Wizard World Philly Roundup

June 22, 2009 | Poe

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First off, my immense thanks to Doubledumbassonyou for kindly taking some photos of the Four Horsemen’s WWP booth for you to enjoy. Let’s all thank him and, more importantly, click the link and stop by his blog for a spell.

There wasn’t a whole lot of toy news from Mattel or the Four Horsemen, as they’re saving that up for SDCC, but I was able to dig up a few nuggets of information here and there. They also had prototypes of Teela, Webstor, and DCUC Question on display, as well as Egon and Ray from Ghostbusters. (You can find some photos of Teela in the gallery below, and visit Pendragon’s Post for more). (more…)

5 Questions With > Rustin Parr

June 18, 2009 | Poe

Today we have an interview with a good friend of mine, Rustin Parr of OAFE. Rustin and I first met through OAFE in the early 1990s, and despite living on separate coasts, we’ve met in person many times since then. An passionate if idiosyncratic movie buff, Haunted Mansion enthusiast, and King Leonidas look-alike (well, maybe not the abs, but the face, anyway), Rustin has agreed to bare just a bit of his soul to us here at PGPoA.

338381890_lCode name: Scott McEachen, alias Rustin Parr, alias Gunstas von Artlefuasdensein, D.D.S.
Specialty: Dreaming Big and Accomplishing Small
Base of Operations: Monterey, CA
History: Began the adventure in gorgeous Hermosa Beach, California, whence an egregious lust for action figuring took hold. A lack of sculpting ability and painting prowess propelled him into the world of Motion Picture production whose frivolities spat the man into the cutting edge of Neuro Marketing during which a healthy imbibing of toys and movies keeps the life juices flowing. It was a hot and sunny day when a close personal friend, the self-titled Lord of the Nazgul, brought together Rustin with Yo Go Re and Poe Ghostal, all posters at the formerly awesome and important/relevant spawn.com message boards, the latter two being founding members of oafe.net. After one particularly long and laugh-riddled evening in which Rustin performed his then-constant desperate rage upon the unprepared Yo’n’Poe towards falsely accused inept waitresses and rightfully, if not righteously accused George Lucas and his modern films, Poe’n’Yo dragged the Froce’o’da’nature into the fold at OAFE where on Rustin continues to this day to be less entertaining than that first eve and less consistent in producing reviews than his editor would prefer. Rustin is survived by his collection projected to consist of over 2,000 individual action figures, 500 hundred vehicle and location replicas 9in varying scales) and hundreds of plus-sized and resin collectibles, not to mention a DVD collection of some 1200 discs.

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Toy review roundup (via Fanmode)

June 10, 2009 | Poe

fanmode-copy Monkey Boy reviews the NECA Terminator 2: Judgment Day T-800 (Pescadero Escape) figure. Excerpt: “Despite the dearth of accessories and the lack of mobility below the waist, this really is a fine figure.”

Poe Ghostal reviews the NECA Terminator 2: Judgment Day T-800 (Pescadero Escape) figure. Excerpt: “NECA’s Kyle Tankman’ Windrix once again proves he’s one of the best in the business when it comes to detailed sculpting and high-quality likenesses.”

yo go re reviews the Diamond Select Toys Marvel Minimates Punisher War Zone Punisher and Jigsaw Toys R’ Us exclusive two-pack. Excerpt: “We normally try not to gush in our reviews, but this time, I just can’t help it.” (more…)

Review > T-800 Pescadero Escape (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)

June 5, 2009 | Poe

I’m willing to argue with anyone that Terminator 2: Judgment Day was the high water mark of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s film career. Between his performance as the cybernetic villain in the first film and the 1991 sequel, he’d become an international superstar with a string of hits including Commando, Predator, Twins, and Total Recall. After T2, Schwarzenegger would veer between serviceable action flicks (True Lies, Eraser, Terminator 3) and bombs (Last Action Hero, Batman & Robin) before giving up acting for the lesser stress of governing the world’s fifth-largest economy. But none of the post-T2 films came close to matching that same mixture of action, storytelling, and good old fun.

