I’ll admit I’ve been remiss in covering this, but Mattel’s DC toy lines are in trouble. Young Justice’s 4″ and 6″ lines have been cancelled; JLU ends this year. But what about the DC Universe 6″ lines? To quote the Magic 8-Ball, “Outlook not so good.” (more…)
Odds ‘n Ends > New Sponsor, Facebook Question, Turtles Classics Pics
- New Sponsor: Please join me in welcoming our newest sponsor, Xenon Project. Xenon Project sells remote control and replica vehicles such as the Hawkspy Helicopter w/ Spy Camera, the Destroyer RC Boat, and the 1:18 Dark Knight Tumbler. I don’t collect RC stuff myself, but every year my family sponsors a family in need for Christmas, and this past year all the kids wanted RC helicopters, so if you’re into RC or know any kids who are, check out Xenon Project. And remember, my sponsors keep this site going, so the more you check out (and if the mood strikes you, order) their wares, the more you support PGPoA.
- I’m trying to think of a way to add value to PGPoA’s Facebook page (without moving the site exclusively to Facebook which, fear not, I will never do). It’s the place I share any interested toy-related news I come across from my Facebook connections, but I’d like to make it more worth a visit. Anyone have any ideas? I was considering moving one of the regular features over there – maybe Toy Aisle Trolls – but I’d rather come up with something new. Something that would be worth checking the page out for if you’re on Facebook, but not so good that the people who don’t want to use Facebook feel like they’re missing out.
- This came up in my post on the new DC MOTU comic, but I wanted to reiterate here that the new miniseries is a brand-new canon, and writer James Robinson is free to use any character from any of the various canons. So we could see the likes of Draego-Man or Vikor. It almost makes me wish they’d gotten Paul Dini to write it, as you just know he would have brought back Plundor and made him all badass.
- If you haven’t seen them already, head over to Infinite Hollywood and check out the new close-up pics of the Turtles Classics Raphael. These come from Dave Cortes’s studio, so there’s no guarantee at all that the production figures will look this good, but there are some nice turnarounds that show off the articulation.
DC Comics Launches New Masters of the Universe Comic
Not a hoax! Not an imaginary story!
The basics: it will be a six-issue miniseries written by James Robinson, with pencils by Phillip Tan and inks from Ruy Jose. For the full scoop, including an interview with James Robinson, visit MTV Geek.
I want to say I called this years ago when DC and Mattel joined forces for DCUC and the like, but I had set it aside when Dark Horse produced this year’s minicomics. Apparently that didn’t matter, and after thirty years, MOTU has returned to DC Comics. The 1980s DC is remains my favorite MOTU-related media of all time, so I’m curious to see whether this new series can match it.
The question is, does DC really think it can get away with not giving us a rematch for He-Man and Superman? A one-shot is all I ask.
Anyway, in short: great news. Also: man, the things you miss when you leave your computer for an hour to commute home. But why would MTV Geek release this at the end of the day, instead of the morning so that the blogs/Twitter/Facebook can discuss it all day? Internet usage plummets over the weekend.
5 Questions With > Mint Condition Customs
MINT CONDITION CUSTOMS
Real Name: John Harmon
Base of Operations: www.mintconditioncustom.com
History: John Harmon is a lifelong Texas based toy collector. In 2007, he started his own Webcomic Mint Condition, which is currently on hiatus as he works full time as an action figure customizer. He showcases his work on his website Mint Condition Customs. He also repairs action figures, and likes to imagine himself in his own primetime drama called “The Toy Doctor”. He’s not well.
PG: How long have you been a toy collector?
Well that all depends on what you consider collecting. My parents bought me toys and action figures all the time when I was a kid, but I wouldn’t necessarily call that collecting in the strictest sense. I’ve never actually taken a break from having and buying toys, but the earliest I can remember actively collecting is when I was 13 when the Spider-Man Classics figures came out. I wanted those. Badly. Those were the figures that taught me what “points of articulation” were. From there I got really big into the Spider-Man 1 movie line in 2002, making sure to only buy the figurse that said “super posable” on them, and then Marvel Legends, etc. I think when I discovered Spider-Man Classics that was when I definitively transfered from a kid with toys, to a collector. (more…)
Guest Review > Battleground Evil-lyn (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)
I appear to be completely out of touch with the average Masters of the Universe fan. In my research for these reviews, I found I much preferred the girl-oriented She-Ra: Princess of Power cartoon to the earlier He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, in part due to my bizarre preference for “plot” and “characters” instead of “glorified toy advertisements” (the introduction of Trap Jaw has him literally discussing the toy’s accessories, for dog’s sake).
Recently I’ve taken to watching the Millennium/Mike Young Productions He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, a cartoon I’ve found to be surprisingly strong in terms of making the largely nonsensical MOTU mythos coherent and interesting. The characters tend to have a little more development and the ongoing story arcs are actually followed up, making this one of the best iterations of MOTU. Naturally, that’s the version fans seem to dislike the most, because, I don’t know, they’re allergic to quality?
