Four Horsemen – Page 2 – Poe Ghostal's Points of Articulation

Tons of Four Horsemen News

On September 16, 2013

There has been a metric crap-ton of Four Horsemen news over the last week or so. Where to start?

I guess I’ll start with Power-Con, since that’s just wrapped up. For those that don’t know, Power-Con is the Masters of the Universe / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles / Thundercats convention, run by many folks that anyone familiar with He-Man.org and the Roast Gooble podcast would know. It happened over this past weekend, the Horsemen were there, of course, and they brought goodies!

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First up are their Power Lords exclusives, the Power Soldier (black) and the stormtrooper-like Elite Power Soldier (white). These figures are 4″ tall and sell for $10, which is a better price than I expected for these figures and is competitive with mass market 4″ figures. I’m not sure whether that will be the standard price for the regular Power Lords figures – only time will tell. Both figures will also be made available at the Four Horsemen shopÂ sometime today.

The Gothitropolis Ravens are go

By Poe

On August 13, 2013

In News

So, the Four Horsemen‘s Kickstarter campaign for their Gothitropolis Raven and its many variants closed at just over $300,000. As the Horsemen wrote in their note to backers,

It’ll definitely be a jumping off point for the way we’ll promote and pre-sell our action figure lines in the future. We’re certain that others will feel the same way, so prepare to see a flood of new action figure concepts and designs from all over the toy industry hitting Kickstarter soon – including some new things from us.

I find myself wondering how this success compares to what the Four Horsemen invested themselves into, say, Scarabus. If every single Scarabus figure had sold, would they have made anywhere near as much as they did on this project? I’m curious whether this high-profile Kickstarter campaign brought in a lot of people who might not ordinarily have ordered these from the 4H’s own website. There’s no question the 4H were very savvy to keep up interest will all the extras they kept adding, too (although that may partly have been a result of just needing to offer something for all the money that was coming in).

Four Horsemen ride to the subs’ rescue

By Poe

On August 7, 2013

In News

I find it interesting that the Four Horsemen are releasing a statement urging collectors to subscribeÂ for established licenses like MOTU and DC Comics, while their own, highly transparent “thermometer”Â for a project featuring a homegrown license with absolutely no media backing it up has hit 300%. (Statement after the jump.)

Maybe there’s a big difference between the numbers the Horsemen need, and the numbers Mattel needs. After all, the Horsemen’s project has a mere 1,000 participants, with an average pledge of about $200. The “pledge” for Club Eternia is $500 plus shipping, although you’re getting at least 8-10 more figures (albeit with fewer details and less articulation). I really wonder whether more transparency about the numbers needed would help boost the campaign. Of course, announcing all the figures for the sub would also help, and I honestly think that doing that isn’t nearly as impossible or legally complicated as Mattel makes it seem. Just add in some “subject to change” and “items may be delayed” text, and people will know what they’re getting into.

A few observations about the Ravens Kickstarter

By Poe

On August 2, 2013

In News

NoisyDvL5 from IAT does already did something like this, but while his statistical analysis is great, he didn’t really discuss the stuff that interested me.Â For example, the Minotaur the Duck variant is far and away the most popular figure after the regular Raven. I think this says something about this campaign.

Four Horsemen’s Raven Kickstarter to Begin Friday at 12am

By Poe

On July 10, 2013

In News

The Four Horsemen’s long-awaited Kickstarter for the Gothitropolis Raven will begin this Friday at 12am. Obviously I’m on board with this project, what with my name and all. (I only wish we could get a variant head with a pair of red goggles on.)

Details after the jump.

Odds ‘n Ends > The Four Horsemen get a new site, Mordles arrive, Biollante to spring up in November

By Poe

On June 21, 2013

In Odds 'n Ends

The Four Horsemen have opened a new website, SourceHorsemen.com. This is the third 4H website (after FantasticExclusive.com and Fourhoursemen.biz – and I can remember at least two iterations of the latter). Hopefully this one provides them with a long-term home.
On a related note, you may have noticed in the pic on SourceHorsemen that the Four Horsemen aren’t so “Four” anymore. That’s because Chris Dahlberg evidently left. I don’t know anything about it, but there’s no evidence it was anything but friendly. (And he alreadyÂ has a website – tip ‘o the hat to Poester Dayraven for the tip.)
If you’ve joined Club Mordle, then the Mordles are on sale now. You should have received an email with a link to order. The toys will open up to the general public next Friday, June 28 at the ToyFinity store.
Gird your wallet, fans of S.H.MonsterArts: Biollante (shown in prototype last October) is coming in late fall. No word on price yet, but $200-$250 wouldn’t surprise me (I’d bet it will end up in the $175-$225 range, though). This is something of a big deal because there really aren’t a whole lot of Biollante toys, and those that exist go for a ton of money these days.

Sightings > Outer Space Men Cosmic Creators Mel Birnkrant Edition of OSM Waves 3 and 4

By Poe

On March 21, 2013

In Sightings

The Outer Space Men line continues to chug along.Â The latest offering is the “Cosmic Creators” set of OSM waves 3 and 4, which were designed by OSM creator Mel Birnkrant. Fully compatible with Onell Design’s Glyos system, this is a limited-edition set available only through the official OSM site, theouterspacemen.com. The set sells for $80, is limited to 200, and will be signed by Mr. Birnkrant himself.

I know some of you are OSM fans and the 4H really want to promote this edition, so check ’em out.

I know I haven’t covered the line much here on the site, and I’ll admit I’m not collecting it, but that’s no knock against OSM creatorÂ Mel BirnkrantÂ or theÂ Four HorsemenÂ – there’s tons of stuff out there these days and not everything is going to catch one’s fancy (unless you’reÂ NoisyDvL5). I still think they’re very cool, and I’m considering picking up the deluxe characters like Cyclops and Colossus Rex.

