Mattel – Page 2 – Poe Ghostal's Points of Articulation

Poe’s Point > Lou Scheimer, 1928-2013

On October 28, 2013

(Image from Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation by Andy Mangels)

A few years ago, I sat down to watchÂ The Secret of the Sword. For whatever reason, my wife was feeling indulgent that day and sat down to watch it with me. I never really watchedÂ She-Ra as a kid and had no memories of the show, so I didn’t know what I was in for. But both my wife and I found ourselves endlessly amused by the voice of Swift Wind, a beautiful pegasus with the voice of a five-pack-a-day smoker.

I don’t know if Lou Scheimer actually smoked, but he certainly gave Swift Wind a voice that sounded like it. Mr. Scheimer, the founder of Filmation Studios, passed away last week at the age of 84. I was never as partial to Filmation as many He-Fans, but there’s no question his shows gave me hours of entertainment. And Mr. Scheimer was certainly very open to and embracing of the MOTU and She-Ra community over the last decade as its fandom has come into its own.

2012 4″ Batman Target Halloween Exclusive

By Poe

On October 16, 2013

In Reviews

I picked this up last year but never got around to doing a write-up about it. I absolutely love it when companies do holiday-specific exclusives (for example, the Christmas-themed S.L.U.G. Zombies, Santa Gizmo, or the Playmobil Santa set). There was a couple of years where Target had a lot of these, maybe about 4-5 years ago, but they don’t seem to have as many nowadays. However, they did have this one last year.

Odds ‘n Ends > Robo Force, SWB6″ Han Solo production pics, Castle Grayskull

By Poe

On October 11, 2013

In Odds 'n Ends

ToyFinity has released the first photo of its Glyos-compatible Robo Force figures. An orange “test-shot” preview version of Maxx Steele will be available at NYCC this weekend. ToyFinity will also haveÂ three new colors of Mordles and the all-new jumbo-sized Mordle available (and all will be made available online later).
At Hasbro’s “Twas the Night Before…” party on Wednesday night, they gave out free samples of Star Wars Black 6″ and Ron of ActionFigurePics got Han Solo. How I hate him. The good news is, I was worried about how this head sculpt would come out – the prototype seemed a little David Duchovny-y – but it seems to have turned out pretty well.
Here’s an update from ToyGuru on Castle Grayskull.
Speaking of MOTUC, here are a couple more reveals – Flogg and what appears to be a battle-damaged, Terminator-style Faker head, probably part of a rumored “head pack.” Check out the pics here.
Please welcome new PGPoA sponsor Nerd Rage Toys, who happen to have Star Wars Black 6″ available for pre-order.
Cool links: Dinosaur Dracula has a write-up on obscure Freddy Krueger merchandiseÂ and the giant, random Gorzak toy from the 1990s; Nerditis reviews the Heap from McFarlane Toys.

Mattycollector Reveals from NYCC

By Poe

On October 11, 2013

In News

Oh, Mattel, youÂ almost had me.

I innocently scrolled up Twitter to see what was shaking. Following a few links, I discovered what appears to be Mattel-made action figures of Keaton Batman. Having completely forgotten I had already heard about this, for a moment I thought I was looking at a 6″ Movie Masters Keaton Batman.

But no, it was just the previously-announced 4″ figures. Still, kind of exciting, I guess.

Click the photo or this link to see photos of the other figures, including General Zod and Superman from Superman II, the Penguin and Catwoman fromÂ Batman Returns. The sculpts look great, it’s just…so small.

Odds ‘n Ends > Halloween begins, S.H.MonsterArts AvP, random plugs

By Poe

On October 3, 2013

In Odds 'n Ends

It’s Halloween season! For as much holiday fun as can be fit into a blog, be sure you’re following Dinosaur Dracula, the current blog of Matt Caracappa, one of the minds behind the late, greatÂ X-Entertainment.com. Oh, and be sure to keep an eye around here as well, of course.
Pixel Dan has three new video reviews of upcoming MOTUC figures: Geldor, Strongor (Strongarm), and everyone’s favorite(?) pink bunny dictator, Plundor!
Speaking of Pixel Dan, it looks like he’s getting another #MyMosquitor – a new Mutagen Man for the current TMNT line, coming in spring. (I must confess I prefer the more grotesque vintage version a bit more.)
I’ve never even seenÂ Alien vs. Predator: Requiem – even though it evidently sucks, I probably should get around to it anyway – but I’m still intrigued by the upcoming S.H.MonsterArts versions of the characters. Here’s the official Tamashii Nations page for them. They’ll run $60 apiece, of course, but they’ll be better-articulated then NECA’s figures, offer more accessories, alternate heads, and I believe they will be closer in scale to 6″ lines like Marvel Legends, Star Wars Black, and DCUC than NECA’s stuff (which is in a 7″ scale). While the movie may be dreadful, I don’t mind the designs themselves, so I’m considering getting these. The scale will probably be the determining factor for me, so I may have to see them either in person or next to some other figures first.
Requested plugs: T-Rav from Doomkick.com is running a contest for some cool classic villain drink coasters;Â Acheson Creations is about 1/3rd of the way to their goal for theirÂ Kaiju Kaos: Super Robot StratoMaxx resin kit figure with just five days to go.

