5 Questions With: Kate Napolitano

July 31, 2008 | Poe

Codename: Kate Napolitano
Specialty: Managing Editor
Base of Operations: ToyFare magazine
Motto: “What’s it going to be then, eh?”
History: There was she, that is Kate, and her three hobbies: books, sex, and superheroes. For a long time, she believed she was going to marry the first two and try to become the next Dr. Ruth. Growing up in my happy New Jersey home, she always appreciated having my questions about sex answered honestly and positively by her totally sweet, supportive parents–and she thought it’d be great to pass that good karma professionally on to others. But when she got to college, and suddenly realized she was writing a few more papers on Batman than she was on BDSM, she thought a job more marvelous-so to speak-would likely make her happy. So, she kept her eyes open for anything Wizard, Marvel, DC, Top Cow, etc., related–and lo and behold–she found this opportunity and fought for it like the last BBQ chip! She is a life-long fan of all things Wizard–they are honestly her Journalism heroes; it’s a dream and honor to be in their office every day. So, humbly and happily, Kate’s glad to say she’s a pretty happy girl right now. And (she said with a wink) still a budding sexpert off the clock. She never leaves a droog behind.

PG: Please describe what you do at ToyFare. Is this the culmination of a lifelong desire to work with toys or the inevitable result of a misspent youth?

I am Adam Tracey’s bioengineered clone, birthed in a petri-dish at Wayne Enterprises–now with less goatee, more cleavage (::shiver at thought of Adam with a li’l decolletage::). Okay…seriously, I am ToyFare‘s Managing Editor. And what’s that, friends? In short, I organize, organize, organize–production schedules, meetings, interview appointments–with a little whip crackin’ to make sure everything, from big features to little ads, gets done on time. Plus a little copy editing. Which is a sentence fragment. As is that. And that. (more…)

Mattel SDCC Announcements

July 3, 2008 | Poe

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…)

The Four Horsemen Interview II (Part 2)

June 19, 2008 | Poe

Continuing the interview from yesterday’s post, in the second half of my interview with the Four Horsemen they discuss Masters of the Universe Classics, their ongoing FANtastic Exclusive project and the future of the studio.

POE: While details are few on Masters of the Universe Classics so far, we have seen a proto of the King Grayskull SDCC Exclusive. How similar with these figures be to DC Universe Classics in size, style, and articulation?

JIM PREZIOSI: Both lines are very close in the amount and types of articulation they have, but the style is more of a throwback to the original 1980s MOTU line than DCUC. The style will retain a lot of that old school flair, but there will be enough detail and modern applications that the figures won’t feel at all out of place in todays’ market.

ERIC TREADAWAY: As for size, they’ll be close in scale with DC Universe Classics, but the proportions of the characters will be so different that we’re not sure that they’ll fit all that well together in some collectors’ eyes. (more…)

The Four Horsemen Interview II (Part 1)

June 18, 2008 | Poe

On May 1, Poe Ghostal’s Points of Articulation hit its six-month anniversary. In anticipation of this event, I asked the Four Horsemen if they would be willing to do another interview as they did for the inaugural month of this blog, and they very kindly agreed. I had hoped to post it on May 1st, but the Horsemen were too busy creating awesome toys to get to it right away. I think we can all agree it’s worth the wait.

This is the first half of the interview, focusing on DC Universe Classics and NECA’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I’ll post the second half tomorrow.

POE: There are some slight stylistic differences between the early DC Superheroes figures and DC Universe Classics–for instance, Superman from DCSH wave 2. Do you feel Superman still fits in well with DC Universe Classics, or would you like a chance to do another straight Supes figures?

ERIC “CORNBOY” MAYSE: Well, as you’ve probably already guessed from the “Regeneration Suit Superman” revealed at Wizard World Philadelphia a few weeks back, we’re definitely moving forward in attempting to create a definitive DC Universe Classics Superman that will have obvious differences from its earlier DC Superheroes counterpart.

JIM PREZIOSI: When and in which wave that definitive Superman will finally make his debut is still up in the air, but it is coming. (more…)

Enter the Elephant

May 7, 2008 | Poe

ram2

(The Toybox is running late this week, but fear not, it should come out before I leave for vacation on Friday.)

