Sideshow Shows Off How Awesome They Are

April 6, 2009 | Paul

Sideshow Collectibles recently posted a picture featuring several of their Stormtroopers, a Darth Vader, an Imperial Officer, and a couple of very unlucky Rebel Fleet Troopers. It’s flipping awesome sauce and makes me wish I was amazingly rich so I could set up something like it.

sideshowsdio

Sideshow, please more dios like this. If I can’t own them, I’d at least like to drool over some mighty fine pictures. Or maybe you can just send me and Poe your figures to make our own pictures to promote your stuff. What do you say? Huh? Huh?

Lego…uh, Female Parts

April 3, 2009 | Paul

Lego mini-figs are great and all, but if they’re anything there are blocky. This is fine and good for most figures, but when it comes to female characters like Princess Leia in her signature metal bikini there’s… something lacking. Well in comes Brick Forge and their extra enhancement for female characters:

minifigboobs

Yeah I’d make some sort of joke here, but these things kind of speak for themselves. I mean, really you can’t say anything more about Lego boobs that the picture can’t convey.

Thanks to: Brothers Brick

Toy review roundup (via Fanmode)

April 2, 2009 | Poe

fanmode-copy Jin Saotome reviews the NECA Bionic Commando Nathan “Rad” Spencer, Ninja Gaiden Ryu Hayabusa and Castlevania Simon Belmont figures. Excerpt: “Ryu is a must-buy …” (See also.)

Michael Crawford reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Classics Faker New York Comic Con and Mattycollector.com exclusive figure. Excerpt: “If you want to charge the same price for this guy as all the rest, you need to get a little creative when it comes to the extras.” (See also.)

Nathan Newell reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Classics Faker New York Comic Con and Mattycollector.com exclusive figure. Excerpt: “This is a great figure, but Mattel just missed making another perfect figure.” (more…)

Buy this or the guinea pig gets it

April 1, 2009 | Poe

bobafett

OK. No more messin’ around, folks. This is it. The time has come for you to put your money where I tell you to. I’ve got to get you off the bench and into the game!

This here is the Entertainment Earth Exclusive Star Wars Boba Fett and Carbonite Maquette. It’s animation-styled and totally, unequivocally awesome. And you’re going to buy it.

You’re going to buy it because if you don’t, something bad will happen to this guinea pig.

nibbler

I don’t know what that bad thing will be. Maybe I won’t give him his morning carrot or something. But he’ll be sad. Do you really want that on your conscience?

Buy the maquette!

UPDATE: I’ve just been informed by my wife that I cannot actually do anything bad to the guinea pig, including not letting him have his morning carrot. Also, if I even so much as make a passing joke about doing anything bad to her beloved guinea pigs again, I will apparently find myself the subject of some particularly vicious divorce proceedings.

Still, though, I’d order the maquette, if I were you.

UPDATE UPDATE: I’ve also been informed by Entertainment Earth that they will no longer be sponsoring me, because I guess they have an issue with people who threaten to withhold food from domesticated rodents. Pfft. Whatever. I didn’t want their money anyway.

Toys You Can’t Live Without > Joker Squad

April 1, 2009 | Poe

Welcome to a brand-new feature here at PGPoA, Toys You Can’t Live Without! Each day, I’ll take a look at a few of some of the great toys available out there.

jokersquadeeFirst up is the Entertainment Exclusive Star Wars Joker Squad action figures! Based on their popular appearance in the Star Wars Legacy comic, the Joker Squad will make an excellent addition to your stormtrooper army!

The set includes six figures:

  • Lord Maleval, a Quarren Sith Lord, is armed with a red lightsaber and a lightwhip. Loyal to Darth Krayt, this villain features loads of articulation and a cloth robe with wires inside so you may pose it any way you see fit.
  • Sergeant Harkas, or “Hardcase” as his men call him, has uniquely decorated armor indicating his rank. This tough-as-nails trooper leads his men against the opposition in the name of the Emperor!
  • Anson Trask, fresh out of training, is the “noob” of the group. Having just been assigned to his 1st mission, this soldier is ready to fight alongside his squadmates against a worthy foe… a group of defectors!
  • Jes Gistang handles the heavy weapons in Joker Squad. She’s the 1st-ever female Stormtrooper in the Star Wars action figure line! With slicked-back red hair and a weapon nearly as big as she is, this amazing figure is all set to rain down the pain on her enemies!
  • Hondo Karr, rumored to be an ex-Mandalorian, is as proficient with his blade as he is with a blaster. Surprising for a Stormtrooper, this anti-authoritarian loose cannon is a bit of a mystery. Can he be trusted with the future of the Empire?
  • Vax Potorr was born on Coruscant, and through a life of hardship, he eventually found his way into Joker Squad. Ready to jump headfirst into battle, he has his eye on the enemy and his blaster aimed right at their heads!