Doc Thomas Reviews > Icer (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

By Doc Thomas

On September 18, 2013

In Reviews

IcerÂ is the first toy from the Club Filmation sub-line from Masters of the Universe Classics, and as someone who isn’t an avid fan of the 1980s cartoon (I seem to remember thinking it was pretty stupid even as a kid, though not stupid enough not to own cool toys from), I’m a little perplexed at the specific characters they’ve chosen to produce. It seems like most of these characters only appeared briefly, and most don’t have truly interesting or memorable designs, limiting their popularity. But a major exception isÂ Icer.Â IcerÂ is very cool. (GET IT?!)

Tons of Four Horsemen News

By Poe

On September 16, 2013

In News

There has been a metric crap-ton of Four Horsemen news over the last week or so. Where to start?

I guess I’ll start with Power-Con, since that’s just wrapped up. For those that don’t know, Power-Con is the Masters of the Universe / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles / Thundercats convention, run by many folks that anyone familiar with He-Man.org and the Roast Gooble podcast would know. It happened over this past weekend, the Horsemen were there, of course, and they brought goodies!

Â

First up are their Power Lords exclusives, the Power Soldier (black) and the stormtrooper-like Elite Power Soldier (white). These figures are 4″ tall and sell for $10, which is a better price than I expected for these figures and is competitive with mass market 4″ figures. I’m not sure whether that will be the standard price for the regular Power Lords figures – only time will tell. Both figures will also be made available at the Four Horsemen shopÂ sometime today.

Odds ‘n Ends > CollectionDX Summit, Club Eternia goes through, Poe’s Ravens pledge, the return of toy magazine

By Poe

On August 20, 2013

In Odds 'n Ends

For any New England-based Poesters, I’ll be attending the CollectionDX Summit this Saturday afternoon in Dracut, MA. If you’re interested in attending, you can check it out here (and please RSVP if you decide to go).
The 2014 Club Eternia subscription went through at 115%. Now we can all start gearing up for next year’s panic. (I predict that will be a “One Final Year!” campaign.)
For the curious, here’s what I got in the Gothitropolis Ravens Kickstarter: one Raven with the battle pack set, one set of black wings, Quetzalcoatl, and two stands.Â Quetzalcoatl is the real stand-out among the variants, both for its colors and because it’s more of a lizard than a bird, which makes it a bit more distinctive – in my opinion anyway. Looking forward to adding them alongside the Keeper of the Black Labyrinth.
Speaking of the Ravens Kickstarter, here is a coolÂ behind-the-scenes video, along with some photos.
Does a defleshed necromancer stares at you while you sleep? If so, you’re either deeply mentally ill, have some strange friends, or you’ve got the life-sized Skeletor bust from Pop Culture Shock Collectibles.
Phil Reed of Battlegrip is experimenting with the idea of making the site into a magazine. This comes on the heels of Brian of CoolandCollected will be trying a magazine as well. I find this an intriguing, if slightly counterintuitive, trend. Phil’s reasons are that he misses working in print and having the ability to play with and control graphics and presentation. That’s actually a very good point, I think – websites, especially popular ones, tend to be pretty stripped-down and minimalist and can’t really offer much in the way of variety of content presentation. Obviously, a website that presents its content in a way that’s too visually “busy” is not only a strain on bandwidth for both the site and reader but also tends to be difficult to read online, but perhaps an online magazine can represent a middle way. That said, didn’t ToyFare originally try something like this and it didn’t work?Â Brian, for his part, acknowledges that magazines aren’t exactly a growth industry right now, but he just thinks it would be fun to make one.
The 1966 Batman figures are starting to pop up at stores. I’m not planning on collecting the line, but if I see Batman himself at a store I’m sure I’ll be unable to resist picking him up.

Two-Bad to be exclusive to the 2014 Club Eternia subscription

By Poe

On August 15, 2013

In News

Sigh. In an effort to counteract some of the negativity surrounding MOTUC at the moment, we here at PGPoA are in the midst of prepping a very positive post about the line. So of course, brand manager Scott Neitlich (a.k.a. ToyGuru) writes this:

How about this, we just confirmed from logistics that Two Bad, like Clamp Champ or Fang Man will be short produced and therefore will only be for sub holders in 2014. I don’t know if that is an incentive, but it is the latest info we just got.

Many fans are up in arms again, but this doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. MOTUC has been moving toward “subscription-only” for so long I’m surprised they didn’t announce at SDCC that all 2014 figures would be sub-only. And while it definitely sucks for those who can’t or don’t want to subscribe, I don’t see why anyone should expect Mattel to offer day-of-sale product at this point, particularly when we know they’re going to have less money to work with in 2014.

It’s Castaspella Day

By Poe

On August 15, 2013

In News

It’s Mattycollector day. The new stuff on sale includes:

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