He-Man Gets Even Bigger

December 18, 2012 | Poe

That title is going to put my spam filter through a workout. Anyway, this seemed worth passing along…

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Pop Culture Shock Collectibles Joins
with Mattel for 1:4th Scale Statues
of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

LOS ANGELES, December 18, 2012- Pop Culture Shock Collectibles is proud to announce a licensing agreement with Mattel to bring 1:4 scale mixed media statues of characters from the most epic boys action brand of all time, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, to die-hard collectors’ homes this year.

“Having spent many years bringing the warriors of Street Fighter & Mortal Kombat to sculptural life, I’m extremely excited to add He-Man and the Masters of the Universe to the Pop Culture Shock Collectibles lineup,” stated Jerry Macaluso, President and Founder of Pop Culture Shock Collectibles. “There are few characters that so perfectly embody the archetype of the hero, and He-Man is just that! He’s right at home with the other muscle-bound warriors in the PCSC stable.” (more…)

Poe’s Point > Cy-Chop Addendum

December 17, 2012 | Poe

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I just wanted to offer my two cents on Cy-Chop. This isn’t a second review – Doc Thomas’s is the official review for PGPoA. But I wanted to offer my own thoughts on the figure, and this is my site so it’s my prerogative to do so.

I rather like the scissor-hands and the head. I don’t think the whole Micronauts-homage thing was a good idea, because I just don’t think it makes much sense (i.e., keep your peanut butter Micronauts out of my chocolate MOTU), but I like the design of the scissors and the sculpt of the head, and I don’t mind the silver. I like that the hands are interchangeable with other figures as well.

What I don’t like are the clear Roboto-style torso and the Beast Man limbs. Though in my Roboto review I wrote, “from an aesthetic standpoint I think [the clear chest] looks good,” over time I’ve come to like it less. It looks too cheap and toy-like, and feels brittle (and in Roboto’s case, for many collectors it was). As for the furry limbs, I just don’t think they work with the character design. They’re what make him look so slapdash to me; they clash thematically with the character’s “cyborg” design and demonic head.

If I’d been designing this figure, I would have recommended something like the Trap Jaw/Roboto upper legs and Hordak‘s or Horde Prime‘s lower legs, and perhaps the arms of Icarius, which we haven’t seen often in this line. That would give the character more cybernetic and Horde touches, which would have gone a long way toward making me like this figure more.

Doc Thomas Reviews > Cy-Chop (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

December 14, 2012 | Poe

Note: The following is a review by Doc Thomas, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Poe Ghostal. You’ve been warned. –PG

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Cy-Chop is the absolute most balls-to-the-wall bizarre action figure in this whole shambolic Masters of the Universe Classics mess. And it IS a mess – between the toyline and the hype and the problems with Digital River and the problems with not-all-inclusive subscriptions and with customer support and and WSODs and reuse and quality control and every other stupid thing that has gone wrong with the whole line it is a CRAZY mess, and there is no disputing that. I have said frequently that long after MOTUC is over we’ll be looking back at it as one of the best action figure lines ever, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t completely fraught with avoidable nonsense and things worth getting up in arms over, especially considering the premium we pay on these figures.

So here’s Cy-Chop, and he’s weird. I mean, he’s more than just weird, he’s COMPLETELY BIZARRE, and there are a lot of reasons why. There are a lot of reasons to like him, and a lot of reasons NOT to like him. Let’s try to break this down, shall we? (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Rising action figure prices, articulation debates, Hoverboard disappointment, Pacific Rim

December 13, 2012 | Poe

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LOT of ground to cover today folks, so let’s get right to it.

–ODD–

Phil Reed of Battlegrip recently posted “Five Reasons Why Action Figures Cost More Today.” Phil knows what he’s talking about and you should check out the whole thing, which focuses largely on economic factors such as rising labor and materials costs. But one thing that interested me was the first comment on the post, which mentioned the declining birthrate in Western countries. That reminded me of this post by Richard Gottlieb that I read recently, “U.S. Birthrate Plummets; Look for Fewer Children in Four Years.” Richard begins the article with, “If there was ever a case to be made for marketing toys to adult end users…” Hasbro has clearly embraced this idea, but if I had to guess I’m willing to bet there’s still a struggle going on at Mattel between the generations over how to approach the collectors’ market. (more…)

Free your MOTUC figures

December 13, 2012 | Poe

An increasing number of male MOTUC figures are coming with armor that covers their entire chest, thereby limiting the armor movement to “weightlifter arms” practically sticking out horizontally due to the armor increasingly the amount of plastic beneath the armpits. Other figures have restrictive plastic tunics, skirts, or loincloths. Some have both (I’m looking at you, Dekker.) What’s an articulation lover to do?

