MOTUC Bio Discussion #43 > Sy-Klone

July 7, 2011 | Poe

Inspired by He-Man.org’s Roast Gooble Dinner podcast, welcome to PGPoA’s latest MOTUC Bio Discussion!

Sy-Klone

Real Name: Sy-Klone Son of Dy-Lex

Protector of the Legacy Stones and the Last Defender of Anwat Gar, Sy-Klone joined the Masters of the Universe after the stones were destroyed and his mission completed. He wears the last remaining TECH vest armor created by his Gar ancestors to terrorize Eternia after the Great Wars. Its built-in wind rockets allow the user to create powerful vortexes of spinning energy as a defensive weapon or to fly through the air. Sy-Klone has upgraded his armor to also include a cosmic radar which lets him sense the physical presence of evil long before others. Sy-Klone’s wind powers and radar chest make him combat ready!

Portrait Art Source: Original card art

So I’m a little unclear on the story behind the Gar. (more…)

Toy Aisle Trolls > Double Douche

July 7, 2011 | Poe

Toy Aisle Trolls is a feature highlighting acts of vandalism to in-store toy items. If you find a ruined package, a stolen figure, a swapped-out figure, or any other such acts, take a photo (cell phone photos are fine if they’re not blurry) and email them to poe AT poeghostal.com.

Submitted by: Loucheish

The Problem: See Loucheish’s description below. (more…)

Toys R Us Announces SDCC Exclusives

July 1, 2011 | Poe

Toys R Us has announced their SDCC exclusives for this year, and they’re kind of awesome.

Did I say kind of? I meant totally.

  • Exclusive 8″ Classics Thundercasts Lion-O with metallic finish
  • Bizarro vs. Faker MOTUC 2-pack
  • Jazwares 6″ Mortal Kombat Dark Raiden
  • Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Minimates
  • And more that I care a bit less about, but you can see for yourself below.

Best of all, these figures will be available on TRU’s website as well as SDCC. Check out all the pics after the jump! (more…)

Welcome to the new PoeGhostal.com! (also: a contest!)

July 1, 2011 | Poe

FINALLY!

It’s been a long time coming, but at last, the new PGPoA has arrived. As you can see, it’s a pretty significant aesthetic change. But webmaster OB1 and I wanted to make the site a bit more modular, allowing me to make easy changes when necessary, so there are some changes behind the hood that you may not notice, but will be making your browsing experience even better. (more…)

Hurricane Hordak and Leech Packaging & Bio

June 27, 2011 | Poe

Mattel revealed the packaging and bios for Hurricane Hordak and Leech late last week on their Facebook page.

They also mention that Hordak’s attachments are compatible with Trap Jaw and Roboto.

I’m still not digging that Hordak, but I like Leech more every time I see him. It’s starting to remind me of how much I loved the original figure. I have to admit, though, I’m having trouble getting as psyched up for these figures as I have been the last couple of years (as evinced by the lateness of my reviews of Catra, Faceless One and Battleground Teela). I can’t even remember who’s coming out when without checking MOTUclassics.com (props to IAT for that calendar).

The bios have been the source of some controversy already, mostly that odd Hordak one. The Leech bio is uncontroversial, with the exception of the mindwipe business. Is Hordak utterly incapable of getting anyone to work for him without brainwashing them? Learning to motivate your employees is one of the seven keys to successful management.

 

Odds ‘n Ends > June 20, 2011

June 20, 2011 | Poe

  • Mattycollector is having a “Mad Matty Monday” next week on the 27th. The idea is for $40, you get three items that exceed the $40 value. There’s a DC set, a MOTU set, and a Ghostbusters set. One thing to keep in mind is that the third item in the MOTU set could be display stands, and the DC set could contain JLU items as well as DCUC items. I’ll be curious to see how these do. I suspect the MOTU sets will sell out fairly quickly.
  • Figure previews around the Web: Pixel Dan reviews Clawful, Megator and Young Justice Robin; Fwoosh has  SDCC Movie Masters Kilowog and DCUC Series 17.
  • Saw X-Men: First Class this weekend, and quite enjoyed it. I think Marvel and its licensors may have made a mistake by not giving more credit to this flick, though admittedly there aren’t many toy-friendly designs in it–maybe diamond Emma Frost, Mystique, and Beast. Much has been made of January Jones’ mediocre acting, and here’s my contribution: she reminded me of Gwyneth Paltrow’s role in the fake Austin Powers movie (as “Dixie Normous”) in Goldmember.
  • The site redesign proceeds apace. We’re getting closer to the big relaunch, but we’re not quite there yet. It’s looking good, though.

Happy Faceless One Day!

June 15, 2011 | Poe

All-in-one page link

On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited are you for the Faceless One? For Battleground Teela? I’m a 4 on FO, 9 on BG Teela. That said, my excitement for BG Teela is less about the figure itself and more about the fact that she’s a figure from the 3-issue DC miniseries, my favorite piece of MOTU fiction.

Faceless One, though…for some reason I just can’t excited about him. Maybe that’ll change when I have him in hand.

