King Randor Carded

September 21, 2009 | Poe

Everyone’s favorite (burger) king is revealed in all his glorious packaging glory on Mattel’s Facebook page.

The bio reads:

Real Name: Randor of the house of Miro

King Miro’s second born son, Randor came of age during the Great Unrest, a time when conflict returned to Eternia following the Count Marzo Uprisings and the subsequent betrayal by his half brother Keldor. After the disappearance of his father, Randor was appointed captain of the guard and lead Miro’s troops in battle against Keldor’s growing rebellion. Randor eventually ended the battles by fatally wounding Keldor and locking his evil warriors behind the mystic wall. For this act he was appointed King by the Council of Elders. King Randor raises his staff exulting his rule over Eternia!

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On a side note, I’m calling it: MOTUC Count Marzo in 2010.

Review > Gandalf the White (Return of the King, ToyBiz)

September 21, 2009 | Poe

Gandalf is my favorite literary character. Oh, there are other ones I’m very fond of–Ebeneezer Scrooge, Randolph Carter, Dick Diver, the Continental Op. But when it comes down to who I’d like to share a beer (or in his case, a glass of red wine) with, Gandalf’s my man.

In fact, without Gandalf I might not be an adult action figure collector–it was Toy Vault’s line of figures based on The Lord of the Rings (the novel) that drew me back into collecting just after I started college. While the toys may look a bit quaint, and looked quaint even for the time, they were great figures and clearly created with a great love for the source material.

Of course, along came the movies, starting in 2001, and what was once a beloved secret treasure of geeks became a billion-dollar, Oscar-winning franchise.

While I do love the movies, I still love the books just as much, if not more. But Ian McKellen portrayed Gandalf so incredibly close to the literary version that I couldn’t help but love him too.

Toy Biz’s Lord of the Rings line, already fading from most collectors’ memories, was easily the best 6″ line of movie-based action figures ever made, and perhaps the best movie-based line ever made, period. The figures featured top-of-the-line sculpting, great articulation, huge character variety, and tons of accessories. (more…)

DCUC10 hits retail

September 21, 2009 | Poe

Abandon hope, all ye who collect DCUC!

DCUC Wave 10 has been found, and the hunt is officially on. Will DCUC10 be as woefully scarce as DCUC5? Despite all the gloom and doom among collectors out there, I think not. But we shall see.

Good hunting!

Review > Kratos (God of War, NECA)

September 18, 2009 | Poe

300px-Kratos12I’ve never played God of War or its sequels, but I know an awesome action figure when I see it.

Ask any Marvel figure collector about the first super-articulated figure, and chances are they’ll tell you about Blade with Anti-Vampire Weapons, a.k.a. “Trenchcoat Blade.” His sixteen points of articulation–included articulated toes–were a revelation in 1998 and led to the super-articulation seen in Spider-Man Classics and later Marvel Legends.

Similarly, when NECA’s Kratos hit stores two years ago, collectors of NECA’s highly-detailed figures were surprised to discover hinged elbows, swivel biceps and ball-jointed ankles. NECA has used greater articulation on many of its videogame figures since, from Gears of War to Bionic Commando to Resident Evil (though sadly, not on their movie-based figures, such as Conan the Barbarian).

NECA has released three different versions of Kratos, all based on the second game, God of War II: “Golden Fleece” Kratos (which comes with Medusa’s head); “Ares Armor” Kratos; and the subject of this review, Kratos with the Flaming Blades of Athena. I chose this Kratos for two reasons: since he’s bare of armor he’s the most basic, iconic version of the character, and the flaming blade accessories looked awesome in photos. (more…)

Mattycollector Schedule Update

September 17, 2009 | Poe

Mattel has posted an updated Mattycollector schedule on their Facebook page.

Oct 15:

  • Ghostbusters 12″ Ray – $60.00
  • Ghostbusters 6″ Ray – $20.00
  • MOTUC Teela $20.00 (subscription figure)
  • MOTUC Zodak – $20.00
  • Dark Knight Movie Masters Bank Robber Joker – $20.00

Nov 15:

  • DCUC Color of Fear 2 pack -$25.00
  • DCU JLU Doom Patrol 4 pack -$30.00
  • Dark Knight Proto Suit Batman $20.00
  • MOTUC Scareglow – $20.00 (subscription figure)
  • MOTUC He-Man reissue $20.00
  • CARs Die Cast 1:24 Mater $45.00

Dec 1:

  • 3 3/4 Avatar collection (retail items, not exclusive to Mattycollector.com)

Dec 15:

  • Ghostbusters 12″ Egon $60.00
  • Ghostbusters 6″ Winston with Trap – $20.00
  • DC Superfriends Robin $15.00
  • DC Superfriends Hakwman (brown deco) $15.00
  • DCUC Animal Instinct 2 pack $25.00
  • DC 12″ General Zod $60.00
  • Dark Knight MM Harvey Dent $20.00
  • World’s Greatest DC Superheroes Green Arrow -$20.00
  • MOTUC Goddess $20.00
  • MOTUC King Randor $20.00 (subscription figure)
  • MOTUC Skeletor re-issue $20.00
  • CARs Die Cast 1:24 Doc $45.00
  • Flying Stands for 6″ Mattel figures $15.00 (3 stands)

There may be a few additional item as well and not everything always goes to plan. If any of these dates change we will be sure to announce and update as soon as possible.

Wait until you see 2010! Lots of great items in store!

Paul’s Peg > And Now For Some Super Lame Star Wars Stuff

September 17, 2009 | Paul

After geeking out over the new AT-ST, I knew that there had to be some Star Wars product coming down the pipe that had to be ultra lame to make up for it. I was right! Here’s a collection of some of the lamest Star Wars toys headed to a store near you!

Anakin Skywalker Desert Sport Skiff

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This is after Anakin went native on Tatooine or something and what fashion sense! He’s rocking a poncho and a skirt! This Jedi is setting trends. And yes, that skiff was Luke Skywalkers from the Power of the Force line in the 1990s and it hasn’t gotten any better.

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Mattel on the cancelled DCUC9 orders

September 17, 2009 | Poe

From their Facebook page:

A lot of fans have written in about some canceled DCU Classic orders for Wave 9.

Mattel always does its best to fulfill product on shelves and we’re currently working on shipping as much of Wave 9 as possible. We will work with all of our customers to fulfill as many orders as possible. It is also possible we will go back into production of Wave 9 down the line due to greater demand. But nothing is set in stone yet. Still working on this.

In the future, we will be working even more in advance with retailers and online e-tailers to get orders in early for DCUC to ensure all orders can be filled.

Doing all we can do on this – you have my word!

And to clarify, we will not be selling Wave 9 on Mattycollector.com. Although we reviewed this option a few months back, because online and brick and mortar retailers needed Wave 9 product, we released what we had hoped to sell on Mattycollector to these customers. We’re hoping that by Wave 11 we can indeed offer DCUC on Mattycollector.com and fill all customer orders too. We’ll have more details if they are available and if this goes forward. Again, nothing set in stone right now.

I know many of you aren’t happy about this, and that’s completely justified. Not too sure how much promise there is here in terms of fulfilling those canceled orders, other than “we’ll try” and saying they might go back into production on Wave 9 (which seems unlikely). But at least they made a statement about it rather than ignoring the issue.

I’m curious–have any of you been directly affected by this, i.e., you haven’t had your pre-order filled?