How does a grown-up come to collect Mr. Potato Head? I blame TV. It all started with an episode of The Pretender titled “Bomb Squad,” a.k.a. “Potato Head Blues.” Jarod, the protagonist becomes a member of a bomb squad to catch a serial bomber. One of his co-workers has a Mr. Potato Head on his desk and Jarod promises him a ton of extra parts if he helps him out. Needless to say, this little cameo helped reignite a passion that borderlines an obsession with an old childhood favorite.
Doc Thomas Probes > Essential Accessories, Part II
Following on from last week and the ecstatic response by collectors and non-collectors alike, here is the second part of the two-hundred-and-sixty-seven-part-long series about the action figure accessories that you, the collector, simply must own! This is a special part including additions from the readers that I either neglected to mention, was going to mention later or simply completely forgot in a heroin-induced haze. Over to you!
5. Blades (Thanks, dayraven!)
Yes, guns get mentioned, and so do swords! But swords go part in parcel with butcher knives, switchblades, daggers, ninja swords, axes, swiss-army knives, machetes, scythes, foils, cleavers, and everything in between! Just as for ethnic gangs, bladed weapons are the source of amusement for many of your toys – not just your ninjas and vampire slayers, but also WALL-E!! He loves to cut. Not to mention… (more…)
Doc Thomas Probes > Essential Accessories, Part I
Sometimes, between the unnecessary surgery that takes up most of my day, I take a nice long breather out in the fresh air far away from the screams in the basement and reflect upon things. At other times, I’m all about relaxing in my toy room, taking a seat at the table in the middle of the room where I can remove various toys from their home on the shelf and have them duke it out, or have a beer together, or hunt down and kill Napoleon Dynamite.
No matter what kind of collector you are (unless you’re a MOC or 12″ collector and are thus lame) you know the thrill of having a bunch of characters from different properties chilling out together and doing something that you’re the boss of. With this in mind, there are numerous essential accessories that a collector must own so that their toys really get the most out of their lives: these are Essential Accessories. (more…)
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Odds ‘n Ends > Spyeye Edition
- Apologies for the lack of a real update today–I’ve got two or three major updates in the queue, but finding the time to get them done is proving difficult. It does not, however, have anything to do with my increasingly unhealthy addiction to Dragon Age.
- In case you missed his column this weekend, check out the newest contributor, the enigmatic Doc Thomas. In his first column, the good doctor examines action figure scale so deeply you’ll need to drink some MiraLax first.
- Optikk review is coming, but the short version is, he’s pretty cool. What I really like about him, though, is the way Mattel and the Horsemen incorporated the New Adventures design into the MOTUC style.
- I’m working on my review, but Spy Monkey Creations’ new shields are now available.
- For the record, I was apparently wrong about the relative scarcity of the 3¾” Twitch, since no less than four people found him within two days of writing that post. I haven’t seen him myself, though.
- One thing I’ve been remiss in reporting on are the two new Transformers/G.I. Joe cartoons that are being developed. Do people care about those? Do you want coverage? Speaking of, would people like me to get in on the various Hasbro Q&As? I’ve been skipping them solely because they lie outside my own interests, but if people want to submit questions for me to in turn submit, I’d be fine with that.
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Doc Thomas Probes > Action Figure Scales
Like many contemporary collectors, the action figures that got me into this glorious hobby were the late-90’s McFarlane Toys offerings: Movie Maniacs, Sleepy Hollow, Austin Powers and everything in-between. With the combination of amazing sculpting and detailed paint, Todd McFarlane’s company had upped the game for everyone. But for me, the best thing McFarlane Toys offered was the chance to have my own miniature world of characters I knew and loved, in my own little universe, doing whatever I want.
Along with sculpt, paint and (occasionally) articulation, the other thing that McFarlane upped was the scale of their action figures. In the 1980s and ’90s the vast majority of action figures were either the 3¾”-5″ tall. McFarlane Toys bumped the scale up to 6″, with its appealing proportion of one real-world foot=one toy inch, separating themselves from products aimed at children while allowing for more realistic sculpting. (more…)
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Pic of the Day
Happy G.I. Joe Day, apparently!
RHODE ISLAND GOVERNOR PROCLAIMS “G.I. JOE DAY” IN
THE ICONIC ACTION BRAND’S HOME STATE
Revered Hasbro Property is Honored at State Capital, Kicking Off Start of Annual G.I. JOE Convention
Providence, RI – April 30, 2010 – The world’s first action figure comes home to Rhode Island for the 17th annual G.I. JOE Convention, hosted by the G.I. JOE Collectors’ Club and Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS). To celebrate the homegrown hero and its fans, Rhode Island Governor, Donald L. Carcieri, proclaimed today as “G.I. JOE Day” as Rhode Island schoolchildren were on hand for the celebration in the State House rotunda. The Governor was also joined by Hasbro’s President and CEO, Brian Goldner, as well as 250 parachuting G.I. JOE action figures that descended from the upper level of the domed structure, kicking off the official and largest convention of G.I. JOE enthusiasts.