Odds ‘n Ends > September 22, 2011

September 22, 2011 | Poe

  • Toynewsi has links to new pics of the Square Enix Play Arts Kai Batman Arkham Asylum figures. I’m really looking forward to these. A lot. A lot a lot. All I need is a preorder link.
  • You may or may not have heard of the campaign to save the 3 ¾ Venture Bros. toy line. If they don’t hit a certain pre-order goal, Bif Bang Pow can’t make the line. So they’ve teamed up with Entertainment Earth to try and get those pre-orders through, and I heartily comment their effort. You can do me, EE, Jackson Publick, Bif Bang Pow, and yourself a solid by pre-ordering (via my affiliate link) right here.
  • Another day, another Arkham City Batman skin–this one for Sinestro Corps Batman. What interests me here is that here’s wearing the same suit as the DCUC figure, which, to my knowledge, has never appeared in the comics.
  • As I’ve mentioned  here and on Twitter a few times, I commissioned another custom from MasterEnglish, maker of 339/1. MasterEnglish is going to reveal said custom, which looks awesome, at PowerCon this weekend…but I couldn’t resist this little, tiny preview hint.
  • It appears that the Wind Raider has been delayed and will not be in the October 17 Mattycollector sale. No word on when it will be sold.
  • I’ve been messing around with some DCUC figures lately, and I have to say that losing the rocker ankles really hurts their poseability. I never knew how much I loved that joint until it was gone.

Review > Faceless One (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

September 19, 2011 | Poe

 Note: The cartoon screen captures in this review are from 200X Screen Grabs by MegaGearX.

The 2003 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon (often referred to as “MYP,” short for Mike Young Productions, the company that produced it) added a few new characters, some quite important, to the MOTU mythos. Few were more interesting than the Faceless One, an ancient sorcerer who protected a powerful jewel called the Ram Stone in the realm of Zalesia. The show revealed that the Faceless One was in fact the father of Evil-Lyn herself.

(more…)

Mattel Subscriptions Open Again (+ MOTUC Anniversary)

September 16, 2011 | Poe

Just a reminder, the MOTUC, MOTUC 30th Anniversary, DCUC and Voltron subscriptions are now open. Again. Except for the 30th Anniversary One. (Side note: Why no second shot at Ghostbusters? I was actually considering adding that one.)

FYI, subs ordered separately will ship separately in January, then ship together after that.

Ask Mattel > Answers for September 15

September 15, 2011 | Poe

1.) Chrissy asks: Could the next Skeletor variation (Terror Claws, Dragon Blaster, etc.) use Kobra Khans forearms and shins? This would alleviate some of the fatigue of getting another standard Skeletor body with new gear. And it would look great with Demo-Man’s freaky Alfredo Alcala styled Skeletor head.

This is something we have discussed with the Four Horsemen. Only time will tell!

2.) Wally2974 asks: Is there any chance with the Batman Legacy line being so popular that we might se some sort of re-release of BatSignal Batman? At the very least I’d love another crack at getting my hands on a working Bat Signal. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends for September 15, 2011

September 15, 2011 | Poe

  • Mattel has announced they’ll be re-opening the subscriptions for two weeks, from tomorrow, Friday, September 16th at 9 a.m. PT through Monday, October 3rd at 11:59 p.m. PT. If you don’t get the Club Infinite Earths subscription, the regular figures will cost $18 instead of $15 on sale day, and the oversize will cost $45(!) instead of $30. The 50% markup on the oversized figures is probably where they’re making up most of the 40% shortfall on the subscriptions. (I realize some of you may prefer to interpret it as Mattel being an evil money-grubbing monstrosity. To each their own.)
  • What struck me was the fact that apparently the prices on non-sub, sale day MOTUC figures will also be going up in 2012. That’s the first price increase we’ve seen on MOTUC since 2008. While a lot of people have been expecting this for some time, I suspect the excrement will still strike the propeller, at least marginally.
  • There will also be a new subscription for the MOTUC 30th Anniversary figures. It’s a standalone sub you can purchase whether or not you purchase the standard MOTUC sub. The good news is it looks like they’ve managed to squeeze Fearless Photog into it, which at one point was questionable.
  • I doubt I need to recommend that my readers visit ItsAllTrue.net, as I suspect they already do, but I did want to highlight Noisy’s review of the SDCC Classics Lion-O. It’s a good read for those of you who are curious how these figures stack up against MOTUC.

Happy Leech Day!

September 15, 2011 | Poe

“Leech Day”? Yuck.

Anyway, Leech and his pal Hec-Tor “Hurricane Hordak” Kur (35-7-2; 24 kayos) are on sale at 12pm ET today, along with Chief Carnivus, a Retro-Action Kyle Rayner (sad to see that line limping to its doom…wish we could have gotten a Joker) and two JLU three-packs, JLU three-packs. Here’s the link to the all-in-one page.

Leech was easily one of my favorite He-Man figures of all time, and like King Hsss, my fondness for his figure outlasted my fondness for the line as a whole. I’m curious to see how his MOTUC figure turned out.

