5 Questions With > Jonathan Gray

June 4, 2010 | Poe

Earlier this year I did an interview with Professor Henry Jenkins, a professor of communication and media studies who also had a lot to say about toys and their relationship to transmedia. In that interview he mentioned Jonathan Gray, another media studies professor who is even more interested in toys and the points at which they connect with media. Therefore I considered it my sworn duty to bug the very busy Professor Gray for an interview, which he gracefully agreed to. Enjoy! –PG

Real Name: Jonathan Gray
Specialty: Educator
Base of Operations: The Extratextuals
History: Jonathan Gray is an Associate Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at University of Wisconsin, Madison. A Canadian-Brit, he grew up around the world, with Star Wars toys as the constant thing in common between all others and myself. He then fell in love with media studies and wrote a dissertation on parody, intertextuality, and The Simpsons, which later became his first book, Watching with The Simpsons: Television, Parody, and Intertextuality. His second single-authored book is Television Entertainment, and his third is the newly released Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Paratexts, though he’s also edited several books — Fandom: Communities and Identities in a Mediated World; Battleground: The Media; and Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era. He’s an avid media consumer, and as avid a media analyst.

1.) First off, street cred time: what were the toys you enjoyed playing with while growing up, and why?

There were a lot, but the answer must begin and end with Star Wars. My father got these plans from a friend for a massive space station, about 4 foot by 8 foot, standing off the ground, and it took him several months to build. The plan was for it to be our Christmas present, and then two weeks before Christmas, we weren’t allowed to see it, until Christmas Day itself, when we came downstairs and there it was in all its awesome glory, covered in Star Wars toys. It seemed wrong for any other toy to hold as key a place in my heart thereafter, and I still remember the sad moment when as a pre-teen I realized I was meant to stop playing with them. I just loved the Star Wars world, and it helped that everyone my age knew it world-wide, especially since I grew up moving. My father (who, as you can see, was my dealer too) also took frequent trips to Hong Kong, where they were made, and would come back with SW toys before they’d been released elsewhere, so they allowed me special status when I was otherwise doomed to be the awkward, odd foreign kid.

That said, I also had a fair serving of Playmobil when I was really young, then Transformers and GI Joe, but also Marvel and DC action figures, especially when I was a comic book fan. Mask toys were the best thing ever for a few months of my life. And Lego. Lots more that if you put in front of me I’d remember lovingly, but I’m blanking right now. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Spyeye Edition

May 26, 2010 | Poe

  • Apologies for the lack of a real update today–I’ve got two or three major updates in the queue, but finding the time to get them done is proving difficult. It does not, however, have anything to do with my increasingly unhealthy addiction to Dragon Age.
  • In case you missed his column this weekend, check out the newest contributor, the enigmatic Doc Thomas. In his first column, the good doctor examines action figure scale so deeply you’ll need to drink some MiraLax first.
  • Optikk review is coming, but the short version is, he’s pretty cool. What I really like about him, though, is the way Mattel and the Horsemen incorporated the New Adventures design into the MOTUC style.
  • I’m working on my review, but Spy Monkey Creations’ new shields are now available.
  • For the record, I was apparently wrong about the relative scarcity of the 3¾” Twitch, since no less than four people found him within two days of writing that post. I haven’t seen him myself, though.
  • One thing I’ve been remiss in reporting on are the two new Transformers/G.I. Joe cartoons that are being developed. Do people care about those? Do you want coverage? Speaking of, would people like me to get in on the various Hasbro Q&As? I’ve been skipping them solely because they lie outside my own interests, but if people want to submit questions for me to in turn submit, I’d be fine with that.

Toy Aisle Trolls > Shanghai ShowDOWNER

April 6, 2010 | Poe

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.

I don’t know enough about Transformers these days to have any clue what Sabertron Toys is talking about in regard to this set, so I shall present it as it was received. (more…)

Contest > The Wyld Hunt (Deadline extended!)

March 16, 2010 | Poe

This article is a sticky. Scroll down for newer entries.

We’ve all gone through it–that one figure we wanted more than anything but had to search high and low, for weeks or even months, before we found it. DCUC fans do that every week, but it’s not a new phenomenon–it’s been going on ever since the days of Mego’s World’s Greatest Superheroes and, of course, Star Wars.

