- Dan of the website Chicago Toy Collector created these great custom action figures – in 1980s style – based on classic Atari games. If a Pitfall figure had existed when I was playing it on my family’s Intellivision, I’m sure I would have owned it. Funko/Super 7, are you paying attention? (Hat tip to Robots Pajamas.)
- Boba Fett, a gun, and a little Freudian suggestion.
- ToyFinity has updated their Robo Force comic.
- I’d forgotten all about this, but NECA will be releasing stands for their 7″ figures, at retail, sometime around January. It’s basically the second coming of the popular McFarlane Toys stands (of which I still have a bunch).
- The Kickstarter for the Bio-Mechanical Ordnance Gestalts is about halfway there, with 21 days to go. Doomkick has some early samples to give you an idea of what the final product will look like.
- I have very mixed feelings about the upcoming Bayformers take on my beloved Grimlock, but here’s what may be a look at his robot form. (Also: who am I kidding, I’ll be buying the toys.)
- Presented without comment: there was some trouble with charging collectors’ credit cards for Grayskull. If this happened to you, there’s more information here, and, to quote, “there is some urgency as any unclaimed Castles by Dec 5th will be added to the “day of stock” on Dec 16th at $300.00.”
- Holiday shopping has started, so remember, every time you click my Amazon link before buying anything there, an angel (i.e., me) gets its wings (a small commission).
Tag: Mattycollector Page 2 of 5
- It’s another Mattycollector release day. Today’s sale includes DC Universe Classics Ra’s Al Ghul, John Constantine, and Elasti-Girl; Watchmen’s Ozymandias; MOTUC Geldor and stackable stands and a number of re-releases.
- Castle Grayskull ships soon, but Pixel Dan won’t have an early review due to assholes who nicked bits off the display piece at NYCC.
- In Four Horsemen news, rough cuts of the Raven arrived at 4H HQ, and they’ve also been running a feature detailing the creation of my personal favorite Power Lord, Sydot the scientist. I must say, the various exclusives they’ve done to this point are nice, but I think the Power Lords need to be fully-painted to really be appreciated. I’m hoping we get those, but I’m wondering whether funding is becoming an issue for this line. If so, why not hold another Kickstarter to make themselves more financially comfortable? I doubt they would need as high a budget target they did for the Raven. That said, I must admit I’ve noticed very few, if any Kickstarter projects for Glyos-related toys.
- In the course of getting back into Star Wars via Star Wars Black, I’ve actually gone back and picked up a few of the 3.75″ figures – just my favorites. What’s been interesting about it is that some of the most definitive versions of these characters are nearly a decade old. For example, I picked up the Vintage Original Trilogy Collection Han Solo from 2004; it’s a great figure with great articulation and the best head sculpt I’ve ever seen in this scale. I also got the VOTC Chewbacca and Boba Fett. Each of these figures has been reissued at least once or twice and they’re not that hard to come by. I also picked up the Holiday Special repaint of Fett, because fun. The only other figure I picked up was the Vintage Collection (not “Vintage Original Trilogy Collection”) ANH Darth Vader. This was the only one I had to think about; the VOTC Vader had the better ESB design and a ball-jointed neck but cut rather than hinged elbows, and every other decent Vader Hasbro has made has cloth on the front of his outfit. The VC ANH Vader also has ball-jointed hips, which seemed novel, so I went with that. It bums me out he doesn’t have a ball-jointed neck, though. Not that Vader was constantly cocking his head in curiosity like Data, but I’d like him to be able to look up and down somewhat to add some character to his poses.
- Another thing about Star Wars 3.75″ – the line seems to be on a sudden downhill trajectory, at least for collectors who want well-articulated, highly-detailed figures. The quality on the Star Wars Black 3.75″ appears to be pretty bad across the board, and the Saga Legends figures have only five points of articulation. It’s odd how a Star Wars figure made in 2004 is far superior to most of what’s being produced now. (Though the Vintage Collection just ended and seems to have retained that level of quality – again, this downturn seems to be recent.)
I find it interesting that the Four Horsemen are releasing a statement urging collectors to subscribe for established licenses like MOTU and DC Comics, while their own, highly transparent “thermometer” for a project featuring a homegrown license with absolutely no media backing it up has hit 300%. (Statement after the jump.)