Now, as they have so many times before, NECA has answered my prayers–this time for a true Terminator 2 figure, complete with an Arnold likeness worthy of, dare I say it, Hot Toys themselves. According to the packaging, there are five figures in the line (though I’m not sure they’re all out yet): an Endoskeleton, the “Man or Machine” model with the stripped-off cybernetic arm, the demolished “Final Battle” T-800, the “Cyberdyne Showdown” T-800 carrying the minigun, and the subject of this review, the “Pescadero Escape” T-800. I chose this one for the simple reason that he’s the basic, iconic Terminator. (more…)

5 Questions With > MisterBigBo

May 28, 2009 | Poe

Welcome to the first of what I hope will be many interviews with fellow collectors!

MisterBigBo, who comments here occasionally, is a real-life friend of mine who I’ve actually spent time with in person. He’s taken time out of his busy schedule as a brand-new dad to answer a few questions about his toy collecting.

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Codename: MisterBigBo
Base of Operations: The Commiewealth of Taxachusetts
History: Regular ole suburban lower middle class kid who grew up in the 80s. Star Wars fan first, but like most boys of that generation I had a healthy action figure collection. I have gone on to become a teacher, a dad, and study traditional Japanese martial arts, but the toys are still there.

1.) What were your favorite toys or toy lines as a child?

Though I started with Star Wars, moved with the trends to Transformers and He-Man for a while, GI Joe was my favorite. The designs and the articulation caused me to stay with the line into junior high, after most of my friends had moved on. As a youngster I had a little of everything: a few M.A.S.K. vehicles, and one or two Sky Commanders, Army Antz, Silver Hawks, C.O.P.S., Centurins, Marvel Secret Wars and D.C. Super Powers, Captain Power, Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos, Battle Beasts, Starcom, Eagle Force. . . those are the faves that I can remember right now . I suppose my tendency these days to collect only one or a few of any given line is a continuation of that trend. (more…)

It Figures #19

May 15, 2009 | Poe

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Poe’s note: This one’s Photoshopped. I would never willingly spend my hard-earned money on a Twilight figure. I swiped the image from here.

He’s back! Terminator 2 by NECA

May 13, 2009 | Poe

NECA has posted packaged shots of their upcoming, fully-Arnold-likeness-ized Terminator 2: Judgment Day figures. It pains me that NECA has, as with their Conan the Barbarian figures, eschewed the level of articulation they’ve bestowed upon the likes of Bionic Commando and Resident Evil recently, as that would make these a must-buy for me, instead of just a “I’ll probably get the Pescadero Escape one.” (more…)

NECA April O’Neil – confirmed?

May 1, 2009 | Poe

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Props to Ninja Pizza for pointing me to this important nugget of information I completely missed:

I got an email from Steve Murphy yesterday, with some information which was sent to him from Randy Falk at NECA. Here are the pertinent quotes from Randy, along with an image:

“I just wanted to send over an image of our SDCC exclusive for this summer.

It will be a brand new April O’ Neil figure that comes with a Battle Damaged Mouser and a Regular Mouser with a new head featuring an articulated jaw.

This is the first non Turtle figure in the NECA TMNT collection.

This version of April will be available at San Diego Comic Con this July.

We are going to try to make arrangements to offer a small amount of figures online for those who can not attend SDCC.”

So maybe it’s not all “just wind in sails,” eh, Steve?

Toy review roundup (via Fanmode)

April 6, 2009 | Poe

fanmode-copy EVA Unit 4A reviews the Bandai Macross Origin of Valkyrie VF-1J Valkyrie (Ichijo Hikaru type) 1/55-scale figure. Excerpt: “I still love the Takatoku Toys 1/55-scale sets, and this VF-1J Valkyrie (Ichijyo ver.) is no exception.”

EVA Unit 4A reviews the Bandai Macross Origin of Valkyrie VF-1S Valkyrie (Roy Focker type) 1/55-scale figure. Excerpt: “While my 1990 reissue will remain a treasured founding piece in my own collection, the Origin of Valkyrie line allows me to appreciate the quality of the design once more from a collector’s standpoint.”

Corey Tincher reviews the Mattel DC Universe Classics Blue Beetle figure. Excerpt: “This toy does Blue Beetle some of the justice he deserves by giving fans a little something to hold on to.” (more…)