As I mentioned, my replacement Ramathorr FANtastic Exclusive figure arrived last week. For those who don’t know the story, the FANtastic Exclusive is a project by the toy design team known as the Four Horsemen. On their FE website, the Horsemen present a number of ideas for action figures, and then fans vote on which action figure they want. Once a character is selected, the fans then get to vote on the figure’s size, articulation, accessories, and even packaging. The figure is then sold at conventions like the San Diego Comic Con and through the Horsemen’s online store. (more…)

A Dark and Stormy Knight

May 5, 2008 | Poe

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…)

Poe’s Point > 5 figures I’d like to see in DCUC–but (probably) won’t

May 1, 2008 | Poe

It’s safe to say DC Universe Classics is my favorite toy line of the moment–and for the foreseeable future. Some have hailed it as Super Powers redux, and with its excellent renditions of the SP-era Lex Luthor and Brainiac, it’s hard to argue with that logic. But DCUC is more than a nostalgia line; with Lightray, Black Lightning, and Amazo already on the way, it’s clear Mattel and the Four Horsemen are committed to a very diverse mix of characters. And with Lobo as the SDCC exclusive, it would seem the sky is the limit.

However, there are a few characters I’m pretty certain we won’t see–but I’d like to, anyway. In the list below, I run down five characters I’d like to see in DCUC and why. Before anyone gets worked up, I should clarify that I wouldn’t want to see these until after all the A-listers and most of the B-listers have been produced. They’d be best sold as exclusives, since they’ll have absolutely no household recognition and even very little fan recognition.

(Thanks to ToyOtter for the use of images from his excellent website, the Super Powers Archive. Also, most of the “Who he is” text was swiped from the characters’ Wikipedia entries.)

SAMURAI
Background: The third wave of Super Powers figures included three characters who had never appeared in a comic book. One of these was the rather unimaginatively named Samurai, though he had an edge on the other two because he’d appeared fairly frequently as a member of the Justice League in the 1970s Super Friends cartoon. I’m not sure why someone as obscure as Samurai got an action figure in Super Powers when there were plenty of existing DC characters to choose from, but I suppose his appearances on the kid-targeted Super Friends make him a decent pick for a toy line.
Who he is: Toshio Eto was a history professor. One day, Eto was struck by a beam of light sent by the New Gods of New Genesis, who were trying to create more superheroes to defend the world from Darkseid. Although Eto briefly ran wild with his new powers, the New Gods explained their intent to him and he vowed to become a superhero.
Why I’d like to see him in DCUC: Since he has never officially been introduced in the comics, Samurai is ripe for an innovative, unique Four Horsemen re-interpretation. The Horsemen went wild with their redesigns on the 2002 He-Man line, and I can only imagine what they could do with someone like Samurai, who is obscure enough to allow the Horsemen to do whatever they want with him. I can see this is as a great exclusive–something that will appeal to collectors and fans of Super Powers, but one more casual fans of the DCU can pass up.
Suggestions for a DCUC redesign: If their work on MOTU is any indication, the Horsemen like to take small, odd details on the original toy and amp them up. In the case of Samurai, I think the strangest trait is his weird sword; I can see the Horsemen developing it into a huge, sweeping serrated monstrosity. Other than that, though, there’s really not a lot to work with here.

(more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Cruelest Month Edition

April 22, 2008 | Poe

ODD: T.S. Eliot’s famous poem The Waste Land begins with the lines, “April is the cruellest month, breeding / Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing / Memory and desire, stirring / Dull roots with spring rain.” One interpretation of this is while the cold winter keeps us numb and forgetful, the regeneration that comes with spring is painful, reminding us of happier times, now long past.

I know this is certainly true for me. Spring arrived in New England last week, and whenever I found myself walking down a sunny street, the birds chirping and the smell of fresh blossoms in the breeze, I was instantly treated to a series of nostalgic sensations ranging from my childhood to just last year. I remembered “playing guns” in the forest behind our old house on Silva Street; setting up Transformers in a living room lit by the afternoon sun; trekking with my old dog Friskie through Miles Standish State Forest. I hear the cry of a seagull and I’m stepping across the large stones of the Plymouth Jetty, listening to the water lapping at the rocks. (more…)

New DCUC figure revealed

April 14, 2008 | Poe

Man, busy day here on PGPoA. For those of you who get these missives via an RSS feed, I apologize for all the new items–but this couldn’t wait.

The New York Comic Con is this weekend, and Mattel has been hinting that they’ll be revealing all sorts of DC-related goodness at their Saturday panel. But to get the ball rolling, they’ve sent some photos to Action Figure Insider of the latest addition to the DCUC ranks–Lightray! Click on the pic for the full article and more photos.

My thoughts: Mattel continues to intrigue me with its DCUC characters choices. As a big Jack Kirby fan, I have no complaints about getting another action figure of a New God. Perhaps this is the SDCC exclusive, rumored to be an alien?

As always, the Four Horsemen’s sculpting and paint work look amazing. But I found it a bit amusing AFI’s article states, “This has been a good year for Lightray”–since he just got killed off in the comics. Fortunately, this is comics, so he should be back in a month or two. A year, tops.