Tag: Outer Space Men Page 1 of 3

Sightings > Outer Space Men Cosmic Creators Mel Birnkrant Edition of OSM Waves 3 and 4

groupblackfina1095l

 

The Outer Space Men line continues to chug along. The latest offering is the “Cosmic Creators” set of OSM waves 3 and 4, which were designed by OSM creator Mel Birnkrant. Fully compatible with Onell Design’s Glyos system, this is a limited-edition set available only through the official OSM site, theouterspacemen.com. The set sells for $80, is limited to 200, and will be signed by Mr. Birnkrant himself.

I know some of you are OSM fans and the 4H really want to promote this edition, so check ’em out.

I know I haven’t covered the line much here on the site, and I’ll admit I’m not collecting it, but that’s no knock against OSM creator Mel Birnkrant or the Four Horsemen – there’s tons of stuff out there these days and not everything is going to catch one’s fancy (unless you’re NoisyDvL5). I still think they’re very cool, and I’m considering picking up the deluxe characters like Cyclops and Colossus Rex.

Toy Fair Quick Shots > Power Lords & Gothitropolis

DSC_00241

At their annual Toypocalypse event on Saturday night, the Four Horsemen unveiled their new Power Lords prototypes. The figures are in a 3¾” scale and feature a mix of regular and Glyos-compatible joints. More photos over at Pixel-Dan.com.

The event also featured an appearance by the original designer of the figures, science fiction and fantasy artist Wayne Barlowe, and a Power Lords-themed cake by the folks behind the show Cake Boss, to be shown in an upcoming episode.

I’ll admit I’m a bit bummed these aren’t in a 6″ scale (more on that in an upcoming post), but they look fantastic.

The Horsemen also unveiled a slew of variants (pics via AFP) for the upcoming Raven figure from Seventh Kingdom Gothitropolis, including a really cool lizard/dinosaur dude who reminds me a bit of the old Everquest Iksar Warrior figure from 1999. There’s also a “Minotaur the Duck” with a really long history I’d never even heard of.

There were also plenty of old and new Outer Space Men figures shown. I’ve come to accept that I’m just not into this line. I tried to, because I try to love everything the Four Horsemen do, but I just couldn’t get into them. I think it’s still partly the scale…I just have a hard time collecting anything less than 6″ tall these days. (Again, more on that soon.)

 

More SDCC Highlights

As we wait for the Mattycollector panel to start, I thought I’d post a few more thoughts on the various SDCC reveals.

Pic courtesy Pixel-Dan.com

Keldor looks much better with the twin swords. I never realized how integral they are to his character design – they’re what make him distinct from just being “Skeletor with a face.”

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

  • 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.

Odds ‘n Ends > PD revs CIEDCUCGAF, SyFy’s Toy Realities, 4H’s OSM, FOTD has AC2

SuperMom Accessories

SuperMom Accessories by happyworker

  • Pixel Dan has posted his review of the Club Infinite Earths DC Universe Classics Golden Age Flash.
  • For those who might be wondering, yes, I did subscribe to CIE, but I don’t plan to review them and intend to sell all my figures (with the exception of the Bat-characters, probably). I’m either going to sell them on eBay or maybe just my own store.
  • The SyFy Channel is developing a couple of toy-related reality shows: “Collection Intervention” will assist desperate significant others in forcing their loved ones to sell off some or all of their beloved collections, while the more interesting and less personally invasive “Toy Traveler” features Shane Turgeon, “the Indiana Jones of toy collectors,” as he jets around the world seeking rare and unusual toys. Do we got anything on this Shane Turgeon guy?
  • The Four Horsemen posted some new info on their upcoming Outer Space Men release dates.
  • Don’t forget, Figure of the Day has the entire set of DC’s Arkham City Series 2 on its site for $89.99 w/ free shipping.
  • Phil Reed at Battlegrip has reviewed a pair of Play Arts Kai figures – Arkham Asylum Batman and Halo Reach Jorge. I’ve had the PAKAS Bats on my shelf waiting for a review for weeks now. I’m evidently lazy. Oh, and I’ve had the PAK Halo Master Chief even longer than that.
  • I should be able to announce the winner of the Bat-Libs contest either late today or tomorrow.
Enhanced by Zemanta

Odds ‘n Ends > Battle Beasts, Disney/WB, & a new Outer Space (Wo)man?

  • As of this posting it’s just under a day and a half to go until we find out what Diamond Select’s plans are for Battle Beasts (probably at C2E2, if I had to guess). Keep an eye on this site.
  • As a favor to Poe Power Pal and resident homicidal maniac Doc Thomas, please “Like” the Australian store Popcultcha on Facebook. If they get 10,000 likes, they’ll have a 20%-off-everything sale, and Doc Thomas has promised to review every single thing he buys here on PGPoA. (Actually I just made that last part up, but I’m going to hold him to it anyway.)
  • Bored at work? Poester Sped linked me to this list of “30 Cool Toy Commercials From the ’90s.”
  • Topless Robot picked up on my “DC Universe Tragic” post, and Rob agrees that the problem is as much DC as it is Mattel. I noticed in the comments the growing idea that the superhero comics of the big two are a dying medium that will soon move almost entirely to movies/TV/videogames. I think that’s just as well, if only because at least that would force Disney/WB to employ some goddamned consistency (for a TV season, or at least two hours in a theater). Side note: how soon before Marvel/DC becomes Disney/WB?
  • I somehow missed this, but Outer Space Men creator Mel Birnkrant has created a new OSM member, “Terra Firma – the Woman From Space,” who will evidently be sculpted by the Horsemen and added to the OSM line. Since Major Matt Mason – the original, if unofficial, Earth OSM member – is owned by Mattel, I think the curvy Terra is a perfect fit. Or rather a “snug” fit, judging from that costume – ring-a-ding-ding!

