Marvel Legends – Page 7 – Poe Ghostal's Points of Articulation

Heightened Interest (Marvel Legends She-Hulk)

July 17, 2008 | Pete

Pete here! Hey, lucky me–I completed my Hulk Legends set this week, courtesy of a well-thought out wedding present from a friend of mine.

As I’ve perused various postings on the figures in this wave over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed that one figure under quite a bit of scrutiny is She-Hulk. Some are concerned that this is nothing more than another rehash of the ML2 Shulkie, and more are concerned by the disparity in height. Well fear no more! With my shrewd detective skills, I shall unravel this dark and sinister mystery, at great personal risk to myself. I do this so that you may sleep peacefully at night, secure in your safety. You may thank me with money. (more…)

Red Hulk vs. Red Hulk

June 13, 2008 | Poe

In honor of the release of The Incredible Hulk, I thought I’d toss up a Hulk-related post.

In the aftermath of the popular Planet Hulk and World War Hulk storylines, Marvel needed a way to capitalize on that success while offering something interesting for new fans who picked up the comic after seeing the new movie. The answer, it seems, was the Red Hulk, a villainous, ruby-colored version of the Jade Giant. So far, Marvel has not revealed the Red Hulk’s alter-ego, but he does appear to be as intelligent as the Smart Hulk of the 1990s. He’s also already killed the original Abomination with a giant custom revolver (shades of another big red superhero), so his motivations are as much a mystery as his identity. (more…)

Flippin’ Through ToyFare #131

May 22, 2008 | Poe

Again, all apologies for the scattershot posts this week. Between how busy I’ve been at work and my webhost’s endless problems with a file server on my cluster (causing significant slowdown problems here on PGPoA), it’s been hard to get through an update. But now I’m back and rarin’ to go, the site speed seems to be flying, and I’ve got content up the wazoo!

Today I’m going to discuss ToyFare #131, which hit comic shops last week (and will hit newsstands this week or next).

On the cover we’ve got the 6″ Target exclusive movie Hulk, which is a repaint of the Marvel Legends 1 Hulk with a new head. The ML1 Hulk mold doesn’t come close to the perfection of Face Off Hulk, and I can’t see Ed Norton in that head sculpt the way I can in the movie stills. However, if you missed the boat on previous 6″-scale Hulks, this one might be passable. He is the first 6″ Hulk to feature non-purple pants.

Page 3: Big ol’ ad for DCUC wave 3. Here’s hoping they ship before, say, the end of July…

Page 9: An ad for the new Indiana Jones toys, which seem to be selling well, though I’m not sure if they’re being bought by kids or Star Wars collectors. It was smart of Hasbro to include figures from all four films. (more…)

The Legend of Marvel Figures–Impressions from NYCC 2008

April 20, 2008 | Pete

Legend (n): 1 a: a story coming down from the past; especially : one popularly regarded as historical although not verifiable b: a body of such stories <a place in the legend of the frontier> c: a popular myth of recent origin d: a person or thing that inspires legends e: the subject of a legend <its violence was legend even in its own time — William Broyles Jr.>

With the arrival of the New York Comic Con, news about the long-questionable status of the Marvel Legends toy line has finally come to light, and Hasbro has definitively confirmed that its status is still questionable.

Wait, what? (more…)

Review > Iron Man movie figures

March 25, 2008 | Poe

Poe: Howdy, Poe here, and with me is my good friend and PGPoA Power Pal Pete of Fanwank.net.

Pete: Hello!

Poe: Today we’re going to do a review of a few of Hasbro’s new action figures based on the upcoming film Iron Man, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow. The figures hit stores last Saturday, and it looks like they’re already selling well. I picked up the “Mark 03” Iron Man, as well as the villain called Iron Monger.

Pete: I got the Mark 01 Prototype Armor and the Target-exclusive Repulsor Red Prototype version. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Horatio Caine edition

March 25, 2008 | Poe

ODD: That’s right, Poe’s guiltiest pleasure of all, CSI Miami, is back, baby! Since I watched pretty much every episode on A&E last summer, I’ve only had new episodes to slake my thirst, and what with the writer’s strike I’ve been deprived of the pithy statements of Horatio Caine for months. But as we all know, “Here in Miami, we…never…close.” (cue Roger Daltrey scream)

(more…)

Poe’s Figure Hall of Fame > Face-Off Hulk

March 19, 2008 | Poe

Welcome to a brand-new feature I made up about ten seconds ago: Poe’s Action Figure Hall of Fame. These posts, appearing as regularly as I feel like writing them, will honor fine examples of action figure artistry.

The inaugural inductee is: Marvel Legends Face-Off Hulk!

Name: The Hulk
Line: Marvel Legends (Face-Off)
Year: 2006
Manufacturer: Toy Biz
Sculptor: Sam Greenwell

I prefer to have a nostalgic connection to the character of any action figure I buy. I can remember getting a little rubbery Hulk toy at Building 19 when I was a wee tyke (sadly, I can’t remember at all what it was or who made it). I was familiar with the character–what little kid wasn’t?–but I hadn’t read the comics, and I didn’t until the early 1990s during Peter David’s run. While David was making the Hulk smart by integrating his Bruce Banner and Hulk personalities, I got my second Hulk toy–the classic purple pants-wearing titan, made by the then-fledgling toy company Toy Biz. That first Toy Biz Hulk was shorter than most of other figures in the line, most likely because he was so muscled and the young Toy Biz had to conserve plastic to maintain prices (I’ll discuss this issue in more detail below).
(more…)

Poe’s Point > Top Five Most Anticipated Movie Toy Lines of 2008

March 13, 2008 | Poe

Yeah, I could write a list of my most anticipated movies this year–and there are quite a few–but to stay more on-topic, I decided to list what I think are the five most anticipated action figure lines based on movies this year among collectors. Note, these aren’t listed in the order I’m anticipating them, but on how much I think the collector community is. (more…)

Mighty Marvel Merchandising! Toy Fair 2008

March 3, 2008 | Pete

Hey folks, Poe here again. While I have my share of Marvel action figures, I tend to cherry-pick just a few favorites, rather than obsessively collecting them. But you deserve obsessiveness! And so, please give a warm welcome to PGPoA’s newest correspondent, Pete! A frequent commenter here on the site and owner of fanwank.net, Pete’s got the skinny on Hasbro’s Marvelicious plans for you this year.

Hasbro-Marvel

Don’t hate Hasbro, Marvel fans…Hasbro loves you! Or, rather, your pocketbook…

Because eating through your bank account with all of the new Star Wars and Transformers offerings isn’t enough, Hasbro has unveiled yet another Marvel merchandising blitz this year, just like last year. Also like last year, they’re trying new things, mixing a bit of the new in with your favorite old standbys. So let’s start with the new! (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > One-Twelfth Scale Edition

February 26, 2008 | Poe

Batman and the Six-Inch Outsiders

ODD: That’s a photo of the action figures currently occupying the place of honor at the side of my desk. I decided I wanted to put together a display with one representative from all the one-twelfth (one foot=one inch) scale figure lines I own. (more…)