise. Oh well hopefully when this is done they will have plenty of DCUC and MM to put out.
Over the weekend I picked up the Dark Knight Batman from Mattel’s “Movie Masters” line. For those who don’t know, Mattel has two action figure lines for the movie: a five-inch scale, kid-oriented line and the MM figures, which were sculpted by the Four Horsemen, are about six inches (roughly–see below) tall and feature DCUC-style articulation. I paid $11.97 for the figure at Wal-Mart, which seems overpriced, especially when you consider the lack of any real accessories. But this may just be the new reality.
While the lack of accessories is disappointing, the figure is not. This is one of those figures, like the DC Superheroes Superman or Batman, that I can’t put down. I keep picking it up off the shelf and fiddling with it. (more…)
The Four Horsemen will be robbing me blind this year.
So, all the big toy news has come out of the New York Comic Con, and I think it’s safe to say Mattel stole the show. (more…)