While supplies last! Here’s the link.
Odds ‘n Ends > August 8, 2011
- I’m putting together what I’m calling “Bat-Week”–a week of reviews of Batman-related toys. I was hoping to do it this week, the week after Shark Week, but it didn’t come together. So it will be either next week or the week after.
- I missed this out of SDCC, but it appears Mattel is actually looking into an opt-in option for subscribers for the six “Anniversary” figures in 2012 (Fearless Photog, Draego-Man, and the other four new characters). If that happens, I’ll be both surprised and pleased. The vehicles and Granamyr are still excluded because the pricing on them isn’t known yet (though they’ve been saying $80 for Granamyr).
- DCUC is on sale for $9.99 at TRU this week, evidently. If you’re short on Mary Marvels or Steppenwolfs, now’s your chance to stock up.
- Speaking of TRU, apparently the “Mad Love” Joker/Harley two-packs are hitting stores. It would be just my luck if every other Mattel DCUC 2-pack has pegwarmed but I never even see this set.
- On a related note, I’ve started looking for the K-Mart exclusive Golden Age Batman w/ Bat-Mite. All I’ve found are empty pegs for Batman Legacy figures that haven’t been put out.
Review > Battleground Teela (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)
I’ve made no secret of the fact that my favorite bit of Masters of the Universe fiction is the three-issue DC Comics miniseries from the early 1980s. I grew up on the Filmation cartoon, and it holds a special place in my heart; many of the early minicomics were great; the Mike Young Productions cartoon in 2003 had some great storylines and characterization. But the DC Comics miniseries is an epic that tosses together the sword and science of the world of Eternia with reckless abandon. True, its version of Zodac is a thinly-veiled Metron. But the series features many fun Kirby-esque touches, from epic energy battles to phantasmagorias to over-the-top, blood-and-thunder dialogue. It’s the way I like to think of Eternia–a world where every moment is epic.
Since the miniseries was created while the toy line was still in development, a few of the characters looked a little different than the toys, none moreso than Teela. In the DC miniseries, the Sorceress looked identical to the toy version of Teela.ยน I’m not sure where the model for the DC Teela came from, but she only dressed this way in the first issue. By the second issue, Mattel must have corrected DC, because she was wearing the toy’s white one-piece (though she kept the blonde hair). This led to both Teela and the Sorceress wearing the same outfit.
I’ll admit I was a bit surprised when a campaign sprung up on He-Man.org for “blonde bikini Teela.” I still wonder to what degree this was owing entirely to the fact that she was hotter than her more modestly-clothed counterpart…but for me, the appeal of this figure, beyond its more generally sword-and-sorcery look, is that it’s the first figure to be based on my favorite bit of MOTU media. It gives me hope that we may see a figure of the evil sorcerer Damon in the future.
Of course, the way they shoehorned this look into the bios makes no sense at all, but we’ll get to that in the appropriate bio discussion post. Despite her relatively obscure place in the MOTU mythos, the figure sold out quickly. Furthermore, Mattel seems to have recognized Battleground Teela may represent the MOTU equivalent of Slave Leia, as they had a model dressed as BG Teela at San Diego Comic Con this year. (Thanks to MegaGearMax for the reminder about that.) (more…)
Mattel Updates on the 2012 MOTUC Subscription
I try not to spend too many posts regurgitating news you can find elsewhere, but at the same time, I know at least some of you are trusting me to provide you with any information relevant to your interests rather than doing the work yourself.
Also, this is exactly the sort of Mattel announcement that generates a lot of comments, so I’m going to post it.
He-Fans and She-Ravers,
With the 2012 Club Eternia sale in full swing and our SDCC reveals past us, I wanted to take a quick minute to clear up some questions and comments from the boards.
1: First off, yes, we are no longer going to be doing a second run of figures. This will start with Queen Marlena and move into Man-E-Faces and the other fall figures. We still have some older figures already slotted for line time and a second run that will be offered monthly(ish) in 2012. But starting with the July/August figures there will no longer be second runs of newer figures (at least for now, anything could potentially change down the road). So if you want Marlena, now is the time to buy!
Additionally, in 2012 we will be reducing our production of all figures above and beyond the subs. We will still have product on sale day for those who do not have a sub, but in general there will be a bit less. Your first, best and most reliable way of getting the figures you want is to sign up for the sub (and the only way to get Shadow Weaver–our first Filmation character!). This will be the case for all subscriptions, not just MOTUC.
New MOTUC 2-Packs Temporarily in Stock at Toysrus.com
Mattycollector Online SDCC Exclusives Go on Sale at 12pm ET
Just a reminder, the Mattel SDCC exclusives go on sale at 12pm ET (9am PT) today.
Here’s the all-in-one page. Good luck all!
