First off, a very important caveat: this review is for the iPhone version of this game only. I have not played it on an iPad and I have reason to think the experience might be at least somewhat different. Moving on…
Odds ‘n Ends > Black Friday news, New DC Unlimited, Toy Feeder, Rom
–I’m going to stop posting these as lists, because I want a little more room to work, add some images and whatnot.
–Mattel will be having another of their Black Friday sales. This one actually begins today at 12pm ET and will continue for six days, ending next Tuesday at noon ET. There will be savings of up to 30% off and Monday apparently will have flash sales and “special pricing.”
–Speaking of Mattycollector, BigBadToyStore has a “warehouse find” of some Mattycollector items, including the Wonder Twins and the Adam Strange/Starfire 2-pack. It’s unclear to me whether this was a warehouse find by BBTS or Mattel, but given the fact it’s a pre-order, I would assume Mattel. Not sure why they’re not just selling them at the Black Friday sale. Weird. There’s also an Infinite Heroes 4-pack if you’ve grown tired of throwing cash into open flames and want some variety in how you waste it. (more…)
Sightings > Vintage Castle Grayskullman Custom by Hunter Knight Customs
I knew someone had to have made a custom of a vintage Castle Grayskullman (aside from the creator of CGM himself), and a cursory search brought up this one by Hunter Knight Customs. I think CGM is the 30th Anniversary figure that most seems like it would have existed in the 1980s – yes, even more than Draego-Man, who, awesome as he is, seems a bit more like something Remco would have produced in one of their high-quality knockoff lines, since they focused a lot more on the dragons and dinosaurs.
Castle Grayskull wasn’t built in a day (by Tytus), but by MOTU fans, over several weeks
Yeah, it went through – and then some. We’re getting Castle Grayskull, folks. Start saving those pennies. You’ve got about a year.
Two Grown Men & a Little Castle Grayskull
Presented without comment:
In related news, Mattel sweetened the Castle Grayskull pot by offering a cross-sell poster of all MOTUC figures released by the time the playset comes out. Also, Scott Neitlich did a new write-up on the castle on Mattycollector.
The thermometer is pretty close. Just over four more days left…
The New He-Man Smartphone/Tablet Game is Out
Apparently I’ve been so distracted by other stuff lately, I missed the fact that the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe iOS game came out on October 25. I just downloaded it and will post my thoughts once I’ve had time to play it. Android versions are reportedly coming too.
In the meantime, here are a few reviews I found via a quick Web search:
Review > Dragon Blaster Skeletor (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)
The photos for this review were taken by toy photographer extraordinaire Ed Speir IV. You can see more pics of many different toy lines at his Flickr page.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that I didn’t actually own all that many vintage MOTU figures when I was a kid. In fact, off the top of my head, I believe they were limited to He-Man, Skeletor, Mer-Man, Teela, Ram Man, Trap Jaw, Tri-Klops, Buzz Off, Man-At-Arms, Man-E-Faces, King Hiss, Mekaneck, Hordak, and Leech. Long after I’d lost interest in MOTU, I did somehow end up with a Sorceress, Rio Blast, and Optikk. So at this point in MOTU Classics, we’ve gotten deep into the characters I never owned and perhaps never even saw.
Dragon Blaster Skeletor can definitely be counted among those figures I don’t remember. I did pick one up about ten years ago during the Millennium era when I decided to try and put together a vintage collection (which I eventually abandoned because the rubber bands holding most figures’ legs together were too weak, and they would never stand). So DB Skeletor is one of those figures that has to appeal to me in despite my lack of nostalgia. I realize I often am biased in this regard, so I’m going to try to evaluate him fairly as a MOTUC figure without that nostalgic connection. (more…)
Odds ‘n Ends n’ Weekend Discussion Thread
That’s right – Odds ‘n Ends is back! I’ve just got too much stuff to write about and don’t want to spam your RSS reader with a slew of Sightings posts, so instead I present the return of O&E.
Also, because I eliminated the discussion board, I thought I’d try creating a “weekend discussion thread” and see if it appealed to anyone. So feel free to post about any (toy-related) topic you want in the comments below.
Anyway, on the odds and ends.
- Good news, everyone! Castle Grayskull pre-orders have reached the halfway point (which may be 3,654, if the title of the .gif used for the meter refers to the number of pre-orders). Mattel’s Scott Neitlich did a couple interviews about the playset, which you can read at CastleGrayskull.info and Pixel Dan’s site. They’re worth a read-through, if only to see what features are being considered and which ones probably won’t happen.
- Some follow-up on my Biollante post from earlier this week: it’s unclear whether the Godzilla figure (based on the suit from Godzilla vs. Biollante) is an S.H.MonsterArts prototype or just some sort of stand-in. But one thing that occurred to me, which I’d forgotten about, is that according to the Heisei series timeline, the Godzilla in GvB is only eighty meters tall. Due to a ridiculous time travel plot in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah that I won’t even try to describe, the Godzilla of the rest of the films (including Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla, the one the current S.H.MonsterArts figure is based on) is 100 meters tall. But judging from this photo, Biollante is in scale with the rest of the line, which means they’re evidently going to ignore the height difference and just increase the eighty-meter-scale monsters to the 100-scale ones. Which is fine. I just…spent a surprising amount of time thinking about this, apparently.
