Toy Story – Page 2 – Poe Ghostal's Points of Articulation

Toy Aisle Trolls > Why Pod?

On September 9, 2010

Toy Aisle Trolls is a feature highlighting acts of vandalism to in-store toy items. If you find a ruined package, a stolen figure, a swapped-out figure, or any other such acts, take a photo (cell phone photos are fine if they’re not blurry) and email them to poe AT poeghostal.com. Also, please note: I’m deliberately being over-the-top with my condemnation of these people–I don’t actually wish bodily harm upon them. Just severe mental anguish.

Resident crazyman Doc Thomas checks in with this piece of douchebaggery:

I was checking the local Target here looking at the Toy Story 3 toys and came across this – someone stole the “Peas in a Pod” from the three-pack leaving it as only a two-pack. Particularly scummy since you can’t get the Peas by themselves, unlike the Pricklepants or the Woody, but this worked out ok for me after all as Target had discounted the “damaged stock” allowing me to buy the Pricklepants I wanted so dearly for less than the single-pack price, and with a free Woody! It’s not every day I get a free Woody.

Indeed, Doc.

To the jackhole who did this: you can start your quest for redemption by quitting your habit of self-loving to nude fanart of E.T. Because dude, that’s just wrong.

Review > Twitch (Deluxe, Toy Story 3)

By PrfktTear

On July 12, 2010

In Reviews

Meet Twitch, the Insectaloid warrior, where MAN + INSECT = AWESOME! This sturdy action figure stands over five inches tall, with more than 15 points of articulation, including ferocious chomping mandibles. Use his powerful wings and impenetrable exoskeleton to evade capture! Twitch is meticulously detailed and includes his signature magical battle staff and removable chest armor. For children ages 4 and up. Other Insectaloid figures sold separately.

As a toy collector it’s rare to not know about figures months in advance before they start hitting shelves or go on sale. That is all well and good, but sometimes it’s nice to walk down the toy aisle and have something jump off the shelves that you had no idea about. I’ll be honest, I didn’t exactly have my first encounter with Twitch in a toy aisle, I found a review for him over at Michael Crawford’s site, which is probably the next best thing.

Doc Thomas Probes > Action Features (Part II)

By Doc Thomas

On July 10, 2010

In Doc Thomas Probes

In Part I of our feature, Doc Thomas examined “Simulated Attack” action features. And now…the exciting conclusion!

Type 2: Pure Deco

The next most prominent type of action feature is that which focuses on the look of the toy, and attempts to add more life-like or just more interesting dynamic look via an internal mechanism. A good example of this is Cortana from McFarlane “Last Hurrah” Toys’ Halo line, which in addition to being awesomely scaled to be about life size included several blue leds inside which made it light up, giving it that same luminescence that lightened our lives across the galaxy’s hardship in the excellent series of games.

A different approach to a similar end is the aforementioned Metalhead from TMNT, whose eyes glowed red when light was shined above his head to nifty effect. These kind of action features are comparable to other creative approaches to action figures to make them closer to a real life representation, like the awesome SOTA Blanka sculpted entirely in glow-in-the-dark plastic, representing Blanka in his signature electrified state, or nearly every feature in the Masterpiece Optimus Prime toy, including light-up Matrix inside his chest, and the button-operated “talking” mouth.

Review > Spud Lightyear and Woody’s Tater Round Up

By PrfktTear

On June 28, 2010

In Reviews

How does a grown-up come to collect Mr. Potato Head? I blame TV. It all started with an episode of The Pretender titled “Bomb Squad,” a.k.a. “Potato Head Blues.” Jarod, the protagonist becomes a member of a bomb squad to catch a serial bomber. One of his co-workers has a Mr. Potato Head on his desk and Jarod promises him a ton of extra parts if he helps him out. Needless to say, this little cameo helped reignite a passion that borderlines an obsession with an old childhood favorite.