Review > Catra (Masters of the Universe)
Though mostly forgotten now, there was some mild controversy around MOTUC Catra. At the time she was shown, fans weren’t sure whether Mattel had the rights to do her “Filmation” look. It turned out they did, owing to a depiction of the character in a Mattel-created style guide from the 1980s. And thank heaven, because otherwise we might have had a figure based on her vintage look. (“Cobie Smulders is Demeter in Cirque du Soleil’s Cats!“)
Unlike the sausage-fest that was the Evil Warriors (Evil-lyn excepted), the Evil Horde was a more equal-opportunity organization. In addition to Catra, there was Shadow Weaver, Scorpia, Entrapta and Octavia. And while Hordak was the boss, most of the other male characters were dumb grunts while the women were smarter and often held positions of authority. After Adora’s defection to the Great Rebellion, Catra became the Force Captain of the Horde. Like Shadow Weaver, Catra once teamed up with Skeletor in an attempt to overthrow Hordak. [Source] (more…)
Thoughts on the MOTUC Reveals
The Four Horsemen were kind enough to provide some glorious high-res studio shots of the MOTUC reveals from SDCC, so here’s my figure-for-figure thoughts on each one.
Demo-Man > Easily my favorite reveal among a lot of awesome reveals. Not only does he have a highly detailed, almost entirely original sculpt that’s dead-on to the artwork, but he comes with a bad-ass scimitar, a huge flail, and two extra heads, including an Alfredo Alcala-style Skeletor head, which will placed on my “default” Skeletor as soon as Demo-Man arrives. I’m not sure what the deal is with the other skull, though it reminds me of the Evilution Demon. (more…)
Odds ‘n Ends > July 26, 2011
- Saw Captain America with Dr. Mrs. Ghostal and Red Kryptonite this past weekend. I enjoyed it–more than Thor, and probably more than any Marvel flick since X-Men 2. We knew Joe Johnston could direct period pieces, and this was sort of a sideways sequel to The Rocketeer anyway. Chris Evans was great, Tommy Lee Jones did a great job being Tommy Lee Jones, and the Red Skull was Red Hulk to Jim Carrey’s The Mask. (I did find the Red Skull make-up a bit too cartoony, but I realize that–as well as the German-accented English among the foreign bad guys–was done to make the film accessible to kids, and that’s fine.) Did I think it was better than Batman Begins or The Dark Knight? No, but it was unquestionably more fun than those movies, and a nice set-up for The Avengers.
- Speaking of Nick Fury & the Avengers, this spoof is cute. Love the slow clap.
- As you may know, Mattel is bringing the DC Retro Action line to a close soon. Some fans have a petition up to save it. I wish ’em luck!
- I received an email from a company called Geek Design, who create high-end furniture for storing and displaying collectibles.
- Looks like I’ll be attending NYCC this year. I keep hoping more of SDCC’s hype will spill over into NYCC as SDCC becomes more crowded; maybe that will start this year, with the show moving back to October. The Tuesday after the show, incidentally, is the release date for Batman: Arkham City, the Arkham City trade paperback, and the Blu-Ray of Batman: Year One. Busy day for Bats.
- In case you missed it, there were a couple small MOTUC news bits out of SDCC. First off, the Wind Raider will have real box art, painted by the same artist who did it thirty years ago.
- Also, here are all the new bios that were revealed. Battleground Evil-Lyn’s is a doozy; Demo-Man’s disappointingly contains nothing about Demo-Man himself, nor explains what happened when Keldor merged with him (i.e., did any of Demo-Man’s mind merge as well, etc.).
- Finally, it looks like there very well may be an exclusive at PowerCon: a pedestal for King Grayskull’s Orb of Sparkle Crest Toothpaste. The PowerCon part is speculation but seems likely.
Mattel gives us one last fakey list
Just for laughs/to rub salt in the wound, depending on your perspective:
- Purchase a membership to Club Eternia for $20 and you’re guaranteed to receive all of the monthly Masters of the Universe Classics figures released during the year. You’ll also receive club-exclusive Fan Choice Create a Character – 100% sculpt (update based on SDCC panel vote: Sorceress, Ram Man, Rokkon) and an all-new bonus map poster of Future Eternia Under the Reign of King He-Man!
- Starting January 2012, you are automatically shipped the Club Eternia Monthly Figure every month for a total of twelve months (January through December). For 2012, you will also be shipped four beast figures or multi-packs and four character variant figures at various intervals throughout the year. You are billed as figures ship. Figures revealed to date are Eldor(January), Sweet Bee (February) and Stinkor (March). Also in March is the beast/multipack – Classic Movie 3-Pack featuring Julie, Kevin and Det. Lubic ($60.00).
I don’t even understand the joke about the fan create-a-character–wasn’t the original 1980s create-a-character contest all about creating new characters like Fearless Photog? Why the list of established characters? Even their jokes are confusing.
At least we can rest assured there will definitely be no Classic Movie 3-pack. They (almost certainly) don’t have the rights, and that would be the most boring set ever. No one, not a living soul, needs a Kevin figure.
Anyway, again, this mess will all be over by 3pm PT, when the Mattypalooza panel should be over (it starts at 2).