Poe’s Point > Nightfighter Robocop

July 4, 2012 | Poe

 

Collectors appear to be excited about NECA’s new TRU-exclusive Nightfighter Robocop (Pixel Dan’s review here, AFP’s review here). It’s a homage to one of my favorite childhood action figures, Kenner’s Robocop Nightfighter (Pixel Dan’s review here). The vintage figure was initially a mail-away promotion, though later it was sold on card. I’m proud to say that as a kid, I actually mailed away for mine.

Before I go any further, let me say I absolutely love NECA and everything they’re doing right now. I will forever owe them for the well-articulated Evil Dead 2 figures they’ve given us, and once I get a super-articulated classic masked Predator and the new Aliens warrior, my debt will be upgraded to full Wookie-life-debt status.

But… (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Beast Saga Vid, NECA does Half-Life & Prometheus, Nerf Intimidation, Figma Link

June 11, 2012 | Poe

  • Damn, I am way overdue for one of these. Right now my own toy collection is somewhat in chaos, as we’re packing for a move to our very first house. Still got some reviews coming, though.
  • What’s going on with ThunderCats? Pixel Dan asks the question, and TNI (sort of) answers it. Bottom line: Bandai still holds the master license, their product line is not canceled, and they are currently rolling out ThunderCats product globally in conjunction with the TV show being airing internationally. So those dreams of a Four Horsemen-sculpted, MOTUC-compatible ThunderCats line must remain in dreamland for now.
  • Here’s NECA’s Gordon Freeman from Half-Life 2. Evidently they’re also bringing us a Robocop with an opening thigh holster (possibly spring-loaded).
  • TakaraTomy has released a short promotional CGI video (narrated in English) highlighting their upcoming Beast Saga figures. The anthropomorphic warriors blast each other with fire and water from symbols on their chests. Kind of reminds me of the Care Bear Cousins, actually.
  • I missed this sketchy-seeming incident in which Hasbro and its lawyers tricked and then threatened an Australian toy blogger over his review of a pre-release Nerf gun that he bought online. If Hasbro offers you free toys for a giveaway and you’ve recently reviewed pre-release items, think twice about providing them with your personal information.
  • I seem to have been one of maybe five geeks who actually enjoyed Prometheus. Sure, the story was messy, but the visuals and atmosphere were amazing…anyway, NECA’s making figures, including what’s basically (mild spoiler alert) the “Space Jockey” pilot from the original ALIEN. I’ll be getting that solely because I’ve loved the look of that character since the original film.
  • There’s going to be a Figma Link (from Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword). I did not know this. Awesome. Now that we’ve got Link and Samus, when do we get a Figma Mario?
  • Packaged shots of S.H.MonsterArts Little Godzilla.
  • LuchaSharks are a thing. A thing in the process of being developed by Galaxxor creator Ben Spencer.

Odds ‘n Ends > Outer Space Men, New MOTUC Bios

May 8, 2012 | Poe

  • PGPoA sponsor Urban Collectibles has single figures of DC Direct’s Batman Arkham City Series 2 in stock now.
  • The Four Horsemen are now taking pre-orders for their psychedelic Cosmic Creators: Four Horsemen edition of their Outer Space Men figures, along with reissues of the OSM Infinity Edition Waves 1 & 2 with some tweaked paint apps.
  • Mattel posted packaging pics & bios for the Griffin, Snake Man-At-Arms, and Horde Prime. Still can’t say I’m excited for that Griffin. On a side note, if you want to see the secret of Horde Prime’s face, it’s right here.
  • You can also see pics of some of Mattel’s SDCC exclusives, as well as Vykron’s bio, at Action Figure Insider.
  • I was asked to plug Pocket Power Toys, a website devoted to this little-known toy line from Japan that was sold by Tyco here in the U.S. in the 1990s. The creator of the site adds, “Strictly speaking there’s only one action figure in the line (Glo-Bones).”
  • NECA has a Collector’s Club. Did we know this already?
  • I swear to God, if Bluefin Tamashii Nations doesn’t reveal what their S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla SDCC figure is soon instead of teasing us with bits of artwork, I’m going to – just wait longer. Though it might be a wholly-translucent orange “Meltdown” Godzilla, like this one, which would be a profound disappointment that I wouldn’t buy (and yes, I realize there’s some hypocrisy there, since I’ve always said the best con exclusives are repaints – but preferably a somewhat interesting repaint). I’m hoping there’s a poster of whatever the final artwork is, too.

Review > Farewell to Arms Ash & Deadite Ash (Evil Dead II, NECA)

March 27, 2012 | Poe

JOIN US

Sometimes life just isn’t fair.

When I was fifteen years old, I discovered the wonders of the Evil Dead trilogy. I can’t remember how it all started, though I know I saw Army of Darkness first. I loved it, but when I saw Evil Dead II (Amazon) I knew I’d found what was destined to be one of my all-time favorite films. I’ve seen it dozens of times, including twice in a movie theater (the Brattle in Cambridge, MA). But back when I first discovered the movies – this was around 1994 or so – they weren’t easily available on VHS aside from Army of Darkess. But for Christmas that year, my parents tracked down some used videostore copies of Evil Dead and Evil Dead II from Canada. (Of course, just a few scant years later the Evil Dead boom began and suddenly it was everywhere, available on every format.) (more…)