Odds ‘n Ends > Futuretro, Toy Fair, Matty Subs, Snout Spout/Stay Puft QC Problems, & a Plastic Granamyr

  • Just a heads-up–for a variety of reasons, I won’t be attending Toy Fair next week like I did last year. I will, however, be offering my usual armchair coverage, and I will have someone representing PGPoA–JediN8–who will be taking photos and tweeting from the Mattel and Hasbro collector events, as well as the Fair itself.
  • I also won’t be able to attend the Four Horsemen’s now-annual show, this one called Toypocalypse II: Futuretro, on Friday night at Toy Tokyo in NYC. It’s looking to be quite an event, though. In addition to the Horsemen and Outer Space Men creator Mel Birnkrant, there are three visiting artists: Sucklord, who may already be familiar to many of you; Abdi Farah, who won the first season of Bravo’s “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist,” and Kymia Nawabi, the winner of the same show’s second season. As I understand it, all of them will be presenting their own Outer Space Men customs. Speaking of OSM, they will also have a set of four OSM with new paint jobs designed by OSM creator Mel Birnkrant himself, signed by Mr. Birnkrant and the Horsemen, as well as a print of the above painting by the superb Nathan Baertsch (you can get the whole shebang–figures and print–for $125). It looks like it’s going to be an awesome time, and I’m hatefully envious of everyone who gets to go.
  • Speaking of Toy Fair, Paul Nomad of the blog Idle Hands is doing his usual thing where he gets all the pre-Toy Fair scoops through whatever mysterious black magic (or maybe just blackmail?) he employs. There’s lot of interesting stuff there, so be sure to check it out.
  • Mattycollector.com has added the long-awaited subscription manager to their website, though be aware that it won’t really work yet, since–as was explained months ago–February subs can’t be combined. Be aware that (as far as I can tell) you actually shouldn’t have to take any action to combine your subs. That should happen automatically. However, if you want them separate, you have to adjust that in the settings. You can also update your credit card info for each subscription from this new section.
  • It seems that Snout Spout‘s foam trunk may have a tendency to break or tear. Of course this is unsurprising, and again, I don’t get why Mattel couldn’t just use the hard rubber from the vintage figure of twenty-five years ago.
  • In addition, it sounds like the foam giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Men are turning yellow. Mattel’s response was “Yes, totally aware of this issue and we have the CPI team looking into it. We hope to have an update soon.” This, after they just answered in December that “[a]ll of our figures, no matter what the material, go through extensive internal simulated aging and humidity testing. If product does not pass, we do not ship it.” Nonetheless, I give credit to Mattel for admitting to the problem, though I have no idea what they can do about it. Unless there’s a really easy fix for it, the only thing they could do would be to offer a refund, and I have a hard time seeing that happening.
  • Anyway, all of this QC/foam stuff led fans to create a thread on He-Man.org pleading for Granamyr to be made of plastic and not foam, to which Scott Neitlich replied that Granamyr would not be made of foam and would be made from the same plastic as Tytus and Megator. So, some good news there.
  • He-Man.org has posted the first part of an interesting interview with Nathan Bitner, the boy who invented this month’s MOTUC 30th Anniversary figure, Fearless Photog.

Odds ‘n Ends > Steve Jobs, Four Horsemen, & Reviews

Odds ‘n Ends > November 2, 2011

  • Yesterday Warner Bros announced they had extended their master toy license deal with Mattel. Hardly a surprise with Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel on the way, but good news for those of us who love Four Horsemen sculpting on DC toys. Speaking of, I sincerely hope the Horsemen will be working on the DKRises Movie Masters toys. Not sure if that’s been confirmed yet.
  • BigBadToyStore has the next (and final?) wave of Batman Legacy figures up for preorder. Enchanted Toy Chest should have them soon as well.
  • Pics of the upcoming G.I. Joe Zombie-Viper surfaced yesterday. (And some guy named Edwin “Lifeline” Steen.) The zombie looks incredibly awesome. This is how it’s done, Todd.
  • I hadn’t even heard about this until yesterday, but NECA is offering an incredible in-scale Da Vinci Flying Machine from Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. It doesn’t come with an Ezio figure, but if you have one it will fit in the machine. It’s only available via preorder from Gamestop.
  • Due to NYCC, I forgot to submit a Q&A to Mattel for November 1, but you can see a roundup of the rest of them here. I didn’t find any answers particularly earth-shattering, but it’s interesting to see they’re committed to continuing Ghostbusters past 2012. The prop replicas are selling out and are apparently pretty cool, but the figures seem to be tanking.
  • The fully-painted “Infinity Edition” of Outer Space Men phases three and four will go up for preorder on 11/11.

Pic of the Day > The Outer Space Men – Xodiac: The Man from Saturn by Ed Speir IV

The Outer Space Men - Xodiac: The Man from Saturn

The Outer Space Men – Xodiac: The Man from Saturn by Ed Speir IV

Page 1 of 3

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén