Ask Mattel > 4/2/08

April 2, 2008 | Poe

We’re back with another round of questions for Mattel’s “ToyGuru.” (I tried to think of a particularly nerdy question for Paul to mock, but I kept coming up blank.)

PG: The second wave of DC Universe Classics appeared at Targets across the country several weeks earlier than they arrived at other retailers, including online retailers. Was this a one-time occurrence, or should those who pre-order the figures from online retailers generally expect to receive their figures some time after they appear at retail? (more…)

ToyFare #129 (May 2008)

March 15, 2008 | Poe

ToyFare 129 Picked up the latest issue of ToyFare this week. In the tradition of all uninspired stand-up comedians, let’s see what’s in the news this month…

Cover: Iron Monger from Hasbro’s Iron Man movie line. I have to admit, he looks totally awesome, though I’m wondering whether those hips are ball jointed. Haven’t seen any of these figures in stores yet, but that makes sense since the street date is the 23rd.

Inside cover: Ad for Diamond Select’s second wave of Battlestar Galactica figures. The Cylon looks badass–that’s going to be a hot seller. It looks like they may have fixed up Starbuck’s face a bit, but she still looks more like that woman from Stargate SG-1 to me.

Page 9: Who’s Mandalore the Indomitableâ„¢? I’m way behind on this Star Wars Expanded Universe stuff. Last thing I remember is Kyle Katarn and those badass Darktroopers.

Page 10: Ill-favored N2/Mirage Toys made a Mad Max line that actually wasn’t so bad. (more…)

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

March 13, 2008 | Poe

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. (more…)

Wizarduniverse.com 2.0…? 3.0…? New!

February 6, 2008 | Poe

Wizarduniverse.com has a long-overdue, spiffy new look.

Rather than going to a specific magazine, you click on the topic–comics, toys, anime and so forth. I’m not sure how effective this will be; without any explicit branding of Wizard, ToyFare and Anime Insider, the site may function as an alternative to buying those magazines for many fans, rather than a promotional tool. Perhaps that’s the intention…as a wise man once said, “Print is dead.”

Check out the set visit to The Dark Knight–there are some fun new details in there (spoiler warning, of course). And of course, be sure to check out ToyFare‘s first animated episode of Twisted ToyFare Theater. It’s like Robot Chicken, only it came first.

Dark Knight photos leaked

January 13, 2008 | Poe

Some good photos of the “Movie Masters” 6″ Dark Knight line (sculpted by the Four Horsemen) have leaked (intentionally or not?) to the Web. For now, I’m just going to link to another site that has them, until I’ve got confirmation from the Horsemen or Mattel that it’s okay to post them here.

Dark Knight figure photos

Also, Entertainment Earth has a bunch of Dark Knight, including the Movie Master figures, up for preorder. There are some new photos, but I’m skeptical about how much information EE really has–for instance, the photo for the Movie Masters figures is the old prototype photo that came out last week, and the product description says “Each case includes 4 individually packaged Action Figures which may include: Batman, The Joker. (Subject to change.)” Hmmmm…

I do believe the May release date, though. That’s the usual release date for a July blockbuster toy line.

First pic of the 6″ Dark Knight figures

January 8, 2008 | Poe

Dark KnightToy News International has posted a photo of the Batman figure from the upcoming six-inch line based on The Dark Knight. The line’s sub-title is apparently “Movie Masters,” which presumably means it will cover more than just this one film (and possibly non-Batman films such as Superman Returns and Justice League).

Over on their FANtastic Exclusive forums, the Four Horsemen are a bit uncertain whether the photo is definitely of their prototype or not, but they do offer this tidbit about the figures: “They match up in both scale and articulation with the DC Universe Classics figures. The articulation is really well hidden in that figure.”

More details about the Movie Masters line will be revealed at Toy Fair next month. Along with DCUC and the NECA Ninja Turtles, this is one of my most-anticipated lines for 2008.