Where the Evil-Lyn of the Filmation cartoon is just another of Skeletor’s henchpersons who (rightfully) hates him (with fleeting episodes of character development), the Millennium series offers her a proper background that is expanded throughout the series. Her father, The Faceless One, appears in an early episode that develops her character from a black-and-white notion of “evil” to a more mature shades-of-grey perspective. We see her willing to defect against her now-monstrous ex-lover Skeletor. It’s refreshing to have a powerful female presence in the male-oriented show, especially while her “good” counterpart, the Sorceress, does nothing while hanging out in Castle Greyskull. This new Battleground Evil-Lyn, or BAGEL as she has become affectionately known (by me), is mostly a repaint of the previous MOTUC blue and yellow Evil-Lyn in the Millennium cartoon’s colors. I wasn’t initially excited by the idea of another Evil-Lyn figure, but some great design choices have rendered this more than just a repaint. Read on! (more…)
Pic of the Day > Vikor of the North by rodpowley952
Odds ‘n Ends > Attack of the Mighty Spector
- This year’s MOTU-related April Fool’s gags had a distinct theme. He-Man.org provides a rundown of the history of the vintage Mighty Spector; Pixel Dan previews the upcoming MOTUC Mighty Spector; and even Mattel itself gets in on the joke by announcing a Mighty Spector and the Time Agents toyline and animated series: “Neitlich further added: ‘I really want to thank the fans. If not for them posting so much about The Mighty Spector online, management would have never been alerted to his popularity!'”
- ThinkGeek also had its usual run of fake products we all want them to make real. There seem to have been a dozen of them, but the best were the inflatable Star Trek captain’s chair (which I guarantee you will not only be made, but appear on an episode of The Big Bang Theory next season) and the Star Wars Admiral Ackbar Singing Bass.
- I can’t remember if I already posted this or not, but Mattel posted packaging pics and bios of Slush Head and Mighty Spector. Did we already know Slush Head’s tentacles weren’t bendies? That’s pretty disappointing, although I’m not sure his vintage figure had bendy tentacles either.
- Backyard Legends, the people behind the Prince of Crystal, have created a sculpted version of that weird monster pit sticker from the bottom of the original Castle Grayskull playset. It was available for sale at the Emerald City Comic Con this past weekend and will be sold online soon. One thing to note, it’s sold unpainted, at least so far. I have my usual reservations about items based on existing copyrighted products, but if you’re looking for something to display your MOTUC with – and have some painting skills (at least until they offer painted versions), this might be for you.
Guest Review > Weapons Rack (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)
I love accessories. In my Toy Room I have more than three chests of drawers full of well-organised, catalogued, ziplock-bagged accessories from my decades of collecting. There’s something appealing about owning a miniature armory of tiny weapons, or scaled-down shopping trolleys and cupboards that wrestlers can hurl at the Simpsons, or little fake body parts that can be strewn around a gruesome horror display. (more…)
MOTUC Bio Discussion #54 > Snout Spout
Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!
Snout Spoutâ„¢ Bio
Real Name: JaxtonA peasant from Etheria, Jaxton was one of three athletes abducted by Hordak and cast into his experimentation matrix. There, like the others, Jaxton was grafted with cybernetic parts giving him both amazing powers and a bizarre form. After crossing through a Laser Gate to Eternia with The Evil Hordeâ„¢, Snout Spoutâ„¢ escaped and joined with the renegade Masters of the Universe. Self-conscious about his appearance and called “Snout Spoutâ„¢” for his abilities to blast water from his cybernetic trunk, Jaxton often feels that everyone is always laughing at him. But when the Snake Menâ„¢ slither out and enemies attack, Snout Spoutâ„¢ blasts them back with a super jetspray!
Because he joined the MOTU toyline after the Filmation cartoon had ended, Snout Spout was incorporated into the She-Ra cartoon, which is presumably why he has an Etherian origin here. But even the cartoon version was confusing; of the three episodes he appeared in, sometimes he was depicted as an Etheria resident (and was even referred to by his original concept name of “Hose Nose”) while other times he was Prince Adam’s friend from Eternia.
Finally, issue #26 of the United Kingdom MOTU comic featured the story “The Unknown Warrior” in which Snout Spout was an Etherian peasant who was experimented on by Hordak and transformed into an elephant-headed freak who later escaped to Eternia and joined the Heroic Warriors.
This bio synthesizes elements from all these origins, but adds the interesting wrinkle that Snout Spout evidently served as a Horde member for at least a little while. It raises the question as to whether “Jaxton,” like so many other Horde members, wasn’t simply brainwashed. Maybe they hadn’t worked out the kinks yet? Did Jaxton do any evil deeds as a Horde member? Did he kill a fat barkeep?
I love the lack of resolution to his bio, too: “Jaxton often feels that everyone is always laughing at him.” Oh, and he fights the Snake Men. So we’re left to think either people are laughing at him or he’ll continue to suffer crippling paranoia that they are.
As for that last bit, why the Snake Men, you ask, rather than Hordak or Skeletor, either of whom would make more sense? Because the last sentence has to come from the card back, people!
Review > Kobra Khan (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)
What many childhood fans of Masters of the Universe remember about Kobra Khan is that when his vintage figure was produced in 1984, he was just another one of Skeletor’s Evil Warriors (specifically the “Evil Master of Snakes”). Legend has it that when the Snake Men were introduced two years later, Kobra Khan was re-released in Snake Men packaging with a new tag of “Evil Snake Men Henchmen”; however, I have not been able to track down a photo of Khan in Snake Men packaging, so I’m a bit skeptical it exists.
The various media depictions of Khan often address the Evil Warrior/Snake Men question. The Snake Men hadn’t been introduced by the time the 1980s cartoon ended, so Khan was merely one of Skeletor’s lackeys, albeit a fairly intelligent one; but Khan worked as a spy for Skeletor among the Snake Men in the vintage minicomics (“King of the Snake Men”). In the Millennium cartoon, he was a descendant of the Snake Men who joined up with Skeletor so he could delve into Snake Mountain and free his ancestors from the Void (“Snake Pit”). It’s notable that in both cartoon depictions, Khan had a cobra hood not present on his toy version. However, the Four Horsemen added it to his Millennium figure. (more…)