Sightings > Interview with Wayne Barlowe

By Poe

On February 25, 2013

In Sightings

Powerlordsreturn.com has an interview up with Wayne Barlowe, the artist and creator of Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials who also helped Revell develop the Power Lords toyline in the 1980s. It’s a great article with an amazing artist, and well worth the read.

PLR EXCLUSIVE: Wayne Barlowe Interviewed About His Art, Toys & Creating The Power Lords

Toy Fair Quick Shots > Power Lords & Gothitropolis

By Poe

On February 11, 2013

In News, Photos

At their annual Toypocalypse event on Saturday night, the Four Horsemen unveiled their new Power Lords prototypes. The figures are in a 3Â¾” scale and feature a mix of regular and Glyos-compatible joints. More photos over at Pixel-Dan.com.

The event also featured an appearance by the original designer of the figures, science fiction and fantasy artist Wayne Barlowe, and a Power Lords-themed cake by the folks behind the show Cake Boss, to be shown in an upcoming episode.

I’ll admit I’m a bit bummed these aren’t in a 6″ scale (more on that in an upcoming post), but they look fantastic.

The Horsemen also unveiled a slew of variantsÂ (pics via AFP) for the upcoming Raven figure from ~~Seventh Kingdom~~ Gothitropolis, including a really cool lizard/dinosaur dude who reminds me a bit of the oldÂ Everquest Iksar Warrior figure from 1999. There’s also a “Minotaur the Duck” with a really long history I’d never even heard of.

There were also plenty of old and new Outer Space Men figures shown. I’ve come to accept that I’m just not into this line. I tried to, because I try to love everything the Four Horsemen do, but I just couldn’t get into them. I think it’s still partly the scale…I just have a hard time collecting anything less than 6″ tall these days. (Again, more on that soon.)

What I’m Watching for at Toy Fair 2013

By Poe

On February 9, 2013

In News

So Toy Fair starts today – well, officially it starts tomorrow, but there are two major events today: the Hasbro event, which is going on as I write this, and the Four Horsemen’s Toypocalypse party tonight, which will unveil their Glyos-basedÂ Power Lords toys.

Anyway, I thought I’d run through a breakdown of the toy lines I’m keeping an eye on this year:

S.H.MonsterArts – Obviously. I suspect there won’t be any new reveals, with the possible exception of Mothra and/or Battra from 1992’sÂ Godzilla vs. Mothra. Biollante may be there, hopefully with a release date. I’d love to see a SHMA BioGoji (Godzilla as he appeared inÂ Godzilla vs. Biollante), but I think that’s a long shot. Of course, my dream would be to seeÂ anything from the 1960s-1970s-era Godzilla films, but Tamashii doesn’t seem to be there yet.
Masters of the Universe Classics – I’m not sure if there will be anything left to reveal, but I’ll post my thoughts on anything new.
Star Wars Black 6″ – I’m hoping for pics of the other figures – R2D2, the Sandtrooper and Darth Maul. Evidently thereÂ will be a Boba Fett SDCC exclusive. If this is the only way to get a Boba Fett for this line and he turns out to be difficult or prohibitively expensive to obtain, IÂ will not collect this line. I just don’t need to deal with that shit in my life.
Pacific Rim – My most anticipated movie of 2013 is apparently getting 6″ action figures from NECA. If you could only see how hard I’m crossing my fingers hoping these will look like they’re in scale with S.H.MonsterArts. They’re bleeding. My hunch, though, is that the figures will be a little too tall, since some of them will be as tall as 8″. Still, I am definitely on board for this line.
Aliens/Predator – I’m guessing we’ll see some new stuff from NECA. Hoping for moreÂ PredatorÂ soldiers (Jesse Ventura pleasepleaseplease) andÂ Aliens Marines, and maybe a Ripley, or the Alien Queen.
Batman 1966 – The Mattel 6″ figures look quite nice, actually. Entertainment Earth revealed the Riddler and the Penguin, while TNI revealed Batman himself and what the article says is an in-scale 1966 Batmobile that will supposedly retail for $50. I at first thought it was just a re-issue of the Hot Wheels Batmobile, but maybe not…? $50 just seems low for that big a vehicle, but I suppose the Wind Raider was only $45. Anyway, the figures look great and appear to be almost entirely new sculpts, which is a refreshing change of pace for a superhero line from Mattel. I’m not sure whether I’ll be buying these figures or not, but I’m definitely tempted to at least get Batman. The figures will evidently be $16 apiece, which seems surprisingly cheap for a Mattel licensed line with new tooling. It almost makes me wonder if Warner Bros. is subsidizing this for some reason.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – I’ve only been cherrypicking this line, but I will no doubt continue to do so, especially if they start bringing more of the 1980s cartoon and Archie comics characters into the mix. (I still think Bebop and Rocksteady are better designs than Dogpound or Fishface.) A new Ray Fillet, might I suggest…?
Power Lords – I’m curious to see what the figures look like. I understand entirely why going the Glyos route makes financial sense, but the small size and lack of articulation on the Outer Space Men kept me from really getting into that line, and if Power Lords are presented the same way, I suspect I’ll pass on most of them as well. Truth be told, while I was very fond of the few Power Lords figures I had as a kid, they were never a full-on obsession like Transformers, and my toy budget is going to be tight this year…I’ve got to draw the line somewhere. Okay, forget all that – based on this preview pic at IAT, even if the Power LordsÂ areÂ Glyos-compatible, they don’t look it.

I think that’s it…actually, I feel like I’m forgetting something, but anyway: what are you looking forward to seeing most at Toy Fair this year?

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