Maybe there’s a big difference between the numbers the Horsemen need, and the numbers Mattel needs. After all, the Horsemen’s project has a mere 1,000 participants, with an average pledge of about $200. The “pledge” for Club Eternia is $500 plus shipping, although you’re getting at least 8-10 more figures (albeit with fewer details and less articulation). I really wonder whether more transparency about the numbers needed would help boost the campaign. Of course, announcing all the figures for the sub would also help, and I honestly think that doing that isn’t nearly as impossible or legally complicated as Mattel makes it seem. Just add in some “subject to change” and “items may be delayed” text, and people will know what they’re getting into.
With three weeks to go, the MOTUC and DC subscriptions aren’t in great shape – especially considering we’re nearly a week past the SDCC reveals.
Before we go further, how about a trip down memory lane?
- Poe’s Point > Obligatory Club Infinite Earths Post (July 28, 2011)
- Mattel Updates on the 2012 MOTUC Subscription (August 4, 2011)
- MOTUC 2013 Sub in Jeopardy? (July 20, 2012)
- Club Eternia 2013, Cont’d (July 25, 2012)
- Subpocalypse, Cont’d > The Four Horsemen Make a Personal Appeal (July 26, 2012)
- Subpocalypse, Cont’d (July 27, 2012)
- Poe’s Point > Final Thoughts on Club Eternia 2013 (August 4, 2012)
- Club Eternia 2013 is a go (August 7, 2013)
- Club Infinite Earths Confirmed for 2013 (August 7, 2013)
Now, I’ll be surprised if Club Eternia doesn’t go through. I feel like we go through this every single year, and by August 19 the numbers will be there (or maybe they’ll extend it a week or two). Club Infinite Earths I’m not so sure about.
…I am not publishing any more news about Mattel’s SDCC reveals, no matter how awesome, until we get higher-res pics. Am I being petty? Yes.
The Snake Men get a new recruit in Snake Face today. Also available:
- DCU Larfleeze (Club Infinite Earths figure)
- MOTUC Mosquitor™ (remaining customer svc. stock, subject to Early Access sellout)
- MOTUC Webstor™ (remaining customer svc. stock, subject to Early Access sellout)
- MOTUC Snake Men™ 2-Pack (remaining customer svc. stock, subject to Early Access sellout)
- WWE® Elite Collection Flashback Christian®
Seriously, how long ago was Larfleeze revealed? It’s about time!
I wonder if I’ll be still be doing these day-of posts in a few months. Was Fang Man a one-off situation (possibly because of the Filmation issue), or will day-of MOTUC sales soon be a memory? The re-opening of the subscriptions makes one wonder, but this is just idle speculation.
Damn, it feels good to use that pic again. I love that pic.
From April 15 through April 30, collectors can subscribe to the remaining eight months of Club Eternia, Club Infinite Earths, Club Black Freighter and Club Filmation. All figures (including incentives) sold from January through April will not be included.
So this is…weird. I’d say it’s troubling, too – potentially suggesting that Mattel is having trouble making enough money off these lines – but we know that any of the subs that had targets were reached. As usual, all I can do is speculate. I’ve never had any idea what the hell was going on behind the scenes at Mattel. Maybe they’re just being nice?
It’s Ram Man Day – potentially the last really awful White Screen of Death day (unless Mattel makes something like Filmation He-Man, and even then, they’d have to actually have a day-of sale of the figure to have WSOD issues). Good luck to the non-subscribers shooting for a Ram Man. Is he available for Early Access? One thing I haven’t heard much about is non-subscribers working out deal with subscribers to get a Ram Man via Early Access…if that were possible, Rammy might be sold out before noon even hits.
Here’s the link to the all-in-one sale page.
There are two other new things available:
- Jitsu – Fisto’s counterpart from whatever the Eternian equivalent of the mysterious Orient is.
- Phantom Stranger – Another character whose current popularity owes largely to his treatment by Alan Moore.
Then there are a lot of older MOTUC figures, vehicles, and accessories. I still think about picking up the flight stands sometimes, just for the novelty of it, even though I already have other things that are just as good or better.
Some interesting news from Mattycollector. Next month, there will be no day-of allotment of Fang Man for non-subscribers to pick up – effectively making him as rare as Wun-Dar, Shadow Weaver and King He-Man.
Meanwhile, the convention exclusive, Strobo, will be available to subscribers via Early Access. I think that’s great – an excellent perk for subscribers, even if the only real perk is getting the figure early (since plenty of ToD Sorceresses were available on Mattycollector in December).