Pic of the Day

By Poe

On June 3, 2010

In Photos

mattel deluxe toy story figure: zurg (2010) by j pidgeon

Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear vintage commercial

By Poe

On May 24, 2010

In Videos

Remember when movie marketing consisted solely of movie trailers, teaser posters and maybe a cardboard standee in a theater? OK, me neither, but I still say we now live in a golden age of clever movie marketing.

Case in point: the above video for “Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear,” a new character in next month’s Toy Story 3. The video was made to look as if it’s yet another converted VHS recording of a 1980s commercial, in the vein of My Buddy or Teddy Ruxpin.

Oh, and don’t miss the Japanese version.

Review > Space Alien (Toy Story 3, Target Exclusive)

By Poe

On May 24, 2010

In Reviews

One thing I love is the classic, cartoonish space alien aesthetic–green tentacles, eyeballs on stalks, clanking robots, bulbous glass helmets with antennae, ray guns with fins, colorful fungus-covered landscapes, and so forth. This “retro-future” can be found in shows like Futurama and Ren & Stimpy, videogames like Day of the Tentacle and Toejam & Earl, Mattel’s new “Space Mutants” logo and 1950s Batman comics. It can also be found in toys such as the once-and-future Outer Space Men and the subject of today’s review, the Toy Story 3 Space Alien.

“The Claw chooses who will go and who will stay.”

I loved these little guys the first time I saw them, nestled by the dozens in a claw machine at Pizza Planet, a Chuck ‘E Cheese like restaurant in the original Toy Story. The aliens serve as the Planet’s mascots, bearing the company logo, a pizza with a Saturn-like ring around it. While there have been some injection-molded toys of the character over the years, what I’d always wanted was a vinyl figure like the squeeze toys in the film.

3 3/4″ Toy Story 3 Twitch RARE HTF (sigh…)

By Poe

On May 21, 2010

In News

I could be jumping the gun here. But if the confidence of this eBay seller and my cursory Web search constitute a preponderance of evidence (which they don’t), the one figure I’m really interested in from Toy Story 3, the decently-articulated 3 ¾” Twitch, is going to be very hard to find. This auction is the only evidence I’ve found that this figure even exists.

No doubt he’s packed one to every ten cases.

Prove me wrong, Mattel. (Please) prove me wrong.

Toy Aisle Trolls > To Infamy & Beyond!

By Poe

On April 13, 2010

In Toy Aisle Trolls

Toy Aisle Trolls is a feature highlighting acts of vandalism to in-store toy items. If you find a ruined package, a stolen figure, a swapped-out figure, or any other such acts, take a photo (cell phone photos are fine if they’re not blurry) and email them to poe AT poeghostal.com. Also, please note: I’m deliberately being over-the-top with my condemnation of these people–I don’t actually wish bodily harm upon them. Just severe mental anguish.

Today’s T.A.T. comes from the great gonzo.

There has been a slew of new Toy Story merchandise in support of the 3D re-release of the original two films in theaters and in anticipation of the third chapter this summer. There were at least three separate “real scale” toys of both Buzz and Woody released at various price points. What we have here is the controversial fourth “Troll” version. Some unruly character bought the midsized Buzz figure and swapped it out with an old, dirty, germ-ridden version of our favorite Space Cadet and returned it to Walmart. The “Space Ranger” sticker has been ripped from Buzz’s chest console, Buzz’s red, green and blue buttons are covered in some unidentified troll sludge, and since this an older figure, Buzz’s face sculpt is greatly inferior to the current toy likenesses. It’s dark in troll caves, so this difference must not have bothered the perpetrator.

Unfortunately these Toy Story figures have become a popular target for troll swapping. I previously encountered this two-pack at Toys R Us that should have featured exclusive interactive talking figures with real moving eye lids. The two-pack retails for $100, but the swapped figures retail for closer to $35 each. Not a very good deal at all. The swapped out set remained on the store shelf for several weeks. I don’t know if it was finally purchased or if an employee figured out they were peddling damaged goods. To infancy and beyond. Grow up, trolls!

Tag: Toy Story

Type 2: Pure Deco