Watch out, Ralphie! by yours truly
Poe’s note: I came up with this scenario after having these two figures on my desk for a couple days and decided it just had to be immortalized in pixels. How freaking terrifying would that Snowman be in real life? He’s even scarier than Calvin’s snowmen. He’s a long way from Jack Frost, I’ll tell you that.
The spirit of the season has moved PGPoA ally site Toy Bender to run one of the coolest contests in recent memory: Joes for Tots, in which you need merely donate a toy (preferably a G.I. Joe toy, but any toys are acceptable) to Toys for Tots, take a photo of yourself doing so, and email it to Paul at TB for a chance to win Fabulous Prizesâ„¢. Paul has lined up some fantastic sponsors and prizes, so if you’re the sort of person who needs motivation to get off your butt and do good deeds, now’s your chance.
Toys for Tots is reportedly having trouble getting donations this year, so I wholeheartedly encourage you to participate in the contest!
Snowman by Ryan Brookhart
Poe’s note: While I usually skip McFarlane toys these days due to their lack of articulation, I had to pick up the Snowman. He’s in the running with the Winter Warlock for my favorite holiday action figure. I don’t own any of the other Twisted Xmas figures, but this guy was a must-buy.
Few recent action figure lines have divided fans so strongly–and bitterly–as Mattel’s new Masters of the Universe Classics. The first two figures, He-Man and Beast Man, go on sale today at 12 p.m. EST on Mattycollector.com, barring any major website problems.
First, some background: in the early 1980s, Masters of the Universe (MOTU) was one of the most popular action figure lines of the time. It essentially ruled the period between the Star Wars craze and the rise of Transformers and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero in the mid-eighties, and many kids (myself included) started with MOTU and later moved to one of those properties. Now we’re all grown up and have become nostalgic action figure collectors, and the toy companies have catered to us with a slew of reissues and revamps of toys from our childhood.
Mattel first tried to capitalize on MOTU nostalgia in 2002. After hiring former McFarlane toy designers the Four Horsemen to do the sculpting, Mattel created an updated line aimed at both kids and collectors, supported by a new cartoon and a comic book. The Horsemen took the original MOTU designs and amped them up, emphasizing the original features from the characters while minimizing their more goofy traits and making the anatomy a bit more realistic. This was arguably the first MOTU controversy, as some diehard fans of the original line were disappointed by the new designs, while more casual fans and collectors who had never owned a He-Man figure were impressed. (more…)
I almost forgot…today marks the one-year anniversary of PGPoA going live! Wow…I wish I could think of something momentous to write, but I’d rather you all just went and checked out the new MOTUC article. But keep checking the site for some great surprises this month!
Merry Christmas-time, everyone! Or happy holidays, if you are of a non-Christmas-celebrating persuasion. Or happy secular time of celebration, good will and consumerism for you atheists.
You’ve no doubt noticed we’ve made a few little design changes to the site. Hope you like it! I want to thank webmaster OB1 for his tireless work on the site. Let us know if there’s anything you particularly like or don’t like–PGPoA is a continuing work-in-progress.
And now on to your regularly scheduled news…