This month we’ve also got:

  • Slime Blower Winston – pretty tempted by this, actually, but it’ll be a last-minute decision.
  • Retro Action John Stewart – afro included!
  • Reissues of Grizzlor and Whiplash

On another note, let me tell you yet another Tale of Mattycollector Woeâ„¢. The credit card I’ve used for the site for years was about to expire, so when I got the new one I logged on to the Mattycollector website and carefully updated my payment information. That’s all–no change to my shipping or billing address, not even a new card number. Just a change of expiration date.

So then I get my renewal email…which referred to me by my mother’s name, and told me it was using my parents’ house as my billing address. (more…)

Megator’s secret accessory [spoilers]

June 14, 2011 | Poe

Mattel was so intent on keeping Megator’s secret accessory a secret, they actually removed it from the samples they sent out to reviewers like Pixel Dan. It was a good effort, but in the end they were saved from themselves (more on that in a moment) by one of those sketchy eBay sellers.

Don’t click below (and you may want to keep your eyes away from the “Recent Comments” in the sidebar) if you don’t want the surprise to be spoiled. Note to Poesters: Please don’t discuss the Megator secret accessory anywhere else but this discussion thread (and that includes the forum).

Pic of the secret accessory after the jump. (more…)

MOTUC: Filmation now on the table?

June 13, 2011 | Poe

Huh. So it turns out if you go on an unofficial hiatus and ignore toy news, important toy news slips by you.

Specifically, this. From Worldscreen.com:

NEW YORK: Classic Media is partnering with Mattel to roll out a new consumer-products program for Masters of the Universe to celebrate the brand’s 30th anniversary in 2012.

The new line will encompass apparel (t-shirts, sweatshirts, thermals, track jackets and fashion tops for men, women and kids) and accessories (wristbands, belts and belt buckles, key chains, costume jewelry and more) from Changes, costumes from Disguise and a special 30th Anniversary edition DVD box set from Mill Creek Entertainment. Publishing partners will be announced soon. Plus, the Masters of the Universe Classics toy line from Mattel will continue through 2012.

“Masters of the Universe is an iconic franchise with a legacy that’s deeply rooted in fantastical storytelling which translates naturally to play experiences and products kids of all ages love,” said Michael Riley, VP of franchise development at Mattel. “In 2012 the property celebrates its milestone 30th anniversary allowing us to create a robust synergistic program that offers something for all fans.”

Classic Media is introducing a new Masters of the Universe style guide for the anniversary celebration featuring retro artwork, all-new modern artist renderings, as well as a special 30th Anniversary logo. Classic will also work with Mill Creek Entertainment on the DVD release.

“We’re very excited to be working with the team at Mattel to celebrate this iconic franchise’s 30th anniversary,” said Nicole Blake, executive VP of global marketing and consumer products at Classic Media. “This is the perfect opportunity to re-engage fans with the original series and to introduce Masters of the Universe to the next generation.”

Since the 1982 debut of the Masters of the Universe toy line, there has been a 1983 TV series, a 1987 Warner Bros. film, a 1990 series The New Adventures of He-Man and the 2002 Cartoon Network show He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Now, obviously, there is nothing specific in this press release about Filmation characters in MOTUC. But Classic Media owns the Filmation rights, and now that Mattel and CM have a working relationship, it’s conceivable that Filmation-only characters–such as Shadow Weaver, Sea Hawk, and Plun-Dor–are now on the table, not to mention Filmation-style repaints and retools.

Anyway, for now: fingers crossed.

P.S. The 30th Anniversary logo was found here.

Toy Aisle Trolls > The Strife Aquatic

June 10, 2011 | Poe

Toy Aisle Trolls is a feature highlighting acts of vandalism to in-store toy items. If you find a ruined package, a stolen figure, a swapped-out figure, or any other such acts, take a photo (cell phone photos are fine if they’re not blurry) and email them to poe AT poeghostal.com.

Submitted by: 3B

The Problem: The Aquaman has been replaced by the Alex Ross’s “Justice”-style Aquaman from the Walmart “Undersea Assault” 2-pack.

What It’s Supposed to Look Like: This.

XXX writes:

I snapped this one at my local TRU yesterday. I’m not too bothered by this one, though. Why? I’ve never seen this version of Aquaman (from the Walmart-exclusive “Undersea Assault” 2-pack) at retail, so you can say it’s pretty rare in my area. This troll obviously just wanted the classic version of Aquaman and swapped in the gold one. Also, the package showed very little evidence of being opened.

Probably worth mentioning that this particular store hasn’t stocked any of the Aquaman/Mer-Man or Hawkman/Stratos packs. In fact, they have a boatload of the Lex/Skeletor packs left. I suspect this troll picked up the set at another store about 7miles to the North, which recently stocked the new sets.

As for payback… I think the fact the “Aquaman” TV series was never made is punishment enough for this troll.

Karmic Payback: Yeah, this is one of those cases where I have mixed feelings about dishing out the karmic payback. On the one hand, yes, many DCUC fans do want the Aquaman. And the guy did engage in criminal behavior by opening the pack, swapping a figure and returning it. It was dishonest.

On the other hand, that Walmart Aquaman was hard to find…anyone who bought this set would either be thrilled to get the Aquaman, or could probably sell the Aquaman on eBay and recoup enough money to buy another one of these sets and get the right Aquaman. And if they didn’t realize they got the wrong Aquaman, then obviously they don’t care enough about the figure for it to matter.

So I’m going to defer to you, faithful readers, to determine the punishment (or reward) of your choice.