Dark Arsenal of the Space Pirate Pics

September 1, 2010 | Poe

I don’t have my own Dark Arsenal of the Space Pirate set yet–mine is complementary, so Spy Monkey Creations is rightly focused on getting you folks’ orders out before mine–but some of the first pics have shown up on the Web, and they’re so damned awesome I can’t resist posting some of them.

Click each pic for a larger version. To order your own set, check out Spy Monkey’s store.

Of course, I’m also obliged to point out that there are a good dozen or so Dread Axes of the Horde Darkness left. Grizzlor comes out in just a few months, folks, and it seems to me that axe might be a perfect fit…

Joe Amaro’s Robot Knights

September 1, 2010 | Poe

Customizer extraordinaire Joe Amaro has created some amazing customs of Skeletor’s “Robot Knights” (sounds like a bad BSG spinoff) from the Filmation cartoon. Visit his site for more pics. Says Joe:

These are complete new sculpts that are fully articulated. The head turns, the shoulders are swivel joints and the elbows are ball joints. Plus they have removable shoulder pads and the hands can interchanged with various weapons like a laser gun, saw blade and a mace. I also sculpted a new stand for him as the current stands would make him too high.

(more…)

Mattycollector Upcoming Schedule

August 30, 2010 | Poe

Mattel released a list of their upcoming releases, and for those of you who only check this site for their toy-related news (all two of you), I figured I should post the list:

Toy Fans,

The whirlwind of insanity that is SDCC is over, and we’re finally settled down and getting back to business as usual. We’re still pulling together final images, but here’s a list of products that are scheduled for release through the end of November:

SEPTEMBER

  • Ghostbustersâ„¢ 6″ Egon Spenglerâ„¢ with PKE Meterâ„¢, stack of books
  • Masters of the Universe Classics Chief Carnivusâ„¢ (Club Eterniaâ„¢ monthly figure)
  • Masters of the Universe Classics Gygorâ„¢

OCTOBER

  • Masters of the Universe Classics Roboto (Club Eterniaâ„¢ monthly figure)
  • Masters of the Universe Classics Zodac

NOVEMBER

  • DCU JLU Parademonâ„¢ 2-Pack
  • Ghostbustersâ„¢ 6″ Peter Venkmanâ„¢ with Ghostbustersâ„¢ Logo Base
  • Masters of the Universe Classics Grizzlor (Club Eterniaâ„¢ monthly figure)
  • Masters of the Universe Classics Grayskullâ„¢ (with Orb)
  • Masters of the Universe Classics Weapons Pak Great Wars Assortment

November’s already shaped up to be one heck of a month, but there’s even more in store for you! We’re working on plans for a serious Cyber Monday sale on November 29th at 9 a.m. PT/Noon ET and it’s gonna be BIG! Watch this spot for details to come, and check back soon to see images of the September, October, and November products!

— Matty

Review > Whiplash (Masters of the Universe Classics)

August 27, 2010 | Poe

The original Whiplash figure owns a unique distinction in the annals of my lifelong toy collecting: he was one of only a precious few toys to somehow avoid being lost in all the house moves, toy trades, hand-me-downs sessions and various other instances where he might have been lost forever.* But there’s more to the story than that: for whatever reason, Whiplash seemed to retain a certain level of quality that other MOTU figures didn’t. His green plastic never faded, he never got the greasy feel and shine from decaying plastic that occurred to many figures (particularly Tri-Klops), and even his rubbery tail never got ripped or torn. Moreover, I loved his monstrous look so much that Whiplash continued working long after young Poe had moved on from MOTU; he later battled the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the X-Men, among others.

The fact is, I love Whiplash. He’s one of my favorite MOTU characters, so it’s important to realize that the nostalgia factor is pretty high on this one for me. While I really liked his Millennium update (my review), I tend to think of that figure and character not so much as an “improved” Whiplash so much as a different character entirely. (more…)

Prince Adam DID have a back holster for the sword

August 19, 2010 | Poe

(Click for a much larger version)

Many fans have lamented the lack of a sword holster on Prince Adam’s back. It seemed odd to me that the Horsemen wouldn’t include the holster, so I asked them about it and they sent me this image of the paint-master. As you can see, the holster was there. The Horsemen say it must have been removed during production; they don’t know why.

This does seem to contradict this statement by Toyguru, but to be VERY clear, I have no idea what the story is or whether Toyguru ever saw this prototype pic. The facts as we know them are that Horsemen did sculpt the holster, and it was evidently removed during production–whether by factory error or as a choice by Mattel, I don’t know.

Review > Orko & Prince Adam (Masters of the Universe Classics, Mattel)

August 18, 2010 | Poe

There are a few toys I distinctly remember getting as a kid, and one of them was Orko. I don’t remember where we found him, but I know we brought him back to my grandparents’ house on Burton Terrace, where I revved up his ripcord on the coffee table and sent him spinning around.

Even as a kid, I recognized the fact that most of the original MOTU figures didn’t look a whole lot like their cartoon counterparts. He-Man was far more muscled, and his face didn’t look anything like the friendly Filmation character. Orko, however, actually looked like his cartoon counterpart (no, not as much as the new one, but to a degree that was about standard for toys at the time). There was something really appealing about that.

It’s interesting that Mattel chose to pair Orko with Prince Adam, because I’ve always felt the same way about both figures: they’re interesting to me because they’re “story” characters whose toys were inspired by the cartoon, rather than the other way around. To me, Orko and Prince Adam made the cartoon more real in a way a lot of the other figures didn’t.

Some fans dislike Orko, some fans out-and-out hate him as representing the more childish aspects of their favorite franchise (which, just to remind you, is called “He-Man”). Others dislike Adam for similar reasons, preferring a more barbaric He-Man who never transmogrifies into the weak, Clark Kent-like Adam.

I love them both. (more…)

Mattel MOTUC updates (No 200X Grizzlor head)

August 14, 2010 | Poe

First off, it appears we won’t be getting Grizzlor’s extra Millennium face. Scott Neitlich:

He-Fans,

Many of you may have picked up the latest Toy Fare magazine (check out the cool Legion cover!) and have seen an image of Grizzlor with a second head as an accessory.

To clarify, the Grizzlor shown at SDCC was final. It was there in package. He only has one head as officially announced at SDCC.

Magazines often need images well in advance and many times the only images we have available are the first pics of the Horsemen sculpts.

Because the Horsemen sculpt more then we ask for ( a good problem to have), sometimes these PR images wind up having extra parts pictured that do not get tooled. This happened with Batman Beyond’s wings and Lex Luthor’s skirt pieces as well.

Our tooling budget is finite and we can’t always afford to tool everything the Horsemen sculpt (especially when they throw in unrequested parts not accounted for in the budget – not that we want them to stop! A lot of things the sculpt wind up getting used later. The Kandor they sculpted for Superman in DCSH wound up getting used in JLU in 2010!)

Back to the point: Because we did announce Grizzlor in full at SDCC, hopefully this image was not too misleading. But to be clear, Grizzlor has one face only. The figure is tool’d and in production so no changes are being made at this point.

Sorry for any confusion gang!

Scott

I–hmm. Well…hrm. Forget it. I’m not even going to bother.

Neitlich also posted a lengthy update on the MOTUC figures seen at SDCC. There’s some good news and some not-so-good-news. (more…)