Ghostbusters photos!

February 6, 2009 | Poe

TNI has the hook-up with the first photos of Mattel’s Ghostbusters figures!

Initial thoughts: they look fantastic. The detail on the 6″ figures, especially the proton packs, is amazing. And that Slimer might actually be more film-accurate than NECA’s version…

Toy news roundup, 1/20/09

January 20, 2009 | Poe

newspoe

  • 2009’s FANtastic Exclusive: Round 1 is up! PGPoA endorses the Gargoyle!
  • First look at Playmates Star Trek figures based on the upcoming movie. WTF happened here? Kirk looks like Dwight from The Office playing dress-up. What’s even funnier is Art Asylum’s far, far superior figures based on the original show are now available at Toys R Us. (TNI)
  • Hi-res images of the Mallah’s Revenge Infinite Heroes 6-pack (TNI)
  • Better pics of the Batman/Clayface two-pack. I would be all over this set if Batman weren’t covered in goo, but I’ll have to wait for the non-muddy version. (TNI)
  • Dream Weaver Press to release Tall Tails “Silvermain” figure (AFI)
  • McFarlane Toys’ Halo Points program kicks off (Spawn.com)
  • First look at DC Unlimited Resistance 2 figures (Figures.com — who really needs to do something about its terrible loading times)
  • 2008 Awards Central: Fwoosh, Figures.com, Michael Crawford
  • DC solicits Blackest Night figures (spoilers!) (Action-figure)

Toy news roundup, 1/12/09

January 12, 2009 | Poe

newspoe

  • Mattel hints at new 6″ line, to be unveiled at New York Comic Con: “It is not Thundercats and it is not WWE (come on, how could WWE be a mystery announcement since it is public knowledge that we are doing WWE in 2010!) It is a new 6″ line and it is sculpted by the Horsemen. If that doesn’t whet your appetite we will reveal these figures at NYCC and the first figure in this line will be available at SDCC!” (My guess is it’s a Four Horsemen-created property, i.e., Seventh Kingdom or Magma CORPS.)
  • Mattel explains MOTUC continuity, reveals that She-Ra, Princess of Power figures will join line in 2010.
  • SOTA announces new statue of Nyarlathotep, one of H.P. Lovecraft’s monstrosities. There’s no pic, but the press release says, “”featuring all the horrific detail of the Messenger of the Great Old Ones,” which is interesting, since unlike Cthulhu, I don’t believe Nyarlathotep has a definitive description in HPL’s work–beyond being a “tall, swarthy man,” at one point, because he’s a shapeshifter by nature. However, most of the HPL-related media (games and so forth) depict him with a tentacle for a head, and that’s what SOTA has gone for here. (Action-Figure)
  • Wizardworld has postponed WW Los Angeles and cancelled WW Dallas. No word on when the LA show will resume, but the Chicago and Philadelphia shows will go on as planned. I’m afraid this is just an early casualty of the economy in consumer-based hobbies like comics and toys. (Action-Figure)
  • I was at a Toys ‘R Us over the weekend and was surprised to see the Art Asylum classic Kirk and Spock on the pegs, in new packaging. Am I just out of the loop on this? In any event, it’s great they’re re-releasing those.
  • TRU will give 15% discount to anyone using a KB Toys gift cards until the end of the month (TFormers)
  • Star Wars Legacy prototype pics leaked? (Potf2)

Beast Man (Masters of the Universe Classics)

January 7, 2009 | Poe

motu-ba-beast_man_illEvery supervillain in the 1980s had a member of his entourage who served a special purpose: whipping boy. For Megatron, it was Starscream. For Darkseid on Super Powers, it was Kalibak. For Shredder, it was Bebop and Rocksteady (though Shredder was arguably the whipping boy for Krang). For Darth Vader, it was the Imperial Admiralty.

But arguably the most-whipped whipping boy was Beast Man, the orange-furred, half-ape henchman of Skeletor. Like Mer-Man, in the early days of Masters of the Universe (MOTU) Beast Man was one of an entire race of similar creatures, whom he led. But when the Filmation cartoon came around, Beast Man was dumbed-down and demoted to being both Larry and Curly to Skeletor’s Moe.

Despite his lowly status, Beast Man (I refuse to refer to him as “BM”) is the second figure (not counting the exclusive King Grayskull) in the new Masters of the Universe Classics. The first is He-Man, whom I reviewed here.

I suspect Beast Man was produced this early in the line to show fans and collectors there will be some unique, significantly detailed sculpting in the MOTUC. The next figure, Skeletor, will be available on Mattycollector.com starting on January 15. (more…)

FANtastic Exclusive returns!

January 5, 2009 | Poe

The Four Horsemen are finally gearing up for the next FANtastic Exclusive. The Round 3 exclusive, Scarabus, is a bit behind schedule, so he’ll (hopefully) be available at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. The Round 4 exclusive should be available at the 2010 SDCC. (more…)

Blowout sale at Store Horsemen

December 16, 2008 | Poe

The Four Horsemen are having a crazy holiday blowout sale at www.storehorsemen.com. Go! Go now, before it’s too late! One thing to note: most of the Ramathorr-type figures are from the first factory run, so they may have loose or brittle joints–or they may be fine.

10 Questions with > The Four Horsemen

December 9, 2008 | Poe

The Four Horsemen are special friends of PGPoA, having opened the site with an interview a year ago and again appearing at the six–month mark. As befits their special status, they get to answer ten questions instead of just five (whether this is a privilege or an extra obligation is subject to debate, but I digress).

Once again, the Horsemen have taken time out their extremely busy schedule to collectively answer ten questions from PGPoA. (more…)