Review > Sy-Klone (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

June 6, 2011 | Poe

I never owned Sy-Klone as a kid, and as such, I don’t have any real attachment to the character. I was also always a bit confused by him–did the “klone” part of his name mean he was some sort of weird clone of He-Man? His face did–and does–look a lot like He-Man. I realize Mattel needed to make the figure’s name trademarkable somehow, but by introducing the “clone” question, it confused some of us kids.

X-Entertainment wrote an exhaustive analysis of Sy-Klone that I highly recommend. I was also quite fond of the Millennium version, which introduced a sort of cyberpunk street samurai look to the character. The new Classics version is of course based on the vintage Sy-Klone, with the small addition of the Millennium-style hula hoop.

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Eternia, circa 1986

June 2, 2011 | Poe

Wow. The stereotype of the 1980s yuppie obsessed with technology, particularly the then-new technology of mass market video cameras, has paid off for us in spades, folks.

Some wise soul–specifically, the father of YouTube user sammyb7883–sacrificed a videocassette that could have been used to tape that night’s rerun of Cheers to give us He-Fans a glance into a world we thought was gone–namely, Eternia itself, replicated in miniature at a mall in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Watch the whole thing. The bored Hordak at the beginning is misleading. You’re soon taken into some sort of mystical cave featuring a gigantic Snake Mountain set. An announcer lists each new He-Man figure for the season, who gets a moment in the spotlight. And then–AND THEN–the battle begins!

Seriously, what is going on here? Is that a TV screen showing something filmed on a set designed to look exactly like the mountain? Holograms? Actual magic? I…I can’t tell.

Thanks to David O’Brien for the tip.

Ask Mattel > Answers for Mid-May 2011

May 17, 2011 | Poe

1.) MegaGearMax asks: A bunch of fans were really disappointed Battleground Teela’s controversial bio didn’t explain the most pressing questions on fan’s minds since her reveal at NYTF 2011 — namely, why was her hair now blonde or why is she wearing a new costume. Classicized 200X versions of vintage MOTU characters whose changes might not be so easily explained as a change of clothes might also fall under this topic. So I was wondering: why did the bio writers decided not to try to explain why characters have such different looks?

We absolutely have throught about these details. You’ll just need to keep reading the bios won’t you?

2.) Chris asks: I used the tracking for the Newgistics shipping and it makes no sense. It takes longer, and still ends up getting handed over to USPS. Why not send it USPS to begin with? (more…)

Happy Catra Day

May 16, 2011 | Poe

I nearly forgot that today was a Mattycollector day. Catra’s the only new MOTUC item, although there are reissues of Stratos, Whiplash, and She-Ra. If you don’t have a Whiplash yet, I highly recommend him.

A friend asked me whether to pick up the reissue She-Ra if he didn’t have one, since “She-Ra 2.0” is coming (the retooled She-Ra who will be better able to sit on Swift Wind). Well, the thing to know is that She-Ra 2.0 won’t have the Filmation-style She-Ra head; it will have a tiara-less head with a removable toy-style mask (which will fix on via a clip instead of the giant square hole). Most people consider the Filmation-style head the “true” She-Ra, but it all depends on your preferences. She-Ra 2.0’s head will be removable and interchangeable with the regular She-Ra’s.

Anyway, here’s the link to the all-in-one order page. There’s a lot of Green Lantern stuff on sale this month, too, though I don’t think any of it is exclusive to Mattycollector and apparently Green Man and the Retro-Action Guy Gardner are exclusive to Mattycollector. You know what would have been a good use of Mattycollector? Selling that Green Lantern 5-pack. Or even better, individual figures from that set. Maybe someday.

Megator & Man-E-Faces’…’s?…Packaging Revealed

May 13, 2011 | Poe

Mattel has posted packaging pics & bios for Man-E-Faces and Megator, both due this August.

I’ve been thinking I may start doing bio discussions upon their revealing, rather than waiting until I’ve had a chance to scan the actual packaging (I’ll still do that and include them in the review, though). Anyone care either way?

As for these, it’s notable that both of these figures will have “mystery” accessories. I’m with IAT in hoping for a gross zombie head for Megator. That said, the whole thing about resurrecting him is…kinda weird, but cool, I think. Those are my ever-so-erudite thoughts on the matter, at least until the official bio discussion.

As for Man-E-Faces: he was always one of my favorites as a kid. I loved the vintage figure, I loved the 200X figure, and I’m really like the MOTUC version, too. Of the figures coming out between now and August, it’s a tie for me between MEF and Battleground Teela for the one I’m most excited about (Catra, I’m afraid, wins “least”).

Any guesses on MEF’s secret accessory? Or did we already do this?

Odds ‘n Ends > Mighty Edition

May 6, 2011 | Poe

  • As you’ve no doubt noticed, it’s been very, very dead around here lately. That should change over the next week or so, and much more so by the end of the month. Real life has been interfering, but fear not, I’ll soon nip that in the bud.
  • In other news, the early reviews of Catra, the Faceless One and Battleground Teela are all over the place. Here are the Fwoosh’s, and here are Pixel Dan’s. Remember to hate both VeeBee and Pixel Dan for all these freebies. Because I totally do.
  • The Creative Licensing Corporation spilled the beans on two of NECA’s new licenses: Rambo and Evil Dead II. They misspelled NECA a few times, which seems…odd. So far we know we’ll get Rambo and Ash figures. No shocks there, but I do have to say, of all the McFarlane figures NECA’s redone, Ash is probably the most warranted. McFarlane’s Ash was terrible. And after all the hard work we ED freaks had put into getting it…I used to be VERY into Evil Dead. I tried so damned hard to like that figure at the time, but it was awful. Just awful. Awkwardly pre-posed, barely articulated, and frankly Toy Biz’s Autolycus figure looked more like Bruce Campbell than this one did (OK, that’s an exaggeration). The best thing about that figure were the accessories. Anyway, I have little doubt that NECA will kick McFarlane’s Ash into the stratosphere. A redo that’s long overdue.
  • Oh, I almost forgot: Thor comes out today. You going tonight?

Ask Mattel > May 1 Edition

May 3, 2011 | Poe

Damn, I love that art.

Anyway, it’s time for another round of Ask Mattel. (I refuse to acknowledge a corporate mascot by name, nor pretend he actually exists.) My thoughts are in the blue boxes/captions. –PG

1.) Poe asks: Are there any plans to do more Arkham City figures beyond Batman and Two-Face in the Batman: Legacy line?

Yes. We’ll have the next wave at SDCC to show off.

Awesome.

2.) Toyman2581 asks: What is up with those strange yellow lanterns that come with all the Sinestro Corps figures in DCUC and DC Retro action? In the comics, all the yellow lanterns look just like the green ones. (more…)