Mattel Gets Positively Chatty

January 27, 2012 | Poe

Scott Neitlich, a.k.a. “ToyGuru” of Mattel was posting quite a bit on the Mattycollector forums last night.

First up is this new “director’s commentary” on the Masters of the Universe Classics line, starting with King Grayskull. This seems like a neat, fun idea. There’s no real new info here–most of this has been hashed out before in interviews and so forth–but I’ll be interested to see the discussions of later figures. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Draego-Man and Kobra Khan Pics & Bio, S.H.MonsterArts Updates, DC Direct Dark Knight Rises figures

January 26, 2012 | Poe

  • Mattel has posted pics and bios of Kobra Khan and Draego-Man on their Facebook page. Who’s the Great Black Wizard…? Scott also added this commentary: Draego-Man really filled out the package. The wings are detached as is the tail to fit inside the blister, but they all easily snap in. He comes with the flame on sword. We are working on finding a home for the unreleased sword and whip accessories, perhapes with a future figure. The massive wing span and all the deco hits he needed forced us to reduce a few accessories to keep him as a $20.00 figure. We would rather remove the shield than have to remove the wings or tail! The all new bio [is] based on the Horsemen’s backstory! The shield art was also supplied by the Horsemen from their concept sketch sent to our design team! Draego ships in April as part of the 30th sub (not the main Club Eternia Cub) with some limited day-of stock for non sub holders.
  • Bandai Japan’s S.H.MonsterArts line is my new obsession, so I was happy to hear the latest news that Moguera will be released in late May, and the SpaceGodzilla special effects pack featuring crystals and an articulated Baby Godzilla will ship in June. The Moguera will cost $87, which is more expensive than any SHM figure to date (lots of theories as to why, but it’s probably just due to all the accessories). Given this line’s obsession with accuracy and devotion to depicting these kaiju as fully as possible, I strongly suspect it will be able to split, especially since, to the best of my knowledge, no previous Moguera toy has been able to do that. The crystal/Baby Godzilla set will cost $44, which is actually cheaper than any accessory kit thus far. The better news is that there may be a U.S. distribution for one or both items, which should bring the prices down.
  • DC Direct is doing 6″ Dark Knight Rises figures, meaning that they will once again be competing directly with Mattel; first the Arkham games, now DKR. DCD pretty decisively won the Arkham battle, but if the Four Horsemen are behind the DKR Movie Masters and Mattel actually puts a little money into the production side of things (a big if there), they could win this battle…especially since the DCD figures appear to be pre-posed a la DC’s World of Warcraft and God of War figures. (Via Toynewsi)
  • In the same article, DC also announced series 3 of Arkham City, due in September 2012 and consisting of a regular Batman, Ra’s Al Ghul, Clown Thug, Azrael, and the Penguin.

Major Mattel Missive

January 20, 2012 | Poe

Scott Neitlich has posted a very long and–credit where it’s due–thorough explanatory post up about all the recent issues surrounding Masters of the Universe Classics. It does wrap up with a little of the “we should be thankful we have figures at all” attitude that really rubs many the wrong way, but overall I think it does patch up (not repair, but patch up) some of the damage of the last couple of months.

Text after the jump. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > MOTUC Sales, Box O Zombies, Toy Hunters

January 18, 2012 | Poe

  • Mattel says that the sales of the Wind Raider were “okay,” but evidently not enough to merit a vehicle in 2012 (though they’re not ruling it out for 2013). Like many others, I’m mystified as to why a sellout of a few hours days translates to “okay.” Apparently, if people aren’t fighting the WSOD for the twenty minutes the item is on sale, Mattel isn’t happy. Bizarre. I’d love an explanation of this. It’s like that toy company exec in The Simpsons episode “Grift of the Magi” when he’s watching people riot at a store where his toy, Funzo, has gone on sale: “I’d still sleep a little easier if I saw some trampling.” CORRECTION: The Wind Raider took three days to sell out. But it still sold out. How is does that make the sales “okay”? Did they want people to order more than they had?…don’t answer that.
  • The creepily realistic Steve Jobs 12″ figure is no more.
  • I think I already mentioned this, but there is a very big, very cool Glyos drop coming this Friday.
  • It’s like a box of army men, but zombies! Check out the Box O Zombies, now on sale for $14.99.
  • I’ve got my own review coming, but be sure to check out Michael Crawford’s review of Spy Monkey Creations’ amazing new, factory-produced, Glyos/OSM-compatible accessories.
  • I’m going to try to write up my own review of the new American Pickers-style show Toy Hunters, but Cool and Collected has a great recap–recommended reading!
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Ask Mattel > Answers for January 17, 2012

January 17, 2012 | Poe

1.) Mecha-Shiva asks: The SDCC exclusive Blazing sword Voltron is awesome and greatly underrated, any chance of making a Vehicle Voltron? 

There are no plans at this time but keep those requests coming!

2.) Zach asks: When will DCAS characters such as Superman and the Flash have an “‘open handed” sculpt for such poses as flying and running, and be able to look up again? (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > OMFG on sale, new Onell drop, Mattel MOTUC sub updates

January 16, 2012 | Poe

  • I haven’t received a single submission for the Odds ‘n Ends contest yet! Is it too difficult, what with the photo-taking and the Photoshopping? I’m willing to consider changing the rules.
  • For those of you who want a set of the flesh-colored OMFG but didn’t contribute to the Kickstarter campaign, they’re now up for sale in October Toys’ online store at $10 apiece.
  • Onell Design has a really cool drop (i.e., sale) coming up this Friday, including their new “Core Block” item. These sales are generally one-time deals (with a few exceptions), so be sure to check it out. It doesn’t say what time, but I think they’re usually at 9pm ET.
  • Pixel Dan has posted video reviews of Shadow Weaver, Fearless Photog and Fisto. On a related note, you can finally see all of Dan’s MOTU-related reviews in one place: http://blip.tv/powerandhonor/ He also has general reviews of toys here.
  • Mattel updates: Demo-Man will ship after the Star Sisters. Also: expect more delays in the future.
  • NECA has a Jason figure from Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. Here’s his head. I’m waiting/hoping for a new Jason from Part VI.
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Updated Masters of the Universe Classics Schedule

January 11, 2012 | Poe

Mattel has posted an update on the 2012 Masters of the Universe schedule (text after the jump). The main takeaways are:

  • the only item in January is now the Star Sisters.
  • The Sorceress, Fisto, Shadow Weaver, and Fearless Photog have all been pushed to February.
  • April will have Draego-Man and Thunder Punch He-Man but no Club Eternia figure.
  • May will have both Stinkor and Slush Head.

(more…)