ODD: Where is Poe? Is he truly on vacation, or has he been moved to an undisclosed location for…safekeeping? Will he ever return, or has my evil plan finally been realized!? I now present…PETE’S POINTS OF ARTICULATION!
…crap, that doesn’t flow nearly as well. I guess Poe has to stay.
END: And quite a literal one, I might add, for my Movie Master Batman figure, which was just horrendously savaged by my puppy/engine of destruction, Esry. A moment of silence if you will. (more…)
Poe, ever the magnanimous tip-dropper that he is, took a few minutes off from his vacation and popped off an email asking me to let you guys know about Mattel’s big news regarding their popular replica of the Batmobile from thr 1966 TV series. Read on for more info and pics! (more…)
It’s no San Diego, and it’s no New York, but Seattle gets a comic convention of its own–The Emerald City ComiCon. Yes, one word. Don’t ask me. Ask them. My original plan was for a trip to SDCC this year, but for a family of four, that’s no easy trip to plan in the space of three months–not on my income at least. So, instead, I turned my attention to more local fun. And boy, am I glad I did.
The convention was held in the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, which is the same place PAX–The Penny Arcade Expo–moved into last year. The place is HUGE. We walked in and just sort of stood there at first, taking in the place. What was really astounding was that the place was packed! They had all the booths and tables set up in a grid, and there wasn’t more than six to eight feet of walking space between the booths. Quarters were definitely tight, and there was certainly the potential for something to get ugly, but then, this is Seattle–home of distant politeness. Combine that with the generally passive nature of the average comic book nerd (once they’re off the Internet, that is), and you get a very mellow, enjoyable experience. (more…)
(The Toybox is running late this week, but fear not, it should come out before I leave for vacation on Friday.)
As I mentioned, my replacement Ramathorr FANtastic Exclusive figure arrived last week. For those who don’t know the story, the FANtastic Exclusive is a project by the toy design team known as the Four Horsemen. On their FE website, the Horsemen present a number of ideas for action figures, and then fans vote on which action figure they want. Once a character is selected, the fans then get to vote on the figure’s size, articulation, accessories, and even packaging. The figure is then sold at conventions like the San Diego Comic Con and through the Horsemen’s online store. (more…)
ODD: Yes, I saw Iron Man over the weekend, and yes, in the parlance of my home region, it was wicked good. Or at the very least, it was an entertaining blockbuster action flick with no pretentiousness, pretty good pacing, good acting, some great humor and good characterization. I’ll probably see it again, since Mrs. Ghostal-to-Be wasn’t able to come along this time. Incidentally, somehow I completely missed the fact that there was a post-credit sequence; if anyone else was that oblivious, you can see it here. (more…)
Over the weekend I picked up the Dark Knight Batman from Mattel’s “Movie Masters” line. For those who don’t know, Mattel has two action figure lines for the movie: a five-inch scale, kid-oriented line and the MM figures, which were sculpted by the Four Horsemen, are about six inches (roughly–see below) tall and feature DCUC-style articulation. I paid $11.97 for the figure at Wal-Mart, which seems overpriced, especially when you consider the lack of any real accessories. But this may just be the new reality.
While the lack of accessories is disappointing, the figure is not. This is one of those figures, like the DC Superheroes Superman or Batman, that I can’t put down. I keep picking it up off the shelf and fiddling with it. (more…)
Welcome to another round of Ask Mattel here at PGPoA. Let’s get right into it…
Poe Ghostal: Will the Lobo SDCC exclusive be produced in at least the same numbers as Man-Bat last year?
Mattel’s “ToyGuru”: Sorry, but we can’t comment on the production run of any of our exclusives!
When should collectors start keeping an eye out for the Wal-Mart DCUC wave?
June-ish.
What ratio will the Deathstroke/Sinestro variants be packed in wave 3?
Sinestro will be a 50/50 ratio, Deathstroke will be a bit less.
Any word on if and when the DCUC modern Red Tornado variant might be available to collectors?
Not at this time but we will continue to work on ways to bring him out to store shelves.
Just a clarification: is the Wal-Mart DCUC wave now the official “Wave 5,” and what online retailers had offered for pre-order as “Wave 5” is now, technically, Wave 6?
Yes, the Wal-Mart Wave is Wave 5, Wave 6 will have Hawkman.
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My thoughts: 50/50 Sinestro ratio? June for the Wal-Mart wave? All I have to say about that is: “awesome.”
It’s safe to say DC Universe Classics is my favorite toy line of the moment–and for the foreseeable future. Some have hailed it as Super Powers redux, and with its excellent renditions of the SP-era Lex Luthor and Brainiac, it’s hard to argue with that logic. But DCUC is more than a nostalgia line; with Lightray, Black Lightning, and Amazo already on the way, it’s clear Mattel and the Four Horsemen are committed to a very diverse mix of characters. And with Lobo as the SDCC exclusive, it would seem the sky is the limit.
However, there are a few characters I’m pretty certain we won’t see–but I’d like to, anyway. In the list below, I run down five characters I’d like to see in DCUC and why. Before anyone gets worked up, I should clarify that I wouldn’t want to see these until after all the A-listers and most of the B-listers have been produced. They’d be best sold as exclusives, since they’ll have absolutely no household recognition and even very little fan recognition.
(Thanks to ToyOtter for the use of images from his excellent website, the Super Powers Archive. Also, most of the “Who he is” text was swiped from the characters’ Wikipedia entries.)
SAMURAI
Background: The third wave of Super Powers figures included three characters who had never appeared in a comic book. One of these was the rather unimaginatively named Samurai, though he had an edge on the other two because he’d appeared fairly frequently as a member of the Justice League in the 1970s Super Friends cartoon. I’m not sure why someone as obscure as Samurai got an action figure in Super Powers when there were plenty of existing DC characters to choose from, but I suppose his appearances on the kid-targeted Super Friends make him a decent pick for a toy line.
Who he is: Toshio Eto was a history professor. One day, Eto was struck by a beam of light sent by the New Gods of New Genesis, who were trying to create more superheroes to defend the world from Darkseid. Although Eto briefly ran wild with his new powers, the New Gods explained their intent to him and he vowed to become a superhero.
Why I’d like to see him in DCUC: Since he has never officially been introduced in the comics, Samurai is ripe for an innovative, unique Four Horsemen re-interpretation. The Horsemen went wild with their redesigns on the 2002 He-Man line, and I can only imagine what they could do with someone like Samurai, who is obscure enough to allow the Horsemen to do whatever they want with him. I can see this is as a great exclusive–something that will appeal to collectors and fans of Super Powers, but one more casual fans of the DCU can pass up.
Suggestions for a DCUC redesign: If their work on MOTU is any indication, the Horsemen like to take small, odd details on the original toy and amp them up. In the case of Samurai, I think the strangest trait is his weird sword; I can see the Horsemen developing it into a huge, sweeping serrated monstrosity. Other than that, though, there’s really not a lot to work with here.