Poe’s Point > Vykron Thoughts

May 1, 2012 | Poe

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu1Ujp72TCM&h=284&w=500]

Mattel has posted a new video with Scott Neitlich explaining the Vykron SDCC exclusive and showing off the packaging.

One thing I didn’t initially realize about these figures – the boots and cuffs are half-parts that clip on, rather than full parts that encompass the limb and snap on a la the original Toy Biz Iron Man. I understand it as a cost-saving measure, but it makes the figures significantly more like “Cosplay He-Man.”

To be fair, I think this is a great exclusive, and this post by “Prince Adam’s Dad” explains it as well as I could:

Personally, I’m unlikely to pick it up. It’s a neat concept and a cool part of the line’s history, but it just doesn’t fit into what I’m doing with my collection. However, there are plenty of people who will be interested in him. More to the point, there are plenty of people who will be interested in three or four of him to display in each of his forms and MOC.

So it’s a non-essential figure that some people will buy multiples of – sounds like the perfect convention exclusive to me. (more…)

Mattel Unveils (Some) SDCC 2012 Exclusives

April 27, 2012 | Poe

From Mattycollector.com…

Masters of the Universe Vykronâ„¢ ($30)

If clothes make the He-Man, then this pitch prototype for the 1982 lineup is destined to be the star of the MOTU 30th Anniversary celebration thanks to a choice of three outfits: barbarian, spaceman, and military warrior! You’ll get him in-package dressed as a barbarian only at SDCC , but you can find him here at MattyCollector.com after the show packed as a spaceman or military warrior (all three outfits are included regardless of where he’s purchased). Want to know more about this multi-purpose warrior? Set includes one “buck,” or figure, with three different outfits/helmets to interchange between space, military and barbarian looks. Check back for the history of Vykronâ„¢, soon to be disclosed… (more…)

Stinkorgate, Cont’d

April 26, 2012 | Poe
Stinkor

Stinkor by soundofdesign, on Flickr

UPDATE: That discussion got way out of hand way too fast. I welcome free speech and I want people to be able to express their opinion, no matter how I much I disagree with it, but I insist on civility. I will accept any and all criticisms about being a tyrant, bully, bad journalist, head-in-the-sand-ostrich or whatever to enforce it. It’s my site and I won’t accept name-calling or general meanness.

To be fair I wiped out all previous comments, but they’re still open if anyone wants to restart the conversation.

I said I wasn’t going to get too involved in this one, and for now I’m sticking to that, though I’ll probably have my say when I review the actual figure. But I thought I’d highlight two things. First, here is the Four Horsemen’s final word, via their Twitter account:

After seeing a photo, that’s definitely not the way we’d intended the forearms to be positioned. Not sure what happened or why. […]we’ve finished it, they have every right to do so. They’re the ones assuming all of the financial responsibility & risk. The bottom line is that this is Mattel’s property. Not ours. If they decide that it’s best to alter something like that after…

I can appreciate the Horsemen’s diplomatic answer here – no suggestion of a production error. But James Sawyer at MOTUCfigures.com isn’t equivocating in his take on the situation: (more…)

Review > Sorceress (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

April 24, 2012 | Poe

The character of the Sorceress/Goddess was created by Mattel for the original Masters of the Universe line. However, as many fans know, that original Sorceress was referred to as “The Goddess” and featured a design that was ultimately used for Teela instead. When the Sorceress was introduced as a character in the 1980s Filmation cartoon series, she was redesigned to look like the bird-woman we all know and love. Confused yet?

From the admittedly brief research I did for this review, it appears Filmation redesigned the Sorceress for the cartoon, but that would haven’t caused any rights issues for MOTUC even before they secured the Filmation rights because Mattel (finally) produced the much-desired Sorceress figure at the tail end of the line in 1987. It’s worth noting the Filmation cartoon debuted the new look of the Sorceress in 1984, yet we didn’t get a figure of this central character until three years later. Moreover, the Millennium line only gave us an immobile “Staction“ figure, while it took nearly three years – again – to get a Sorceress figure in Masters of the Universe Classics. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > AICN, Collector Gene, MOTU Fan Films, SHM Rodan

April 17, 2012 | Poe

  • PGPoA was mentioned on Ain’t It Cool News’ AICN Toys section yesterday in regard to my recent post about DCUC. Unfortunately, the quote they attribute to me is actually something I quoted from NoisyDvL5’s editorial on ItsAllTrue. I posted a comment to try and set the record straight.
  • It’s been a banner week for Power Pals. PPP Ben Leach, who comes from a whole family of collectors (toy and otherwise), have opened their own website, the Collector Gene. Here’s how he describes it:  “What separates us from a lot of collecting websites is a.) we own everything that we write about (and if we don’t, we clarify that), and b.) all four of us collect and are going to contribute to the website. Obviously, I’m going to write about the kind of stuff that appeals to your readers, but if your readers like shows like Antiques Roadshow or Pawn Stars, then I think they’ll appreciate everything on there. “
  • I’m not sure how many have heard of this, but there’s a group doing MOTU fan films. I haven’t watched them yet, but here’s their website. I suppose I owe it to you all to look into this further, so I will once I can get through some of my existing backlog.
  • At long last, Diamond Select is giving me the Mego-style Creature of the Black Lagoon I’ve been asking for since they created the line. It will be on my desk at work. Oh yes.
  • I’ve started using the PGPoA Facebook page more – primarily for stuff like recent purchases, random toy-related links, and news bits and other stuff on weekends. If you’re not on Facebook or don’t follow the site you won’t miss anything important, but for those of you jonesing for a more frequent PGPoA fix should keep an eye on it.
  • English page for S.H.MonsterArts Rodan. I’m such a mark for this line.
  • So, what sold out in yesterday’s Mattycollector sale? Thunder Punch He-Man, Tri-Klops, & the Voltron Yellow Lion. As of this posting, Draego-Man, Orko, and other figs are still there. I’m tempted to buy another Orko to see if I can get a Prince Adam without incredibly loose ankles, but does such a thing even exist?
  • This humor in this Saturday morning cartoon parody Starbarians is a bit tasteless, but the animation is well done – and the name and concept kick ass. How did every 1980s toy-and-cartoon producer miss “Starbarians”? This is the decade that created Dinosaucers!
  • Diamond Select had a prototype sculpt of a new Battle Beast grey retailer summit version of Vorin on display at C2E2.
  • Here are some new pics of the Play Arts Kai Mass Effect 3 figures. Now you can create your own ambiguous ending to Shepard’s saga!

Draego-Man, Thunder Punch He-Man, Ghostbusters Rookie, Yellow Lion & More at Mattycollector

April 16, 2012 | Poe

It’s yet another Mattycollector Sale Day. (This time last year, the big sale item was Sy-Klone.)

All in One Sale Page

The new items this month include Draego-Man, Thunder Punch He-Man, the Ghostbusters Rookie, and the Voltron Yellow Lion w/ Hunk. There’s a ton of other stuff too, including Tri-Klops, Orko, Man-E-Faces, Peter Venkman, Hordak, King Hssss with his reversed shoulders and so on. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > New Sponsor, Facebook Question, Turtles Classics Pics

April 9, 2012 | Poe

  • 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

April 6, 2012 | Poe

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

April 6, 2012 | Poe


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)

April 4, 2012 | Doc Thomas

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…)