Odds ‘n Ends > October 21, 2010

B.P.R.D.

  • DST answered my Minimate question. Bummer, but not unexpected. Still, Hellboy MMs seem like a no-brainer to me. BTW, the ones above were created by Minimate customizer extraordinaire Bob Harris. Click the pic for more pics of his many customs, including Dr. McNinja and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.
  • Mattel has posted some Shadow Beast pics on their Facebook page. Looks pretty neat, but I prefer Gygor.
  • I’ve got a bunch of reviews I owe you, including, of course, Roboto. Planning to get to at least one of them tonight.
  • I recorded a guest appearance on OrccaCast last night. It should be up shortly before Halloween, I believe. I’ve also got an appearance on another pretty big podcast fairly soon, but I’m going to save that news for now.
  • Finally, I’ve received a test shot of the PGPoA-exclusive Spy Monkey Creations accessory. Some changes were needed, but once I get the revised test shot, I’ll go ahead and make the announcement.
  • Question for today: what would you name a subscription for 6″ Back to the Future figures on Mattycollector? My submission is Club Flux Capacitor. Kind of a mouthful, though.

Ask Mattel > Mid-October Answers

1.) FakeEyes 22 asks: Any idea if/when we’ll see a new DCUC All-Star Assortment and are there plans to include Hawkgirl? She’s ideal as the first release was a tough find and she was heavily featured in the JLA/JLU series.

All-Star figures will continue to ship all year, with at least one All-Star in each case pack. No plans right now for Hawkgirl as a single, but she will be back in a Wal-Mart two-pack later this year! (more…)

Happy(?) Roboto Day!

It’s Roboto Day. In honor, I present you with this massive scan of the incredibly awesome Earl Norem Roboto poster. Click on the poster for the really big version. I spent hours slaving over a hot Photoshop to fix this thing up–it had fold creases crossing both axes and glare from the industrial-sized scanner I used–so you’d better appreciate it.

Will Backwards-Shoulders-Gate affect Roboto’s sales? Will any MOTUC collectors who don’t visit related websites have any idea Roboto’s shoulders are reversed? For the answers to these and other questions, tune in to next week’s exciting episode of Danger Mouse!

Roboto’s shoulders are on backwards

Mattel QC has done it again.

I’m still trying to decide how much I care about this, but over on He-Man.org fans have discovered that Roboto’s shoulders appear to be backwards, much like the first-release He-Man. It looks like the Horsemen sculpted them to match the vintage figure, and Mattel screwed the pooch on the assembly.

Oddly enough, this was perfectly evident way back in the SDCC pics, but apparently no one caught it.

The shoulders are reversed on the Pixel Dan review as well, so I think we can safely assume every single Roboto will have backwards shoulders. And this time we’re being forced to pay for defective products. At the very least, Mattel should allow fans to opt-out of the sub for this one figure and wait for a reissue.

What do you think? Do you care enough about this to not want the figure until it’s been corrected?

I mean, this is pretty damned bad. Yes, you can say it’s not really that noticeable–and that’s kind of how I feel–but at the same time, remember, you’re paying $30 for this thing.

I don’t want to come off like some hysterical fanboy losing my shit over this, because I’m still not sure it bothers me much (although apparently the reversed shoulders on the He-Man caused them to rub and wear away at some points of contact, and the thought of that happening does bug me a bit). But given the subscription, there’s a principle-of-the-thing aspect to this that’s really bugging me.

UPDATE: I want to point out that it’s entirely possible that the sample Pixel Dan received was an early one and that this was caught and corrected at the factory before general production started. But they said the same thing about the bleed around Orko’s ears, and it wasn’t corrected. So you’ll forgive me if I don’t hold my breath.

Feature > The Dark Arsenal of the Space Pirate

Since I now have a working relationship with Spy Monkey Creations, I’m not going to do a “review” of the Dark Arsenal of the Space Pirate set. Instead, I’ll just say a few words about it, and then let you check out the photos. (more…)