Donkey Kong vs. King Homer (271/365) by JD Hancock
Doc Thomas Probes > Most Wanted, Left 4 Dead 2 Edition
Welcome to Part 2 of my detailed Left 4 Dead-themed Most Wanted article, in which I beg Valve and “some other company” to create toys based on one of my recent favourite games! If you’re wondering why I haven’t specified the company I’d like to make these toys, that’s because there’s so many great companies that it doesn’t matter who makes them as long as the toys are great. Although top contender NECA have absolutely showed their chops at making great video game figures, including the Resident Evil zombies we know and love, Mezco have also done a sensational job with their Attack of the Living Dead line, comprised entirely of army-building fully-articulated awesomely-detailed zombies, some of which already resemble L4D characters. Really, it doesn’t matter – the toys are what matters, so on with the show! (more…)
Doc Thomas Probes > Most Wanted, Left 4 Dead Edition
Since Poe so kindly allowed me to start writing articles for his site as a favor and part of my community service, the very best response I’ve had was to the Most Wanted column, where I talked about the many action figures that I so dearly desired for my collection to sate the addiction, and that’s no surprise: every passionate collector has characters and properties that they’re passionate about seeing in plastic on their shelf. That’s part of the fun of the whole hobby, why everyone gets so excited for SDCC and announcements – the pleasure of having our plastic fantasies realised. (That sounds much worse than I’d intended. My apologies.) (more…)
Batman: Arkham Asylum figures possibly awesomest things ever made by DCD
Seriously. OK, so the articulation isn’t great, and Batman really should have black and not blue highlights (and if you don’t think DC Direct will be selling that repaint at some point, have I got a bridge for you). And of course, DCD’s overly-cautious nature has them striking when the iron is red-hot, a good fourteen months after the game’s debut and months or perhaps years before the sequel hits.
But that doesn’t make these figures any less supremely awesome. I’m already thinking this entire set may be worth a pre-order. Thoughts?
God of War: A Newbie’s Impressions
One of the main reasons I was really excited to get a PS3 this past Christmas was because Sony was releasing the God of War Collection–the first two God of War games in a single $40 package and updated with hi-res graphics and anti-aliasing. I’d been aware of God of War since the first game came out, and I certainly knew its reputation; and NECA’s great action figures made me even more interested.
I finished the game last week. Here are my impressions. (more…)
Where are the God of War III figures?
Back in 2007, NECA released a series of highly popular action figures based on the Playstation 2 hit game God of War. Now, with the PS3 more popular than ever (thanks to last year’s price cut–even I have one now) and the highly-anticipated God of War III due out in March, where the hell are the new action figures? Well, I have a theory about that… (more…)
Poe’s Point > Dante’s Retail Purgatory
So I’m somewhat interested in the upcoming videogame Dante’s Inferno, and NECA’s figure looks pretty cool too. However, I posted on Twitter recently that if the game wasn’t good, I probably wouldn’t want the figure–I rarely, if ever, buy toys just because they look good. I need to have some attachment to the property.
That said, I also rarely, if ever, pre-order videogames. Videogames are just too expensive an investment to risk them being crappy. There are obvious exceptions (e.g., it’s unlikely a sequel to a proven franchise like Halo is going to be terrible), but for the most part you won’t see me pre-ordering a videogame. Heck, most of the time I can wait until a few months have gone by and I can buy it used and save a few more bucks. So I can imagine a scenario whereby Dante’s Inferno gets good reviews, so I go out and buy the figure before I even get the game.
However, that’s not going to be an option this time. (more…)
Odds ‘n Ends
- I recently got a new job. It’s a step up in a lot of ways, but starting next week, I’m going to be a hell of a lot busier. That means there are going to be some changes at PGPoA. Mostly, it means there will be a lot less news, since I won’t have the ability to respond as quickly as I have been over the last few years. Unless something is newsworthy enough to deserve its own post, I will be posting most of the news I come across in my Twitter feed, so you might want to consider bookmarking it. I hope to balance the lack of news with more features such as reviews, interviews, Show & Tell (about which I’m hoping to have something to announce soon), vintage line retrospectives and so forth.
- Fwoosh contributor Ibentmyman-thing (which is no doubt his pen name when he writes for the New York Times Book Review as well) has an editorial titled “The Appeal of Masters of the Universe.”
- This is only tangentially toy-related, inasmuch as videogames are toys, but I recently completed Assassin’s Creed (which, for all its flaws, I did like a lot) and am hoping for good reviews for the sequel, due out this month. But what really impressed me was this live-action short film based on the new game, the first of three. It’s being made using the same green screen/CGI technique used for 300, and yet I already like this 14-minute film more (which is to say at all).
- My review of the 6″ Ray Stantz will be up later this week, but in the meantime you can check out Michael Crawford’s review. Michael makes a great point in his review: Mattel should have put Peter Venkman much earlier in the line. Too many fans are holding off waiting for him. I think MC is right: if Mattel had released Peter first (or at least early on), they would have hooked more casual fans who might then decide to pick up the rest of the Ghostbusters. I think there will be fewer diehard fans who pick up the rest of the Ghostbusters while waiting for Peter.
Pic of the Day
And the winner of the Sonic contest is…
…Newton Gimmick, for his legendary tale of Alien Syndrome and the too-ridiculous-to-believe story about the power going out seconds after beating the boss. (more…)