I have a few tales of toy hunts, but none more memorable than the Great Turtle Hunt of 1989. For Christmas that year I wanted nothing but Ninja Turtle action figures. Of course, that was the year every kid my age wanted Ninja Turtle action figures, so they were virtually impossible to find. My parents, having become very familiar with the difficulties of finding popular toys around the holidays (thank you, Cabbage Patch Kids!) decided to be proactive. So one day in October that year, my father let me skip school and he and I drove all across Massachusetts, hitting every big retailer and toy store we could find. We found a few random Turtles here and there, but finally, at the gift shop of the now-defunct King’s Castleland in Whitman, we found the mother lode. When we got home, they were quickly swept into hiding until Christmas morn.

So here’s the deal. Hasbro has graciously donated a prize pack, seen above. To win it, all you have to do is post a comment below telling the story of a toy you had to hunt for. It can be a long tale or short, funny or tragic, ending in victory or defeat–anything. When the contest ends, I’ll choose whichever story I think is the best and send along the prizes to the winner.

The rules:

  • All entries need to be received by Friday, March 19 at 5pm Sunday, March 21 at 11:59pm.
  • Everyone gets one entry, so make sure to pick the best story you’ve got.
  • Contest open to U.S. residents only. I’m sorry, but international shipping is way too expensive these days.
  • Contest not open to my friends, family or Power Pals–sorry guys! Gotta be impartial on this one.

Toy Aisle Trolls > Let’s Do the Skywarp Again

February 5, 2010 | Poe

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 edition of Toy Aisle Trolls comes courtesy of Mark D. (more…)

Toy Aisle Trolls > Bludgeon Dudgeon

January 26, 2010 | Poe

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 Toy Aisle Trolls comes courtesy of Poester Nik.

It’s from Walmart in Henrietta, NY. The box is of the currently shipping and somewhat hard-to-find Bludgeon from the movie. The figure is very desired because it is an update of an old Pretender Decepticon who was featured heavily in the Marvel comic. I am unfamiliar with the toy inside the box. It is not a Transformer at all. It seems to be a Zoid or zoid-like mechanical bull robot. It is definitely not a tank.

Well, whatever it is, he who put it in there is unquestionably a full-fledged, card-carrying POS. And so unto him I bestow this Karmic Payback: May his junk-food-filled gut be gored by a mechanical bull, spilling half-digested buffalo wings all over the floor of cheapest bar in town.

(Incidentally, how totally awesome is it I was actually able to use that post title and have it make complete sense? I bet that’s only happened a handful of times since the development of the English language.)

5 Questions With > Prof. Henry Jenkins

January 11, 2010 | Poe

One thing I’ve always wanted to do with PGPoA is discuss not just the latest toys or the machinations of various toy companies, but also the nature of of our hobby and, in particular, the way the toys regularly intersect with media since the days of the “half-hour commercials” in the 1980s. And so it’s with great pleasure that I present this interview with Prof. Henry Jenkins. If you’ve never heard of Professor Jenkins, I think it’s your duty as a geek to become familiar with his work.

Real Name: Henry Jenkins
Specialty: Educator
Base of Operations: henryjenkins.org
History: Henry Jenkins is the Provost’s Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. He arrived at USC in Fall 2009 after spending the past decade as the Director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program and the Peter de Florez Professor of Humanities. He is the author and/or editor of twelve books on various aspects of media and popular culture, including Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture, Hop on Pop: The Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture and From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games. His newest books include Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide and Fans, Bloggers and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture. He is currently co-authoring a book on “spreadable media” with Sam Ford and Joshua Green. He has written for Technology Review, Computer Games, Salon, and The Huffington Post.

1.) An easy one first: what were your own favorite toys as a kid? Did you have any action figures?

I think you could say that I was raised on the cusp of the era of action figures. Many of my favorite toys were extensions of media properties that mattered to me. For example, I love, to death, a rubber King Louie figure which was produced to coincide with the release of Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book. I had many stuffed figures who embodied cartoon characters or cereal box icons — some of which had pull cords which activated phonograph recordings hidden in their bellies. I had a series of small plastic figurines which embodied key characters from the Hanna-Barbara cartoons, and a company called Soakie distributed bubble bath in plastic cases designed to look like popular characters as well. We collected these and used them to block out little plays. (more…)