Odds ‘n Ends > September 6, 2011

September 6, 2011 | Poe

  • Without going too much into it, my reviews on PGPoA are going to be a little different from now on. I’ve come to recognize, like the man who invented Mr. Phipps Pretzel Chips (I think it was Mr. Phipps) that my favorite part of the pretzel, er, the review, is the part where I discuss the character or history of the toy or toyline rather than the paint & sculpt stuff. The photos tell most of that story, and I’ll point out the articulation. For those who want a true breakdown, you can find more traditionally-formatted reviews on other sites–there is no shortage of toy reviews these days. While some of you may be a bit disappointed, trust me when I say it was either this or no more PGPoA at all. (Seriously–it was this close |–|.) I have over seventy unopened toys at the moment, going back to before Christmas, and the thought of having to do a standard review of each one makes me want to quit the blog and never look back.
  • So, in essence, moving forward I’m writing what I want to write about, not what I feel obligated to write about. This blog has felt way too much like work lately. It’s odd how that can creep up on you.
  • You’ve probably all seen Mattel announced that Club Infinite Earths (CIE) is indeed moving forward. I’m happy I get my Poison Ivy, but as a Bat-fan I do hope I get at least one more Bat-character, preferably an oversized Killer Croc. Also, Metron unsurprisingly won the fan vote contest. They’re also considering briefly re-opening the subscription window, which of course led to a round of MOTU fans wondering the MOTUC sub should also be re-opened. I suspect this has to do with the opt-in option that will be offered for the anniversary figures–since that’s already in the works, maybe they’ll just re-open CIE at the same time.
  • Diamond Select will be expanding the Minimates world even more with a new line, Maximum Zombie. The first figures will be a NYCC exclusive set featuring a Biker Zombie & Surgeon Zombie. I’ll be at NYCC this year, so you’re damned right I’m getting these.

Ask Mattel > Answers for September 1

August 31, 2011 | Poe

We take a brief break from Bat-Week for some Mattel answers.

1.) Many fans still love the original Batman sculpt the Four Horsemen did for the 2003 Batman line (i.e., “Zipline” Batman). The Four Horsemen still have their prototype, which shows the intended high level of articulation. Is there any chance of getting that figure with retooled, DCUC-level articulation (including double-elbows and double-knees)?

Always possible. Nothing is planned at this time but with a new Batman film on the horizon we will clearly be looking at ways to get out more collector Batman figs and this would be a cool figure to explore.

2.) misterbigbo asks: Have you considered producing the FHM’s mini-masters and distributing them as blind-box items? They could be sold on Mattycollector individually or by the case, or to comic/specialty shops. Lego’s recent success with minifigs is interesting, but the price point is key. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > August 26, 2011

August 26, 2011 | Poe

  • I’m going to use most of this Odds ‘n Ends to round up some of the news, articles and press releases people have sent me over the last few weeks.
  • First up, Joe Amaro sent along the news that Jazwares is now making toys based on the Cartoon Network show Adventure Time. I know nothing at all about this show, but I’ve heard some fans are quite excited by this development.
  • Poester SP wrote in to let me know about his new action figure design project “The Nightmare of Oz.” You can find pics of the designs at their Kickstarter page.
  • I also received an email about another Kickstart project by Poester JS–this one a photo book called “Souls of Toys,” described as “collecting over 80 images from 17 different toy lines ranging from the 1970s to 1990s, collected in a 9″x6” format.  From the classic action figures to the barely remembered, this book evokes memories of Saturday mornings spent in front of the television.   The front cover is designed by Charles Forsman, the Ignatz-award winning creator of the comic series Snake Oil.”
  • I also got an email from TheBigToyAuction.com, a charity site featuring auctions for custom toys and artwork to benefit children who have suffered through natural disasters, be it the earthquake in Japan, the tornados in Joplin, MO or the drought in East Africa. “A group of comic and toy artists have banded together to donate their talents to the “Heroes Give Hope” charity auction.  Through the auction of these works of art, the Pop Culture community is raising funds for ConvoyofHope.org‘s continuing disaster relief  efforts.  These dedicated donors from around the world have each offered up many one-of-a-kind pieces to be sold in this unique online Live-Auction event, with 100% of the hammer price of each going directly to Convoy of Hope. The auction features many works of original comic and pop culture related art including a piece by UK illustrator Dave Williams featuring dozens of minimalist Heroes spelling out the word “HOPE.”  It also features Transformers and Ghostbusters work by IDW artists Dan Khanna and Dan Schoening, and Dreamwave artist Matt Kuphaldt.  There are inspiring pieces by artists Lindsay Smith and Francesco Sturlese.  It includes a one-of-a-kind, hand finished Batman print by South African neo-pop artist The Meme Machine, Mego-inspired Spider-Man piece by Illustrator Dan Bru, and an original He-Man and Battle Cat Watercolor by Jonathan Reincke.” There are also plenty of regular toys going for reasonable prices.
  • And finally, I received a note pointing me to this interesting piece on the origin of gag vomit.
  • On a non-submitted-news-item note, check out this not-at-all-veiled threat of litigation against Mattel if they “even think of increasing the DC Sub figures from $15 to $20.” Did anyone think there was any danger of that happening at all? Mattel has been very clear about the subs providing exactly what’s in the sub description, and that this constitutes a contract (theoretically on both sides, despite the loophole by which subscribers can cancel by cancelling their credit card). As ToyGuru mentions in his reply, Mattel is toying with increasing the price of the non-sub figures on the website on the day of the sale. But zombie Jimmy Hoffa will smash his way out of his concrete coffin before Mattel changes anything related to the subscriptions. I’m not saying Mattel is some moral paragon. It’s that they’re mortally afraid of litigation–particularly, for some reason, false advertising and/or false promises. That’s why so many of the Q&A answers are so frustratingly vague. It’s not that he doesn’t have a point, I just think it’s overkill for something that wasn’t really an issue. Apologies for the rant–the tone of that post just annoyed me (that and the cutesy “LegalGuru” handle).
  • Moving on, it seems X-Entertainment, the longtime kid culture website (and one of my favorite sites of all time), now has a YouTube channel and has already started a Halloween Countdown. It’s weird to see Matt in motion–as Poester Ragetreb comments, “all these years I had assumed you were a sentient jpeg.” I do have to wonder, though–why the Christian-Bale-as-Batman sandpaper voice? Matt has always seemed like he wanted to keep his identity something of a secret, but that sounds like it hurts.