Review > Man-E-Faces (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

February 27, 2012 | Poe

One concept I just could never buy into was the idea of Man-E-Faces as an actor. If so, he’s an actor with a fairly limited range: he can play a guy in  big blue mechanical suit with a domino mask, a guy in a big blue mechanical suit with a robot face, and a guy in a big blue mechanical suit with a monster face (at least until this figure, which gives him three more options).

All right, so perhaps I’m being unfair – for all I know, the monster is the Laurence Olivier of his generation. And based on his first minicomic appearance, it looks like Manny was more of a wandering bard than a leading man (note that apparently his helmet was removable). If you think of him as a storyteller who uses his ability to create the faces of the speaking characters, the whole “actor” thing makes more sense.

Man-E-Faces was one of the most iconic characters in the original Masters of the Universe toy line (and a personal favorite). He also had a Millennium figure which, while a bit pre-posed, was nonetheless one of my favorites from the revamp. Let’s see how his Classics figure compares. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Newgistics Delays, MOTUC Grayskull Astronaut, DCAS Wave 3 Lineup

February 27, 2012 | Poe

  • After last week’s surprisingly swift arrival of Fearless Photog, who shipped out on 2/16 and arrived on 2/22, my second sub–the one with the Sorceress, Fisto, Shadow Weaver and the map–has been listed as “in transit” from Nevada since 2/17. A cursory check of He-Man.org’s forums shows other people in the same boat. I like the take by Rob from Topless Robot: “It left Vegas on 2/20 and is now roaming the countryside, on some kind of adventure to find itself.” Once the option to change shipping is available with the subscription center on Mattycollector (whenever that gets fixed), I am switching back to UPS.
  • Over on his blog, Joe Amaro has posted an amazing MOTUC custom of the “Protector,” that bizarre “astronaut” cardboard cutout that was part of the original Castle Grayskull playset. He also posted new pics of his Ram Man custom.
  • BigBadToyStore has posted preorders (including singles) for DC All Stars waves 2 and 3. Wave 2, you’ll recall, will include Red Robin, Supergirl, New 52 Flash and New 52 Superman; but we now know wave 3 will feature Batgirl (version unknown), New 52 Batman, Hawkman (version unknown), and Steel w/ Hammer (I’m guessing it’s a re-release of the DCSH figure, but who knows?).

Review > Fearless Photog (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

February 24, 2012 | Poe

No discussion of Fearless Photog can be complete without first mentioning this article on X-Entertainment.com,* the seminal 1980s kids’ culture website by Matt Caracappa. At this point, anyone with even a passing acquaintance with Masters of the Universe knows the story: in 1985, Mattel held a “Create-A-Character” contest. Children were invited to send in their ideas for new characters, which were then voted on by fans via a phone number. The winner received a $100K scholarship, a trip to Disneyland, and best of all, their character would be made into an actual Masters of the Universe figure.

Only it didn’t happen that way. (more…)

Guest Review > Megator (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

February 22, 2012 | Doc Thomas

I collect nearly exclusively in the 1/12th scale. For me, it’s the perfect scale – translating to about a foot per inch, it’s the ideal size for strong sculpts with recognizable likenesses and meticulous paint detailing while also allowing one to have a bigger collection in a much smaller space than the average 1/6th scale collection.

That said, I am a huge fan of GIANT 1/12th-scale action figures, and rejoice at toys that are both large and in scale with the majority of my collection. I loved the Spawn movie boxed sets Malebolgia and Violator early in my collecting days, and when ToyBiz introduced BAFs into the Marvel Legends line I was ecstatic. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > A New MOTUC QC Issue

February 22, 2012 | Poe

  • Another day, another endemic MOTUC quality control problem. This time it’s a crack on Fearless Photog’s extending lens. Anecdotal evidence suggests three out of four Photogs may have it. Mattel says it wasn’t on the factory samples–which makes me wonder if the factory makes sure to do a good job on the samples, like a chef giving his best work to a food critic. Those of you with experience in such matters–are there any standard checks and balances to make sure that doesn’t happen?
  • So if you’ve got a Photog coming, will you go through the hassle of returning it for a replacement that has a 75% chance of also having the crack? I probably won’t, but this is yet another addition to that “Cons” list for signing up for the 2013 subscription.
  • How fast do you think McFarlane will push out a Jeremy Lin figure? I say it’s in stores in less than six months.

Happy Sorce–er, Shadow Weav–no, Fearless Phot…Voltro…uh, Fisto Day?

February 15, 2012 | Poe

Hell of a sale today…along with all the new MOTUC stuff, there’s also Red Lion & Lance, a re-release of the awesome Blazing Sword Voltron SDCC exclusive (which I really need to review one of these days), plus a bunch of other reissues and re-releases.

The sale is at 12pm ET as usual–here’s the all-in-one page.

Mattel ran into delays again:

Club Eternia Members, we’ve just confirmed a small portion of our shipment of Shadow Weaver and Fisto is running a little behind. Most Club Eternia orders will start shipping on Monday 2/13 as planned, but there will be some orders that will ship around 2/17. All other products will ship as usual, including Voltron Red Lion/Lance and the Essential items.

On January 19, 2012, Scott Neitlich wrote: “We also changed our policy so that we will not sell a figure until it is 100% in stock.” Noted without comment.

I haven’t been charged for my 30th Anniversary sub yet, and evidently neither has anyone else. I’m not going to complain about MOTUC or Mattel, but man do I hate Digital River.

Toy Fair 2012 Roundup

February 14, 2012 | JediCreeper

MOTUC Toy Fair 2012 1

Hey Toy Fans!  Nate here, in some circles, I’m better known as JediCreeper, on Twitter I’m JediN8 and to a tiny number of you, I’m the weird guy who won’t shut up on the Average Intelligence Podcast.  I had the good fortune of attending the 2012 Toy Fair and Poe was kind enough to send me to both the Hasbro and Mattel fan appreciation events, to cover them for him.  It is there I learned that even a native New Yorker is not nearly as pushy and shove-y as geeks with new toys.  Here are some of my thoughts on the stuff I got to see.

Poe’s note: you can check out a gallery of Nate’s pics from TF2012 here.

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