Each stormtrooper has a removable helmet, and one of them is a chick! How cool is that? I think I can safely say, without hyperbole, that any Star Wars fan who doesn’t buy this set is a freedom-hating terrorist.

hs87923_figs

Toy review roundup (via Fanmode)

March 27, 2009 | Poe

fanmode-copy Artemis reviews the Diamond Select Toys Battlestar Galactica Razor Kendra Shaw figure. Excerpt: “I don’t forgive her anything because of affection for the character, but her technical quality alone makes me quite fond of her.”

Updatedude reviews the Bandai Motion Revive Series (MRS) Kamen Rider Special Best Selection Kamen Rider Kabuto trading figure.

Dave Van Domelen reviews the Hasbro Star Wars Transformers Crossovers Shock Trooper to V-Wing Starfighter figure. Excerpt: “Making the arm joints more useful and adding pegs to keep them together in vehicle mode would have made this toy a LOT better.” (more…)

Toy review roundup (via Fanmode)

March 19, 2009 | Poe

fanmode-copy Newton Gimmick reviews the Character Options Doctor Who The Tenth Doctor (Aged and Ancient) set from Last of the Time Lords. Excerpt: “(Re: Aged version) He sort of eerily looks like my Grandfather.” (See also.)

Newton Gimmick reviews the Character Options Doctor Who Magnus Greel and Mr. Sin set from The Talons of Weng Chiang. Excerpt: “… I liked them MUCH more than I ever thought I would.” (See also.)

Newton Gimmick reviews the Character Options Doctor Who Captain Jack Harkness (Gelth Phantom Wave version) figure. Excerpt: “I simply love how the clothes are made on these figures.” (more…)

The Top Ten Mail-Away Action Figures of All Time

March 19, 2009 | Poe

fett-offer-back

For young action figure collectors in the 1980s, the most desired, treasured, magical items were those enigmatic mail-away (or “mail-in”) figures. Unavailable at regular stores, they required a quest in order to get them.

It was a quest that required begging one’s parents for enough action figures to cut out the required number of Proof-of-Purchase cards, then begging them again to write out a check for the $5 or so needed for “shipping and handling.”

And even once that was done, you had to wait six to eight weeks for the figure to arrive–an eternity in childhood.

But one day, your parents would come back from getting the mail and hand you a small, nondescript brown or white box, labeled only with your address and a return address of “Hasbro” or “Kenner.” And inside would be a little clear baggie, and inside that…

At that moment, you knew what it felt like when Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb–or when Indy first laid eyes on the Ark. (more…)

Poll results & shameless shill

March 18, 2009 | Poe

skeletor_throneFirst off, the results of the most recent poll, which asked what extra features people would like to see on a re-release of MOTUC Skeletor. I was sure the alternate Keldor head would win, and it did, but the real story is how incredibly close the removable cape option was throughout the entire poll. It lost by only two votes, 40 to 38.

A new 2002-style Skeletor head won a respectable 29 votes, while more people voted to reissue the figure as-is than give it a 2002-style Power Sword or 2002-style paint applications.

For the record, what I meant by “2002-style Power Sword” was the two sword halves that came with the 2002 Skeletor, not the techno-sword that came with He-Man–but it’s my fault for not making that clear. The Horsemen designed those as the actual 2002 Power Sword, but Mattel changed the techno-sword the Power Sword. I tend to forget most people don’t follow the Horsemen’s unpublished idea for the line as the official canon.

The new poll is in regard to a question I’m often curious about–obviously, I mostly cover DCUC and MOTUC on this site, since those are the two toy lines I cover. I suspect that’s also the fandoms where my readers tend to come from, but my intention from the beginning was to offer a broader look at toy collecting and the industry. With that in mind, I’d like to know whether there are any specific lines I’m not focusing on that you’d like to see more coverage of here on PGPoA–or whether you’re happy the way things are.

jokersquadeeFinally, on a related note, I’d be remiss if I didn’t plug Entertainment Earth’s awesome Star Wars Joker Squad pack. The set features the first-ever female Stormtrooper, a Sith lord with a poseable cape, and a bunch of other Stormtroopers with removable helmets. It’s $39.99, and until March 31 EE is offering free shipping on orders over $99. And for every set you buy, God gives a kitten a belly rub.