Well, it all depends on how much you love articulation and whether you’re comfortable with taking a razor to your figures. If you are, however, then Poester Dayraven has passed along a few pointers for freeing up your MOTUC figures. He sliced up his Castle Grayskullman to give the figure a greater range of arm and leg movement. He doesn’t have any before pictures (though anyone with a CGM has that), but here are some “after” pics, and a description of what he did. (more…)

Review > Dekker (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

December 12, 2012 | Poe

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These Millennium-based figures are always a bit tricky to review, because the characters they’re based often have had minimal character development and never had a toy. One or the other is generally required for me to establish enough of a connection to a figure to get excited about it – though if the design is awesome enough, a lack of characterization can be an asset, because it allows your imagination to run wild (see: pre-prequel-era Boba Fett, Draego-Man). But if the figure has had minimal characterization, no childhood nostalgia for a vintage toy, and a relatively uninteresting design? It becomes really hard for me to get excited about that figure.

Dekker

Image courtesy MegaGearX’s 200X Screen Grabs

To be fair, Dekker had an entire episode devoted to him during the Millennium cartoon’s run. Titled “The Island,” the episode established Dekker as a former tactician for King Randor and a mentor to Man-At-Arms. Written by Michael Halperin, who wrote the series bible for the Filmation cartoon back in the early 1980s, “The Island” is one of the series’ more memorable episodes (“memorable” in that I vaguely recalled that there was an episode devoted to Dekker and had to look up all the preceding information).

Ultimately, Dekker is just regular a guy. In a world populated by people with cybernetic suits, giant freakish metal hands, or reptilian ancestry, he’s the MOTUC equivalent of a guy in a suit. He’s like Ra’s Al Ghul in the Dark Knight Movie Masters line – a character first and a figure design second. But unlike, say, Filmation King Randor, Dekker is a regular guy
 (more…)

Review > Vykron (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

December 10, 2012 | Poe

When the designers behind He-Man first pitched the concept to Mattel’s upper management, their idea was that the main character would be put in different outfits and fit different eras. This was a common idea at the time, and one the designers would most likely have been familiar with from their own childhoods – the original G.I. Joe figures had different outfits for different situations, and Mattel’s own “Big Jim” concept from the 1970s made heavy use of the concept as well. While I haven’t actually seen or heard this confirmed anywhere, it’s my theory that the name “He-Man” was intended to be used as the name for this whole line, not necessarily the main character. If Mattel had decided to follow the same route Hasbro did in the 1980s with G.I. Joe, what we now know as the Heroic Warriors (or, as Mattel insists on calling them, the “Masters”) would have been called the He-Men.

But I digress. There were three figures in that original pitch: a bizarre half-man, half-tank character that I guess was supposed to show that He-Man could work in some sort of military environment; a barbaric warrior (eventually to become the He-Man we know and love); and a Boba Fett rip-off proving that the immense popularity of Boba Fett’s action figure was clearly evident as early as 1980.

To honor He-Man’s thirtieth anniversary, the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con Masters of the Universe Classics exclusive was a figure they called “Vykron” (a name culled – Kulled? – from some early design documents). It included one “body” and three snap-on “outfits.” Mattel now referred to the barbarian as the “Ultimate Eternian Champion” (who I’ll refer to as “the Champion”), the Boba Fett as “Space Ace” and the half-man, half-tank as “Tank Top.”

Many fans were disappointed by the snap-on nature of the armor when the figure was revealed. But what’s it like in-hand?

(more…)

Mattel to send “basic” MOTUC figure to subscribers as apology for Frosta

December 6, 2012 | Poe

In what amounts to their second “apology” offering (the first being Glow-in-the-Dark Slimer), Mattel is atoning for the long delay and reversed arms of Frosta by sending subscribers a free “basic” figure with their December subscription shipments. It’s unclear what “basic” means, but my guess is it will just be a random existing MOTUC figure, not a special or unique new one.

I didn’t receive the email announcing this, as usual. Thanks to all of you who sent me a copy, and to Clayton Shackleford for this hilarious response:

Anyway, the official email text is after the jump. (more…)