- Speaking of Tamashii Nations, IAT has a good round-up of all the info from the event, including S.H. Figuarts classic Power Rangers, new D-Arts Megaman stuff, S.H.Figuarts Sailor Moon, Ultra-Act Zetton, and D-Arts Pokémon.
- Doomkick has an interview with the man behind the awesome-but-expensive Bog-Nar of the Warlords of Wor. Discussion of the $100 price is included. I get why it’s so expensive, I just…can’t afford it.
- Anyone else catch Mockingbird Lane last night? I thought it was fantastic. Really wish it had been picked up, but it’s Bryan Fuller, so it was doomed. If Bryan Fuller and Joss Whedon ever tried to make a television show together, TV execs would grab each page of their sublime, brilliant screenplay as it came out of the printer and deposit it directly into a shredder.
- Sponsor News: BBTS has Hot Toys Resident Evil – Ada Wong; Takara Seeker Elite 3-Pack; TFC Uranus SR-71 Blackbird; Carlito’s Way – Al Pacino 1/6; G1 Commemorative – Astrotrain, Ultra Magnus, Powermaster Prime.
- It seems even Matt, formerly of X-Entertainment and now of Dinosaur Dracula, is not immune the blogger ennui I’ve suffered myself recently. We’re exactly the same age, too. Maybe there’s some sort of third-life-crisis going around our generation. Blogging about toys really shouldn’t have this much angst.
- And so, on a related note, henceforth I’m only blogging when I have a post I actually want to write. Sadly, that means no Minicomic Monday, at least for now. That one post was just too much work for not enough funny.
- This Week’s Notable Posts > Reviews: Beast Saga Series 1 (Takara-Tomy) Review by Ben Leach; NECA’s AvP:Requiem Alien Warrior: Still the best 1/12th-Scale Alien figure? by Poe; The Cryptkeeper! (Tales from the Cryptkeeper, Ace Novelty) review by Weirdo Toys blogger Justin Gammon; Interviews: Interview > Monster Artist Extraordinaire Matt Frank; Interview > Brian-Man of Spy Monkey Creations, Part III; Toy Aisle Trolls: Rodimus Crime, Maash-Up Topless Robot Lists: The 10 Best Spawn Creature Figures, Ten Greatest Giant Movie Monsters
Castle Grayskull Update
So here’s how it stands right now – the pre-orders for Castle Grayskull [pre-order here] are a bit under halfway there. Personally, I’m not going to panic, or even worry, until we’re into November, because I think a lot of people get paid at the end of the month. Let’s see where the meter is around the first week of November. If it’s still under, then you have my permission to panic.
For the record, I put in my pre-order days ago. No tormented back-and-forth on this one (even Dr. Mrs. Ghostal, by far the more financially responsible member of our duo, told me to just go for it – possibly because she didn’t want me freaking out and spending a small fortune on one at a bankruptcy-baiting mark-up on eBay). So I’ve done my part.
In Grayskull-related news, the irrepressible NoisyDvL5 of ItsAllTrue has created yet another new site, this one tracking all news and info about the Classics Grayskull, at CastleGrayskull.info. I can only sit and admire his energy for this sort of thing.
Also, as they did with the 2013 subscription, the Four Horsemen have issued a personal appeal to fans to pre-order Grayskull:
One of the main things we’ve dreamed of doing since we very first pitched the idea o Masters of the Universe Classics to Mattel is to get the chance to re-create one of the most iconic playsets of all time, CASTLE GRAYSKULL! Well, the time has come, and we’ve got the chance to not only re-create Castle Grayskull so that it fits in with the level of detail and styling of Masters of the Universe Classics, but this thing’s gonna be HUUUUGE! Plus, we’re going to include all of the features and fun details of the original, and try squeeze in as much cool new stuff as we possibly can as well.
Here’s where you all come in. Unfortunately, this incredible playset isn’t going to be cheap to purchase and we understand that. But the price Mattel’s going to be selling it for is the only way we’re going to be able to make it and get it into the hands of Masters of the Universe fans. Mattel has to have a certain amount of pre-orders before they can even have us start building the thing. If they don’t meet the minimum number of pre-orders required to set this process in motion by the deadline, then Castle Grayskull for the MotU Classics line will never happen. It’s as simple as that.
And for those who missed it, here’s Scott Neitlich’s video showing the foam mock-up of the playset:
Castle Grayskull Goes Up for Pre-Order Tomorrow
It goes up at 12pm ET tomorrow. Details after the jump; pre-order link here.
Yes, it’s expensive. Yes, it’s ordering something from Mattycollector completely blind as to the final product. But…it’s Castle Grayskull. I don’t see how I have a choice. And I’ve got a year to save up for it. Then it’s just a matter of finding room for the thing. Y’know, I really don’t know about this. It’s so expensive (probably at least $300 after shipping) and seems so decadent…and space really is an issue. It took me weeks to decide to subscribe to the 2014 sub, and this costs nearly half that.
Well, I’ve got until January 3 November 10 to decide.
Here are some hi-res pics of the plans (which Mattel for some reason hasn’t bothered to release), courtesy Preternia.com:
