Odds ‘n Ends > Wind Raider update, Demo-Man shipping delays

January 6, 2012 | Poe

  • NECA has posted a packaging pic of Deadite Ash, and he looks damned awesome. I’ve been waiting for this figure line since 1993. You can preorder the figures through PGPoA sponsor UrbanCollectibles.
  • Wind Raider update: as it happened, we were actually home when the UPS guy came. He took the box and gave us the tracking number. My wife then called the regular customer service number, as the Escalation Department had told her to do. The regular CS person took the information and then told DMG she would refer it to the Escalation Department with 24-72 hours.  The Escalation Dept. will then email us, presumably with the new order number. The only real question is, what will be wrong with the replacement Raider?
  • On a related note, I have yet to receive a shipping notice for my subscription Demo-Man and Battleground Evil-lyn. Some collectors are guessing that all the Demo-Mans didn’t arrive in one shipment, and Mattel/Digital River are shipping the figures out as they arrive. I suspect that’s exactly what’s going on.
  • Has everyone caught that Chevy Silverado ad with all the toys?
  • Sponsor News: BigBadToyStore has their exclusive G.I. Joe Slaughter’s Marauders and Dreadnoks in stock now. If you want to read a review first before ordering, check out GeneralsJoes. Meanwhile, Figure of the Day has the popular Marvel Select Deadpool for $20 with free shipping.

Poe’s Point > A Peek into the Madness of Mattycollector’s Return Policy

January 4, 2012 | Poe

So, here’s an update on my Wind Raider situation.

The long-suffering Dr. Mrs. Ghostal, who ordered my Wind Raider using her own account as as Christmas gift, had to call Digital River to request a replacement. DMG hates making cold calls to anyone, so we were already in a bad place.

We bypassed the standard customer service and called the Escalation Department directly. This probably saved us three to five business days of bureaucratic runaround, but both DMG and I suspect Digital River will soon close down this backdoor and require a ticket number from customer service before allowing someone to talk to the Escalation Dept. This would support what we now believe is an unofficial policy to try to make getting replacements so difficult as to cause the customer to give up entirely.

Adding this image and link so that it shows up in search results for DR.

I had read that the Escalation Dept. often sent out a replacement without asking for a return, but in this case we were asked to box up the Wind Raider and send it back. Here’s where it gets even more frustrating. Rather than simply emailing us a UPS label to stick on the box–or even letting us just bring the damned box to a UPS store–we have to give the box to a UPS delivery person, who will have the label. The UPS person will apparently arrive sometime during business hours in the next three days.  (more…)

Wind Raider review addendum – missing guns

January 4, 2012 | Poe

It’s been brought to my attention that my Wind Raider is in fact incomplete–there should be two guns on the underside of the ship, to the right and left of the center front wheel. You can see the little divots where they’re supposed to be attached. You can see them on Michael Crawford’s review pics.

I don’t know if they were supposed to come attached and someone at the factory just forgot them, or if they were supposed to be loose in the box–but there’s no sign of them.

I’ll be requesting a replacement–this error bugs me a lot more than the Swift Wind one.

Review > Wind Raider (Masters of the Universe Classics)

January 3, 2012 | Poe

Masters of the Universe Classics was born in July 2008 with the King Grayskull San Diego Comic Con exclusive. The line proper started in December 2008 with the release of Beast Man and He-Man. The first “beast” was Battle Cat, released in February 2010; and now, three years into the line–three years!–we have the first vehicle, the Wind Raider.

I’ll admit I expected the previously-revealed Battle Ram to be the first vehicle–and also hoped it would be, because it’s my favorite (with the Talon Fighter coming in a close second). The Wind Raider is actually pretty low on my list, but it’s one of the more iconic vehicles and owing to its simpler design, I’m sure it was a lot cheaper to produce for this toe-dipping exercise. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > MIB3, Swift Wind QC errors, 6″ ThunderCats

January 1, 2012 | Poe

  • Darth Skeletor, Overlord of the Sith.
  • I meant to post on this a while back, but some pics surfaced of JAKKS’s Men in Black 3 toys. Looks like JAKKS is giving them the 4″ POTC-style treatment–not sure if there will be 6″ figs. I guess there are spoilers here if you’re trying to avoid them. MIB2 was pretty bad, so I don’t really have high hopes for this one. The original film is one of my all-time faves, though, so I’ll be happy if it doesn’t suck…
  • I managed to submit my entry for the Create-A-Character contest just under the wire (i.e., yesterday, because it had to be postmarked by December 31). I’ll reveal it once it’s allowed, which I guess is after the announce the winners.
  • It appears there’s a very common error on the Masters of the Universe Classics Swift Wind. WARNING: This is an error you might never notice. I’ve colored the text in white so that you can remain in blissful ignorance if you desire. If not, highlight the following text. Please don’t mention it specifically in the comments. The front forelegs (bottom part of the legs, above the hooves) are often two left or two right legs. You can tell by checking to see if the veins are in the same place. I checked and my Swift Wind has this error. If you read through that thread, you’ll find some advice on what to do if you want a replacement, though I think this is probably the best shot. I thought it over and decided this was one of those errors that I might never have noticed, and between that, my general lack of interest in the character, and the effort required to get a replacement, it just isn’t something I want to bother with. I get the fans who say everyone should pursue this to teach Mattel a lesson, but I’m just too lazy in this case. I will admit I’ve occasionally wished I could cancel my 2012 sub, though.
  • The 6″ classic ThunderCats have started hitting stores–I saw them at Target a couple days ago. Overall I’d say the 8″ line is better in terms of design and sculpting, but the 6″ scale is a bit more appealing.

Odds ‘n Ends > Mattycollector News, G.I. Joe Photo Covers, FOC Dinobot Pics

December 21, 2011 | Poe

  • Mattel has announced the January Mattycollector sale, which includes the Sorceress and Fearless Photog, as well as the “Ready to Believe You” Peter Venkman. More interesting is the news that they will now have He-Man, Skeletor, Battle Cat, Panthor, and 6″ Peter Venkman and Ray Stanz on permanent sale throughout 2012. It only took them four years.
  • I have to pick a winner for the Arkham City contest–I’ll do that tonight. Apologies for the delay.
  • I’m intrigued by IDW’s photo covers of G.I. Joe toys for their comics (here’s one, and here’s another one). On the one hand, it’s awesome that they’re paying tribute to the comics’ toy origins. On other hand, the covers are pretty uninspired. A brief Flickr search will come up with better pics (check out Geek Creek and Ed Speir IV, for example).
  • Power Pal Joe Amaro sent along this touching video of James Sawyer of motucfigures.com reviewing the Wind Raider with his son. As a toymaker himself, Joe says “this is the sort of thing that makes it all worthwhile.”
  • Joe also sent along these awesome pics of the Dinobots (via Tformers.com, though they could have originated elsewhere for all I know) from the upcoming Fall of Cybertron videogame: Grimlock, “Slug” (Slag’s new name, apparently? Yuck. Damned trademarks), and Swoop. They all look awesome, and we had better get toys of them. (Preferably not assembled by sweatshop laborers–more on that later.)

Illustrating Skeletor

December 19, 2011 | Battlegrip.com

I recently posted a rough guide to battlegrip.com  in which I outlined a process I’ve been using to create digital illustrations by pulling photos into Photoshop (or the free GIMP program). That rough guide sparked questions that, to properly explain, led me to create a new illustration. While trying to come up with a cool subject I remembered the photo of Skeletor on a throne from Poe’s review . . . and, as you can see, I elected to use that photo as my base. (more…)