ToyFare #157 & 2011 Club Eternia/Club Ecto-1 news

July 15, 2010 | Poe

The latest issue of ToyFare, #157, hit newsstands this week, and it’s chock (what’s a chock? anyway) full of news. News you didn’t already know. Or maybe you did, but I didn’t. Among the highlights:

  • The Four Horsemen’s new line is Symbiotech, which should be familiar to Fantastic Exclusive voters. Still early on in the production development, but they’re coming!
  • Fantastic Exclusives Scarabus and Raven are still coming–look for more when the Horsemen relaunch the FE website just before SDCC.
  • Mattel will be producing a 6″ Ghostbusters II 4-pack with removable Santa hats which will be available at TRU in October. That’s Toys ‘R Us, Matty haters. Relatively minor bummer: no slime throwers.
  • DCUC Wave 16 includes Jonah Hex and the Creeper, with CnC Bane. (Pics of all, plus Green Lantern Classics ’90s Kyle Rayner, included in magazine).
  • The DCUC Fan Poll candidates, the winner to be turned into a CnC figure, are: Blockbuster, Girder, King Shark, Nekron, Shaggy Man, and Wildebeest. Vote at Wizardworld.com. Nekron will win.
  • JLU is getting the Gray Ghost (might be old news?)
  • Gentle Giant is creating massive 12″ versions of the vintage Boba Fett, Stormtrooper and Walrus Man 3 ¾” figures.
  • DCD Arkham Asylum Bane is just as crazy as the videogame version.
  • There’s a full-page ad of Carnivus (no Whiplash ad, apparently), that says he carries the “Sword of Saz,” which is apparently a reference to the Filmation series–“Saz” was some sort of feline mythological hero.

Mattel also released official news on the 2011 Club Eternia subscription. It’s all-in, so those of you hoping for tiered subscriptions are out of luck, I’m afraid. The sign-up will go from 7/21 at 4 p.m. PT through 8/4 at 4 p.m. PT. The January figure, Club incentive figure, and map poster will be revealed at the Friday SDCC panel.

But wait–there’s more! Ghostbusters fans get their own subscription, Club Ecto-1. It’s $20 for six figures plus a club exclusive figure.

But to quote Geordi La Forge, don’t take my word for it–buy your copy of ToyFare #157 today! Then you get all the pretty pictures.

Doc Thomas Probes > Action Features (Part II)

July 10, 2010 | Doc Thomas

In Part I of our feature, Doc Thomas examined “Simulated Attack” action features. And now…the exciting conclusion!

Type 2: Pure Deco

The next most prominent type of action feature is that which focuses on the look of the toy, and attempts to add more life-like or just more interesting dynamic look via an internal mechanism. A good example of this is Cortana from McFarlane “Last Hurrah” Toys’ Halo line, which in addition to being awesomely scaled to be about life size included several blue leds inside which made it light up, giving it that same luminescence that lightened our lives across the galaxy’s hardship in the excellent series of games.

A different approach to a similar end is the aforementioned Metalhead from TMNT, whose eyes glowed red when light was shined above his head to nifty effect. These kind of action features are comparable to other creative approaches to action figures to make them closer to a real life representation, like the awesome SOTA Blanka sculpted entirely in glow-in-the-dark plastic, representing Blanka in his signature electrified state, or nearly every feature in the Masterpiece Optimus Prime toy, including light-up Matrix inside his chest, and the button-operated “talking” mouth. (more…)

Ask Mattel > Answers for June 1

June 1, 2010 | Poe

1.) When you get around to characters like Buzz Off who had “claws” for hands, will those claws be articulated–i.e., will they be able to open and close–or will they just have wrist swivels like the rest of the figures?

It is too early to tell, sorry.

2.) RM asks: When it comes time to make Clawful, would it be possible to make the articulation point in his *large* claw ratcheted/stepped, so he can maintain a solid “grip” or open claw without fear of looseness in such a small, and (sure to be) often used joint? (more…)

Ask Mattel > Mid-May Edition

May 14, 2010 | Poe

1.) Nicholai asks: Regarding Mattel’s plans for DCSH figures such as Steel, Bane, Mr. Freeze and so forth: should fans attempt to get those in the secondary market, or hold out for a re-release/new sculpt?

