Odds ‘n Ends

July 14, 2009 | Poe

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  • Man, it is dead, toy news-wise, ahead of SDCC. Speaking of which, here’s an exclusives checklist courtesy of TNI, if you’re curious what you’ll be missing out on.
  • Particularly due to the paucity of news, I could use more Show and Tells. Email me if you think you’ve got a good one. All I need is a brief (or long) write-up and a few photos.
  • I’ve been kicking myself lately for missing out on the Jason Voorhees figures from waves 1 and 2 of Mezco’s 7″ Cinema of Fear. They appear to be damned hard to find, even on eBay. But I’m not sure I ever even saw them in stores. Anyone seen them around? I suppose I could just get the Jason from the remake…he’s everywhere.
  • Dr. Mrs. Ghostal and I own two guinea pigs, and I have to admit we’re kind of looking forward to G-Force. It looks like it might be good–kind of like Small Soldiers. Speaking of which, whatever happened to you, Joe Dante? We miss you.
  • Don’t forget, tomorrow is Man-At-Arms Day. Once again I have to order multiples for friends, because no one else apparently has the patience for sitting in front of the refreshing screen. I should really start charging them for “handling.”
  • DMG and I started playing the first episode of Tales from Monkey Island, after some significant problems getting the damned thing to work. While I admit I didn’t make a good video card a priority for my PC, I’m kind of shocked by how hard it had to work to get the game to run. We solved the problem by switching to my wife’s laptop, believe it or not. Anyone else playing TOMI?

Recent Acquisitions

July 13, 2009 | Poe

The Hellboys I got from Entertainment Earth, I bought Prince Nuada at a Newbury Comics, and the rest were trades. The first one is Magnokor from the Inhumanoids, then the two Hellboy figures, then Mr. Wink, Nuada, and Lucifer from Dark Alliance (Lucifer’s standing on the Moore Collectibles action figure display base, which was produced way back in 1999 and seems to be extremely hard to find these days).

The Hellboys are interesting. They’re not as nicely produced as the 2004 movie line, despite using almost all the same molds. The trenchcoats are very rubbery this time, and the paint is sloppy in places. But the Big Baby gun is awesome, and I really like finally having a shirtless Hellboy with a plastic coat.

MOTU Art Book

July 10, 2009 | Poe

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Mattel has revealed their special MOTU-themed SDCC exclusive, and it’s pretty incredible–and, sadly, incredibly limited.

We know a lot of fans are very excited about the Designed @ Mattel Vol. 1 book on MOTU being offered at SDCC. A few more details: The book will be softcover, 53 pages, with a numbered foil stamped ribbon across the cover. It will be $50.00 and limited to 2 per guest per line wait. It will have sections on all the major MOTU lines and a look at the future of the brand.

Now we know a lot of fans are asking why only 1,000 copies and will we ever reprint? The answer (at least for now) is that this was actually a number required. For a variety of legal reasons we were restricted to only create this book if we kept it as a limited edition. That was part of the bargain for getting to do the book itself. It was 1,000 editions or nothing He-Fans.

A big thank you to Toy Guru for pulling together a lot of the research and material as well as all the Mattel artists over the years for so generously giving of their imaginations to create lasting characters in the world of MOTU!

Long time fans and new comers alike will be sure to enjoy all of the surprises in store at SDCC!

See you in two weeks!

Matty

The book sounds fantastic. The 1,000 limited edition aspect is painful, as is the Holiday Hal Jordan-like intimation of “legal restriction.” Great bonus for fans, or Gleek-like tease? I have a hunch I know where this comment thread is going…

Review > Clash in the Cosmos (DC Universe Classics)

July 10, 2009 | Poe

Despite being the archetypal superhero, Superman has a surprisingly limited rogues’ gallery. However, he does have a few heavies aside from Lex Luthor, and arguably the #2 Super-baddie is Brainiac.

We had a version of Brainiac in DC Super Heroes, based on the short-lived robot version that, despite is brief time in the comics, managed to inspire a much-loved Super Powers figure. To the best of my knowledge, the Silver Age version of Brainiac has never had an action figure until this year–suddenly he’s getting one in both DC Direct’s upcoming History of the DC Universe and here in Mattel’s DC Universe Classics “Clash in the Cosmos” two-pack.

To be fair, it’s not all that hard to see why the Silver Age Brainiac has had a hard time getting made–he’s absolutely, 100% goofy-looking. The electric pink shirt, the white polo shirt collar, the black shorts and knee socks…seriously, what was artist Al Plastino thinking when he designed this guy? I think he probably looked ridiculous even in 1958; by the late 1970s, his design was flat-out ludicrous.

However, that hasn’t stopped good writers from making Brainiac a force to be reckoned with, from his appearances as a major big bad on Justice League Unlimited to his recent retcon/reboot at the hands of Geoff Johns.

Oh, and there’s a Superman figure, too. (more…)

Wheeljack screws the pooch on the Dinobots

July 10, 2009 | Poe

(Warning: there’s more than a few f-bombs in this video, so probably NSFW.)

My favorite part is Wheeljack’s argument about going for “authenticity.” Even as a kid, I did think it was weird Wheeljack built the Dinobots as idiots when he didn’t have to. Which may be why they were actually smart in the comics–Simon Furman knows best.

Thanks to j_stone for the tip.

Poe’s Point > Toy collectors got no reason to live

July 10, 2009 | Poe

I realize I’m posting this largely just to provoke some lively discussion–feel free to also discuss whether this makes me a troll on my own site or not. But in reading the comments on Topless Robot’s post about the Wonder Twins packaging, I came across this incredibly pointed attack on toy collectors. It’s notable because the writer, “ZeroCorpse,” spends a lot of ink really going for the throat here.

While everyone’s entitled to their opinion, I’m going to examine this one line by line. (more…)

Webstor pops up on eBay

July 10, 2009 | Poe

Those wacky Hong Kong thieves have struck again, this time posting an auction for Webstor (who I’m thinking has to be September’s figure, despite the recent confusion, right?).

The auction’s already over, but we did get a look at his bio:

Webstor
Evil Master of Escape
Real Name: Araneus son of Raknus

One of the last remaining members of an ancient Eternian race of Spider Warriors called the Arachna, Webstor was awoken from hibernation beeneath Snake Mountain and occasionally allies himself with Skeletor. In ancient times, the Arachna were an advanced dominant race until driven underground by the Snake Men. Araneus retains much of the knowleedge of his people and while seemingly savage, is an expert mathematician and strategist as well as an accomplished escape artist. He often arms himself with a grappling hook Fast Pack and uses his climbing power to escape capture!