We would like to get to re-releases of these older figures in the near future, and we can confirm nothing is locked down for these specific characters in either 2010 or 2011.

2.) Dayraven asks: Why was there no “bio” about the First Ultimate Battleground on the Weapons Pak box? I kind of figured it was a given that we’d learn more about the UB from the pak, especially in light of the “Eternian Secrets” on the map. (more…)

Real Ghostbusters, Mego-style

April 12, 2010 | Poe

So the news has already gone around this weekend–a promo for tonight’s Attack of the Show (which is scheduled to showcase the Mattel SDCC exclusives on tonight and the 15th in two split segments–dates subject to change, of course) revealed a new addition to the Retro Action line: the Ghostbusters, Real-style. (I traced the news back through Infinite Hollywood back to this post on a Mego collector site–go there to see more and larger pics.)

Evidently the figures will have a talking feature, which is pretty neat…though I wonder if it will be so old-fashioned as to have a pull string. As for the idea of Mego Ghostbusters figures? Well, the cartoonish look of the characters definitely fits the Mego style better than, say, Lost. So while I imagine Real Ghostbusters fans are hoping for 6″ Movie Masters-style figures at some point, these look pretty good.

That said, there are some issues to consider. Peter’s uniform on the cartoon was brown, not beige, though maybe this has something to do with the fact that it’s an SDCC exclusive. And will the voice be Lorenzo Music or Dave Coulier? Does it matter?

The only Mego-style figures that could tempt me would be Retro Action MOTU, and maybe Diamond’s upcoming Universal Monsters. However, while I’ve been pretty critical of a lot of the Mego revival stuff so far, this seems like a great use of the style.

Poe’s Point Special > Toy Fair 2010

February 15, 2010 | Poe

It would be impossible and way too much work for me to cover all the awesome stuff coming out of this year’s Toy Fair. The awesomeness seems to be hearkening back to the good old days of the early 2000s…anyway, instead of trying to list everything, I’m just going to hit the highlights of the stuff I’m excited about. But feel free to use this as the catch-all Toy Fair discussion thread.

Masters of the Universe Classics

Of course we start here. We’ve had hints and suggestions of all the stuff that was revealed, but frankly, I was never really 100% sure we were going to see Tytus or, even more insane, Gy-Gor–who looks much better than I’d imagined he would as a Gorilla Grodd repaint. Anyway, the reveals were:

Wow. Where to start with all this? (more…)

Review > 6″ Winston Zeddemore

January 14, 2010 | Poe

In Ghostbusters, the addition of Winston to the team, halfway through the movie, always struck me as a bit odd–even as a kid. Apparently the character was written into the script to show just how busy and overwhelmed the Ghostbusters had become, but that could be–and was–capably handled by a montage set to some catchy theme music. The role was originally written for Eddie Murphy, but it was later decided that, with three comedians in the main roles already, the ‘Busters needed a “straight man,” and so the role was rewritten and Ernie Hudson was brought in.

Ultimately I think Winston was a great addition to the team, but his appearance so late in the movie, after the audience has come to love the close friendship between Egon, Peter and Ray, leaves him seeming a bit like an outsider. Fortunately, he gets some of the best lines in the second half of the film.

For those keeping track, I previously reviewed the Egon SDCC exclusive and the regular Ray Stanz release. (more…)

The Annual Interview with the Four Horsemen

December 2, 2009 | Poe

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In what has happily become an annual tradition here at PGPoA, the Four Horsemen graciously agreed to answer a few of my questions about DC Universe Classics, Masters of the Universe Classics and their own FANtastic Exclusive figures. Read on to get the latest from Santa’s not-so-little helpers, Chris Dahlberg, Eric Treadaway, Jim Preziosi, and H. Eric “Cornboy” Mayse. (more…)

Mattel Answers for December 1

December 1, 2009 | Poe

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1.) Tom-Tom asks: How expensive would it be in the short run to switch to an alternative-source plastic like Thermoplastic starch biodegradable plastics? That way, there’d be lower production costs and lower MSRPs in the long run.

A cool suggestion but not something logistically we can switch to.

(more…)